Average size treat?

stuart9682 · 03-27-2009, 10:48 PM

My little guy gets about 10-20 treats per day. Hes a 9lb, 3mo. old Beagle. I was hoping to get opinions on treat size. I try to look for the smallest things at the store, then tend to break them down even more. These are, top to bottom:

-Authority Small Puppy Chicken & Rice biscuit
-Nutro Training Bits
-Pet Botanics Liver Training Treats

Is this too big? Or is this about right?

rosemaryninja · 03-27-2009, 11:02 PM

The treats I use are about half the size of my fingernail.

midnight mojo · 03-28-2009, 07:08 AM

Mojo is 4 lbs and I generally break up his treats so they are about 1/3 to 1/4 the size of a pea. Since I started doing this, it's worked out better than when he got larger treats because I'm more generous and if he does something I really like he gets 2 or 3 treats instead of just one! Even though he's getting less than he did before I broke the treats up, it seems like more as far as he's concerned.

Jessieanne · 03-28-2009, 07:38 AM

I feed my pup Zukes Mini Naturals. They are all natural moist treats. They are fee of wheat corn soy and by products so I can almost feed as many as I like with out any harm. They are tiny to about the size of a large pea.

stuart9682 · 03-28-2009, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessieanne

I feed my pup Zukes Mini Naturals. They are all natural moist treats. They are fee of wheat corn soy and by products so I can almost feed as many as I like with out any harm. They are tiny to about the size of a large pea.

Thx Jessieanne! I was looking for something with that type of calorie count (2 calories per treat) so that my 20 or so treats per day still on equals about 10% of puppy's total caloric intake. I'll have to try those out.

I can find them on Amazon, but do you get them locally anywhere?

Jessieanne · 03-28-2009, 08:39 AM

Do you have a Concord pet near you? Thats the only place that I know of. I tried looking at Petco for you but they only have larger ones for dogs with medical problems. Look around Im sure you'll find them. I would deffinately stay with an all natural or low calorie treat if you are feeding that many.

stuart9682 · 03-28-2009, 09:01 AM

Thanks yea none of my treats are labeled as low-cal. But between daily training sessions, house-training, and just plain being a good boy, he can be a high demand on the snackage.

Also, no Concord =(. But I shop at Amazon a lot, so it's not a big deal!

DobManiac · 03-28-2009, 09:31 AM

ou can also buy sample bags of dog food. If you pick the right food then the kibble pieces are very small. I use Merrick Before Grain. There about half the size of my fingernail. But a lot of different foods sell sample bags. I would just go to your feedstore(or wherever you buy your food) and see what they have.

stuart9682 · 03-28-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DobManiac

ou can also buy sample bags of dog food. If you pick the right food then the kibble pieces are very small. I use Merrick Before Grain. There about half the size of my fingernail. But a lot of different foods sell sample bags. I would just go to your feedstore(or wherever you buy your food) and see what they have.

Just using my kibble doesn't keep his attention for very long... but maybe some mixed kibbles will work. Thank for the idea.

DobManiac · 03-28-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuart9682

Just using my kibble doesn't keep his attention for very long... but maybe some mixed kibbles will work. Thank for the idea.

Yea, I always use a different kibble for treats than the one I feed for meals.

midnight mojo · 03-29-2009, 07:42 AM

You can get Zukes at Pet Supplies Plus if you have one of those near you. Mojo spit the lamb Mini Naturals out (odd because he generally loves lamb) but my s.o. recently bought the chicken ones by mistake and we were pleasantly surprised when Mojo liked them. I break them up into 4 or 5 smaller pieces.

I also use kibble for training. Every morning I measure out his daily food and before he eats we have a training session on behaviors he knows where kibble is his reward. Some days he works for every single piece of kibble but most of the time I just do 10-20 commands and then let him finish his meal. It works great as a part of NILF, provides multiple quick training sessions that are easy to fit in our schedule, keeps his caloric intake where it should be and saves on treats!

Jessieanne · 03-29-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midnight mojo

You can get Zukes at Pet Supplies Plus if you have one of those near you. Mojo spit the lamb Mini Naturals out (odd because he generally loves lamb) but my s.o. recently bought the chicken ones by mistake and we were pleasantly surprised when Mojo liked them. I break them up into 4 or 5 smaller pieces.

I didnt know they made other flavors in the minis. I can only find peanut butter and salmon which I feed him now. The salmon should be good for his coat right?