Holistic dog treats are designed to provide dogs with healthy ingredients in not just their meals but also their treats. Treats labeled holistic are expected to provide top-of-the-line ingredients, often human grade. Providing your dog with holistic dog treats can improve their health, much the same way humans can improve their health by eating healthy snacks.
High Quality Ingredients
To maintain cute colors and shapes, many dog treats are filled with added coloring and preservatives that aren't healthy for your dog's consumption. Humans are attracted to the fun shapes, but dogs are only concerned with the taste and smell, so the best treats are probably not that visually stimulating.
Even if a dog treat is labeled "healthy" or "holistic," you should check the label for high quality ingredients. Avoid treats with additives or preservatives as well as artificial sweetners or extra sugar or syrup. Buy treats that have high-quality proteins, not meat byproducts or animal fat, or healthy vegetables.
Types of Holistic Treats
There are many types of holistic treats on the market, which are often only available at small pet stores rather than large chains or grocery stores. These examples are only a small tip of the market but provide sample ingredients that can steer you in the right direction.
Grandma Lucy's provides treats with human-grade ingredients, such as the oven-baked organic pumpkin dog treats. Ingredients include organic wheat flour, organic cane juice, soybean, sunflower, egg powder, pumpkin powder and cinnamon.
Robbie Dawg organic treats also have all human grade ingredients, such as free-range antibiotic and hormone-free chicken and organic carrots, peas and parsley. These are available in several flavors, including pizza, peanut butter carrot and turkey sausage with romano cheese.
Eagle Pack holistic treats contain almost 90 percent meat, including chicken, pork and pork liver. The ingredients also include brown rice and a vitamin E supplement, which is a good antioxidant for your dog.
Innova Healthbar includes ingredients from all five food groups, providing a holistic snack for your dog. Ingredients include turkey, chicken, barley, potatoes, apples, carrots, cottage cheese, pumpkin and several vitamin supplements, all ingredients which provide important nutrients for your dog.
Sojos provides natural treats for dogs in many varieties, including bacon cheddar treats that include only rye flour, oat bran, bacon, cheddar cheese, canola oil, eggs and baking powder. Peanut butter honey and chicken veggie are also available, both with simple, healthy ingredients. They also have grain-free varieties duck cherry and lamb sweet potato, which includes garbanzo bean flour, lamb, sweet potatoes, canola oil and eggs.
Creating healthy treats is not easy because of the size, color and shape treats are expected to hold. While it's relatively easy to remove dyes and fillers from kibble, it's not easy to do so with treats. However, there are holistic treats available for your dogs.
If all else fails, you can create your own by trying out new recipes or just giving your dog boiled chicken or raw carrots instead of a commercially produced treat.