What To Look For When Choosing The Best Puppy Treats
The best puppy treats should be the appropriate size and texture for your puppy’s mouth, palatable, nutritional, from a trusted brand, and tailored for their intended purpose (e.g., training, chewing, etc.).
Review the attributes below to help pick out not only a treat your puppy loves, but one you can love, too, because you know it is good for your puppy.
Appropriate Size and Texture
With puppies’ smaller mouths, more fragile teeth, and more delicate digestive systems, look for a treat that is soft enough to chew, easy to digest, and safely sized to avoid stomach upset, fractured teeth, accidental swallowing, and choking hazards.
Pick a larger treat for bigger breeds and a small, more manageable treat for smaller breeds. Always check the label to ensure the treat is appropriate and safe for your puppy’s age and weight.
Tempting Taste
Every puppy is an individual, and the flavor one puppy loves won’t necessarily be the flavor another puppy loves.
A primary function of treats for puppies is for training, so picking a high-value treat your puppy cannot resist is of utmost importance. Purchase different flavors of a reputable puppy treat and see which one your puppy loves best and save this one for training.
Popular puppy treat flavors include chicken, bacon, and peanut butter.
Functionality
The best treats for puppies should be tailored for their purpose.
The best puppy training treats are soft, small, and have less calories, so that puppies can quickly eat them, yet they remain a small part of their daily calorie intake.
A good treat for preventing boredom in puppies is one that will satisfy a puppy’s chewing needs. They should be substantial enough to last for hours, but soft and firm enough to not cause teeth fractures or fragment into choking hazards.
Functional treats like dental and calming ought to actually help clean puppies’ teeth or keep them calm, plus be made intentionally for puppies’ size and delicate systems.
Ingredients
Ensure puppy treats contain simple, high-quality ingredients with no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. This helps them to be easy to digest.
Instead of empty calories, look for beneficial ingredients, such as lean proteins and omega-3s fatty acids for brain, muscle, and skin and coat development.
Trusted Brand
Pick a highly respected pet food company known for its research, development, and employment of board-certified small animal veterinary nutritionists.
It should have strong, positive-stated values, a good track record, and a culture of transparency so you can be confident in its products and practices.
How We Selected the Best Puppy Treats
This list of the best puppy treats was meticulously curated by a panel of veterinarians who are employed by Chewy, the publisher of PetMD.
They were asked to choose the best puppy treats in their honest opinion, across multiple categories based on the following:
Opinions and product recommendations in this article belong solely to the review panel of vets and animal health experts. Manufacturers and vendors cannot buy placement in Vet Verified content or exert influence on our panelists as they evaluate products.
Our sole goal with this program is to provide pet parents with the information they need to make the best decision for their pets.
Puppy Treats FAQ
What type of treats are best for puppies?
The best treats for puppies are size-appropriate, have a soft and chewy texture for puppies’ sensitive mouths, and are easy-to-digest, containing high-quality ingredients for their delicate digestive systems, with no artificial preservatives, additives, or colors.
Puppy treats should also be low in calories, especially if they will be used for training, and backed by a trusted brand.
What can I give my 8-week-old puppy to chew on?
Pick puppy chews made specifically for dogs 12 months and younger to gnaw on with easy-to-digest, high-quality ingredients that fit your puppy’s size and weight.
Chew treats should be firm but soft enough to indent with your fingernail so they do not cause tooth fractures.
Always monitor your puppy while chewing on this type of treat to avoid choking concerns.
What are good high-value treats for puppies?
The best high-value treats for puppies contain a flavor they absolutely love, such as bacon, peanut butter, or chicken. The ingredients should be high-quality and easy to digest with no artificial colors, preservatives, or additives.
Since high-value treats are typically used for training purposes, they should be small in size (or soft enough to be broken into small pieces) and low calorie to allow for repeat rewarding.
