Be aware of what's in your dog's treats

After posting this week on the Iams petfood scandal, one of my readers suggested I post about treats as well. So I did some research on some popular dog biscuits, and found they are mostly the same. I chose Eukanuba Healthy Extras for this post. Here are the ingredients:

Top 10 Ingredients: Wheat Flour, Chicken By-Product Meal, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Natural Chicken Flavor, Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Egg Product, Potassium Chloride, Salt.

A quick internet search of the main protein source in these biscuits shows this description:
*chicken by-product meal - an inferior source of protein made from necks, feet, intestines, etc.
*Fish meal - Like with all other animal sources, if a type isn't specified, you never know what type or quality of fish is used.
According to US Coast Guard regulations, all fish meal not destined for human consumption must be conserved with Ethoxyquin (unless the manufacturer has a special permit). This preservative is banned from use in foods for human consumption except for the use of very small quantities as a color preservative for spices. So unless the manufacturer either presents a permit or states "human grade" fish or fish meal is used, you can be pretty sure Ethoxyquin is present in the food even if it is not listed.

*Wheat flour is also known to cause many allergies in dogs.

Also, here is a link to "The dog food project" which gives a list of ingredients that should be avoided.

I personally no longer give my dogs commercial biscuits. Instead of a treat, I give them a raw meat,organs,crushed bone,egg and vegetable mixture that when mixed together resembles canned dog food in consistency. They love it and are thriving on it. As a special treat, I feed them Charlee Bear chicken treats.

I'm sure there are other safe dog treats marketed, and if any of you are using products that contain real meat and limit the grains, I'd like to hear what you're using, because I'm always open to new ideas.

(My blog has been featured in The Dog Blog Carnival and Notes from a Country Groomer)