When you walk into any well stocked pet store you can always find a variety of treaty. A variety of treats probably doesn’t even hit the mark for even larger chain pet stores where the selection of treats is better described as a cornucopia. The amount of different treats available to the average consumer and their pets is large compared to just a few years ago. The proliferation of technology and networking in general has even allowed small businesses to offer their treats all over the world.

Treats come in all shapes and sizes. Some come in plastic zip top bags and others come in boxes. Nowadays when you walk into a pet store it feels like every treat in the store is trying to sell themselves to you. Packaging constantly assaults you into buying their product simply because the packaging looks cool or because the dogs on the package look so happy. Sometimes it’s even harder to resist buying every treat in the store because you so dearly want to do something nice for your puppy.

Its safe to assume that not all treats are made equally. So what treats really come out on top? Here are the questions I ask when looking for a good treat to add to my arsenal:

• Is it good for training?
  
• How many calories are in every treat?
• How does my puppy like it?
• Is it made from quality ingredients with no additives?

Each one of these 4 questions address a particular and important issue.

Is it good for training?

Treats need to be more than just treats. Yes, you heard it right treats can’t just be treats they need to be more than that. While treats can be given just because and out of love, every good owner must understand that treats are their most powerful training tool. If you just keep giving treats without asking for anything in return from your dog then he or she will think that, “I don’t need to work for treats, my master will give it to me eventually anyway!”. When I review a treat I always look for ways to positively use it in my dogs life. It is important that every treat I give my dog can be used for the purpose of positively reinforced training.

How many calories are in every treat?

Sometimes you just can’t resist those puppy dog eyes that you end up giving more treats than you should. The reality is that just like us dogs can become obese. Thus the amount of calories in a treat are important because that determines the amount of treats we can give our dog without over feeding them. The amount of calories in every treat also effect whether or not a treat is good for the purpos of training.

How does my puppy like it?

It wouldn’t be a treat if your puppy didn’t like it! This question is self explanatory, when looking for a treat you want to get one your dog will enjoy thus increasing its value to your dog and for the purpose of training.

Is it made from quality ingredient with no additives?

Quite possibly one of the most important questions of all when looking for a treat. Sometimes you don’t know who to trust, with all those unscrupulous businessmen sometimes your never to sure of the safety of a product especially when it comes to food and your dog or for any living being for that matter! That is why it is imperative that you check the ingredients used in any of your dogs food stuff. If baby food was made from worst grade ingredients available for consumption would you feed it to your baby? If baby food had 15 different types of preservatives in it, I pray to God that there is no such baby food in existence, would you feed it to your baby? Same thing goes for your dog.

The world of dog treats is large and expansive filling every treat filled desire your dog may have, but with good dreams there is always a risk for nightmares.

The next time you walk into a pet store and set foot down that long and narrow treat aisle ask yourself, “Are these treats really as good as they claim they are?”