My previous post went into the intricacies of picking a good dog treat, if you missed it you can check it out here.

Before I get into anything else lets touch up on the criteria that I listed in my previous post, they are:

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

Today I want to introduce you, my readers, to my treat of choice. The one treat that I have had the most success with when it comes to training my puppy Bella. Not only that but Bella absolutely adores these treats.

Charlee Bear treats is the secret weapon to my dog treat arsenal. So powerful that by just lifting the bag I can command full attention from my puppy. Now you might be saying that by just having any type of food in your hand will entice a puppy to pay attention this is completely different. I can be across a large field and if I give the package a slight shake Bella will come running from whatever distance and distraction she might be engaged in. Not only that, but if I just hold the bag in front of her she will automatically go into a routine of guessing what commands I might give her just so I would give her a treat from the bag. Now I’m not saying that this is the only great treat out there, but I will say out of the many treats I have come across nothing has been so convenient and powerful as Charlee Bear Treats.

Now lets see how these treats match up against the criteria I have established.

How many calories are in every treat?

There are only 3 calories in every treat! Take for example that the average dog treat can range from 20-225 Calories depending on the size of the treat. When you do the math to find the average amount of calories in the average dog treat it comes out to somewhere around 100 Calories. Now in 100 Calories you can give your dog 33 Charlee Bear treats instead of just one 100 calorie treat! Why is the ability to give 33 treats instead of 1 treat a good thing? Well if it isn’t already obvious the following questions will answer that.

How does my puppy like it?

Now this question will inevitably be up to the judgment of your dog and no one else. No dog trainer can teach your dog to love something genuinely, while you may be able to force a dog to eat something it doesn’t mean they like it. For this question you will have to have faith in the ability of my Bella to grade the quality of taste when it comes to a treat. If it is any consolation Bella is a picky eater herself. The reason why I have even gone through so many treats to end up with Charlee Bear is for the reason that the treats I had previously used did not just click with her. Sure she ate it, but it never had the power that the Charlee Bear treat has over her. All in all Bella thinks its absolutely to die for, on the integrity of my pups taste buds I to will endorse the tasty flavor associated with these treats. Coming in three flavors liver, cheese & egg, and turkey and Cranberries, there is a treat for every Dog Treat Connoisseur to enjoy.

Is it good for training?

Probably the most important question of all, The Charlee Bear line of treats are the ideal dog treats to use when training your dog. Here is where the ability to give your dog 33 treats instead of just 1 comes into play. Lets say your average training session includes the use of 5 treats, one for every time your dog reacts correctly to a command. If you were to give your dog five treats that contained 60 calories in each you would have just fed your dog 300 calories in what probably would have been a less than 5 minute training session. If instead of using those five 60 calories treats, lets say you instead used 10 Charlee Bear Treats at 3 calories each. You would have just fed your dog only 30 calories! Not only did you save your dog 270 calories of obesity, but you even double the amount of time you spent training your dog! While of course you don’t want to have long and drawn out training session, being able to simply give your dog more treats in less time thus being able to positively reinforce more commands is a benefit that no good dog owner should ever pass up!

Is it made from quality treats with no additives?

Charlee Bear Treats are made from all natural ingredients with no additives. Just by looking at the list of ingredients in the back of the package you know your giving your dog the best that is available! Not to mention each treat contains a natural source of vitamin E which is a known vitamin that helps your dog look and feel younger.

Created in the perfect circular bite sized morsel the Charlee Bear Treat is the one treat that no Dog owner should ever ignore. If you like a treat that is versatile enough to be a training tool or a treat that even a picky dog can love, than the Charlee Bear Treat is the right treat for you!

On a scale from 1 to 10 the Charlee Bear line of Treats gets a 10 out of 10

*This review was written for the sole purpose of giving an honest review and is in no way affiliated or biased with the manufacturer or any entities associated with the manufacturer.

For more information on the treat you can view the products website at: Charleebear.com

*I’ve been getting emails asking where you can find Charlee Bear Treats, as far as I know many big chain store pet stores such as Petco carry it. For those who live in areas with no big Pet Stores you can always ask your choice shop to stock them for you, I’m sure they’d happily do it for the added business. However I have included a link for those who don’t mind buying it from the Internet through a respected retailer such as Amazon.com

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?”

Now for the main attraction! What you all have been waiting for! Presenting their Royal Highness, The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Who are these canine aristocrats that have so captured the hearts of so many? If it isn’t their looks that get you then its their personality.

I remember my first encounter with these lovable creatures. My mother had always hated the idea of owning a dog, mainly because she loathed the idea of getting dog hair all over the house furniture and it getting stuck in the carpet or couches. She was always a clean freak and she held the attitude that nothing could change her mind regarding dogs. To her they were all equally dirty and not worth the trouble.

Then one day one of her best friends had asked her the unthinkable, she had asked my mother if we could take care of her dog while she went away for the weekend to visit family. Duty to her long time friend began to override her built in programming to avoid all dogs and she agreed that for the weekend we would watch “Pebbles” the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Little did we know what we would get into.

I myself had always loved dogs, like a lot of people I just could not resist puppies, but any dogs in general really made me smile. When I had heard that for one weekend I would have the chance to have a dog in the house I was ecstatic. When the day came and my mothers friend had entrusted with us her most valuable companion I fell in love. This was different then my general adoration for dogs. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a dog that will be a puppy forever. For that one weekend taking care of Pebbles I had for the first time in my life had been aware of my shadow. She followed me endlessly from room to room, either to watch me or snuggle with me. On occasion she was torn between two masters and she would go from one room to another taking turns on who to snuggle with. No words could describe attention and love she gave to a group of people she had never known in her life except for that weekend. I knew from that day the only dog I would ever want to own would be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

My first Cavalier was named Robbie, I live in Hawaii and finding a Cavalier is actually a really hard venture. During the process of locating a puppy my family and I had made the rookie mistake of rushing to find a puppy we snapped at the first offer we got. Which was to be known as our first Ruby Cavalier named Robbie, we had gotten him from a neighbor island with no papers just the word of the seller saying that he was of good health. For 7 months of his life Robbie had shown us more love then we have ever known was possible for a dog to give, but in that short time he was gone. He was diagnosed with a heart problem known as Mitral Valve disease which is the number one health problem and killer in Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Robbie had inhaled his last breath lying in the corner of the family room while everyone was eating dinner, not even making one sound telling us that he was leaving to a better place. I cannot stress the importance of obtaining a Cavalier or any dog for that matter from a responsible breeder who can back up his credentials. If you make the rookie mistake of rushing the process like we did, you will have a great dog for sure, but a broken heart in less than a year. After Robbie we did not have another Cavalier for the next six years.

Two months ago we got Bella Marie a blenheim female Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. This time we were sure that we were obtaining a quality Cavalier, we had waited for months and searched endlessly to find the perfect breeder to get our puppy, we dearly did not want to repeat our mistakes before. Our breeder knew what she was doing, having obtained their strains from Europe we were sure that we getting a quality puppy. They had papers to back everything up and a pedigree that listed all of her ancestors for the past three years had been heart murmur free and certified by a vet. Not to mention that 6 out of the 9 dogs listed on the pedigree were Champion in the AKC Confirmation Trial.

Bella is the most energetic lovable Cavalier and by all accounts by others who have experienced the breed an embodiment of what the breed is. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel are known to be lovable and affectionate if you allow one they will lick your face for hours upon hours not wanting to stop for even a moment. They will literally become your shadow and will follow you from room to room watching your every movement. For example with me and my Bella when I lay down she lays down when I get up to walk into the next room she follows, if I stop to do something she will sit patiently and watch. Cavaliers are dogs who just want to be with you, but with the love and affection they give you there are some drawbacks.

Like any dog actually if you can’t give them enough time everyday you shouldn’t have one, this especially rings true for Cavaliers. They thrive on affection as I type this Bella is nuzzling the side of my leg trying to get me to rub her belly. Cavaliers need affection or else they develop some serious problems, if you have never seen a dog depressed before leave a Cavalier alone for a day and you will find one when you get home. When I step out of the house for only an hour I sometimes find Bella sulking in the corner of my bed trying to surround herself with a wall of my clothes. I watch her there for a good 5 minutes from the corner of the door so she doesn’t notice me and you can just tell that shes in dire need of her person. When she finally sees me she goes crazy trying to close the gap between me and her as quickly as possible and when I finally sit down she resumes her position on the side of my leg nuzzling.

Cavaliers are absolutely lovable canines. They don’t ask for nothing but your love and attention and are totally content with just walking around the house. They are even suitable for apartment style living simply because they much rather be laying next to you then out for a walk. Don’t get me wrong Cavaliers love their walks, but they love their people more.