What kinds of treats are best suited for ..?
What kinds of treats are best suited for ..? I'm looking for treats for teeth cleaning but what do you recommend? What do you recommend for long lasting chew?
Now and then, people send me questions like that, and I thought I would write about it here for others who have same questions.
1. What do you recommend for training treats?
Training treats do not have to be food treats at all, for starter. Look for what excite your dogs most, look for what get your dog's attention quicker. It can be food treats, it can be short tug of war play, can be ball or Frisbee, maybe pet on heads.
For our dog "Palette", it is food treats, and I use it for training. When you train your dog, give small bits to reward your dog not one whole piece of treats. Treats is small part of diet but it still does add kcal and giving whole piece of treats often is too much. How small the one bit of training treats will be? It is about lentil size. You can see pictures I have taken a while back in the entry titled "Clicker is your friend"
Also,it is also good if you rotate the treats to reward. That way, dogs do not know what they get and more motivation from them if they were food oriented. And, for Palette,I don't give free treats. She always get something after she does something. "No free treats" rule gives more power to treats and great tool to catch the attention faster. Another thing that works for Palette is that limiting the access to special treats.For example, she gets special treats as jackpot in "Find it" game or maybe after bathing or maybe after nail trimming time .. and she gets small snack type of treats like bully sticks,trachea,tendon etc.
Now, not all food treats are equal. If you use it for training, look for treats that are easy to break into small pieces, and things that dogs can swallow it in a second. Biscuits type treats are not suited for this type of purpose because dogs need to chew them and it slows down the training.Biscuits are small snack. For Palette,it is "before bed" snack. Sometimes,it changes to other small snack,but giving small snack before bed helps prevent vomit bile in the early morning from hunger.
My favorite type of training treats are Jerky made from meat without fillers or dehydrated lung treats.Dehydrated lung treats can come with either cubed or flat sheet type. Cubed one can be cut into small bits with scissors and flat sheet type can break into pieces with your hands. Cubed lung treat we carry is Kangaroo lung treats, and flat sheet type lung treats are Dogitos line products (Goat,Beef,Lamb available).
Dehydrated meat strip such as Kangaroo meat jerky is not suited for training although it is meat Jerky because it is thick and hard to break into pieces with hands or with scissors. Surf Turf Jerky (made from fully grass-fed buffalo meat with wild caught salmon) is easy to break into pieces and suit for training treats.You can read more on Surf Turf Jerky here.
There are many Jerky dog treats or treats sold as training treats,but all treats are equal?
Answer is "No". Many dog treats contains sugar,salt,preservatives,garlic,food additives etc etc list goes on. For example,honey,Molasses,kosher salt,garlic.. many treats contain these things but honey is natural,salt is natural,thus people can sell them as "All natural dog treats". And many of those treats can contain mixed tocopherols,which is natural Vitamin E (Vitamin E is mainly delivered from soybean oil and some dogs,mine included, react to it.Palette gets itchy,start chewing paws etc.) or Rosemary extract (which can trigger seizure for EPI dog) as natural preservatives. Some Freeze dried products contains mixed tocopherols too. We do not offer treats fortified with any vitamins or salt,sugar,garlic etc.
In previous entry titled "Do you really know what's going into your dog's stomach? Part II",I wrote that it is important to read ingredients list on treats, and it really is the first step to decide what to give to your dogs. Not all treats dogs show interests is good for them. Case in points: Antifreeze is toxic to dogs, yet it is sweet in taste and dogs are attracted to it.
And, some stores including box pet supply store still carry treats made in China. So far,I have found duck fillet treats,rabbit meat strip treats made in china but sold at big store or online store where they do not list origin of the products (usually,those site seem to not list ingredients either). It is tiny prints on back. Knowing not only ingredients but also where they were made is also good idea to choose better treats for your furry friends. We, at Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen, list all ingredients and origin of the products but if you encounter website where you do not see those information,ask the store and know before you buy them.Our rabbit ear treats is made in USA.No treats offered on our website is made in China.
2. What treats do you recommend for teeth cleaning?
This question is one of the top inquiries we get. It is interesting to look around and find so many of the products claim effect of teeth cleaning even sandy textured kibble piece size treats. And 99% of stores sell bully sticks for teeth cleaning:removing tartar build-up.
What I recommend for teeth cleaning is NOT handing out chews. Rather, make a habit to brush your dog's teeth. That is best way to clean the teeth. And if you could provide something they need to sink in their canine teeth and rip and tear to consume such as big hunk of meat,it helps more. Bully sticks,Deer Antlers are good chews but they alone do not give you the same result you can get with teeth brushing.
Bully sticks, Deer Antlers are often times gnawed by dogs using molar,and if you look closely,they would not chew/gnaw it with canine teeth or other teeth. So, those teeth that is not used will not be cleaned at all if you do not brush their teeth.
To make a point, you can see Palette chewing bully sticks and Deer Antlers bellow.
* To watch /read about teeth cleaning,please click here.
* To watch /read about Deer Antlers,please click here.
So, for me and Palette, bully stick is jackpot treat and small snack. Deer Antlers is for chew to satisfy dog's urge to chew and long lasting chew. Bully sticks,Antlers are definitely not training treats because it cannot be break into pieces, not sorely for teeth cleaning either because she just use molars to gnaw. It "would help" to clean molars to some degree but that is not enough for me to recommend it as treats/chew fully for teeth cleaning.
On the talk of teeth cleaning, you maybe interested in knowing about anesthesia. If your dogs needed professional dental cleaning,look for clinic that does cleaning without anesthesia.To read on anesthesia and dogs,please click here.
3. What do you recommend for long lasting chew?
My recommendation for long lasting chew is Deer Antlers.
Many stores emphasize bully sticks as great long lasting chew but for me, it isn't. It is a small snack,not long lasting chew. Palette is 33lb Corgi,moderate chewer and if I give 6" long bully stick,she would finish it in 30 min or so at most. With braided bully sticks 11",it took her about 1 hour 5 minutes.With Deer Antlers though, despite her religious gnawing sessions, the same Antlers we got more than 1.5 years ago still be enjoyed by Palette. So, for me, or for her, Antlers win over bully sticks. Of course, how long Antler will last is depend on how long time is spent on it, how dogs gnaw it etc but it will last lot longer than bully stick.
Antler is not cheap. However, our Antler gives variety of shapes to chew on;some are "y" shaped,some are straight,some are thicker than others.. and since it lasts lot longer than bully sticks, from cost aspect, you will be spending on Antlers less in the same period of time with repeated bully sticks purchase.
That being said, most dogs jump for Antlers but some may need time to get used to it;weird shape,unfamiliar smell etc.. If you find your dogs show no interest in Antler,try rub against sandpaper to give more scent out and see if it works. Also, it is good idea to buy just one first even if you got more than one dog and see if any of your dogs like them. With any treats,if you were not sure if your dogs would love them,buy small first and if the products were hit among crews,buy big to stock up.
*To read about long lasting chew,please click here.
Some people ask me recommendation of Antler size and, I would suggest to use recommended size information on website's Antler section. Size is decided by weight,not length,but to give you rough idea how long the Antler will be,we have length information there as well.
4.What do you recommend for skin and coat?
Feeding omega3 rich food is good for dog's skin and coat. Treats is small part of diet but if you are looking for treats with benefit, choose the treats made from grass-fed meat or wild caught salmon. With main diet,feeding grass-fed red meat, omega3 rich fish such as Mackerel,sardine,salmon is great way to bump up the omega3 amount in the diet through food.
If you choose,for example, fish treat between white fish treats and wild caught salmon treats, choose wild caught salmon treats because it has much more omega3 in it and,if the choice was between farm raised fish and wild caught fish,choose wild caught fish treats. I am not sure why cod treat is sold as source as treats for omega3(treats good for skin and coat). It does have some omega3 but not as much as salmon does.Mackerel is best (if I feed 10 oz worth of mackerel plus some red meat,poultry in a week, Palette gets 8 fish capsule worth ;about 8000mg of omega3 just from food.) but I think on dog treats market,you would probably not find one.And if you were to choose treats that has just salmon as ingredients and the other that has vegetable mixed in, choose the one without vegetable because by adding the vegetable, it downgrade the benefit of omega3 that comes from salmon. It does not matter whether the vegetable is organic or not.
With all "Omega3 is good for dogs" trend,many stores offer fish oil bottle or fish oil capsule these days. Fish oil is another way to bump up the omega3 amount in the diet but,make sure what are in it,how much of what are in it. With most diet method, I would imagine you would be feeding more than enough omega6 and all you need is omega3 not both if your dogs needed any to bump up. It, of course,would depend on what you feed,how you feed, and each individual diet menu plan, omega3 amount that are preferred to be bumped up will be different.
Some of well known fish oil brands bottles do have omega6 in it too not just omega3. If you plan to buy fish oil bottle or fish oil capsules,read the ingredients, make sure what you will be getting,and make sure you will get just omega3. If you had hard time finding the information,ask the manufacturer. That is the easiest way to get the information you are looking for.
5.Question regarding coupon code,GDK points
Sometimes, I get question about coupon code or GDK points. When you order,coupon code box will appear on payment page. If you misplaced/forgot coupon code,simply use contact form and contact us.We can reply back with code and expiration date, and also can tell you how many GDK points you currently have.
Also,if you become a fan on Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen at Facebook, you can get fan only offer and discount and you can save even more.
And 24 hours a day 7 days a week,you can get free shipping with order over $100. Time to time,you can get free shipping with order over $55.
6.Question regarding bulk menu
You can see menu and price here.
7.Question regarding wholesale
We do NOT offer wholesale.
** On side note, here are some tips for you. **
** When you buy trachea, which is well known with name "Moo-tube", "Windee" if beef trachea, store them in freezer. That is best place for storage. Trachea can be stored at room temperature but make sure with the way they can breathe. What I recommend is to empty box and put them in without any bagging or sealed containers and keep the box lid open so that trachea can breathe. Store them in cool area away from direct sun light. We have 3 kinds of trachea available: Beef,Lamb,Buffalo. Good natural source of glucosamine and good for joint. Dogs love crunchy texture and dance for it. You can find them here.
Enjoy treat hunt for your furry friends
Do you like to share this Buffalo Trachea with me? - Palette
Now and then, people send me questions like that, and I thought I would write about it here for others who have same questions.
1. What do you recommend for training treats?
Training treats do not have to be food treats at all, for starter. Look for what excite your dogs most, look for what get your dog's attention quicker. It can be food treats, it can be short tug of war play, can be ball or Frisbee, maybe pet on heads.
For our dog "Palette", it is food treats, and I use it for training. When you train your dog, give small bits to reward your dog not one whole piece of treats. Treats is small part of diet but it still does add kcal and giving whole piece of treats often is too much. How small the one bit of training treats will be? It is about lentil size. You can see pictures I have taken a while back in the entry titled "Clicker is your friend"
Also,it is also good if you rotate the treats to reward. That way, dogs do not know what they get and more motivation from them if they were food oriented. And, for Palette,I don't give free treats. She always get something after she does something. "No free treats" rule gives more power to treats and great tool to catch the attention faster. Another thing that works for Palette is that limiting the access to special treats.For example, she gets special treats as jackpot in "Find it" game or maybe after bathing or maybe after nail trimming time .. and she gets small snack type of treats like bully sticks,trachea,tendon etc.
Now, not all food treats are equal. If you use it for training, look for treats that are easy to break into small pieces, and things that dogs can swallow it in a second. Biscuits type treats are not suited for this type of purpose because dogs need to chew them and it slows down the training.Biscuits are small snack. For Palette,it is "before bed" snack. Sometimes,it changes to other small snack,but giving small snack before bed helps prevent vomit bile in the early morning from hunger.
My favorite type of training treats are Jerky made from meat without fillers or dehydrated lung treats.Dehydrated lung treats can come with either cubed or flat sheet type. Cubed one can be cut into small bits with scissors and flat sheet type can break into pieces with your hands. Cubed lung treat we carry is Kangaroo lung treats, and flat sheet type lung treats are Dogitos line products (Goat,Beef,Lamb available).
Dehydrated meat strip such as Kangaroo meat jerky is not suited for training although it is meat Jerky because it is thick and hard to break into pieces with hands or with scissors. Surf Turf Jerky (made from fully grass-fed buffalo meat with wild caught salmon) is easy to break into pieces and suit for training treats.You can read more on Surf Turf Jerky here.
There are many Jerky dog treats or treats sold as training treats,but all treats are equal?
Answer is "No". Many dog treats contains sugar,salt,preservatives,garlic,food additives etc etc list goes on. For example,honey,Molasses,kosher salt,garlic.. many treats contain these things but honey is natural,salt is natural,thus people can sell them as "All natural dog treats". And many of those treats can contain mixed tocopherols,which is natural Vitamin E (Vitamin E is mainly delivered from soybean oil and some dogs,mine included, react to it.Palette gets itchy,start chewing paws etc.) or Rosemary extract (which can trigger seizure for EPI dog) as natural preservatives. Some Freeze dried products contains mixed tocopherols too. We do not offer treats fortified with any vitamins or salt,sugar,garlic etc.
In previous entry titled "Do you really know what's going into your dog's stomach? Part II",I wrote that it is important to read ingredients list on treats, and it really is the first step to decide what to give to your dogs. Not all treats dogs show interests is good for them. Case in points: Antifreeze is toxic to dogs, yet it is sweet in taste and dogs are attracted to it.
And, some stores including box pet supply store still carry treats made in China. So far,I have found duck fillet treats,rabbit meat strip treats made in china but sold at big store or online store where they do not list origin of the products (usually,those site seem to not list ingredients either). It is tiny prints on back. Knowing not only ingredients but also where they were made is also good idea to choose better treats for your furry friends. We, at Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen, list all ingredients and origin of the products but if you encounter website where you do not see those information,ask the store and know before you buy them.Our rabbit ear treats is made in USA.No treats offered on our website is made in China.
2. What treats do you recommend for teeth cleaning?
This question is one of the top inquiries we get. It is interesting to look around and find so many of the products claim effect of teeth cleaning even sandy textured kibble piece size treats. And 99% of stores sell bully sticks for teeth cleaning:removing tartar build-up.
What I recommend for teeth cleaning is NOT handing out chews. Rather, make a habit to brush your dog's teeth. That is best way to clean the teeth. And if you could provide something they need to sink in their canine teeth and rip and tear to consume such as big hunk of meat,it helps more. Bully sticks,Deer Antlers are good chews but they alone do not give you the same result you can get with teeth brushing.
Bully sticks, Deer Antlers are often times gnawed by dogs using molar,and if you look closely,they would not chew/gnaw it with canine teeth or other teeth. So, those teeth that is not used will not be cleaned at all if you do not brush their teeth.
To make a point, you can see Palette chewing bully sticks and Deer Antlers bellow.
* To watch /read about teeth cleaning,please click here.
* To watch /read about Deer Antlers,please click here.
So, for me and Palette, bully stick is jackpot treat and small snack. Deer Antlers is for chew to satisfy dog's urge to chew and long lasting chew. Bully sticks,Antlers are definitely not training treats because it cannot be break into pieces, not sorely for teeth cleaning either because she just use molars to gnaw. It "would help" to clean molars to some degree but that is not enough for me to recommend it as treats/chew fully for teeth cleaning.
On the talk of teeth cleaning, you maybe interested in knowing about anesthesia. If your dogs needed professional dental cleaning,look for clinic that does cleaning without anesthesia.To read on anesthesia and dogs,please click here.
3. What do you recommend for long lasting chew?
My recommendation for long lasting chew is Deer Antlers.
Many stores emphasize bully sticks as great long lasting chew but for me, it isn't. It is a small snack,not long lasting chew. Palette is 33lb Corgi,moderate chewer and if I give 6" long bully stick,she would finish it in 30 min or so at most. With braided bully sticks 11",it took her about 1 hour 5 minutes.With Deer Antlers though, despite her religious gnawing sessions, the same Antlers we got more than 1.5 years ago still be enjoyed by Palette. So, for me, or for her, Antlers win over bully sticks. Of course, how long Antler will last is depend on how long time is spent on it, how dogs gnaw it etc but it will last lot longer than bully stick.
Antler is not cheap. However, our Antler gives variety of shapes to chew on;some are "y" shaped,some are straight,some are thicker than others.. and since it lasts lot longer than bully sticks, from cost aspect, you will be spending on Antlers less in the same period of time with repeated bully sticks purchase.
That being said, most dogs jump for Antlers but some may need time to get used to it;weird shape,unfamiliar smell etc.. If you find your dogs show no interest in Antler,try rub against sandpaper to give more scent out and see if it works. Also, it is good idea to buy just one first even if you got more than one dog and see if any of your dogs like them. With any treats,if you were not sure if your dogs would love them,buy small first and if the products were hit among crews,buy big to stock up.
*To read about long lasting chew,please click here.
Some people ask me recommendation of Antler size and, I would suggest to use recommended size information on website's Antler section. Size is decided by weight,not length,but to give you rough idea how long the Antler will be,we have length information there as well.
4.What do you recommend for skin and coat?
Feeding omega3 rich food is good for dog's skin and coat. Treats is small part of diet but if you are looking for treats with benefit, choose the treats made from grass-fed meat or wild caught salmon. With main diet,feeding grass-fed red meat, omega3 rich fish such as Mackerel,sardine,salmon is great way to bump up the omega3 amount in the diet through food.
If you choose,for example, fish treat between white fish treats and wild caught salmon treats, choose wild caught salmon treats because it has much more omega3 in it and,if the choice was between farm raised fish and wild caught fish,choose wild caught fish treats. I am not sure why cod treat is sold as source as treats for omega3(treats good for skin and coat). It does have some omega3 but not as much as salmon does.Mackerel is best (if I feed 10 oz worth of mackerel plus some red meat,poultry in a week, Palette gets 8 fish capsule worth ;about 8000mg of omega3 just from food.) but I think on dog treats market,you would probably not find one.And if you were to choose treats that has just salmon as ingredients and the other that has vegetable mixed in, choose the one without vegetable because by adding the vegetable, it downgrade the benefit of omega3 that comes from salmon. It does not matter whether the vegetable is organic or not.
With all "Omega3 is good for dogs" trend,many stores offer fish oil bottle or fish oil capsule these days. Fish oil is another way to bump up the omega3 amount in the diet but,make sure what are in it,how much of what are in it. With most diet method, I would imagine you would be feeding more than enough omega6 and all you need is omega3 not both if your dogs needed any to bump up. It, of course,would depend on what you feed,how you feed, and each individual diet menu plan, omega3 amount that are preferred to be bumped up will be different.
Some of well known fish oil brands bottles do have omega6 in it too not just omega3. If you plan to buy fish oil bottle or fish oil capsules,read the ingredients, make sure what you will be getting,and make sure you will get just omega3. If you had hard time finding the information,ask the manufacturer. That is the easiest way to get the information you are looking for.
5.Question regarding coupon code,GDK points
Sometimes, I get question about coupon code or GDK points. When you order,coupon code box will appear on payment page. If you misplaced/forgot coupon code,simply use contact form and contact us.We can reply back with code and expiration date, and also can tell you how many GDK points you currently have.
Also,if you become a fan on Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen at Facebook, you can get fan only offer and discount and you can save even more.
And 24 hours a day 7 days a week,you can get free shipping with order over $100. Time to time,you can get free shipping with order over $55.
6.Question regarding bulk menu
You can see menu and price here.
7.Question regarding wholesale
We do NOT offer wholesale.
** On side note, here are some tips for you. **
** When you buy trachea, which is well known with name "Moo-tube", "Windee" if beef trachea, store them in freezer. That is best place for storage. Trachea can be stored at room temperature but make sure with the way they can breathe. What I recommend is to empty box and put them in without any bagging or sealed containers and keep the box lid open so that trachea can breathe. Store them in cool area away from direct sun light. We have 3 kinds of trachea available: Beef,Lamb,Buffalo. Good natural source of glucosamine and good for joint. Dogs love crunchy texture and dance for it. You can find them here.
Enjoy treat hunt for your furry friends
Do you like to share this Buffalo Trachea with me? - Palette
Posted by yassy at 11/12/2009 8:00 AM 
Categories: Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen
Tags: Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen free treats all natural dog treats deer antlers free shipping
Categories: Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen
Tags: Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen free treats all natural dog treats deer antlers free shipping
As usual, a lot of good information. I do love your Dogitos lung treats for training because they are so very easy to break into small pieces by hand, and they are light and crispy so my dogs love them!
The info on Omega-3's was very good too! I try to get food with Omega 3's for my dogs, and sometime I plan to try your surf and turf jerky for them... With Christmas coming up and so many grandkids, I don't think I'll be able to afford getting any, though, until after the holidays. I wish I could, though, as I've been VERY HAPPY with everything that I've gotten from you!
Tell Palette Hi, from Corgi Country!
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Thank you for your comment and your support,and I am glad to know you enjoyed reading the entry.
Dogito line products (grass-fed lung dog treats) are one of my favorites treats to use for Palette's training. For Palette, main treats I give to Palette is from training session and I love using different kinds of treats. I rotate treats without telling Palette and,she does not know what she will be getting and,I am certain one of her favorite words to hear from me is "school". She perks up,come trot to me,sit nicely with wet nose observing me having clicker in my hands. It is fun teaching funny tricks to her
Many times,you would hear how good Omega3 is. And, many people know about salmon being great source of Omega3. What some people might not know about salmon is that,if you buy farm raised salmon,the farm raised salmon gets fed red dye fish feed to make the fish meat appealing bright color. When you go to fish counter at grocery store, try take time to read where fish is coming from, and also read small letters under fish name. Sometimes small labels tell you added information such as fish has added smoked flavoring (I have seen label for Tuna) etc. Did you know that if you buy a bag of frozen shrimp for example, often times, the bag contains added sodium to keep shrimps retain moist. Some frozen shrimp bag/scallop bag have just shrimp or scallop under ingredients but you would find it hard to find especially frozen shrimp bag that has just shrimp as ingredients.
So, fish, especially salmon is well known for omega3, but all food contains omega3. Difference is, how much of omega3 is in the food. Good site to look nutritional data up is nutritiondata.com
and you can type in whatever food you eat or you feed your crew in search box and you can get rough idea how much of what is in it. If you use "my pantry" function,you can make list of food you feed that week, for example, and you can click analyze button to get rough idea of how much kcal you feed,how much omega3,omega6 in it. I don't use the site to get exact number, just to get rough idea.
Poultry usually being ratio around 1:16 (1 being omega3,and 16 being omega6),and if you feed red meat like beef,ratio will be around 1:4 (1 being omega3,and 4 being omega6). So, if you feed poultry heavy diet,chances are, omega3 amount is very low. Grass-fed meat has more omega3 and usually lower in fat and more protein than regular feed lot grown meat. From what I have been seeing, salmon and buffalo meat we use are much bright color compare to farm raised/grain fed meat as well. Very tender to touch and also juicy, and taste good. I know this because I have eaten the meat from them.
From omega3 aspect, mackerel is the king for amount you get according to nutrition data site.
Some treats or kibbles contain flax seed but dogs cannot process the form of omega3 in plant based source. They need to convert the form from ALA to EPA/DHA to be used as source of omega3.
I have been writing this from point of view from raw diet and,if you too feed raw diet and if you are trying to bump up the amount of omega3, you can give fish oil capsule, you can feed more red meat than poultry and possibly feed fish if your crew like them. And,if you have source, feed grass-fed meat,wild caught fish especially sardine,mackerel,salmon.
I know treats are small part of diet, I know we are bit picky when it comes to what to offer other dog lovers & furry friends but we care what are in the treats/food. Since Palette cannot read letters, I read it up for her, and pre-select what she can taste test.
We will be looking forward to catering to your crew again. And,I hope they too enjoy our "Surf Turf Jerky" as much as Palette does. I am very happy to know your crew enjoyed treats from us. Please say hi to everyone at Corgi County.
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