Dog Treats

Some dog foods cause problems for your dog’s teeth and even the most harmless looking treat can create a high pet health bill. Almost 90 percent of our dogs are eating processed foods, which have changed over the years. By the time a dog is 4 years old they already show signs of a build up of tartar and some staining.

Where is this coming from?  I remember when I was a child, the butcher’s scraps and raw meat bones would be allocated to the local pets in our town.  They would chew them for hours and apparently they were very potent in vitamins and minerals. Bones are not only a dog’s favorite thing to chew on, but also provides more essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals in a natural way, since dogs love to chew on them especially if they are raw.  I remember the old saying “ Give a Dog a Bone”  which apparently still holds true today. Not only do bones provide hours of enjoyment but they serve a purpose in cleaning teeth, massaging the gum areas, exercising jaw muscles and help to stimulate the immune system.

Today’s modern day pet owners are much more discerning of the type of products they buy for there pets, especially dog treats.  The assortment of products today may pose heath problems especially with the materials used in these products. Some products are bacteria laden by products of the human food industries,  that are made into  dog treats. These often are preserved by toxic chemicals such as BHT, and other preservatives.

Brittle dog bones, such as those made from rawhide can  also  break apart and the small bits can cause an obstructions.  Also dog’s can completely break a tooth on the hard rawhide type products. While some may claim these products are safe, our standards are changing rapidly in this industry.  Dog chew products made from beef jerky treats, smoked pigs ears, smoked hooves and similar products must be checked for production handling and ensure their safety.

Our own human food chain has evolved, with the modern, up to date trends of consumers demanding more “natural” products and less handling in the system. One has only to look at our grocery stores, and see the world ” organic” popping up on all the shelves, including free range chicken, organic hormone free beef, and naturally grown labels to appease the consumer.  So this is trickling into the pet food industry, to insure proper health and optimize nutritional content of dog foods.

Raw bones can be given to your dog, for they can be digested quite easily.  If you look back a couple of hundred years,  there weren’t many choices other than raw bones. Today pet owners have choices and can buy organic products.  Organic bones can be found at your local organic product store, or farms.  Check in your area to find farms and meat producers, and purchase raw bones for those added vitamins and minerals to ensure your dog’s health and enjoyment.

Other alternative products that are derived from organic production will also be safer.  Not only will your dog be happy, but also healthy and your pet healthcare costs will be reduced dramatically.

TAGS: dog food, raw bones, natural dog products, BHT, pigs ears for dogs, dog treats, pet food industry, organic pet foods, cheap dog food, cheap dog treats, poisonous dog foods, dog decaying teeth, dog health.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 5:52 am and is filed under Dog Treats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.