What types of dog snacks are there and how to choose?

Having been raising dogs for more than 6 years, I have bought a lot of dog snacks, basically every kind, and gradually I have fixed snack brands and types.

In my opinion, dog snacks can be divided into 6 categories: pure meat snacks, such as chicken jerky, duck jerky, etc.; teething snacks, including teething sticks and bone snacks; freeze-dried snacks Snacks, such as freeze-dried chicken, freeze-dried egg yolks, etc., and some freeze-dried fruits and vegetables; wet food snacks, mainly canned food and wet food packets; dairy snacks, such as yogurt, milk, etc.; other snacks, including Ham sausage, beef sticks, meat + fruits and vegetables, etc.

No matter what kind of snack it is, when choosing it, you should always look at the raw material list, the texture of the snack itself, as well as the brand and production factory. It should be noted that starchy snacks should be avoided, including pure meat snacks and teething snacks. Many of them contain starch or are full of starch. You should look more carefully when choosing snacks for your dog.

So, how to choose these kinds of snacks? 1. Pure meat snacks

1. How to choose

① Look at the raw material list. The raw material list of pure meat snacks is all pure meat or single meat. Non-pure meat snacks are basically It's all composed of meat + starch.

② Look at the jerky. The jerky of pure meat snacks has no impurities in color, has the aroma of pure meat, and the shredded meat fibers are tight and full of toughness. You can tell that non-pure jerky snacks are just by looking at the color. For example, chicken jerky is very dark red in color and has no meaty texture.

③ Water soaking test. After soaking in water, the water is clear, indicating that no starch is added. After softening, you can see the real meat fiber when you tear it open.

For example, take this chicken jerky:

The color is obviously different from the dried chicken jerky, because a friend of mine also made homemade dog snacks and sent me some. The color is too dark and the texture of the shredded meat is not clear. It looks like it contains starch. Looking at the raw material list, it is indeed chicken + vegetable protein + glycerin, not 100% pure chicken.

2. Recommended models

I have bought a lot of pure meat snacks from many brands. The more commonly purchased ones include Top, Hippie Dog, Nike, and Mr. Tails. , Kuqisi, Jueyan, etc., but not all snacks from these brands are good.

Several dog snacks like those made by Tingzhi are very good, especially the pure meat snacks that you can buy without thinking; Mr. Tails’ chicken twists are very good. I bought the twists wrapped with chicken and duck meat before. Xiao Tiantian likes to eat it very much. Both brands of snacks can be bought directly. I bought more of the top-made snacks. Mr. Tails seemed to make homemade snacks at first, but later it became bigger and became a factory.

There are so many dog ??snacks from Hippie Dog and Nevek that you need to choose carefully. Hippie Dog has original cuts of meat, which are divided into chicken and duck slices. The quality is very good, and the slices are quite large. I always give them to Tiantian in two portions. Newick has dried chicken jerky and duck jerky, which I often buy. There are so many cool snacks, you can basically choose whatever you want. 2. Teething snacks

1. How to choose

Teething snacks include teething sticks and bone snacks. I personally prefer bone and meat snacks.

① Teething biscuits and steamed buns

These are basically pure starch snacks, mainly wheat flour, with colorants added, and then they become colorful biscuits. It is not recommended to buy this product because dogs have a weak ability to digest starch and do not have much teeth-grinding effect.

When I first started raising dogs, I bought a lot of these biscuits, but when I saw the ingredients list, I didn’t give them to Xiao Tiantian. Later, when soaked in water, it completely turned into a mush. It would be better to just let the dog chew the vegetables if I bought this.

② Teeth Cleaning Bone

Basically composed of meat + starch. Because of its diamond-shaped design, it has a certain teeth grinding effect. The texture is relatively soft and can be easily broken by puppies. However, although some teething sticks have the same ingredients, dogs are prone to vomiting after eating them. I bought a teething stick before, and Xiao Tiantian kept vomiting after eating it, and then I stopped feeding it.

It is true that when I first started raising dogs, I bought a lot of similar teething sticks. Whenever I saw an event, I would buy several boxes, and then I would have them in different flavors and take them apart. Arrange them in a row and let Xiao Tiantian choose. Later, after I learned how to choose dog snacks, I never bought this teething stick again.

However, there are also good-quality teething sticks for cleaning breath, and you can give one occasionally.

However, when Xiao Tiantian eats the teething stick, there will always be a little hair stuck to the side of her mouth, so she feeds it less.

③ Teething sticks

The range is wide, such as various meat-wrapped cowhide rolls, various meat-wrapped calcium bones, chicken sticks, etc. I have bought all of these except chicken sticks.

Some of the various meat-wrapped cowhide rolls are not real cowhide, and in addition to meat, other things are added, such as soy protein concentrate, which increases the protein content, but in fact, for snacks , protein level has no effect. And some cowhide is so hard that little dogs can’t bite it at all.

Various kinds of meat wrapped with calcium bones are actually chicken + corn flour + goat milk powder + cassava flour + beer yeast powder. In essence, it is still meat + starch. Calcium bones are not bones, but just starch + sheep Made from milk powder. Moreover, Xiao Tiantian only ate the meat every time, not the calcium bones at all.

Chicken sticks are actually made of chicken + starch, etc., not pure chicken. There is starch in dog food itself, so when choosing snacks, try to choose starch-free snacks.

This kind of snacks can be fed, but don’t feed them too much. I used to like to buy separate cowhide rolls for Xiao Tiantian to eat, because they are made from real cowhide and are fine to eat. The teeth grinding effect is particularly good, mainly because they are durable and the price is cheap. Later, Xiao Tiantian got tired of eating them and never bought them again. Bought it.

④ Bone snacks

Including yak horns, deer antlers, beef stick bones, beef cartilage, beef knee bones, beef ribs, veal steaks, dried chicken necks, etc., choose from When eating this kind of snacks, you need to pay attention to the following points: Choose according to the size of the dog. Different types of bone snacks have different sizes. Big dogs can choose large ones, and small dogs can choose small ones. I usually The ones chosen for Tiantian were all beef knee bones, and the small one was just big enough for her to chew on. Pure bone drying, no additives. For a puppy, no matter how big or small a bone is, don’t let him chew it all the time, because if he eats too much, his stool may become soft. I usually chew it for three to five minutes and then take it away, and then give it to him next time. Or if you don't finish it after chewing it for two or three times, throw it away and replace it with a new one. If a dog has bone spurs, it cannot chew bones. This is the case with my dog.

Another point is, if the dog’s teeth are not good, don’t chew bones. I have a dog friend’s dog who chewed bones, and then two canines were gone. Chewed away. However, if the puppy has double rows of teeth, you can give it more bones or teething sticks to help gnaw away the excess teeth.

2. Recommended model

I bought a yak horn, and then I found that it was longer than my dog’s legs, so I didn’t give it to him, but gave it to my dog ??friend. It's just right for big dogs. In addition, deer antlers come in different sizes, but they are quite expensive, so I haven’t bought one.

Beef ribs come in different sizes. I bought a small size of beef ribs. They were thicker than my dog’s legs and the same length, but tasteless. Thin veal steaks, lamb chops, and beef cartilage are very suitable for puppies. I have fed beef cartilage before, feeding one piece two or three times, and replacing it with new ones when it is not finished.

Personally, I especially like to buy dried turkey necks, because this bone-based snack is not like other types. After chewing, my mouth and hands are still full of bone flavor and oily, so I Turkey neck is what I often buy. Break one into 3 pieces and feed it. Xiao Tiantian likes to eat it, and the teeth grinding effect is also very good.

As for snack brands, you can choose Kuqisi, Huayuan, Hippie Dog, etc. for beef sticks, Lujiaowang for deer antlers, and Mr. Tails, Huayuan and Dingzhi for dried chicken necks. , all pretty good. 3. Freeze-dried snacks

1. How to choose

Freeze-dried snacks include staple food freeze-drying and snack freeze-drying. If conditions permit, you can choose staple food freeze-drying.

The production process of freeze-drying is mainly vacuum freeze-drying technology. Simple understanding:

Remove the moisture of food to achieve the purpose of low-temperature dehydration and drying, which not only retains the nutrients and original content of the food. It has a material appearance, does not contain additives, has good rehydration properties and is easy to store.

When choosing freeze-drying, you need to remember the following 5 points:

① Freeze-drying is actually raw meat, so it needs to be sterilized by irradiation to prevent bacterial growth.

② It is best to freeze-dry snacks in a single way. For example, freeze-drying chicken only contains chicken, without adding plants or starch.

③ The freeze-dried appearance is dry and not greasy, the color is uniform, there is less residue, and it smells faintly of meat and has no other smell.

④ The rehydration property is good, because freeze-drying is loose and porous, and it can quickly return to the original state of the food after soaking in water. Poor-quality freeze-drying will take a long time to recover.

⑤ Don’t choose the freeze-dried ones that come in super large transparent boxes and are very cheap. The quality of freeze-dried products is hard to say.

2. Recommended items

Freeze-dried snacks, I often buy freeze-dried chicken, freeze-dried egg yolk, freeze-dried beef liver, etc. Some of them are freeze-dried snacks bought separately. There are also freeze-dried ones that come with dog food, and I also bought a freeze-dried staple food.

When it comes to freeze-drying snacks, I recommend freeze-drying egg yolks, because they are very palatable and also have the effect of beautifying their coat. At the same time, if your dog is picky, you can directly freeze-dry the egg yolks and mix them with dog food. , my dog ??likes to eat it very much. There are also freeze-dried pieces that are specially mixed with dog food.

When it comes to freeze-drying staple food, I directly buy the imported brand Kiwi. The ingredients for freeze-drying are also simple. The main ingredients are animal raw materials, and the particles are very small. I feed them as snacks. Or put it in dog food and feed it together. Xiao Tiantian likes to eat it. 4. Wet food snacks

1. How to choose

Wet food actually also has snacks and staple food cans. Staple food mainly includes staple food cans and staple wet food. Here we mainly talk about snacks and wet food. , snack wet food is canned food and wet food packets.

I have a certain degree of subjectivity when it comes to the choice of wet food, because I don’t like meaty food. It’s easy for Xiao Tiantian to eat it, and then there are bits of meat on the hair around the mouth. The foam sticks together and is difficult to clean, so I personally prefer to buy wet food with visible flesh.

Therefore, when choosing wet snack food, you need to pay attention to the following three points:

① The raw material list is simple, mainly meat, and there are no unknown raw materials. It is best to choose the kind without additives .

② As for the additives, it would be better if there are no additives. If there are any additives, please note that they are 0-colloid, such as no thickeners such as carrageenan and guar gum.

③ The meat is in the shape of puree because the meat cannot be seen clearly, but the meat pieces can be clearly seen, and the bottom of the can is clean and there is no "rust phenomenon".

In addition, when choosing cans, it is best to choose according to the size of the dog. For big dogs, any size can be fine, but for small dogs, it is best to buy small cans so that one can can be eaten. Done, you still have to put it in the refrigerator when you don’t need it.

When I gave Tiantian canned food before, if it was a big can, I would eat half of it and keep half in the refrigerator. After taking it out, I had to let it cool. Personally, I felt it was quite troublesome. I might as well eat a small can at a time. After sex.

2. Recommended models

① Cans

I have bought many types of cans, including small cans and large cans, meat puree cans and meat pellet cans. Personally, I prefer small cans and meat cans, so this type is recommended.

One is the leading canned dog food, which is actually a staple food can. Each can only has 85g, with visible meat cubes and carrots, and the whole can is full. I like this canned food very much. Every time I give it to Xiao Tiantian, one can is just enough. Then if it is not full, just eat a little more dog food. Staple food cans can also be fed as snacks, and are more cost-effective than snack cans. At least you don’t have to worry about your dog being picky or lacking in nutrition if he eats too many snacks.

One is Hippie Dog’s goat milk can. This one is a snack can, 100g per can, with 3 flavors. I prefer the goat milk chicken flavor. At first, I thought one can was too much, and I was worried that Xiao Tiantian would burst after eating it, so I planned to feed it in two batches. However, it ended up being unable to be taken out of its mouth and the whole can was finished. This kind of canned water is fake. The amount of goat milk is very large. It is pure goat milk + chicken pellets. Puppies can also drink it.

② Wet food packets

In fact, I have bought relatively few wet food packets. When I first started raising dogs, I really liked buying McFoodie’s meat packets. Later, I thought It's not as good as boiled chicken breast, so I haven't bought it. Then I came across Kentish’s wet food bag and found it to be pretty good, so I bought this one more often.

Kentish’s wet food packets come in two flavors, one is beef flavored with minced meat, which I don’t like very much, and one is chicken oatmeal flavored, which is shredded chicken + oatmeal + soup. Juice, I buy this one more often. In the summer before, I would choose this mixed dog food for Xiao Tiantian to eat. One pack is 70g. I mixed it in one pack every time. Xiao Tiantian liked it very much.

5. Dairy products

1. How to choose

In fact, there are very few dairy products for dogs on the market, except goat milk powder, which is a nutritional supplement and snack. Dairy products include yogurt, milk, yogurt tablets, freeze-dried yogurt, etc.

It should be noted that:

① Dogs cannot drink milk that humans drink, because many dogs are lactose intolerant and will have diarrhea. However, lactose-free Shuhua milk is OK.

② Dairy products for pets are all lactose-free, or lactase is added to digest lactose, so there is no need to worry about pets becoming lactose intolerant.

③ Yogurt snacks are yogurt slices and cheese cubes. I don’t recommend buying them. I bought one before and it was so sweet that it made my teeth hurt. Because I thought one piece was too big, I bit it in half and fed it to Tiantian. I found it was too sweet and stopped feeding it later. I’m not sure about the others because I haven’t bought them since.

④ When buying, look at the raw material list. For example, if it is milk, it should mainly be fresh milk. You can add some ingredients that are suitable for dogs, such as fish oil. The raw material list should be simple, without any miscellaneous ingredients, and should be mainly dairy products.

⑤ Yoghurt and milk can be mixed with dog food, but it is best to eat it in one meal. If you can't finish it, pour it out and replace it with a new one next time to prevent it from deteriorating over time. In addition, yogurt is good for the gastrointestinal tract and has the effect of regulating the gastrointestinal tract.

2. Recommended models

I have bought yogurt from Ocean Star and milk from Hell’s Kitchen. The portions are quite large, and you need to make at least two meals.

Ocean Star’s yogurt, a bottle of 200g, I was going to feed Tiantian when I took her back to my hometown, but I found that there was a puppy at home, so I fed the puppy, thinking that it would finish it in one meal. In the end, I drank less than half of it. It seems that it will not eat more just because it likes to eat to fill up its stomach. If it were Xiao Tiantian, it would keep eating even if it couldn't be eaten.

The milk in Hell’s Kitchen is also a bag of 200g. I drank half of it for Xiao Tiantian and took the rest to feed the cat. It turned out that the cat didn’t like drinking it. I really wanted the cat to drink water. It’s too difficult. The dog doesn’t need to be pressed to drink water. He will drink it when he is thirsty.

In addition, Shuhua milk and yogurt that humans drink can also be given to dogs. The yogurt should be original and xylitol-free. Just give it in one meal. I often buy yogurt in small bottles, and then lick the cap and bottom of the bottle for Xiao Tiantian. Anyway, I don’t give too much, just a taste for Xiao Tiantian.

Also, Zeal’s pet milk is mainly composed of 99.9% whole-fat fresh milk with added lactase. It is basically pure milk. It is very cost-effective and suitable for dogs to drink. Puppies can also drink it, which is quite nutritious. 6. Other snacks

1. How to choose

Mainly ham sausages, beef sticks, etc., as well as chicken wrapped with kiwi, duck wrapped with pears, and duck wrapped with sweet potatoes. Fruit, vegetable and meat combination.

What needs to be noted is:

① Although ham sausage is very palatable, the ingredients are really bad, and it is high in fat. Dogs will easily get tear marks if they eat it. I don’t think so. It is recommended to buy ham sausage for dogs.

② The main ingredients of beef sticks and beef cubes are actually beef + starch. They are not pure beef, and may be beef offcuts. After all, beef is so expensive per pound, so I don’t recommend buying it. Beef cubes and other related snacks, even the beef cubes in beef double-combination dog food, are often fake. I previously bought a beef double-combination dog food. The beef cubes were soaked in water. It looked like ham sausage and was not real beef cubes.

③ I still like snacks that are a combination of fruits, vegetables and meat, especially duck meat wrapped with sweet potatoes. I used to buy them often. Xiao Tiantian liked them very much. Later, I often bought chicken wrapped with kiwi fruit, etc. Wait, the palatability is very good.

④ No matter what snacks you buy, be sure to look at the ingredient list. Don’t buy a combination of meat powder + starch. Pure meat + fruits and vegetables are fine, or have ingredients that are beneficial to dogs.

2. Recommended items

Newick’s duck meat-wrapped French fries are really good, the homemade chicken and pumpkin-wrapped fries are very palatable, and Kuchisi’s kiwi-wrapped fries are very good. The chicken, duck wrapped with apples and duck wrapped with sweet potatoes are all very good, especially the kiwi in the chicken wrapped with kiwi is really fragrant, just like the smell of kiwi, I want to eat it.

Currently, I only have one pack of Coolchip’s pear-wrapped duck and homemade chicken-wrapped pumpkin left at home. I give one to Xiao Tiantian every day, which makes me happy.

Moreover, duck meat and pears are both relatively cool and have a certain effect on improving tear stains, so they are very suitable for eating in summer. Finally, let’s talk about the precautions for feeding snacks.

In fact, no matter what kind of snack it is, be sure not to feed it too much. Feed it reasonably according to the dog’s appetite. Don’t keep feeding it just because the dog likes it. I have a friend who feeds her dog meat buns. If it’s Xiao Tiantian, I have to feed it at least two or three times per pack. She feeds it in one meal. The problem is that her dog doesn’t have long legs yet. The result is a day of grunting, stomach discomfort, and then soft stools, indicating that I ate too much.

Therefore, do not feed too many snacks to prevent dogs from being picky eaters.