Treat Tuesday: Northwest Naturals Raw Rewards

Knowing that lots of pets have food sensitivities, Northwest Naturals made a line of single-ingredient freeze-dried treats called Raw Rewards. These are nice little nuggets made from either, beef liver, bison liver, chicken liver, lamb liver, or salmon. I really like that Northwest Naturals labels these as being for dogs or cats. I've seen other brands package the exact same treats for one or the other, but Northwest Naturals tells it like it is.

Ok, I had originally thought that all freeze dried raw liver treats were equally stanky, but it turns out there is a continuum. Pure Bites continues to hold the title of Most Horrible Liver Treats. Bravo Bonus Bites are so far the least odiferous of the 100% freeze dried bovine liver treats we've tried. Raw Rewards are somewhere in the middle.

Good For: Dogs with food allergies. Picky dogs. High value training treats. Cats!

Not Good For: Breaking into smaller pieces. Though Northwest Naturals recommends this, some of the pieces crumble into powder instead of breaking nicely.

How Much We Like Them: Sisci Godzilla likes them (as per usual). Ru actually gets excited about them. Zip isn't so sure about most treats, but she'll eat these. The cats absolutely love them.

Treat Tuesday: Bravo Bonus Bites Bison Liver

I got these Bonus Bites Bison Liver treats from the incredibly generous Bravo representatives at SuperZoo. These are just freeze dried bison liver, nothing else. They are made in the USA, from American bison and not water buffalo. They are way less stinky than the other freeze-dried liver treats I've encountered, which makes them slightly lower value for the dogs, but also slightly less horrific to deal with.

Good For: High value training treats, and many of the treats in the bag are already just the right size. Picky dogs. Dogs with allergies to anything but bison or beef. A compromise between the awesomeness of liver treats and the desire to go all Lady Macbeth on my hands after touching liver treats.

Not Good For: Low value training treats. Being boring.

How Much We Like Them: Sisci Godzilla likes them, Zip likes them, my client dogs like them, even Ru likes them. I just can't believe how non-awful they smell.

Treat Tuesday: LootPets Galactic Snaps

These Galactic Snaps arrived in our very first Loot Pets box from Loot Crate. They are made from freeze-dried beef liver and nothing else, and that makes them awesome. These are the highest-value treats known to dogdom, and even my picky-eaters will take them in stressful situations. They can be chopped or crumbled into tiny tastes for trick training, and they are ideal for dogs with allergies to anything but beef.

Good For: Training. Picky dogs. Allergy dogs. Nervous dogs. Highly-distracting situations. Chopping into tiny pieces and tossing with less-awesome treats to increase the awesome factor.

Not Good For: Long luxurious chewing sessions, or even quick crunching. They get inhaled.

How Much We Like Them: I had an enormous bag of PureBites freeze dried liver treats on the shelf, and I was still absolutely delighted to see these. So very, very awesome.

Treat Tuesday: DIY Pill Pockets Again

I started making my own pill pocket treats for Brisbane a couple of months ago, and since then I have made a few batches and learned a few things I wanted to share. Briz is allergic to chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs, and every flavor of Greenies Pill Pockets contains either chicken or duck. Here are the batches I have attempted so far:

Coconut flour/beef babyfood/coconut oil: It has been super hot here for the last several months with no sign of cooling off anytime soon. It has been so hot for so long that I forgot what coconut oil does when it gets cold. Like most fats, coconut oil turns to a nice hard solid when refrigerated. This batch of pill treats went from perfect texture to rock hard once I stuck them in the fridge. We still used them, but I had to let them sit out or roll them around in my hands a bit before I could squish the pills into them.

Coconut flour/bacon/bacon fat: Guess what else goes hard in the fridge? Bacon fat! These were definitely a lot tastier than the babyfood ones, but I ended up adding some peanut butter to get the texture right.

Unlike most bloggers, I am willing to show you my sloppily-formed
DIY pill pockets in all their lumpy glory.

Rice flour/Steak/Liver/Bone Broth/ Peanut Butter: I just made a huge batch of these and forming them into little pockets took forever. I tried adding a bit of xanthan gum to see how it changed the texture, but I don't think it did much. Maybe next time I'll add some gelatin for curiosity's sake. Yet again, I didn't set out to make these peanut butter treats, but I ended up adding it to help with the texture.

My ideal pill pocket texture is as close to the freshly-opened Greenies Pill Pockets as I can make it. This is a lot like playdough, it needs to stick to itself and be easily squished from one shape into another, but not be so sticky that the tub of them turns into an amorphous blob. This latest batch really didn't stick to itself, it resisted being rolled into shape and instead had to be smooshed rather firmly. I know that cream of tartar is what gives a homemade playdough its distinctive texture, maybe I should try that next.

Treat Tuesday: Wonder Nuggets

These PolkaDog Wonder Nuggets with Beef Liver are amazing training treats. They stay moist and don't crumble into little pieces. They don't smell like freeze-dried liver, either. Apples and rolled oats are part of the short list of ingredients, and the overall effect is rather pleasant. The size is just right for training Brisbane, and they have enough structural integrity to 

Good For: High-value training treats for Brisbane that don't make my hands yucky. Teaching new tricks and working in distracting environments.

Not Good For: Picky dogs, I'm looking at you Sisci and Ru.

How Much We Like Them: See how the bag is nearly empty? These make fabulous and convenient Briz-training treats.

Treat Tuesday: Purebites Freeze-Dried Liver Treats

Purebites are single-ingredient dog treats made from freeze-dried liver...and nothing else. Dogs love them like nothing else. With the exception of freeze-dried green tripe, these are the highest-value training treats I've found. They also stink. A lot. They come in pretty big chunks, but are easy to break up into smaller bits. These are made in the USA, from beef sourced in the USA.

Good For: Super high-value training treats. Training in highly-distracting environments. Treating picky dogs. Treating stressed dogs. Getting my hands incredibly stinky.

Not Good For: Super food-motivated dogs that can't think in the presence of the most amazing food ever. Treating dogs when I don't want my hands to smell nauseating.