I'm curious how many different treats you give your babies -- not all in the same day necessarily but on a regular rotation basis.
I free feed hard food all day long … plus they have their new free standing water bottle which I HIGHLY recommend!! The water stays clean and sanitary … no floaties or dust bunnies!! I also started putting Apple Cider Vinegar in their water (after a YT member posted a great review about it) and I see an improvement already!!
In addition to free fed hard food, I give them a wide variety of treats. I don't give them 10 different treats in one day (usually 2 or 3) but I rotate and use different treats every day so they never get bored. I'm always on the lookout for more healthy treats to add into the mix. Right now I give them:
1. Wellness Biscuits (I was a little skeptical at first because they seemed so dry but my babies LOVED them and gobble them up!!)
2. Baby Carrots
3. Green Beans (They LOVE them!! I use regular canned cut green beans … nothing fancy.)
4. Natural Choice Healthy Desserts (If you haven't tried these yet, you don't know what you're missing!! My babies practically inhale them!!)
5. Frosty Paws Ice Cream (I buy this and I also have a recipe for it and make it for them too)
6. Yogurt Drops
7. Nylabones (Any flavor but they especially love CHEESE and ROAST BEEF!!)
8. Bully Sticks (I usually always have a few bully sticks lying around the house for them)
9. Natural Balance Rolls
10. Natural Balance Chicken and Lamb Sticks
In addition to treats, I give them 1 or 2 cans of wet food a week as a treat. I usually use:
1. Natural Choice Lamb and Rice
2. Natural Choice Chicken, Rice and Oatmeal
3. Merrick Smothered Comfort
4. Merrick Wingaling
5. Holistic Health Extension Lamb Entrée
6. Holistic Health Extension Chicken Entrée
7. Blue Buffalo Chicken w/ Brown Rice and Garden Vegetables
8. Blue Buffalo Lamb w/ Brown Rice and Garden Vegetables
And then there's the home cooked treats I make for them like Banana Pupcakes, Frosty Paws Ice Cream, Soft Doggie Cookies (they're great for older dogs with bad teeth), Cheesie Bites, Milk Bone Doggie Biscuits, Veggie Bones, Peanut Butter Puppy Poppers, Apple Crunch Pupcakes, Banana Biscotti and Peanut Butter Doggie Biscuits. They also love all sorts of fresh fruit (like strawberries, melon, watermelon, honeydew, peaches, pears, apple slices, etc.) and fresh uncooked veggies (which are so healthy because all the vitamins and minerals are still intact ... once you cook them, most of the vitamins and nutrients are gone). They REALLY love green beans, baby carrots and broccoli.
Plus, I make my own creation of what I call FROZEN FRUITY BALLS!! This is basically either fresh or canned fruit (but not canned fruit in heavy syrup and be extra careful not to buy the ones in CORN cyrup ... the canned fruit I use is from the health food store and it's in natural fruit juice/syrup ... NO corn syrup). My dogs love PEACH frozen fruity balls! So you'd take a peach, wash and slice it, then cut the slices in half or thirds -- depending on how big the peach is. Then put the small slices in a ice cube tray, add some bottled water and freeze. Trust me, my babies go nuts for this!! If you use canned fruit, you don't need to add water. Instead, just add the juice/syrup to the fruit in the ice cube tray and it works great!! These are especially awesome for the hot summer weather!!
Does anyone else feed their babies a healthy treat (no raw hide or greenies or anything with corn in it) that's not on my list? I'd love to add some more goodies to their treat rotation!! I spoke to my vet and he said it's better to feed them a variety of treats (rather then eat the same thing every single day) because it helps them get use to eating a wide variety, makes them less picky eaters and can help them build up am immunity to different foods. An example he gave me is if I fed my dog only 1 hard food and only gave them 1 treat (let's say yogurt drops) for 1 year, and then we went to a friends house for dinner and someone accidentally dropped food on the floor (let's say chicken or lamb) and they ran and gobbled up a piece before we were able to pick it up, they would probably get diarrhea from it because they are only use to eating 1 thing!! So to me it makes sense to feed them a variety of HEALTHY foods (no junk food or crap with corn and by-products in it) for their overall health and well being … plus, they enjoy it!! Eating the same thing every single day must be so boring and mundane!
So, pass along any info on YUMMY healthy treats!! I'm open to trying anything!!
PS - Here's the link to the free standing water bottle I use and LOVE!!
http://www.bottlebabies.com/ordering.htm