Treats: What do you feed your dog
 

My Vet wants me to feed my dog marshmallows for treats instead of what I have been feeding him, but he won't eat them. Has anyone ever fed their dog "marshmallows"~?

No, I have not and would not and I have no idea why would a vet suggest marshmallows!!

I feed little bits of raw veggies - green beans, bell peppers, carrots, celery, broccoli, zucchini, or sweet potatoes (cooked).

Since Tibbe has been having tummy issues, I soak his Hill's GI I/D kibble in water, then when soft microwave it until hard, cool & dry it on both sides & give pieces of that to him for treats. HE LOVES IT! Will take a piece of uncooked kibble as a treat but not too enthused about it. He fights to get the microwaved version of it! He adores it.

Marshmallows=loads of sugar!:thumbdown

Right now, my little guy is having blood in his stool which most likely is linked to the Acana food that I recently switched him too. The Vet wants him on W/D and no treats except marshmallow. I'm going to have issues this week in agility (if we have it due to the high temps here) cause he's not eating the marshmallows.

Did you question why he recommended marshmallows? They are all sugar and gelatin......

I would be interested in knowing what his reasoning was. I understand wanting to limit treats with bloody stool but I don't understand why he would choose marshmallows over, say, cheerios.

Your dog probably has bloody stool because you offered him a "buffet" of different foods and always seem to be changing around and having issues with foods.

And no, I would never feed marshmellows purposely as a treat, or part of a staple diet. Jackson has eaten the occasional dropped mini marshmellow with no ill effect, however I can't imagine feeding them day after day as a staple treat.

As for the OP, we use grain-free soft and chewy Buddy Biscuits. Low fat, low calorie, and I break them up into tiny pieces. And he loves the flavor of them! These are what we tend to use most in terms of dog treats. Sometimes I'll buy something else. He gets a Zuke's Hip Action treat every night before bed. And for a high value reward (i.e. to get him into the bath) we use little bits of string cheese or plain chicken.

Since he's having bloody stool, it will be easier on his stomach. This is only temporary and after a month if he's tolerating all of everything else I need to do, I can slowly work back into whatever I was giving him.

Believe it or not, I actually have heard of vets offering really weird things. My friends dog had bad allergies going on, and some stomach upset, and her vet put her on an RX diet and told her to use french fries for treats. Plain potato or something, I could understand... but literally french fries? Sorry, but that doesn't seem healthy to me. LoL.

I was only offering him a buffet of small amounts of foods to find out which food he prefers better. The Vet told me this a long time ago. When I have changed foods, the bag was 1/2-3/4+ gone before I would switch a food. I didn't switch every day, week, etc. Also, my Vet does not believe in the "grain-free foods" that are out there now. Dogs need carbs like us humans~!

Have you ever gotten any other testing done? Maybe there is something else causing the bloody stools.

Okay. :)

But dogs don't *need* carbs actually. Can they utilize them? Absolutely. But that's a whole 'nother debate.

But this vet obviously believes marshmellows will calm a tummy down, so I'd take what he says with a grain of salt.

Oh and oops - I thought I was posting on the other treats question thread, which is why I had said 'as for the OP-" My bad!

Never had bloody stools before I used Acana. I checked the protein and it is the same as the other food he was on. I had to stop Acana and use the W/D and after 2 days begin the Acana back. When I began it back, blood again.

Imo try another vet for a second opinion. One who knows small breeds/Yorkies. IME Vets aren't all equal... Just like Doctors ect.. JMO

A dog's daily carbohydrate requirement is zero.

I feed a variety of treats: baby carrots, cheerios, dehydrated bananas, apples and sweet potatoes, boiled/scrambled eggs, boiled chicken, peanut butter.

They know about small breeds. There were 5 Yorkies in there on Saturday. I've had a couple more Vets but they never did squat~! When I took him then and even now, they always do something for him as well as call more than once to check on him and how's he doing~? They are available 24/7 to answer my questions.s Anyways, I only was asking about marshmallows and maybe I could get him to eat them. He's not picky on the treats, but apparently is now.

Are you a Vet~?

No, nor do I play one on TV.

See: ASPCA | Nutrients Your Dog Needs

Read: Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats

Research: AAFCO Nutrient Requirements for Dogs*

buddy biscuits you can get them in hard or soft treats

I just wanted to throw that out there. I've had some horrible Vets. Marshmallows are nothing but sugar. I've never heard them to be toxic. Some my guess is the Vet may say to give him these to soothe his stomach and maybe so he won't get Hypoglycemic from not eating enough?? Did the Vet give you a reason??? But IME blood in the stool maybe another problem?? Or some sort of Food allergy? Dunno never had a dog do this. But if the Vet's advise seems to help I would listen.

I feed fresh fruits and veggies for treats. I can't imagine that marshmellow be good for dogs, especially to combat bloody stools...JMO, that makes no sense to me.

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marshmellows...seems strange...mine 13 week old baby loves chopped carrots!:)

My vet told me that our fur babies get all the nutrition that they need from a high premium dog food, any treats should be healthy such as Vegetables and fruits. I feed mine raw baby carrots for a treat, apples, watermelon.

Finally after over 24 hours last night, I got him to eat marshmallow. Now I am having issues for him to take a Priolsec.

I make my own treats for mine generally. I will give them FROMM treats though.

I wouldn't force him to eat a marshmellow if he doesn't like it. He probably knows it's bad for him! lol.

Herschel is on Acana Wild Prairie. His stool is fine. He is not fond of it to be honest. But he dislikes all dry food. I am considering a Prey Model diet for him after reading several posts on here about the success and health of the yorkies being fed that way.

I know this has already been suggested but I would really seek out a second opinion from another vet.

And it is important to take vets' advice with a grain of salt when it comes to food recommendations. Many vets are not as knowledgeable in animal nutrition as you would expect and many will just push a prescription food on you. I'm surprised that a vet would "not believe in grain-free foods," especially since dogs do not require them. There are many excellent grain-inclusive foods but grains aren't necessary if your dog tolerates that kind of diet. I am even more surprised that a vet would recommend feeding your pup refined sugar. Even for myself, I know I shouldn't be eating refined sugar and I absolutely would not give it to my dog. Just be careful and do research to double check things.

As for treats that I give my pup, I like to give Toki little pieces of fruits/vegetables like green beans, sweet potatoes, zucchini, blueberries, etc! This is a great season for good produce! If I give her a store-bought treat, I like the Stella & Chewys carnivore kisses which are just freeze-dried meats. I try to do just grain-free treats but occasionally I'll give her some of the Blue Stix (the beef and potato are a favorite!).

morgan gets old mother hubbard's biscuits and yorkie yummies// i dont give him very many treats just a biscuit at bed time