Reinforcing your dog’s good habits will be a contact fixture of your relationship with them, especially if you want them to be well behaved in mixed company and strange situations. There are many approaches, of course, but one of the major ones is positive reinforcement. Dogs are opportunistic eaters and tend to be strongly motivated by food rewards. These rewards are especially effective in low-pressure situations, so having treats on hand to reward your dog for listening to you regularly is a good way to prime them for listening when there are distractions. If you have a dog and are looking for the best reward for their good behavior, here are our picks for the best dog treats.
Wellness soft and chewy treats also contain no corn, soy, wheat, artificial colors or flavors. The five available flavors include beef and turkey, chicken and lamb, chicken and venison, lamb and salmon, and turkey and duck. The treats are formed into small squares that are great for training.
If you want to go minimalist with your treat selection, consider whole cow ears. Sourced from free-range, grass-fed cattle in South America, these ears are totally digestible. Unlike rawhide or other treats, these ears contain no other ingredients and are minimally processed. The texture will help clean teeth and gums and also give your dog something to chew on for a little longer than the average treat. You can also get them in pig ear variety.
These are a little on the pricey side, but they are absolutely worth every penny. These yak milk treats are super hard, so they essentially double as a chew toy. They’re odorless, which is ideal because they can last a very long time. My dogs love these, especially my shar pei mix who can make his last for a couple of weeks of chewing enjoyment. They do a decent job of keeping your dog’s teeth clean while also being free of common allergens.
Speaking of package size options, these cow hooves from Pawstruck are available in both normal ten packs and in bulk buy bags of up to 100. As you buy more, you get a bulk discount. You can also choose to buy smaller packs with the hooves filled with peanut butter or cheese and bacon, if you prefer. Cow hooves are excellent all-natural treats that last awhile and clean your dog’s teeth while they chew. These are U.S.-made and offer a 30 day money back guarantee.
Merrick makes some of the best pet food on the market, including the food we put on our best grain free dry dog food post. These flat single-ingredient treats are made in the U.S. and can be broken into smaller pieces during training exercises. Dogs love these offcut style treats, which have the added benefit of requiring no other ingredients. They also make a beef lung variety.
If you’re not a huge fan of giving your dog rawhide because you’re afraid of cut gums or possible blockages, you might try this treat which is designed to emulate rawhide yet be 99% digestible. These last a bit longer than normal dog treats and have added vitamins and minerals to support your dog’s health. The available flavors are peanut butter, beef and chicken.
For those who prefer to avoid giving rawhide as a treat, pig ears make a great alternative. The tend to be somewhat longer-chewing than other treats and are still highly enticing. My dogs go absolutely crazy for pig ears. Like other single-ingredient treat options, there are no other unnecessary ingredients to worry about. These do tend to be a little oily and smelly, but I’ve never been particularly bothered by them.
And then there’s the classic dog cookie. These aren’t anything fancy and they won’t help control your dog’s weight, but they’re well-loved by many dogs and make a handy treat. Nothing fancy here, just a good old-fashioned dog biscuit. Choose from an assortment of flavors for these tried-and-true dog biscuits: Classic, Extra Tasty Assortment, P-Nuttier, Bac’N’Cheese, Just Vegg’n, Liv’R’Crunch, Char-Tar, and Chicken Pot Pie (only available in Mini size).
This might surprise some, but Rachael Ray’s Nutrish line of dog food is actually reasonably healthy compared to a lot of supermarket junk out there. These dog treats take an interesting approach, offering the flavor profiles of a good soup in a chewy triangular bone with a meaty center. Those flavor profiles include Beef & Barley, Chicken & Veggies, and Turkey & Rice.
When I want my dogs to have a treat and leave me alone for a little while, I give them one of these. These are among the best treat/dog toy combinations going. They’re all natural, have no additional ingredients, and do a great job of keeping your dog occupied. Highly recommended.
I take my husky to a dog daycare a couple times a week to give him an opportunity to mingle with other dogs and get his energy out. They have a retail space dedicated to natural foods and treats, which includes this offering from Barkworthies. They swear by the company’s offerings, which tend to focus on these single-ingredient, natural treats that offer other ancillary benefits. Lamb tripe is nutritious and helps maintain a healthy coat while the sticks themselves are chewy so they’re fun for your dog to eat. They’re also readily digested.
If your dog likes these, they may also like some of the other products made by the company, including cow tails and this dog chew variety pack.
As with jerky, freeze dried treats are a great option. They preserve all the nutrients of the meat and limit the other ingredients. Halo makes both a chicken and a salmon variety — both in the U.S. — that are great for training and easy to digest. They’re low-calorie and high protein and as an added benefit, the company donates a bowl of pet food to animal shelters with every purchase.
Limited ingredient treats are great, especially if you’re battling allergies, but they are, after all, treats, so it’s okay to go for things that are a little more interesting, too. These are dog sausage coins made from human-grade meat. They’re on the smaller side, so they’re good for training or for giving to small pups. They’re not totally grain free, but dogs tend to tolerate brown rice flour pretty well. In addition to this chicken sausage recipe, you can also get duck and pumpkin, chicken nuggets, chicken and sweet potato, and turkey meatball. There’s even a chicken strip option with glucosamine and chondroitin, if none of the options on our post on the topic will work.
Jerky treats are a good choice because they tend to be relatively limited ingredient and focused on meat. These chicken jerky strips are made in the U.S. of human-grade ingredients and offer a satisfying texture for your dog to bite into. With this product, you also get a number of choices for what size of package you want to buy, from three ounces to 24 and multi-pack bundles.
Available in a variety of forms and flavors, Blue Buffalo treats are an excellent choice. Grain-free as is the rest of their line, the made in U.S.A. biscuits are made to be crunchy rather than soft like the others. Flavors for these bicuits include duck, salmon, turkey, red meat, and the slightly more exotic alligator and catfish.
You could also try their slightly cheaper line of Health Bars, which come in the following flavors: Bacon, Egg & Cheese, Pumpkin & Cinnamon, Apples & Yogurt, Banana & Yogurt, Chicken Liver, and Fish & Sweet Potato.
If your dog isn’t crazy about the Wellness option elsewhere on this list, try these treats from the company’s Core line, which is dedicated to high-protein, grain free options. These are crunchy biscuit treats with beef or turkey marrow in the middle. It satisfies both the need to chomp on something and to have a savory snack. They’re made in the U.S. and could be a good option for high-value treats during training.
While not quite as limited in terms of ingredients as some of the others, these treats are still primarily focused on two elements, in this case, fish and sweet potato. These treats feature both salmon and whitefish for dogs that prefer flavors from the sea. The biscuit shaped treat will support your dog’s digestive health and comes in six flavors: Sweet Potato & Fish, Sweet Potato & Bison, Potato & Duck, Sweet Potato & Chicken, Brown Rice & Lamb, and Sweet Potato & Venison.
We included an option from Pet Botanics on our best training treats post because there one of the two brands I use for training my dogs and they really seem to love them.
In addition to those smaller morsel treats, the company also makes these five-layer treats. Choose from chicken, duck, salmon, and even an ostrich recipe in three, five, and 12-ounce packages. They’re grain free, using easily-digested sweet potato as the main filler.
These Canidae treats are made in the U.S.A. without corn, wheat, soy or fillers. These are chewy, cookie-like treats that come in six varieties: wild board and cherry, trout and pomegranate, bison and pumpkin, sweet potato and duck, rabbit and kale, and turkey and apple. As we noted on our grain-free dog food post, Canidae is a great choice for natural foods.
First Four Ingredients (wild boar and cherry variety):
This Zuke’s product is a sausage-type treat, making them perfect for small breeds or to use as a training morsel for larger dogs. They’re grain free and include apples and carrots, which provide necessary nutrients. You can choose from four flavors: Chicken & Apple, Duck & Apple, Rabbit & Apple, and Pork & Apple. The perfect solution to keeping your dog away from your Lit’l Smokies.
Since dogs can some times have allergies to other meats, this duck-based treat offer an alternative. These treats are made in the U.S.A. of all natural ingredients fortified with vitamins and antioxidants. They take the form of a treat shaped almost like a McRib and are very high protein. If you prefer, there’s also a chicken variety and a salmon variety.
Relying almost entirely on pure beef, these jerky treats are smoked for 15 hours in small batches. The result is a soft texture that dogs love. You can tear the strips to parcel it out into smaller amounts for training or give them the whole thing in one go. Jerky is a great natural treat for carnivorous canines. As an alternative, they also offer liver treats.
Want to try something really different? These puffed treats provide an interesting texture while reducing the calories when compared with a traditional dog treat. They’re made of a puffed mixture pearled sorghum, rice and navy beans, which is easily digested and makes for a good crunch. Flavors include White Cheddar, Sweet Potato & Apple, Rotisserie Chicken and Smoked Sausage.
Like the Plato duck treats also found on this list, the use of rabbit as the principal ingredient is a good choice for dogs with sensitive stomachs because it’s easier to digest than other meat proteins. It’s also good for dogs with allergies to the typical livestock offerings, while also being lower in calories and fat. In addition to these slider treats, you can also get jerky and tenders.
