Treat Yo’Self: Penny’s Favorite Treats

| Hi furiends, get ready to treat yo’self, because we’re about to share all of our favorite treats! I’ve broken it down into four categories: chews/bones, cookie treats, frozen treats, and health treats! I’ll be talking about why Penny loves each brand and why I feed them to her, but keep in mind that I’m not a vet or a nutritionist or anything – just a happy customer sharing my own opinions with other dog parents! I’ve chosen to share treats in this list that are available online or in stores nationwide, but Penny’s cookie jar is often stocked with treats and chews from local pet stores, delis, and bakeries.

All of the Amazon ads embedded in this article were custom made by me to make it easier for you to shop while reading! They’re safe to click and will take you straight to the products I’ve hand-picked to share with you.

The brands with an asterisk (*) by their name below have gifted us treats in exchange for a review – it just so happens that they’re all now on our favorites list! All opinions stated are my own.

Website Links

Click each item below to view the company’s website –

Chews/Bones:
SmartBones | EarthAnimal | LeShoob* | Canine Cravers*

Small Snack Treats:
Zuke’s | Milkbones | Charlee Bear | Fruitables

Frozen Treats:
Bazzy’s Kefir* | Swell Gelato

Health Treats:
Merrick | Herbsmith* | Treatibles *

Chews and Bones

Every time I show how clean Penny’s teeth are, people ask me how I keep them so pearly white – the answer is bones and chews! Now I will say, Penny also chews on her toys all day, including ropes and stuffed animals, so that also helps. However, every day I give her some type of bone or chew and they really helps keep her back molars clean and tartar-free. Listed below are some of the major brands that I buy in stores and on Amazon, but I also usually have a stock of bones and chews from local dog stores. Be sure to check in your area for places that have all-natural, rawhide-free dog chew bars!

SmartBones

SmartBones: Penny has been eating SmartBones rawhide-free chews ever since she was a puppy! She loves every single flavor they make and has fun with all of the different shapes. They have soo much variety in their products, from fun puzzle-style chews to flat chips to regular twists! I love them because they’re rawhide free and easy for her to digest! The ones Penny eats most often are the regular sticks, the chips, and the zoo animal shapes.

Earth Animal

Earth Animal: I can’t remember exactly when and where I first found out about Earth Animal no-hide chews, but Penny is SO glad that I did! She loves the chicken and venison flavors the most and I love how they’re rawhide-free and have absolutely no additives or chemicals. These are also great because they take her a bit longer to chew than other bones and they really clean her back teeth when she chews. People often notice how white Penny’s teeth are for her age and I think these bones are why!

Usually, Penny eats the small sticks in various flavors, but when I want to give her something that lasts a lot longer, I give her the 4″ rawhide-free chew burrito-looking ones. She gets so excited and they actually last her several days.

LeShoob and Canine Cravers

LeShoob and Canine Cravers: Both of these brands make amazing dehydrated meat chews for dogs! They both have great products, but I have to give LeShoob the points for fantastic branding and packaging! Penny goes absolutely insane for the chicken ones in both brands, but we haven’t tried any other flavors yet! The ingredients are super natural, with no chemical additives – they’re literally made from one thing: dehydrated chicken breast. It doesn’t get any better than that! Click each photo to shop!

Small Snack Treats:

Small snack treats are the best option for training and rewards. When choosing a training treat, be sure to look for something super small and low-calorie because you’ll be giving your dog lots throughout the training session. You can also get something larger that has a crumbly texture and break it up into tiny pieces. You just don’t want to give them something they have to stop and chew, because that will interrupt the training mindset. When you’re only rewarding your dog once, like for going into her crate, opt for something a little bit larger and more high-value, like a cookie or biscuit treat.

Zuke’s

Zuke’s: The Zuke’s puppy training treats are actually some of the very first treat we ever bought for Penny when she was a baby! I loved that they were super tiny and low-calorie and Penny loved all of the puppy flavors. When she got older, we switched to the regular training treats and she loved those too! They come in several flavors and like I said, they’re super tiny. I keep a ziploc bag of Zuke’s in my purse and in my dog-walking fanny pack – it’s super important to always have treats on hand to mitigate Penny’s reactive barking and these are the ones I always use!

Milkbones

Milkbones: These are a staple of every dog’s life. I know some people have mixed feelings about them because they’re not necessarily healthy, but we all deserve a cookie every once in a while! These are also super affordable to buy in bulk if you have a lot of dogs at home or are having a party. I always put out a container of Milkbones at our parties and events. I also keep a ceramic Dachshund-shaped cookie jar full of Milkbones in Penny’s room and she gets one every time she has to be left home alone in her crate. She’s always very happy to go in her house for a sweet reward! I always buy the variety pack of flavors, but she’s had the marrow bone cookies at my parents’ house and all of the dogs love them too!

Charlee Bear

Charlee Bear: After the LA Weenies Halloween event, Whiskey’s mom (@its.whiskey.time) handed out tons of Charlee Bear samples and we fell in love! They’re another great tiny training treat and they honestly remind me of tiny communion wafers for all you Catholic school kids or oyster crackers for the rest of you. Penny loves the liver flavor and we can’t wait tor try some other flavors in their product line. They’re great because they don’t break or leave crumbs or stains in your pockets, another thing that makes them an excellent choice for training treats.

Fruitables

Fruitables: We first got a pack of Fruitables in a birthday gift and Penny really enjoyed them! I’ve continued purchasing them at places like Marshall’s or HomeGoods and Penny loves every flavor she’s tried. I have to admit, I’ve even tried one of the apple cinnamon ones because it smelled so much like a Nutri-Grain bar, I couldn’t resist… It wasn’t very sweet, but definitely tasted like apples and cinnamon to me! Fruitables are small cookies, that come in both crunchy and soft varieties, that are great on the go!

Frozen Treats:

Frozen treats are great anytime of year, but especially refreshing on hot days or after long play sessions! Penny loves to lick, so she really enjoys eating frozen dog treats like ice cream, pawsicles, gelato, and kefir. Below are two of our favorite brands of frozen dog treats, but you can also make them at home by combining different ingredients in the blender and freezing them in silicone molds!

Bazzy’s Kefir

Bazzy’s Kefir: Bazzy’s Kefir is a super delicious doggy treat made from coconut milk and a living probiotic called kefir. I wrote a whole blog post about this awesome brand that you can check out by clicking the button below!

Read My Blog Post

Swell Gelato For Dogs

Swell Gelato for Dogs: Swell is an all-natural, slow-churned frozen gelato treat for dogs, made in Seattle. I also wrote a blog post about this awesome brand that you can check out by clicking the button below!

Read My Blog Post

Health Treats:

There are lots of treats on the market that offer supplemental health benefits and these are three of our favorites! Remember that when you’re giving health treats, they’re meant to be given like vitamins, not eaten like candy the way you might give your dog other small treats. By the way, I’m not a veterinarian or animal nutritionist, so this is all just my opinion!

Merrick

Merrick: These treats are seriously THE BEST for bad dog breath. Every time Penny’s kisses smell particularly fishy or she’s gotten into something gross, I’ll give her one of these mint-infused treats. They’re not necessarily hard and tartar-removing, but sort of chewy and loaded with fresh teeth-cleaning ingredients like peppermint and coconut oil. They come in several sizes, so choose based on your dog’s weight, but start with half a chew anyways to avoid potential upset stomachs!

Treatibles

Treatibles: This is our go-to brand for CBD treats for Penny. They sent us some of the soft chews to try and we’ve been obsessed ever since! We give Penny one of these before every single flight or stressful event and they work like a charm. She doesn’t completely fall asleep, but she lays super still with her eyes half open and just chills super hard. It’s so much more effective and comfortable for her than the prescription sedative drugs we used to use before Treatibles. I definitely recommend these to everyone who asks me for a CBD recommendation! Click each photo to shop!

HerbSmith

HerbSmith: If you’ve been searching for any type of supplement for your dog, look no further than HerbSmith. They have an amazing product line of supplements for almost every system of the canine body as well as a line of delicious treats. They sent us both their Glimmer skin and coat supplements and some of their regular treats to try and Penny loves both! The Glimmer supplement has helped keep Penny’s hair glossy and smooth. She must love the taste because she gets super excited when I open the container and she always begs for a second one. I actually wrote at length about the Glimmer supplement in Penny’s Beauty Routine blog post, so you can read more about why we love it there.

Alright pups & doggos, get out there and TREAT YO’SELF!