Yes, puppies can have dog treats, but not just any treat and not at any age. Giving treats safely means picking the right kind for their young bodies and knowing when can puppies eat treats. It’s important to choose the best treats for puppies that support their growth and don’t cause problems like puppy digestive issues treats can.
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Why Treats Matter for Puppies
Puppies are like little kids learning about the world. Treats are a great help in this learning process. They are not just tasty snacks. Treats can be tools for teaching good habits and helping your puppy feel safe and happy.
Treats as Training Helpers
One big reason people use treats for puppies is training. Puppy training treats are super helpful. When your puppy does something right, like sitting when you ask or going potty outside, a small treat tells them they did a good job. This makes them want to do it again. It’s called positive reinforcement. Small, tasty treats work best because you need to give them often during training sessions.
Treats for Bonding
Giving a treat by hand helps build a strong bond between you and your puppy. It shows them you are a source of good things. This helps them trust you and feel safe with you.
Treats for Comfort
New things can be scary for a puppy. A treat can make a scary situation feel less bad. For example, giving a small treat when you put them in their crate can help them think of the crate as a good place. Giving one before a car ride can make the ride feel okay.
Knowing When Treats Are Okay
Puppies are not born ready for solid food or treats. They start by drinking their mother’s milk. As they grow, they slowly start eating solid puppy food.
The Right Age to Start Treats
Most puppies start eating solid food around 3 to 4 weeks old. But this is soft, mushy food at first. Treats are usually harder and richer than their main food.
Veterinarians often suggest waiting until a puppy is about 8 weeks old before giving them treats.
Why wait?
* Tummy Time: A young puppy’s digestive system is still growing and getting stronger. Giving treats too early can upset their stomach.
* Learning Food: The first few weeks on solid food are for learning to eat their main, balanced puppy food. Treats should not get in the way of this.
* Weaning: Puppies are usually weaned (stopped drinking mother’s milk) completely by 7 or 8 weeks. Once they are fully on solid food, their tummies are usually better ready for small amounts of treats.
So, the answer to when can puppies eat treats is generally around 8 weeks old, once they are eating puppy food well. This follows basic puppy treat age guidelines.
Picking Good Treats for Young Dogs
Choosing the right treat is key to safe giving. Safe treats for puppies are not the same as treats for adult dogs. Puppies need treats that are gentle on their young teeth, mouths, and tummies. They also need treats that are healthy and don’t give them too many extra calories.
What Makes a Treat Good for Puppies?
Think about these things when picking treats:
- Size: Puppy treats should be small. Very small. A tiny crumb or a pea-sized piece is often enough, especially for training. Big treats can be a choking risk or too much for their little tummies.
- Texture: Soft treats are best. Puppies have sharp but sensitive puppy teeth and growing gums. Hard treats can hurt their mouths or even break a tooth. Soft treats are also easier to chew and swallow safely. They are also often easier to digest.
- Ingredients: Simple is better. Look for treats with just a few ingredients. Single-ingredient treats (like freeze-dried liver) are great because they are easy to know what’s in them and are often easy to digest. Good types of treats for young dogs have real meat, poultry, or fish as the first ingredient.
- Digestibility: Puppy tummies can get upset easily. Treats should be easy for them to digest. Rich or fatty treats can cause diarrhea or vomiting. Avoid treats with lots of fillers, artificial colors, or weird chemicals. These can be hard for puppies to break down. This is important if you are worried about puppy digestive issues treats.
- “Puppy” Marked: Many companies make treats just for puppies. These treats are often made to be softer, smaller, and easier to digest for young dogs. Look for treats labeled “for puppies” or “puppy treats.” These are often the best treats for puppies.
Specific Examples of Safe Puppy Treats
- Small, Soft Chews: Look for treats specifically labeled “puppy” that are soft and can be easily broken into smaller pieces.
- Freeze-Dried Meat: Pieces of freeze-dried chicken, beef liver, or salmon are often single-ingredient and can be broken into tiny training bits. They are usually very appealing to puppies.
- Small Pieces of Cooked Meat/Veg: Tiny pieces of cooked, plain chicken breast or little bits of cooked carrot or green bean can be great, healthy treats. Make sure they are plain with no added salt, butter, or spices. Only give tiny amounts.
- Puppy-Specific Biscuits (Use with Care): Some crunchy treats are okay, but make sure they are small and not too hard for puppy teeth. Break them up if needed. Soft chews are generally safer and easier on the tummy.
What to Look for on the Bag
Reading the treat bag is important. Don’t just grab any bag.
* Ingredients List: The first few ingredients are the most important. Look for real meat, poultry, or fish. Try to avoid bags where the first ingredient is a grain filler or a byproduct that isn’t clearly named.
* Guaranteed Analysis: This tells you the minimum percentage of crude protein and fat, and maximum fiber and moisture. For treats, you mostly want to see decent protein (from the meat ingredients).
* Calorie Count: Treats have calories. These add up! The bag should tell you how many calories are in each treat or a certain weight. Keep this in mind so you don’t give too many calories from treats.
* Feeding Guide: Some bags have a guide, but remember this is just a suggestion. Your puppy’s needs might be different.
Choosing safe treats for puppies means being a smart shopper. Don’t just pick the cutest bag or the cheapest treats. Think about what’s best for your puppy’s health and safety.
Treats Just for Training
Training is a big part of having a puppy. Treats are a powerful tool for this. But the best puppy training treats have special features.
Features of Good Training Treats
- Small Size: Training sessions mean giving many treats. Each treat should be tiny. Think the size of a pea or even smaller for small breeds. If the treat is big, break it into tiny pieces. This way, you can give many treats without giving too many calories.
- High Value: A good training treat is something your puppy really loves. This makes them eager to work for it. Freeze-dried meat, small pieces of cheese (if their tummy handles dairy well, which isn’t always the case for puppies), or special soft chews are often high value. Their regular kibble is low value – it’s their everyday food.
- Easy to Eat Quickly: Training moves fast. You want the puppy to eat the treat almost instantly so they can focus on the next command. Hard biscuits take too long to chew. Soft or chewy treats are often better.
- Not Crumbly: You’ll be carrying these treats in your pocket or a pouch. You don’t want them to turn into a million crumbs. Soft, non-crumbly treats are more practical.
- Healthy: Since you give many during training, they should be healthy and low in calories relative to their size.
Using Treats in Training
- Timing is Everything: Give the treat immediately after the puppy does the right thing. The treat marks the behavior you want to see more of.
- Pair with Praise: Say “Good!” or “Yes!” in a happy voice at the same time you give the treat. The puppy learns that the word and the treat mean they did well.
- Vary the Rewards: Don’t just use treats. Use praise, petting, and fun toys too. This keeps training interesting and helps the puppy learn to work even without treats every single time.
- Fade the Treats (Later): As your puppy gets better at a command, you won’t need to give a treat every single time. You can give it sometimes, or just give praise. But for new behaviors, treats are very important at first.
Remember, treats are a bridge to learning. They help the puppy understand what you want.
Figuring Out How Many Treats
Knowing how many treats can a puppy have is super important. Giving too many treats can cause health problems.
The 10% Rule
A good general rule is that treats should make up no more than 10% of your puppy’s total daily calories.
Why only 10%?
* Balanced Nutrition: Puppy food is specially made to have all the nutrients a growing puppy needs. If treats make up a large part of their diet, they might not eat enough of their food to get these key nutrients.
* Weight Gain: Treats add extra calories. Puppies need to grow, but they shouldn’t get fat. Too many calories lead to being overweight, which causes health problems later on.
* Spoiling Appetite: If a puppy fills up on treats, they won’t be hungry for their main meals. This again means they miss out on balanced nutrition.
How to Figure Out the 10%
This can be tricky because you need to know how many calories your puppy eats in a day from their food and how many calories are in the treats.
- Find Puppy Food Calories: Look on your puppy food bag. It should give calories per cup or per gram (often listed as kcal/cup or kcal/kg).
- Calculate Total Daily Calories: Ask your vet or check the food bag’s feeding guide for how many calories your puppy needs per day based on their age, weight, and breed size.
- Calculate 10%: Take that total daily calorie number and divide it by 10. That’s the maximum number of calories that should come from treats.
- Example: If your puppy needs 500 calories a day, only 50 of those calories should come from treats (500 / 10 = 50).
- Find Treat Calories: Look on the treat bag for calories per treat.
- Limit Treats: Divide the maximum treat calories (from step 3) by the calories per treat (from step 4). This tells you the maximum number of those specific treats your puppy can have in a day.
- Example: If each treat has 5 calories, and your puppy can have 50 treat calories total, they can have 10 treats (50 / 5 = 10).
This might sound like a lot of math! A simpler way to think about it is: treat amounts should look very small compared to their meal size. A handful of kibble is a meal; a single training treat is often smaller than one piece of kibble.
Factors That Change How Many Treats Are Okay
- Size of Puppy: A tiny Chihuahua puppy needs way fewer total calories than a big Great Dane puppy. So, their 10% limit is much lower.
- Activity Level: A very active puppy burns more calories than a sleepy one. They might be able to have slightly more treats, but still stick to the 10% rule.
- How Much Food They Eat: If your puppy isn’t finishing their main meals, cut back on treats immediately.
It’s better to give too few treats than too many. If you are using lots of treats for training, make sure they are very small and consider slightly reducing the amount of their regular food that day (talk to your vet about this).
Adult Treats vs. Puppy Treats: A Look
Can puppies eat treats made for adult dogs? Are adult dog treats safe for puppies?
Generally, no, adult dog treats are often not safe or suitable for puppies. There are several reasons why:
- Hardness: Adult treats, especially dental chews or biscuits, are often much harder than puppy treats. Puppies have developing teeth and jaws. Hard treats can damage their teeth, hurt their gums, or be hard to chew properly.
- Size: Adult treats are usually bigger. A treat sized for a Golden Retriever adult is too big for a Golden Retriever puppy, let alone a smaller breed puppy. Big treats can be a major choking hazard for a puppy. They might try to swallow it whole or break off pieces that are too large.
- Digestibility: Adult treats can be richer or contain ingredients that are harder for a young puppy’s digestive system to handle. This goes back to puppy digestive issues treats. A treat okay for an adult might cause vomiting or diarrhea in a puppy.
- Calorie Density: Adult treats can be very high in calories. Because puppies are smaller and need fewer total calories, even one adult-sized treat can be a huge portion of their daily calorie allowance, breaking the 10% rule easily.
- Nutrient Balance (Less Common): While not usually a major issue for treats, puppy food and treats are sometimes formulated with slightly different nutrient balances to support rapid growth. Adult treats don’t consider these specific needs.
Think of it like baby food versus adult food for humans. While an adult can eat baby food, a baby cannot safely eat many adult foods (steak, hard candy, etc.) because they can’t chew or digest them well, and the nutrition is wrong. It’s similar for puppies and adult dog treats.
Stick to treats specifically made and labeled for puppies, especially when they are very young (under 6 months).
Treats Puppies Should Never Have
Just as there are good treats, there are some treats and foods that are dangerous for puppies. Knowing treats to avoid giving puppies is critical for their safety.
Dangerous Dog Chews
- Rawhide: Rawhide chews are made from animal hides that have been processed. They can be very dangerous for puppies.
- Risks: Rawhide can be hard to digest and cause stomach upset or blockages. As puppies chew them, pieces can break off that are too large to swallow safely, leading to choking or blockages in the throat, stomach, or intestines. Rawhide can also be treated with chemicals.
- Hard Bones (Real or Synthetic): Cooked real bones (like chicken or steak bones) can splinter and cause serious internal injury. Raw bones carry bacteria risk. Very hard synthetic bones can break teeth. Puppy teeth are not strong enough for hard bones.
- Risks: Broken teeth, mouth injury, choking, internal punctures or blockages from swallowed pieces, bacterial infection.
- Hooves and Antlers: These are extremely hard and are common causes of broken teeth in dogs, especially puppies with softer tooth enamel.
- Risks: Broken teeth, mouth injury, choking.
Treats with Bad Ingredients
- Too Much Fat or Sugar: Treats high in fat or sugar can cause digestive upset (puppy digestive issues treats). Too much sugar is bad for their health just like for humans.
- Artificial Colors, Flavors, Preservatives: These offer no nutritional value and can sometimes cause allergic reactions or digestive problems in sensitive puppies.
- Excessive Salt: High salt is not good for dogs.
- Ingredients You Can’t Pronounce: If the ingredient list looks like a chemistry experiment, it’s probably not a good choice. Stick to whole, recognizable food items.
Certain Human Foods (Major No-Nos)
While some plain human foods are okay in tiny amounts, many are toxic or harmful to dogs. Never give your puppy these:
* Chocolate (especially dark chocolate)
* Grapes and Raisins
* Xylitol (an artificial sweetener found in sugar-free gum, some peanut butters, baked goods)
* Onions and Garlic (can damage red blood cells over time)
* Macadamia Nuts
* Avocado (the pit is a choking hazard and contains persin which can be mildly toxic)
* Alcohol
* Yeast Dough
This isn’t a complete list, but these are some of the most common and dangerous. Always look up if a human food is safe before giving it to your puppy.
Choosing safe treats for puppies means knowing what to give and what to absolutely avoid.
When Treats Cause Tummy Problems
Even with good treats, sometimes puppies get an upset stomach. This is common because their bodies are still getting used to different foods. If you give a new treat and your puppy has problems, that treat might be one of the puppy digestive issues treats for your puppy.
Signs of an Upset Tummy
Watch for these signs after giving a new treat:
* Vomiting
* Diarrhea (loose stool)
* Excessive gas
* Loss of appetite for their regular food
* Lethargy (acting tired or not themselves)
* Straining to poop (but not producing much or anything)
* Stomach noises (gurgling) or visible discomfort
What to Do
If you suspect a treat caused the upset:
1. Stop the Treat: Immediately stop giving that specific treat.
2. Check Other Changes: Did you change their food? Give them something else new? Sometimes it’s not just the treat.
3. Monitor: Watch your puppy closely.
4. Bland Diet (Sometimes): For mild, short-lasting diarrhea (no vomiting, puppy still feels okay), some vets might suggest feeding a bland diet for a day or two (like plain boiled chicken and white rice – ask your vet first!).
5. Call the Vet: If vomiting happens more than once, diarrhea is severe or lasts more than a day, your puppy seems very sick, or you are worried, call your veterinarian right away. Digestive issues can be serious in young puppies.
Sometimes, a puppy just needs time to adjust to a new treat. Other times, that treat is just not right for them. If a treat caused problems, avoid it in the future. When trying new treats, introduce them one at a time in very small amounts to see how your puppy reacts. This helps you figure out if a treat is a safe treat for puppies or one that causes puppy digestive issues treats.
Adding Treats to Daily Life
Treats should be a small, fun part of your puppy’s life, not the main event.
Treats are Not Meals
Always remember treats are supplements, rewards, or training tools. They do not provide complete nutrition like a good puppy food does. Never replace a meal with treats.
Consistency is Good
Try to use the same few types of safe treats for puppies that you know they like and that don’t upset their stomach. Switching treats too often can sometimes cause digestive issues.
Keep Them Special
Don’t leave treat bags open where your puppy can get them. Store them safely. Don’t just give treats for no reason all the time. Give them for specific actions (training, going potty outside, being calm in the crate) or as a small, special reward.
Watch Your Puppy
Pay attention to how your puppy acts after eating a treat. Do they seem happy? Do they chew it easily? Does their poop look normal later? Your puppy will tell you if a treat is right for them.
Common Questions About Puppy Treats (FAQ)
h4: Can my puppy have dental treats?
Most adult dental treats are too hard for puppies and can damage their teeth or be a choking hazard. Look for dental chews specifically made for puppies. They are softer and sized for young mouths. Introduce them slowly and watch your puppy while they chew.
h4: How young is too young for any treat?
Most vets recommend waiting until about 8 weeks old, once they are fully weaned and eating solid puppy food well. Before this age, their digestive system is too sensitive.
h4: What if my puppy swallows a treat whole?
Small, soft training treats are usually okay if swallowed whole. But if it’s a larger, harder treat, or a piece of something like rawhide, it could be a choking risk or cause a blockage later. Watch your puppy closely for signs of distress, difficulty breathing, vomiting, or lethargy. Call your vet immediately if you are worried. This is why choosing the right size and texture of safe treats for puppies is so important.
h4: Can I use my puppy’s kibble as training treats?
Yes! This is a great idea, especially for puppies with sensitive tummies or to avoid extra calories. Use a few pieces from their daily food portion for training. Some puppies are highly motivated by their regular kibble, while others need something higher value (like a tiny piece of chicken) for harder tasks.
h4: My puppy loves a treat, but it gives them soft poop. What should I do?
That treat is likely causing puppy digestive issues treats. Stop giving that treat. Choose a different kind that is known for being easy to digest, like a single-ingredient freeze-dried option or small pieces of plain cooked chicken. If the soft poop continues after stopping the treat, call your vet.
h4: Are natural treats like sweet potato chews okay for puppies?
Some natural treats are okay, but check the hardness and ingredients. Hard, dehydrated chews can be too tough for puppy teeth. Make sure they are single-ingredient and that the ingredient is safe for dogs (sweet potato is generally safe in moderation). Give a very small amount at first to see how their tummy handles it.
h4: How can I know if a treat is a best treat for puppies?
Look for treats labeled “puppy,” that are soft, small, have simple ingredients (real meat/poultry/fish first), and are made by reputable companies. Your vet can also suggest safe treats for puppies. Pay attention to how your own puppy responds – if they love it and it doesn’t cause problems, it’s a good choice for them!
Giving treats to your puppy is a wonderful way to bond and train. By choosing safe treats for puppies, paying attention to when can puppies eat treats, controlling how many treats can a puppy have, and knowing treats to avoid giving puppies, you can make sure treats are a healthy, happy part of your puppy’s start in life.