“Woof” What do you mean? Snacks are important to me!

Snacks for your Weimaraner….

Americans seem to be obsessed with giving treats to their pets. The Weim owner is no exception. This being said, an overweight Weimaraner is not a good thing. Pat Hastings, Dog Folk Enterprises, says that for every five pounds of extra weight, your dog carries, you lose one year of togetherness. Actually, her words were that you shorten his or her life. What we are accustomed to saying looks great, is often an overweight canine. You don’t want the backbone and the ribs hanging out bare, but a thin coating of fat is sufficient.

If you are using snacks to get compliance; they must be very small. There are several tiny-sized treats available. We use one that is the size of very small peppermint candy. However, we do not use treats to get compliance. We use them as rewards. We use them for no reason at all. We use them when we have visitors. OwyheeStar treats are almost never associated with our obedience training. Instead, we rely on praise, which is low-calorie and relationship enhancing.

Choosing the right snack is important. A good diet in general is the most important consideration. When you add food to the diet, do so in small amounts. You don’t want to unbalance their diet with too many treats. Snacks are like the frosting on the cake. Don’t pile it on thick, but add enough to cover what you need. Dog professionals disagree on what is a good snack. There are warnings for nearly every type of snack out there. There are dangers associated with many of them. Rawhide, pig ears, hooves, and bones might not be considered snacks. However they add-ins to the diet. Rawhide expands once it is ingested, and can cause a potential blockage. Pig ears are mostly fat, and dissolve but are not a good choice for adults who make quick work of them. Bones, are a complex topic. Bones vary and can present potential hazards–some a life threatening. Some are tooth breakers. Many people like to feed the raw diet and include raw bones; others believe in cooked bones. Clearly, whatever bone choice you make, it should be made understanding the risks. We recommend bones be supervised. If they splinter or break, then they should be tossed. Beyond weight gain, there are other serious health risks.

The latest FDA Warning

Prior to this jerky warning, it was imported sweet potato snacks that were the problem. Not every imported snack is going to pose a threat. However, some clearly are life-threatening. This is especially true for the young dog with a developing immune system, or any dog with a compromised immune system. We suggest avoiding the imported snacks, and if you want jerky or sweet potato snacks to make them American. That won’t completely cover every possible scenario, but it will limit the risk. You could consider making your own treats. We don’t make the jerky, but on occasion make meatballs, which are very small and frozen. We feed them frozen. Pumpkin can be baked, sliced, and frozen. This is as good as the sweet potato snacks and a healthy addition to the diet.

Willow likes fruit.

If you are thinking about making your own dog cookies, you can find recipes. There are grain-free dog-cookie recipes that use rice flour  (or possibly a very small amount of wheat flour).

Click Here to learn more on making your own grain-free dog treats.

Whatever snack you choose to use, it is important that it is healthy and used correctly. To give a dog hundreds of snacks a week will make them “fluffy.” It will also shorten his or her life. Even small snacks add up. Be creative, and check out lower calorie snacks. Some Weims will eat apple slices (no seeds included because seeds have cyanide that can accumulate in the liver).

Willow likes zucchini too!

If you have fruit trees, and your Weimaraner can eat all they want, you need to be advised that most fruit seeds and pits pose health risks. The Weimaraner who likes to shop the garden, yard, and kitchen counter for delectables doesn’t know what is edible. Not everything we eat is safe. Zucchini is a great snack in small quantities. If they like the Zucchini, you could give them a slice several times a day. It is not a high-calorie snack, unless you add peanut butter. Our Weims also like cucumber slices. Although, fruit can be a great snack, raisins and grapes are not safe for your Weimaraner. Sometimes in our zeal to do what is best, we make a wrong decision.

We suggest avoiding fruits and vegetables until you look up if they are safe for pets or not. If the snack you are giving is larger than a cherry, it needs to be low-calorie. Be careful lumping types of foods together and thinking they are equally suitable. For example, not every nut is toxin-free. Peanuts are safe, but macadamia nuts are not. Nuts are high-calorie snacks, but when used right they can make a great snack. We know how much you love your Weimaraner family members. We hope this will help you keep them safe.