Everyone knows about baby carrots and apple slices, and I discuss it again below, but I was thinking outside of the box! If you live near a Trader Joe's, you can tap into a few inexpensive items sold there to give as an occasional treat to your dogs, and save a ton of money to boot!
Two staples I keep in the house for treats are the above pictured items.
Inner Peas are ground up peas, mixed with rice and some oil, and baked. They are pretty low in calories and fat. The serving size for a human is 22 peas, obviously I'm dealing with 15 lb dogs, so I wouldn't give more than 2 or 3 a day. I give them to both dogs as a treat. Would giving them fresh peas be better, obviously, but they seem to like this as a treat and don't spit it out. These are $1.49/bag in NYC.
Dried Banana Chips are dried banana chips. The ingredients listed are: bananas, coconut oil, sugar and natural banana flavor. They are $1.19/bag in NYC. The serving size for a human is 1/4 cup for 160 calories. Again, I give maybe 5 chips as a treat.
Neither of these treats are given to them DAILY. They get them maybe 2x a week, at best. These are just two 'human' treats that can easily and inexpensively be converted to dog treats.
What I mainly do for them for treats are the following:
- fresh apple slices, peeling if you like. If you don't peel the apple, buy organic and wash thoroughly. NEVER give your dog the core or the seeds.
- baby carrots
- fresh banana slices
- frozen strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mixed berries, bananas
Mine also love watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, and cucumbers (no skin).