With toys and treats, pet insurance, and a healthy diet plan in place for your pet, you are almost ready to tackle life as your furry friend’s proud parent! Healthy snacks are essential for us fur parents, but let us not forget our adorable fur babies. If you are looking for some healthy and delicious snacks for your dog, here are some ideas to choose from.
- Apples
Aside from the many vitamins and minerals that are present in fruits, another upside to fruit snacks like apples is that they have fewer calories. Instead of rewarding dogs with cookies filled with preservatives and sugar, hand them out some apples. Just make sure that you remove the seeds and core to prevent them from choking.
- Bananas
Another healthy low-calorie treat would be bananas. Bananas are packed with potassium, vitamins, copper and fiber that are essential for a healthy heart, energetic body and better digestion. This fruit also has low cholesterol and sodium. And it helps a lot that the fruit is very tasty and fragrant. However, for some dogs, it takes some getting used to so you might want to start with just a slice or two at most during your introduction.
- Peanut Butter Popsicles
For those warm days when a dog hoodie is not the best outfit for your pup, reward him with a peanut butter popsicle to make him feel a little cooler. Before you frown upon this suggestion and wonder why it is included in the list, here is the recipe.
Mix one cup of unsalted and unsweetened peanut butter with a half mashed banana and water. Freeze mixture and let Spotty enjoy his treat while basking in the sun.
- Carrots
They are easy to grip, fun to nibble on, and quite tasty when successfully bitten off. Raw or cooked, these veggie snacks are not just great because they’re packed with vitamins and fiber, but they also provide an interesting challenge for dogs, much like bones and rawhide, but crunchier and not as tough. However, if you are worried that your pups might choke on them, you can also give them in sliced chunks instead of whole sticks. Either way, your dogs will enjoy them.
- Blueberries
These tiny treats are a good source of antioxidants that help your dog’s immune system stay in top shape. They provide a good amount of vitamins, minerals, and fiber as well.
On top of these, blueberries come in conveniently small sizes that make them not only interesting catch items for dogs, but also very portable reward treats.
Just remember though that these healthy snacks are not meant to replace your dog’s regular meals. Their nutrients are not sufficient enough to meet your canine’s requirements so despite all the benefits that come with giving them as snacks, that’s all that they are meant to be. They are simply treats that provide additional value to your dog’s regular food.
