Pet treats are a big con, always have been and always will be.

However, the comment 'My understanding is that pet food manufactureres paid big money for the priviledge of omiting the listing of ingredients in dog food' is almost certainly not true, and that's said with the benefit of many years experience in the industry

You've two options with commercial pet treats

1) Highly manufactured, coloured, preserved, extruded and fancy looking 'sweets' which are probably no better or worse healthwise than the many sweets and snacks available for humans - but are NOT essential nutrition for your dog, and merely add to the daily calorie and fat intake and possible long term health problems. If you are feeding these then you seriously need to consider stopping!!

2) Healthier options which tend to be biscuit shapes. What you are buying here is simply a light recipe dog food extruded into shapes and charged out at a ridiculous price. Or even worse, a cheap mixer recipe extruded as a bone shape.

Consider this:

James Wellbeloved natural Crackerjack treats per kilo works out at £9.74
Wainwrights fish & potato treats from Pets at Home work out at £7.61/kg

However, when you look at their equivalent complete dog food, the James Wellbeloved works out at £2.27/kg and the Wainwrights at £1.96/kg

So you are paying an extra £7/kg for James Wellbeloved to package their pet food into little bags and call them treats!!!

However there are alternatives WHICH COST NOTHING

1) Go to your pet shop and ask for sample packs of different manufacturers foods - particularly if they are 'light' recipes and from good brands such as Arden Grange, James Wellbeloved, Burns etc . Use these as treats, they're free and last for ages.

2) Try your pet with raw veg. Small pieces of carrot are usually a great treat, as well as broccoli and cauli stalk. And they are healthy

Say no to costly treats - Say yes to freebies!