# Sugar in dog treats



## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

What are your thoughts on sugar in dog treats? 
I've been reading the ingredients on treats and I've been wanting to stay away from it. But I wanted to try Rachel Ray dog treats and they have sugar. Some of them even have brown sugar which I found surprising.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Treats are just that! They have calories listed on the bag usually. If not find the phone # on the bag and call. If you have a dog that is pudgy, (I do) then sometimes hold 4-5 pieces of kibble and use them as treats. Otherwise you can figure out how many calories your dog should be eating (vets have a chart--my pudgy dog should have 200 calories to maintain her weight).


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

Lol that's what my mom told me. She's like you don't want to stop eating "treats" (human kind) you shouldn't let them not have special treats either. Which I'm a bit conflicted as I know it's not the best for them but as a person who doesn't buy high end brands why wouldn't I want them to have a treat. 
Okay but I bought a box of biscuits about 3 weeks ago and these are the ingredients: Pea Flour, Ground Flaxseed, Tapioca Starch, Chickpea Flour, Peanut Butter, Apples, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Mixed Tocopherols (Natural Preservative) I just looked up tapioca flour and apparently its slightly sweet. But it doesn't say "sugar" 
This is an example of a bag I was looking up this morning online: Chicken, Chickpeas, Dried Potatoes, Sugar, Vegetable Glycerin, Salt, Lecithin, Natural Smoke Flavor, Sorbic Acid (a preservative), Annatto (color), Citric Acid (a preservative), Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Rosemary Extract. It says "sugar" 

So I guess my question is do they make any treats without sugar as I've just learned tapioca flour is sweet. And does it really matter? I know feel like I really shouldn't worry about it. But this is why I told myself I wanted to stay away from like Purinas bacon or "pupperoni"
Now I'm wondering why they put sugar in treats in the 1st place. I'm sure dog's don't really "need" sugar.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Just like people, dogs like sugar! If the amount is minimal (the further down the 'list of ingredients it is, the less sugar it has) Tapioca is sweet, but not sugar in itself.


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

I just looked at the bag I bought Monday and it has maple syrup. 
But I at least understand now.
And I'll try to get treats with "sugar" lower on the list.


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## CuddlesMom (Feb 22, 2014)

My favorite treats for my babies are the freeze-dried or dehydrated kind. A company called Pure Bites makes great treats in lots of varieties. Even ones made of cheese lol.

https://www.chewy.com/s?rh=c:288,c:335,c:1547,brand_facet:PureBites

I think a lot of pet stores sell them.

There are other brands that make them, but that's the first one that comes to mind lol.

My doggies also love it when I make them home made chicken jerky, but I feel like it's a pain for the amount of jerky that actually comes out of it. Then again, we have four dogs lol.


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

Thanks I'll look into it 🙂


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## coco_little_bear (May 30, 2012)

I don't think I've ever seen sugar in the dogs treats I buy but I tend to go for simple treats that are mostly meat, fish or liver and not too many added ingredients.

I'm not sure why they feel the need to add sugar to be honest. I wouldn't worry about it if it's a small amount, but the way I see it is I bet dogs would eat the treats whether there's sugar in it or not so it's a bit unnecessary. lol


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