Milkbones: a cracker or crack?
Somewhere in discussing dog food, Jen (Tsukitsune) mentioned that kibbles have something added to them to make dogs addicted to them- tell me more!
What is this 'stuff'? Is it harmful beyond the addiction? Is it listed on the label? How do we know if its there or not? Is this how companies write on the bag that they "guarantee your dog will love it?" Is this why my dogs flip for plain old basic milk bones when they get bored of what I think are much healthier/better quality treats? (well, Reilly likes everything but Sage in particular)
When I buy treats, I avoid the obvious Lucky Charms (snausages, beggin strips) get the realest stuff I can best afford, but I have always felt milkbones were sort of like Cheerios- a bland staple. I can't get over how much Sage digs these, when he gets bored after a while of Zukes, buddy biscuits, and almost anything in the healthy part of the cookie aisle.
He thinks Milkbones are up there with dried liver and red barn, but not quite at cheesburgers, chicken and sardines. I mean, he'll quit reacting to fleeing cats and walk with me for a freaking cubic half inch broken off a milkbone. So either milkbones just match up with his taste buds, or there's some crazy addictive additive to them. No gravy, no colors, just plain. medium. milkbones.
In Reactive dog class, probably all my dog classes, we were told to get small soft smelly treats they can detect easily and consume quickly- no dry and crunchy. Maybe milkbones are not addictive- but maybe dry and crunchy is just what he likes better than soft- but if they ARE addictive I guess I want to at least know!
what keeps soft treats soft anyway? is that an ingredient I ought to worry about?
What is this 'stuff'? Is it harmful beyond the addiction? Is it listed on the label? How do we know if its there or not? Is this how companies write on the bag that they "guarantee your dog will love it?" Is this why my dogs flip for plain old basic milk bones when they get bored of what I think are much healthier/better quality treats? (well, Reilly likes everything but Sage in particular)
When I buy treats, I avoid the obvious Lucky Charms (snausages, beggin strips) get the realest stuff I can best afford, but I have always felt milkbones were sort of like Cheerios- a bland staple. I can't get over how much Sage digs these, when he gets bored after a while of Zukes, buddy biscuits, and almost anything in the healthy part of the cookie aisle.
He thinks Milkbones are up there with dried liver and red barn, but not quite at cheesburgers, chicken and sardines. I mean, he'll quit reacting to fleeing cats and walk with me for a freaking cubic half inch broken off a milkbone. So either milkbones just match up with his taste buds, or there's some crazy addictive additive to them. No gravy, no colors, just plain. medium. milkbones.
In Reactive dog class, probably all my dog classes, we were told to get small soft smelly treats they can detect easily and consume quickly- no dry and crunchy. Maybe milkbones are not addictive- but maybe dry and crunchy is just what he likes better than soft- but if they ARE addictive I guess I want to at least know!
what keeps soft treats soft anyway? is that an ingredient I ought to worry about?
Comments
I want to know if milkbones are adulterated in any way to make them more appealing than they seem, because there was some implication that dog food companies add "something" to dog foods to make them addictive?
In fact, anecdotal in nature, but in my experience dogs fed on Beneful have the worst time switching to anything else.. better food or even raw. They just totally love the sugar.. just like feeding a kid candy. That's also part of the reason in my experience why dogs fed some of the lowest quality dog foods also have horrible teeth.
I guess they'd have to add sugar to get the dog to eat it, seeing as how it lacks any other real reason to eat it.
Our dogs don't get Milkbones, but I read over the ingredients on their website. While there is no direct source of sugar, there is the addition of cow's milk. Cow's Milk contains Lactose, which is also called "milk sugar".. dogs love it, but milk is rarely recommended for dogs because dogs are also lactose intolerant.
As for what keeps soft treats soft.. I guess it would depend! We use Ziwipeak for training treats.. I count it as "softish", and I suppose it's just because they haven't been thoroughly dehydrated.
I think Milkbones are okay in Sage's case, as a training treat, or occasional treat, even though I don't use them with my dogs due to allergy reasons. When I was growing up, those were the only premade treats our dogs ever got-they had a satisfying crunch and aroma that the dogs really enjoyed.
When my sis was a dog walker, she said every hyper dog she had for a client ate Beneful. I suspected the artificial colors, myself.
I think some dogs can maintain the protein that digests milk, IF they are used to eating yogurt in small amounts. My sis' dog Cody - despite having yogurt in kongs frequently- never could handle the milk, however.
Lest you all think I am myself addicted to milkbones, please know that we regularly use all kinds of better treats as well- although I have not tried sweet potato jerky- but I am just glad if he does get a milkbone that the bad guy is only sugar and not something more insidious. I am not really a big fan of extra sugar for reactive dogs!
With treats, I strive to give only things with really limited ingredients like 100% beef lung or something. We too have so many allergies to be concerned with!
The worst is the lady at the bank - I love you teller lady and your love of passenger dogs but please stop trying to throw bright green "ol roy" treats into my backseat!!! We Don't Want!
Thanks for the straight dope on flavor enhancers! That's just what I wanted to know!
information being power and all that
Once you read about things like that, you find yourself taking a real good look at the ingredients on your dog food, haha =)