Well trying to be the good doggie owners, wifey and I found these really cool chicken tender treats for the pups. The pups absolutely love the hell out of them. They are all natural and the only ingredients listed on the bag is chicken. They are basically chicken jerky type treats. Here is a link to what we have been giving our pups.
Its a warning regarding these type of dog treats. Well I pulled out the bag of chicken tenders from Vitalife and checked the label. Sure enough, it said product of china. Scared me and I reread the warning. One symptom is increased water consumption. Well I don’t know if its just because we have 300 lbs of pup in the house, or if it has something to do with the treats, but I refill water dishes a couple times a day.
So, it pisses me off to do because I just opened a new 2 lb bag that cost $19.95, but these things are history in my house. The worst part is we thought we were buying extra high quality stuff. We read the ingredient label, but not where the hell its from. From now on, no chinese food products in this house for man nor beast.
Thought I would post this in case anybody else is using these things.
Pet treats and food always have questionable ingredients. We pay extra money for very high quality animal food and treats. We have a local pet shop that sells locally made treats and the high end foods. We also don’t have a Great Dane
I have pretty much decided to start making my own dog biscuits for the pups. I am sure it will save me alot of $ and I will know for sure what I am giving the pack.
With the caveat being that I run a small dog treat business (products made by hand by us - aka not outsourced - in the US with US-sourced natural ingredients) here’s my take on what’s happening in the industry:
Yes, many of the chicken jerky-type treats have been recalled. We’ve cut those out of dog’s diets as well.
There are a great many smaller dog treat companies who put a lot of time and energy into sourcing good ingredients. These treats are typically more expensive because they are made in small batches and don’t use the mass-produced ingredients (such as the peanut paste that required one brand to be recalled from PetSmart) that some of the larger brands use. A brand that we’re partial to (and not my own) is Wet Noses which is a small Washington company that uses USDA organic ingredients. They manufacture the treats themselves in their own facility so control the sourcing, production, and packaging of the treats. They’ve recently expanded to be in about 200 PetCo stores around the country or can be bought online.
Outsourcing is a huge issue in the treat and pet food industry as a recall of one ingredient can have very far-reaching implications for a number of brands. We prefer to buy from companies who control their own production of which many small and even some large - aka Nestle Purina - do. This however is more expensive then outsourcing which is why the associated prices are typically higher.
If you choose to make your own dog treats please make sure you are very aware of what is and isn’t safe for dogs to eat. However, some online dog treat recipes will, for example, recommend using chicken stock and unless you make the chicken stock yourself (without onions), the store bought stock is full of onion residue and has tons of sodium. So be sure to ingredient read very carefully for any nonpure ingredients you’re using.
I may have an extra recipe or two from my company that we don’t use (though have done R&D on) that I’d be happy to share if anyone is interested.
