Low Fat Dog Treats: Flavorful And Natural, As It Should Be

Every dog loves treats, and they can be helpful tools for pet owners. They are useful incentives during training, and giving your pup a treat helps to build the bond between you both. Unfortunately, treats can cause the same problems for dogs that they do for humans, namely weight gain. That’s why low-fat dog treats are a good thing to have in your pantry.

It’s not enough for a treat just to be low in fat. Other ingredients, like sweeteners and preservatives, make just as big a difference. Unfortunately, very few commercial dog treats offer healthy benefits without some additional drawbacks. With that in mind, we’re going to go over the dos and don’ts of buying dog treats in this article and how to make a healthy option in your own kitchen!

What Are Low Fat Dog Treats?

Low-fat dog treats are dog treats with a lower fat content than the average dog food. Most commercial dog treat brands offer a low-fat or low-calorie treat as part of their selection. Each brand’s definition of “low fat” depends on the fat level and calorie count of their regular treats. This means there is no standard definition of “low fat,” and it varies from one brand to the next.

Any “low-fat” treats will advertise themselves as such. In general, low-fat treats should have under 10% fat, or ideally 1-5% fat. Again, this varies by brand. Meat-based treats have more fat by nature, while vegan or vegetarian treats offer the lowest calorie options.

Low fat treats and low-calorie treats are especially important today. America’s obesity epidemic has unfortunately reached beyond ourselves to affect our pets as well. The Veterinary Centers of America (VCA) found that approximately 25-30% of the nation’s dogs are obese, with 40-45% of dogs weighing more than a healthy weight. This makes obesity the most common preventable disease in domestic dogs!

Can You Give Dogs Too Much Low Fat Treats?

Yes, it is possible to give your dog too many low-fat or low-calorie dog treats. A low-fat diet only works in moderation. If you give your dog too many treats, you negate the benefit of the lower fat and calorie contents. It’s just like how one glass of red wine each day can be good for you, but five glasses each day… not so much.

How Often Can You Give Dogs Low Fat Treats?

As a general rule, treats should make up no more than 10% of your pet’s diet. More specifically, they should not make up more than 10% of your dog’s daily calorie intake. If you don’t know how many calories your dog eats every day, you should figure that out ASAP.

Keeping track of your dog’s diet is essential to maintaining a healthy weight for them and choosing the right treats. Your dog’s ideal weight depends on its breed, gender, and age. Take your dog to the vet for a checkup and ask the doctor to provide you with a healthy target weight range for your pup.

You can calculate your dog’s ideal daily calorie intake based on the target weight your vet provides. The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center offers a helpful calorie calculator for determining your dog’s diet. You can estimate the right daily calorie count for your pet by multiplying their weight in kilograms raised to the 3/4 power by 70. Take 10% of the total, and you have the maximum number of calories you can give your dog in treats.

What To Look For When Buying Low Fat Dog Treats

Just because a brand says “low fat” on the label does not necessarily mean they are healthy treats. Other ingredients like sweeteners and preservatives can be just as bad for your pet’s health. In order to choose the right dog treat, you need to know what ingredients to look for and what ingredients to avoid.

Wanted Ingredients

Let’s start by talking about some ingredients that can benefit your dog. Keep an eye on nutrition labels for these promising signs of quality:

• All-Natural: Artificial ingredients and GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) are cheap, so many pet food companies use them as a cost-cutting measure. However, all-natural ingredients offer superior nutrition and far fewer potential consequences.
• Organic: Organic farming practices are better for the consumer and the environment. Conventional farming practices use synthetic pesticides, many of which are toxic to consumers. A low-fat treat won’t do your dog much good if it is contaminated by dangerous chemicals.
• CBD: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural compound of the hemp plant. It interacts with the receptors in your dog’s endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS regulates important functions in the body and mind, including sleep, mood, memory, immune response, appetite, and digestion. By interacting with the receptors of the ECS, CBD promotes balanced energy levels and appetite, helping your dog regulate its weight while supporting their overall wellbeing.

Ingredients To Avoid

Many low-fat dog treats still contain unhealthy ingredients. Read product labels carefully and watch out for any of the following additives:

• Meat Meal or Meat By-products: Many dog foods and treats contain chicken, beef, pork, or fish meal. While whole meats can be good for your dog, the word meal is a giant red flag. Meat meal is the product of “rendering,” a process in which the discarded scraps from slaughterhouses are cooked down to remove the fat. This is the perfect example of why removing fat does not necessarily make something good. Meat meal contains some protein, but their nutritional content varies dramatically based on which parts of the animal are rendered. Furthermore, ground-up scraps of rendered animal bits sound disgusting, don’t they? You wouldn’t eat it, so why should your dog?
• Artificial Preservatives: Many dog treats include artificial preservatives called butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). They are excellent at preventing food from going rancid, but this benefit comes at a high price. Research suggests that BHT and BHA pose major health risks, including an increased chance of developing tumors.
• Corn Syrup: Corn syrup, especially the high-fructose variety, is one of the leading causes of obesity in the human population. Unfortunately, it shows up in a lot of dog treats too. A diet high in corn syrup can raise your dog’s blood sugar to dangerous levels. Sugar is an even larger contributor to weight problems than fat, and you should avoid any treat that contains corn syrup.

Healthy Fats vs. Unhealthy Fats

We have conditioned ourselves to fear the word “fat,” but not all forms of fat are bad! There are certain forms of fat that your dog can benefit from. Before you shop for low-fat treats, let’s bring you up to speed on the different kinds of fat.

Trans fats and saturated fats are undesirable additions to any diet. Trans fats, like vegetable shortening, are so unhealthy that the U.S. government banned them in 2015. Saturated fats, like those in red meat and dairy, can raise unhealthy cholesterol levels.

Unsaturated fats are easy to recognize because they are liquid at room temperatures (like olive oil or hemp seed oil). They include essential fatty acids like omega 2, 6, and 9, which are important nutrients for your dog. Choose a diet rich in healthy fatty acids, low in saturated fat, and completely free from trans fat.

Homemade Low Fat Dog Treat Recipes

Unfortunately, most store-bought dog treats fall in the high-calorie or high-fat categories. Those that don’t almost always contain meat meal or preservatives. Sometimes, when you want something done right, you need to do it yourself. With that in mind, we have a few recipes for low-fat dog treats with CBD.

Pumpkin and Peanut Butter CBD Dog Treats

Each one of these treats contains 5 mg of CBD for your dog’s wellness. If you would like to give them a larger dosage, you can substitute the 150 mg-strength CBD oil in this recipe with a more potent CBD oil from Holistapet. For more information on CBD dosing, check out our handy dosage chart.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups oats
• 3.5 oz. pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1.5 tbsp. reduced-fat peanut butter
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 oz. Holistapet 150 mg strength CBD oil for pets
• 2-4 tbsp. water

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Put the oats in a blender and pulse until you get a fine powder the texture of flour.
3. Combine pumpkin puree, peanut butter, egg whites, salt, cinnamon, and CBD oil in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the mixture thoroughly to combine (or stir by hand).
4. Add powdered oats and stir, adding 2-4 tbsp of water as needed to combine. The dough should be very dry but not crumbly.
5. Sprinkle a work surface with powdered oats or whole wheat flour. Roll the dough out to a 1/4″ thickness. Use a cookie cutter to punch out 30 individual treats. You may need to gather up and re-roll the dough a couple of times.
6. Place the treats on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes for soft treats or 40 minutes for crunchy treats. Let them cool completely before serving.

Where To Get CBD for Pets

Holistapet is your destination for the best CBD pet products on the market. If you want to make any of the treats above, head to our shop for premium CBD oil. Alternatively, you can buy any of our CBD treats for dogs. They are all low-fat, all-natural, organic, and vegan.

We offer three kinds of crunchy CBD treats for dogs:

• Mobility: These treats contain turmeric and boswellia in addition to CBD to support your dog’s joints. Their delicious flavor comes from real pumpkin and cinnamon.
• Calming: Our calming treats contain l-theanine and chamomile on top of CBD for ultra-soothing support. Your furry friend won’t be able to resist the taste of real green apple and peanut butter.
• Wellness: Support your dog’s overall wellbeing with our blueberry and sweet potato Wellness treats! They are rich in antioxidants and omega fatty acids (remember, those are the good fats) to help every dog be their best self.

We understand that crunchy treats aren’t a good fit for everyone. If your dog deals with dental conditions or age-related chewing problems, give them Holistapet’s CBD soft chews. We offer Calming Chews and Mobility Chews to support your dog’s individual needs.

Final Thoughts – Low Fat Dog Treats

As you can see, choosing healthy dog treats has to do with a lot more than fat content alone. In addition to finding treats that are low in fat, you want them to contain natural, organic ingredients and no artificial preservatives. You also want to make sure that your treats are low in unhealthy fat but high in healthy fats like omega 3 and 6.

Making your own dog treats can be fun and fulfilling, but if you want to skip the extra work, just head to the Holistapet store and pick up a bag of our CBD treats. CBD helps to support your dog’s wellbeing overall, going much further than standard low-fat treats can do.