low calorie treat for Cav King Charles Spaniel

longwalks1

beginning of the year we put our 5 year old CKCS on a raw diet, and shes lost weight, her coat is better and she now runs around like a crazy puppy again, she looks great. What sort of low calorie treat can we give her please?

And is there anything that she'd like that would keep her entertained for a while?(a bit longer than scoffing down a normal treat and waiting for a 2nd one)

yellowbear

Does she have bones?

I give my lab these

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/merch-groups/merch-groups/b-rawhide/smartbone-vegetable-and-chicken-medium-chews-4-pack

They only last her about 5 mins now (she has the large ones) but she loves them.

What about a frozen kong?

trolleyrun

I use fried liver as training treats. I buy when rtc in the supermarket and fry so it's pretty solid. I then cut up into small pieces. My Pipsqueak will do handstands for these. No nasty ingredients.

Katiehound

Entertaining?
Apart from a Kong you could try a Buster cube filled with the dried liver mentioned above- but reduce meals accordingly.
Dogs learn very quickly that the cube dispenses goodies but equally they learn that when the rattling stops it's a waste of time!!

teddysmum

My cavaliers used to like Fish4Dogs treats/skins but find them difficult in old age (13) as they have few teeth left. They only have the sea biscuits, now.


If you buy larger than the breed suggests, sized skin treats , they last for quite a while and clean the teeth. (I found tiddlers too small for cavs; they swallowed them whole)


I have never given the present two bones,after a previous one broke one of his incisors on a marrow bone and another could have choked on a triangular bit which broke off the bone (again marrow) .

krlyr

You can stuff raw mince into Kongs and other Kong-type food dispensers. To increase the challenge, you can even freeze these. You could use the meal allowance so that there's no extra calories - and if freezing, you could even whizz up a bit less mince with some water (or a little homemade bone broth for extra flavour - really easy to make, just simmer some bones in a pan for a while, a little lemon juice or vinegar will release even more goodness from the bone - but remember to bin the cooked bones) and freeze this - it'll be the same volume but less calories. Or veggies bulk out meals well too - favour leafy green veg like kale, spinach, brocolli, etc. over sugary veg like carrots, peas and sweetcorn. Also be cautious if the dog has issues with yeast infections - veg can aggravate, though the leafy stuff generally isn't so bad.

Or use parts of the raw diet - for example, raw trachea can be stuffed with mince, again, it can be frozen too. Depending on the size of the trachea, you may want to cut it in half, as a trachea the similar size to a dog's throat can be a choking hazard if they were to bite a ring off and swallow it. Hooves can be stuffed too (avoid the shop bought ones with the brightly coloured filling - or bin the filling and swap for mince).

Natural chews, too, even if they're not stuffable or not raw - things like cows ears (less fatty than pigs ears), pizzle, etc. The Zooplus website is great for things like that. Just reduce meals slightly to account for extra calories.

I buy meat chunks from the suppliers I use and often feed one or two of these (mine are bigger dogs) as a meal. Being frozen, they need to gnaw their way through it, so it takes longer to eat.

It may be a bit much for you, but 'whole' prey lasts longer too. I have a neighbour who shoots rabbits so I have a plentiful stash - a foot/leg would probably be more of an appropriate size for your girl. The fur is actually a great filler, it will add bulk and fill her up without many calories (you'll notice her poos will be bigger as it doesn't get digested so well), but if you're a little squeamish then a butcher or similar will sell them skinned.

I don't tend to offer many big bones for mine as I don't want to risk broken teeth - so I avoid things like marrowbones/knucklebones.

In terms of training treats, I bought a dehydrator and dry out strips of raw chicken. I can then snap pieces off into little titbits, and I know all I'm feeding is the raw meat they'd usually get anyway - I can reduce meals slightly if I've given loads of treats (both of mine have/had dog reactivity so lots of treats to create positive associations with other dogs!). I've used boneless (as bone will go brittle when dried) raw minces, rolled flat and dehydrated too, and my boy actually loves dried banana slices, which is a great way to use up overripe bananas too. It was well worth the investment for me, I'd have spent a fortune buying the amount of treats I get through!

You could also try scatterfeeding, either treats or her meal, in the garden. It'll take longer to eat, and the mental stimulation of sniffing it out is good for them too. This can depend on the dog though, my girl gets bored of this game easily - fortunately my boy would spend all day finding every last scrap, otherwise I'd have a garden full of leftover meat that wouldn't be too pleasant!

I also have Green feeders which work well for raw (dishwasher safe too so easy cleaning). They get their meals in it, but also snacks too - e.g. I'll crack a raw egg each into them, occupies them for 5 minutes!

I find raw-feeding lends itself much better to keeping a dog physically and mentally stimulated than biscuits, it's so versatile and also missing all the fillers that add calories! I actually managed to get my girl to lose 4kg whilst on restricted exercise post cruciate surgery, so pretty much by diet alone, yet was constantly giving her treats etc. to occupy her. I hate to think how much she'd have ballooned if I'd been feeding things like Jumbones and Bonios!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Great suggestions, Krlyr - but I think the prospect of sitting watching the telly as the dog chews on a willy might be quite alarming for some male members of the family! :rotfl:



[yes, I know it's all just a bit of an animal, but sometimes the male of the species is a more sensitive soul than the female]

krlyr

It could be worse - some of the raw suppliers sell whole testicles!

takethatfan1978

I use a lot of Millies Wolfheart treats as they are natural with nothing nasty added.

The whistleblowers and the beef head skins are the ones my lab seems to chomp away the longest on.

Lambs headskins and paddy whacks are also good. I use the fish bars as a quick healthy snack too and great for teeth cleaning

https://www.millieswolfheart.co.uk/dog-treats


I also make dried liver treats but use those for training, a stuffed frozen kong goes down well as does frozen duck wings of chicken necks, my girl is t raw fed but enjoys a bit of raw meat and occasional bones

I don't use any rawhide treats or anything with animal derivatives in.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

krlyr wrote: »

It could be worse - some of the raw suppliers sell whole testicles!

That just leaves the door open for constant amusement when the dog drops what he's eating.

Rev

I use carrots. Big as I can find. Keeps my staffys busy for at least 15/20 minutes and they dismantled an antler chew in an hour.

Also frozen kongs go down well especially in the summer.


I use mostly fruit and veg as treats as I feed raw too.