Regardless of 2020’s best efforts to ruin Christmas this year, chances are we’ll still want to make it a lovely day for our dogs.
When it comes to treats, it feels good giving our dogs something delicious to munch on, especially if we’ve made a big fuss about dinner ourselves. To help you stay off the naughty list this Christmas though, here’s our round-up of the best dog treats in town. Happy treating!
We know it’s boring, but in the interest of your dog’s health, when it comes to treating there are some big no’s:
Mince pies
Raisins, currants, alcohol – no-no-no. Check out our dog-friendly recipe here.
Chocolate
Chocolate contains theobromine, a substance similar to caffeine, and is poisonous to dogs.
Blue cheese
If the cheeseboard comes out, keep it at arm’s length from your dog – we know dogs love cheese, so if you are going to sneak them some, please make sure it’s not a blue one and keep your portions small.
Garlic
In the roast, on some veg, in the gravy – garlic pops up everywhere
Grapes
The perfect partner to that cheese board is definitely off-limits to your dog.
Alcohol
Hidden in a cake, out there in a cream liqueur, never ever give your dog alcohol.
Caffeine
It’s easy to leave your cups of tea and spiced pumpkin lattes around. Try our definitely dog-friendly pup-kin latte here!
Apple pips
Apples are great but core them first – pips contain traces of cyanide. It’s a small dose but what we can handle as humans and what dogs can are often two very different things.
Christmas stuffing
As well at it being salty, remember dogs can’t eat onions, garlic or nuts!
There’s more on harmful foods for dogs on our blog post here.
So let’s get to the healthy pile. More fun for them, all the guilt-free feelings for you.
Carrots
Dogs love the crunch
Cucumbers
Easy crunchy, delicious
Watermelon
Watermelon’s a big favourite with the dogs at tails.com HQ, and here’s our list of all the fruits in your fruit bowl and fridge you can give your dog as a guilt-free treat.
Peanut butter
Spread it on a lickimat with some mashed banana and they’ll be entertained for ages. Remember to get a xylitol-free version as dogs can’t tolerate this artificial sweetener.
Sweet potato
Rich in fibre, potassium and riboflavins (see our pup-kin latte recipe above) we slow bake ours in the oven for a delicious go-to treat that’s all natural!
Good Dog Treats
We developed these particular treats to be an easy way to train and reward without having to worry about the calories. They’re teeny tiny and only 3kcals each.
Their cute bone shape also gives us inspiration when it comes to some DIY home treating.
Barkers, assemble
If you’ve got some time on your hands, why not get in the kitchen and start baking? We’ve got loads of dog-friendly recipes right here, all taste-tested by our tails.com dogs!
If you want to treat yourself or someone you love this Christmas, The Happy Dog Cookbook is our first ever cookbook! Written by Head Vet Sean McCormack and Annabel Karmel, all the proceeds go to one of our favourite charities, StreetVet. So if you’re after some feel-good, healthy recipes that aren’t just for Christmas, treat yourself, or pop in a Christmas stocking for someone else!