is it unhealthy to give my dog more than 2 treats a day?

Question

I give my dog a lot of treats, but she's really skinny, because she grazes when she eats. Is this unhealthy?

Answer 1

try other foods that may be more appealing to her to finish in one sitting. if not, this should be fine, just make sure that the treats are healthy.

Answer 2

Are you free-feeding? That is, are you leaving her food down for her to eat whenever she wants? There are a lot of resons to not do this. It actually does lower the value of the food for the dog : "Hey, if I can just eat whenever I feel like it, what's the big deal." Ugh - a trainer's nightmare. Also, it's much better for your dog's digestion to have 2-3 small meals a day instead of having constant access to food.
If your dog won't eat right away when you put her food down, just pick the bowl back up and wait until next mealtime. Your dog may fuss, but she will not collapse. For treat time, use healthy things like boiled chicken and cubed meat, or the Natural Balance rolls of dog food - those are great because dogs love them and they won't upset their tummy.
I train in agility and we use a lot more treats than 2 per day! I cut down on the amount of food that I feed my dogs at mealtimes on those days.

Answer 3

try 1-2 jars of meat and veggie baby food its really nutritional and its easy on their tummy (any kind chicken beef pork or even mac & cheese) as for to many treets its fine to give treats just dont go overbord sometimes we have what we call a "bone party" and we throw milk bones all over and let them feast we throw like 2- pounde but we also have 6 dogs lol so you dont need quite that many also try a little better brand of food (we use ol roy the kind in the red bag) and our dogs are a little overweight whatever you do good luck with you pup

Wolfie

Answer 4

I don't think it's unhealthy so to speak - but: it depends on the kinds of treats you're using, how much exercise your dog gets and what her regular diet is like. I think treats should be used on a reward basis.

Answer 5

We give our Westie treats (dog brand not human!) about 5x's a day. He is nearly 3 March 19th and is "fit as a fiddle". I think it depends on breed cuz I had a retreiver who ate milk bones alot and was like 20lbs overweight! A groomer once told me I was guilty of Dog abuse! I never took our dog back to her!!!! I think he didn't get enuf exercise but he was sooooo happy!

Answer 6

If she is skinny you might want to take it to the vet. But its okay to feed her 2 treats a day. One in the morning and one at night.

Answer 7

switch to those mini carrots for treats! No calories but still a treat! Crunchy and cheap. My labs love them.

And you know, anything that comes from the "magic hand" has to be good.

Answer 8

me to, it is okay though! you can tell if it hurts her because if she has a tummy ache she will lie down alot.thats what my vet told me.

Answer 9

if shes skinny no i would understand if she was fat but if shes skinny then it all good