# Preferred Pet Treats **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510 "2003-04-09T06:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/1 "2003-04-09T06:47:10Z")
What sort of treats do your pets prefer? Zen, my wolf hybrid, adores a good pig ear. They only last for five or ten minutes, but during that time, he’s in hog heaven (even if the entire hog didn’t make it there). The smoked ears have too strong of an aroma and aren’t welcome in the house. He also enjoys the spiral twists of rawhide, Pupperoni treats, Snausages and Beggin’ Strips. Believe it or not, he’s quite fond of cantaloup. He’s been known to eat corn cobs (for the residual butter and salt) and today, I even managed to coax him into eating a piece of banana. Although, this was mainly because I was eating one and made the rare exception of feeding him human food inside the house. Zen is least fond of the ground up composite rawhide and glop treats. He’s been known to drop them intentionally after being tossed one. NOTE: **DO NOT** feed your dog those flat rawhide squares. They can plug the animal’s digestive tract and kill it. I do not know why these things are on the market. They should be sued out of existence. Piewacket, my tomcat, is partial to nothing that I’ve been able to find. Fresh sashimi tuna, cooked fish, Whiskas, whatever, he just drops them all like a live grenade. What he wants is his Friskies Ocean Fish flavor dry cat food. He doesn’t even go for canned food. I changed to a bargain brand once and he went out and caught a juvenile mourning dove, as if to say, “if you ain’t gonna give me my chow, I’ll get some myself!” Needless to say (then why say it?), I went out and exchanged the offending kitty crunchies. What are your animal’s favorite snacks? How do you reward them for good behavior? ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/2 "2003-04-09T07:18:07Z")
One word. SNAUSAGES. Kermit, my chihuahua, lives for them; the word “Snausage!” works far better than “Come!” ever did. In fact, Mr. Levins likes to whisper, “Go ask Mama for a Snausage!” in Kermit’s ear whenever I look particularly comfortable, because Kermit will come and torture me until I get up and get him a Snausage. Mr. Levins’ defense is that I am perfectly capable of teaching Kermit to go ask _him_ for a Snausage, and it’s thus my fault that I can’t retaliate. There isn’t a single other dog treat I have found that Kermit really enjoys, and I think he’s tried them all. He particularly dislikes crunchy dog treats. But he _loves_ peppermints, and will eat them with the wrapper on if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/3 "2003-04-09T07:51:26Z")
My pugs _adore_ canteloupe. So it’s not just your dog. 🙂 The border collie doesn’t really seem to have any special favorite, other than the cat’s food. He goes to incredible lengths to steal that. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/4 "2003-04-09T09:47:50Z")
stray cats in the neighbourhood adore me when I give them salmon or tuna. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/5 "2003-04-09T10:57:14Z")
My cats like cheap salmon flavored cat food. They hate IAMS cat food. (I don’t blame them, it all smells the same, like crap) They will tolerate science diet cat food. They salivate for Albertsons brand salmon dinner. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/6 "2003-04-09T11:04:52Z")
My dog likes rawhide “bones” - those are occasional special treats. She also likes doggie biscuits of almost any description. And used tissues. And toilet paper core rolls. And paper napkins. Yeah, she’s a trash picker. The boat cat isn’t much into kitty treats, but he does like a couple of Whiskas varieties - specifically tuna and chicken. He hates salmon. He’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![phraser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e4f/32.png) [@phraser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phraser)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/7 "2003-04-09T11:31:10Z")
My cat has food allergy, and so is allowed nothing but her Hills Prescription Diet low allergen food. But she used to love Nature’s Gift soft treats, or dried pilchards. My dog loved Schmackoes. Especially the Schmackos Dog Chocs and the Schmackos Marrowbones. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/8 "2003-04-09T13:16:16Z")
Gromit loooooves rawhide bones. He’d go through one a day if we let him. Unfortunately for him, they make him rather flatulent if he has too many, so one a day is not an option. He really liked the $7/small bag husky-shaped dog cookies we got him at the dogsled races this year, but $7 is a LOT for a bag of dog treats. Once they’re gone, he’s out of luck. He likes Pupperoni quite a bit. He wasn’t as fond of ham-n-cheesers, or those ones shaped like little mailmen. He’s been known to beg for grapes. Not just any grape, but the cold, crisp grapes that burst in your mouth when you bite down on them. His #1, all time favorite treat-beyond-belief, though, is Kraft American singles. I won’t give 'em to him, but Mr. Athena spoils him and give them to him way too often. I suppose it’s his namesake that makes him like cheese so much. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/9 "2003-04-09T13:25:56Z")
The cat likes Pounce crunchy treats and isn’t too picky about the flavor. Her favorite treat is sandwich meat; the sound of someone getting lunchmeat will bring her running from any room in the house. Murphy, our AB, is very fond of pig ears and Greenies. His favorite treat, however, is ice. He’ll eat it by the bowlful if we let him. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/10 "2003-04-09T13:28:14Z")
As far as cat treats go, our three oldest cats love Pounce treats. All we have to do is shake the can and they come running. Our youngest will come running too, but she won’t touch a Pounce treat–for her, crunchy Whisker Lickins Tartar Control are the only acceptable treat. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/11 "2003-04-09T13:42:57Z")
**Simon the Doberman** loves anything. He’s drool all over me for a piece of orange or pear. He’ll steal peaches from the grocery bags. Dog biscuit? You’re his best friend. Rawhide chewy? Even better. Pig Ear? You’re a God. He’s easy to please. **Ruffian the Airedale** is almost as treat-slutty as Simon. **Mike the German Shepherd** doesn’t really care for treats. Or food. While Simon and Ruffi are snarfing down their breakfast and dinner, Mike has to be enticed to eat. If I sprinkle some parmesan over his food and he’ll eat it if I stay in the kitchen with him. Otherwise he’ll follow me out of the kitchen with his dinner uneaten. As soon as he leaves his bowl Ruffi and Simon race over to finish what he’s left. The kitties like their kibble. \*\*Luna, the blue point siamese \*\*has CRF and I try to tempt her with canned food, but she likes her Science Diet KD. With the canned stuff she’ll drink the juice out and leave the meat. **Papi the seal-point siamese** may eat some of the canned food Luna leaves behind, but mostly she likes her kibble, too. **Irish the thoroughbred** likes apples, carrots and horse treats and dog biscuits. He loves grass more than grain in the spring when it’s so green. StG ---
**Author:** ![Calliope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Calliope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/12 "2003-04-09T13:47:29Z")
Apples! My pups think apples are the next best thing to a piece of raw meat. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/13 "2003-04-09T14:41:19Z")
My dogs get Meaty Bones biscuits as treats. We used to give them pig’s ears and the safe bones, but after fights broke out, we only give them treats that can be consumed quickly. The cats like either Whiskas Temptations or Pounce Purr-fections filled crunchy cat treats. They also like the Fancy Feast fish and shrip flavored canned food. Two out of my three cats like that stuff, anyway. Abby the finicky won’t touch treats or canned food. I haven’t found anything she will eat as a treat. Pepper the horse likes carrots, apples or commercial horse treats. She will also eat sugar cookies. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/14 "2003-04-09T14:57:32Z")
Auggie, The Cutest Dog on the Planet ™, loves raw green beans. He has a Goodie Ship that I put either liverwurst (eeewww) or Velveeta cheese in when I need to keep him occupied for a while. I have also been known to bake homemade treats for him- I even have a little bone-shaped cookie cutter. I have a whole little book full of doggie treat recipies. ``` Yes, I probably do need to get a life. ``` ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/15 "2003-04-09T15:26:27Z")
**katie1341** - I sometimes bake treats for my dogs. The favorite is one I call “incredibly stinky dog brownies”. You liquify liver in a blender and mix with flour and oatmeal and garlic. It smells unbelievably bad when baking, but the dogs (even Mike) love it. I rarely make it because it smells so bad. StG ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/16 "2003-04-09T15:32:39Z")
**Flash** , the World’s Smartest Dog (also TM), absolutely LOVES banana. If he sees me eating a banana, he’ll sit near me and practice Canine Mind Control. Usually it works, and I give him a bite at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/17 "2003-04-09T15:52:43Z")
Besides the “I’ll have what _you’re_ having” and Beggin’ Strips (Dogs Don’t Know They’re Not Bacon!), my dog is crazy about those jellied candy orange slices. My dad got him hooked on them and he (the dog) will go crazy until he gets one. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/18 "2003-04-09T17:54:00Z")
All three, Rusty the Samoyed, and the “pair-o-dachs” Bo and Greta, love pig ears. They also love the lamb lung treats. But Bo, a piranha with feet, will devour nearly anything. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/19 "2003-04-09T18:11:25Z")
My cat looooves two kinds of kitty treats: Topini and cherishes. If he sees a bag, he will literally pike up your leg while purring if you let him. He is especially fond of the rabbit flavored topini. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510/20 "2003-04-09T18:18:41Z")
My [Weimaraner puppy](http://pages.sbcglobal.net/troub/tino/March27/DSCN0811.jpg) (6 months) LOVES freeze-dried liver treats and [Canine Carry-Outs](http://www.petsmart.com/dog/shopping/treats%5F%5F%5Fbiscuits/treats/products/product%5F8011.shtml). He also chews on rawhide strips and the knobby [Velvet Bimples](http://www.petsmart.com/dog/shopping/rawhide%5F%5Fbones%5F%5F%5Fchews/bones%5F%5F%5Fedible%5Fchews/products/product%5F10332.shtml) Booda bones. He also seems to get a kick out of chewing on various rodent pieces that seem to be dropped out of trees in our backyard by marauding crows :rolleyes: . The severed legs weren’t too bad the first time I caught him, but the other day he was running around with something like a heart. . .that was just too much. Yech. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preferred-pet-treats/167510.md?page=2)