If you love your dog, you probably love to reward him or her with a snack. Recent surveys show that 76% of UK dog owners feed their pet snacks but 84% of dog owners want their pet’s snack to be healthy 1,2. Pet owners may know that bad feeding habits could be the reason why up to half the pet population in the UK are overweight but sometimes find it hard to source the healthy alternatives they want. How do you choose a healthy snack for your dog?
Overfeeding of inappropriate high calorie foods and lack of exercise are the main reasons for obesity in dogs. Unfortunately, many table scraps and other snacks can be high in salt, sugar and fat. Many dog owners know that chocolate is poisonous to dogs but treats that you might think are healthy, such as grapes, are actually toxic to dogs too. Sneak your cocker spaniel a digestive biscuit and you have given him 12% of his daily calorie requirement.
Luckily, it’s never been easier to feed your dog a healthy snack. Newly launched Hill’sTM Science PlanTM SNACKS are healthy without compromising on taste. The packs also include guidelines to indicate the number of snacks that can be given per day without causing weight gain. Sounds simple but this kind of straight forward advice is something that will be of huge benefit to pet owners.
Hill’sTM vet Adrian Pratt says if you choose the right food, allowing your dog to snack between meals doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure, “It’s all a matter of choosing the right food: a nutritionally balanced low fat snack will not do any harm, as long as owners don’t over-do it. Follow the on-pack guide and use snacks to reward your dog for good behaviour or hide them round the garden to seek out. That way your dog gets exercise too.”
The Science PlanTM SNACKS range also meets specific needs and owners can select from five delicious products: ‘Light’ is the tasty choice for the weight conscious; ‘Oral Care’ helps clean teeth as each snack contains special tooth cleaning fibre technology; ‘Healthy Mobility’ with extra omega-3 helps support healthy joints and ‘Skin & Coat’ supports a shiny and healthy coat. The range is suitable for adult dogs and because snacking during training is so important to puppies, there is also ‘Puppy Immunity Support’ to help keep the developing immune system healthy and ‘Puppy Skin & Coat’.
The scrumptious snacks come in a distinctive black glossy resealable bag with a recommended retail selling price of just £2.99* for 175 gram or 200 g bags. The Large Breed SNACKS have an RRP of £4.99* for a 400 gram bag. Find them at your vet practice and local petshop, where many will have them available at a special launch price promotion.
For further information on Science PlanTM SNACKS contact your veterinary practice, local pet shop or Hill’sTM customer service on 0800 282438 or visit www.hillspet.co.uk/snacks.
* The retail selling prices are recommendations only and there is no obligation on the retailer to comply with these recommendations.
References
1. Europe Habits and Preferences Study
2. Attitude &Usage Study, May 2008
If you struggle to stand and watch the weak chicks break out of their shells, I can’t possible imagine you eating them! Beware: I once rented part of a farmhouse as a holiday let where the owners had gone “self-sufficent”… but then found they became attached, so couldn’t bring themselves to kill anything. They were over-run with chickens, geese, tame sheep and the like!!
I’m hoping the satisfaction of letting them live to around 20 weeks rather than 6 if they were a supermarket bird will help. And the fantastic taste of Ixworth meat. Some one told me that Jamie Oliver uses Ixworths as they are so tasty! Hope my cooking skills can do them justice!