I bet you’re reading this for one of two reasons:
- You want to know the best treats for training your puppy?
- You want your dog (or puppy) to feel special, loved, and love you?
I’ll give some recommendations on what I think are the best dog treats in these situations, and I’ll throw in a great tip later which is both cost effective and super healthy!
The best selling dog treats in Australia, and are they any good?
Before I give some recommendations on dog treats, lets take a look at the best selling dog treats in Australia. Usually what’s popular doesn’t mean it’s the best, so we’ll take a look and see what we can learn.
So these are the best selling dog treats in Australia, right now:
The #1 top selling dog treat is… Greenies
According to Amazon, the #1 best selling dog treat in Australia is Greenies, made by Mars.
Greenies dental chews, apparently recommended by veterinarians for dental health, are made from (I kid you not) wheat flour, wheat gluten, glycerine, and gelatine as the main ingredients.
Interestingly, when I did a course on pet nutrition, Greenies were recommended multiple times. I’m not sure why products are recommended on courses, but there you go.
I assume most dog owners are drawn to Greenies because they’re apparently for dental health, but I wasn’t aware wheat was so amazing for dental health?
Were you?
According to the Greenies website, they help clean teeth with “mechanical abrasion“, saying the “chewy texture allows the teeth to sink in for maximum tooth contact causing mechanical scraping and scrubbing of the tooth surface“.
Well that’s not about ingredients at all?
I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound great to me. Surely your dog would prefer a nice meaty bone rather than chewy wheat?
The #2 top selling dog treat is… Schmackos
Schmackos is another brand of Mars.
Neither Greenies or Schmackos have Mars stamped all over the packaging, so I doubt many dog owners know they’re made by the same company who sell us the Mars Bar? That wonderfully nutritious treat…
I took a look at the ingredients of Schmackos which seems to have meat by-products as the main ingredient, but also some dubious stuff:
- Sucrose (sugar to you and me)
- Flavour – not specified
- Preservatives – not specified
- Colours – not specified
- Antioxidants – not specified
Ask yourself this – why don’t they tell us what those ingredients are?
Are these dog treats more about profit than the health of our pets? If so, us dog owners need to figure out for ourselves what’s good for our dogs, and what isn’t.
It doesn’t surprise me Greenies and Schmackos are top selling dog treats. They’re cheap.
You also see them recommended all over the place on social media by dog owners, but it’s possible those people have never taken the time to read what’s in them.
They probably feed loads of them to their dogs, too.
My recommendations for dog treats in Australia
Hopefully the recommendations below will give you a really good starting point. For me, the best dog treats are those made from nutritious ingredients which really benefit the health of your dog. Not just with nutritious ingredients, but to really help them clean teeth as well.
None of these recommendations will contain sugar, wheat, or ambiguous ingredients. I wouldn’t give this stuff to my dog, and hopefully you won’t too.
I’ve also fed all these treats to my dog, so can vouch for them in that respect. I’ve also taken the time to see what other dog owners have had to say about them.
#1: Eureka
Eureka are by far one of the best Australian dog food brands you can buy, and their air-dried dog food (similar to ZiwiPeak) is really top notch. The Eureka range of dog treats is really good as well, with a range of treats on offer.
If you want to boost your dog’s nutrition then the liver treats would be a great choice – liver is packed with vitamins, minerals, and protein. You can overdo it with liver though, so don’t feed these treats in excess.
It’s really nice to see inclusions such as green lipped mussels, manuka honey, and sardines in some of the treats, but all are healthy and great for your dog.
Eureka treats are only available from their website, delivered to your door.
At the time of writing, if you use the following link to subscribe to a minimum 1.8kg bag, they’ll throw in a load of goodies for free – a Gut Helper (valued $32.90), Goat Horn treat (valued $11.90), and a Eureka silicone collapsible Scoop with clip ($9.99):
#2: Frontier Pets Beef Tripe Strips (and Chicken Necks)
Tripe is a superfood for dogs being absolutely packed with nutrition. In it’s natural form it’s very smelly which thankfully isn’t the case with the Freeze Dried Beef Tripe Treats from Frontier Pets. Being a company built on ethics they only use free-range grass fed beef which is gluten and GMO free, and by buying these treats you’re supporting local Australian farmers who farm their animals the right way, not in cages.
The bag size for the beef tripe dog treats is generous with various-sized pieces, so great for a snack or training treats. Frontier Pets also offer freeze dried chicken necks which are also good, so why not try both?
It’s also worth stating Frontier Pets offer our highest rated dog food across the whole website, rated 9.7 out of 10.
Where to buy Frontier Pet treats?
You can buy Frontier Pets treats directly from their website.
#3: ZIWI Peak Deer Shanks – great for dental health
ZIWI Peak is an excellent air-dried pet food from New Zealand, and they make a small range of treats too. They’re not overly cheap, but as an occasional weekly or bi-weekly treat the ZIWI Peak deer shanks are fantastic, available as either a half portion or full. I have a medium-sized dog and she’ll happily gnaw on half a shank on and off for a day.
So why are they good?
Simply put, ensuring dental health is vital for the long term health of your dog. In the wild a dog (or cat) will maintain dental health from gnawing on meaty bones of prey. This is often overlooked with domestic pets, especially due to the marketing of “dental treats” which are absolute rubbish and do little for dental health (and the overall health of your dog). ZIWI Peak deer shanks offer an alternative to raw meaty bones (which are also an option by the way), and your dog will not only get nutritional and dental benefits, but the satisfaction of gnawing and devouring them.
ZIWI Peak offer some other treats as well, but too be honest a better bet is buying a bag of their regular air-dried pet food which will prove a treat in itself for your dog (or cat). Given the size of the pieces it doubles up as an excellent option for training treats.
Where to buy ZiwiPeak deer shank treats?
#4: Healthy Everyday Pets (Beef Liver Treats)
Many Australians loved the Healthy Everyday Pets brand of high-protein/low-carb dog food, and it was a shame to see the company go into liquidation in early 2023.
Thankfully the Healthy Everyday Pets range of dog treats is still available!
These treats are manufactured in Australia, so no risk of irradiation like some imported treats. They use a three day air-drying process combined with natural preservatives, which means your dog gets the best nutrition possible for an air-dried treat.
The liver treats would make a great choice, with liver being the richest source of nutrients, but don’t overdo it – generally one liver treat a day, or every other day would be beneficial.
[wp_bannerize_pro orderby=”random” categories=”page-ad-1″]
#5: K9 Natural Green Tripe Topper
We spoke of the benefits of tripe earlier, and K9 Natural offer another way to feed your dog this wonderfully nutritious food – K9 Natural Green Tripe Topper! As we would expect from such a reputable brand, they use 100% New Zealand grass-fed green tripe from beef. As a smelly and hard to get hold of ingredient in it’s natural form, being available freeze-dried is such a bonus.
A topper is designed to enhance a regular meal, so not a treat per se, but your dog definitely won’t argue. Whether you use it as a topper on every meal, or every few days to keep costs down, it would be a welcome addition to a dog’s diet. You could even offer it as a “good boy” (or “good girl”) treat with a splashing of water.
#6: Balanced Life Companion Treats
These are fabulous air-dried treats made from Australian meats. They’re gluten free, grain free, full of natural probiotics, vitamins, and minerals. Being air-dried also means they keep for ages. You can’t ask for better than that!
They make excellent foods as well.
#7: ZIWI Peak – probably the best dog treat for training your puppy!
The regular ZIWI Peak air-dried dog food doubles as a fantastic training treat. Yes, it’s a complete and balanced dog food you can feed as a main meal, but the small size and fact that they’re dried means it’s really easy to carry some around in a bag in your pocket.
I used ZIWI Peak to train my Border Collie, and I can tell you it worked.
Dogs are motivated by meat, and that’s what this dog food is.
Even if you don’t feed ZIWI Peak as your dog’s main diet, a small bag will likely work out cheaper than buying a less nutritious bag of dog treats.
Dental treats for dogs
Most commercial dental dog treats are nothing more than starch, cereal, and humectants, with additives to aid cleaning teeth. They’re usually cheaply made and far from healthy.
A good natural way for a dog or cat to retain dental health is by chewing on a nice meaty bone. Care needs to be taken with bones so selected a size appropriate to your dog and always feed bones raw and uncooked.
If you have concerns about feeding raw meaty bones then another good option is deer or kangaroo tendons, shanks, or hoofers. Always check the country of origin of packaged treats (although kangaroo will always be Australian).
K9 Natural and ZiwiPEAK offer a range of these treats sourced in New Zealand.
Failing all the above, you could always brush your pet’s teeth or have them regularly cleaned by a professional.
[wp_bannerize_pro orderby=”random” categories=”page-ad-2″]
How do I tell if supermarket dog treats are any good?
Some are good, some are bad. The first thing to do would be to check the country of manufacture. Opt for Australian made if possible. Avoid treats from China (which can be labelled as “PRC” to mislead you, which stands for People’s Republic of China).
Have a read of the ingredients. Are they meat-based or filler-based (such as wheat)? Do they contain sugars, salt, humuctants, artificial preservatives, or food colourings? If they do then it’s best to avoid them. If a treat has “Preservatives” or “Colourings” on the ingredients you can assume they’re artificial.
Or… Make your own dog treats!
Keep in mind dogs and cats LOVE MEAT. They don’t care for sweet things, and they definitely don’t care for colourings!
If you want to make your own treats then boil chicken or turkey then cut it into squares. For convenience you can freeze the treats and feed them frozen, or even buy a food dryer. Other fresh foods make excellent treats too (my dog loves carrots).
“Best dog treats in Australia”, written by D D’Angelo
Any response to my request April 17 re Blackdog Bigga biscuits?
Avoid
Any comments (good or bad) on blackdog bigga biscuits?
We feed these to our dogs daily without any noticeable problems.
Thanks, John
Just like humans, dogs have dietary needs in order to keep them healthy, fit, and strong. Thank you so much for sharing these dog treats products
We love this list of treats in Australia! Especially those freeze-dried green tripe treats by Frontier – what a legend company they are. We also love bone marrow chews and find that they are great alternatives to raw bones at a cheaper price due to being long-lasting. And what about the yummy furry stuff? They’re great.
We would love to be considered next time you are doing a blog about healthy pet treats in Australia! Laila and Me is 100% Aussie Made right here in Melbourne with our own freeze drying factory!
We personally love and prefer Laila and Me over any pet treat company! They are 100% Aussie Made and fully transparent
Do you have any other dog training treats recommendations?
I give my pup ziwi as treats but when in a distracted environment she won’t even bother with ziwi treats.
I might need a special “only for walks” treats to help with distractions…
Also, has anyone heard of and tried dog by dr lisa treats? What are your thoughts? I keep getting ads from them
Yours Droolly NZ range only, the others are from China or Thailand so no.
I use the chicken and kumara.
Providore treats as well, very similar and both are smelly, so dogs find them irresistible.
My dogs learn so quickly on these, but they also get a brain boosting oil which boosts learning. However I don’t doubt for a second that the treats irresistibility helps too.
I just looked up Yours Droolly and saw that the Duck Tenders have in their ingredients:
Duck
Vegetable glycerin
Salt
Sorbitol
Citric acid
Monascus
Also their Duck Sticks:
Duck
Potato starch
Wheat flour
Vegetable glycerin
Sorbitol
So both have Sorbitol and the sticks have wheat.
Is there any difference between freeze-dried, air-dried and dehydrated dog treats? I am looking for treats particularly high in Omega 3… Since there is a significant price difference between the above-mentioned techniques…I wonder.. would it have a huge impact on nutritional value?
Freeze dried you add water and often has the highest fat. Air dried you cannot add water to, it’ll just swim on top of it, never softening, air dried usually has less fat, depending on meats used though. Dehydrated varies.
Freeze dried honestly I wouldn’t do without water as it’s very drying. Also I used to do it without water and my dogs kept getting sick. I finally realised what the reason was. When it’s dry the fat percentage is very high too.
Air dried would be the easiest treat, you simply open the bag and give it haha. I use Yours Droolly NZ range, chicken and kumara.
Dehydrated single ingredient treats are similar except for jerkies/bully’s and bones. Where the dog obviously takes the treat and chews on it for hours.
Personally I’d never buy dehydrated treats with large bones in them, no ribs either. Dehydrated chicken stuff I think is okay. But the rest has had a multitude of bad reviews, dogs dying or ending up at the vets needing extensive surgery. Because the bone was not being digested and needed to be removed.
I’d watch the extra fatty treats too and only give them on occasion. I don’t give them ever, but mine have issues.
The best dehydrated treats are jerkies in all honesty and tendons.
I like Snax and Clear Dog for treats, good prices.
As for nutritional value their all pretty good in my opinion. Simply change up the treats, don’t feed 1 treat forever and yeah no worries.
A couple of options probably worthy of being added to that list above are these guys doing dehydration on a large scale:
https://www.cleardog.com.au
https://loyaltypettreats.com.au
If they are true to their word, it’s simply dehydrated meat products without additives, and in some cases such as green-lipped mussels, pretty much cheaper than DIY. I’ve been experimenting over 6 months with some of their items that cannot be easily made in my DIY situation and have had great results. Particularly with the ‘chewy roo’ type of products which are long-ish strips of dried stringy meat that appear to have a noticeable dental benefit without the hassles of digestion issues that sometimes come with dried tendons, or trying to match appropriate bone items to the dog to achieve the same result.
Though I won’t be buying any of their dried products that contain bone anytime soon…
I wonder if genuinely something has changed, Blackdog treats now have a big Aussie flag on the front of their treats and openly state to it being Australian, I have gone over the treats section of pet warehouse more then I care to disclose haha and this is new, very new, brand new even, their chicken wasn’t Australian before I’m sure of it and it was unclear where their meats were from as a certain treat my mum picked up in Petstock didn’t have a country of origin listed.
Edanna, you’re right about some of the Blackdog products not having Australian meats. I know, because I phoned the company one time to enquire where the meat in their products came from. I was told most products were made from Australian meats, however some came from China, but it was stressed that they use a high-standard facility. I just checked Blackdog’s website and found the following statement under “FAQ”. (Note that China is not specifically mentioned in the statement, however when I clicked on “View more info” for some of their products, it clearly shows Product of China.)
“Blackdog are a proud Australian based manufacturer that produces approximately 90% of the products we supply, from Australian sourced ingredients and produce, in our two Victorian located facilities. In fact, we are extremely proud that we are one of the few companies that actually manufacture their own products to supply direct to your local store, let alone do it in Australia.
Due to the demand of Australia’s marketplace, Blackdog also has contract manufacturing agreements with some long term partners overseas, in order to meet the demand required for certain products, just can’t be made here in Australia, however we do ensure that we provide our loyal and important customers with the choice and ability to purchase a comparable product produced locally.
Any products with the Blackdog brand that are manufactured overseas are of the best quality available and are subject to Australian Quarantine and Bio Security permits and Veterinary Certificates, so you can be sure they are of the usual high Blackdog standard.”
Seems a lot of companies write things the same way, proudly this proudly that haha, I don’t buy any of their treats anyways when I buy some I buy kangaroo jerky or rib from WAG. I like their kangaroo jerky nice big thick slices sometimes lol and no fat to scrub off.
I hadn’t heard of WAG until now, but will look out for their products. I’m in a country town and have never seen the brand in our local pet store, so will check online. But I’m also going to look at buying a dehydrator, not only the safest way to know what’s in our dogs’ treats, but has to work out way cheaper in the long run 🙂
But hell dental treats with sorbitol and sugar, sure that’ll treat the decay lol. Looking up if WAG has any new treats and their locations around the world, the rabbit ears from Poland is kinda funny.
It seems worth noting that in response to the recent negative press the ‘Jerhigh chicken tenders treat’ is getting, the company is advising people who enquire that ‘all is well, the product no longer contains sorbitol’. That may be true, but it appears to be an extremely recent change since their own website appears to be the only one at present reflecting the new ingredient list. Everyone else appears to be listing sorbitol, and if a random packet picked up today at a pet food chain is any indication, rightly so. Apparently sorbitol is bad, but not so bad that we’ll pull stock out of the
garbage disposalretail channels. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c7dbe96bcf6fd21cda6dd13be73d980a410ea1740d3622016d79dfec65717547.jpgAs everyone following Rodney is saying baby steps, I like how we actually made them change it, but it’s still from China so the death toll will continue to build.
Not quite China but it might as well be. I did see one of their canned PR responses claiming that they manufacture in asia because poultry breast is relatively unused in asian cooking (so they’re basically doing us a favour by going where the best deals are). Hahaha
Oh yeah whoops Thailand, they have treats from a China though I think, unless that was a similar brand. Lol epic response, if they said that to me I’d be like you just made yourselves look retarded as fck haha, but that could be because I’m slightly on the angry side today, grief is really getting me good today.
Hmm this grief thing doesn’t sound good. I’m sure they have stuff assembled in China, these Masterpet guys don’t appear to be characterised by their insistence on quality.
Is that Rodney guy very active anywhere other than Facebook? I’d read and watch more of his stuff if I could avoid the stupidity of facebook. Youtube seems likely, but he appears to write as well as posting videos. Going to look for a personal website after I hit Send here.
Ok, here you go – https://www.facebook.com/PetFoodReviewsAustralia/photos/a.774336505938698.1073741829.754957031209979/1698710563501283/
Sorry Alan, I know how much you hate Facebook.
MasterPet “Yours Droolly” is one of the products imported from China and works out at over 10x the cost of fresh Australian human grade chicken from the supermarkets.
MasterPet emailed me the other day and stated the following about sorbitol, but I note owners feeding small dogs multiple treats could possible lead to a high enough dose to cause a laxtive effect. My nan would definitely over-treat her dog but thankfully she had 1970s brown patterned carpets.
“Sorbitol is used in some of our products at very low levels (lower than that used in human foods). This helps hydrate the surface of the meat to keep them stable and moist. Sorbitol is used widely in human food and considered extremely safe, especially at these low levels.”
If MasterPet have reacted that fast then credit to them for addressing the issue.
In fairness to them, they also stated “Every one of our factories adheres to stringent quality controls and is audited and approved by AQIS, meeting higher standards than many observed in Australia.” This may well be true.
On the front of the packet “A slither of heaven”. Lol I think they might have even used chinese copy writers 🙂
Watch this space
For those prepared to shun the (often scary) commercial pet treat scene, grab yourself an Aldi dehydrator next time they come around. A 1kg tray of chewy chicken hearts (cut off the worst of the fat) is about 5 bucks. Chicken breast (skin on) can be had at much the same price. Similar stories with beef heart, trachea etc. Why would anyone gamble with this crap when DIY is relatively cheap by comparison? Ok, rhetorical question. Commercial stuff is convenient and requires no effort. Sigh.
Gone are the days of effort, everyone wants things as simple as can be and preferably cheap almost free foods for their pets and even themselves.
I guess they don’t have to look far with some American stores selling 20kg bags of food on special most day’s for amounts that are so tiny it’s a wonder how anyone doesn’t stop to think, why is it that cheap?
Same deal with Baxter’s as long as it’s cheap my dog be damned.
I can’t say I agree with a Ivory Coat’s treats being any good, they contain sucrose that’s sugar, glycerin not of vegetable origin or it would say so, I’ve never been a fan of potassium sorbate because most treats don’t have it, means it’s not necessary and a more natural form of preservation should be used.
Someone on Facebook mentioned SavourLife but again it contains glycerin non specified and potassium sorbate, I think some even have sugar in them, but I’d need to check them all on Pet Circle as they don’t have the ingredients listed on their website which is always super inconvenient for us but convenient for them because they know their treats suck balls haha.
Treats should either be Australian only meats, flours that aren’t made from soy, wheat or corn or tapioca, never sugars because people tend to overtreat, never any harmful or useless preservatives when there’s plenty of natural options and generally any other no no ingredients including unspecified ones.
Honestly I agree. I don’t think Ivory Coats treats should be up there, their dog food is good but how long will that last now that they’ve sold out and are no longer Australian owned?
Personally my dogs like the Whole Life range in the dried meats and the MFM green tripe. I try to stay away from the Ziwi treats just because they eat the food for breakfast and dinner. I also prefer drying my own meat if I can or just offering bones when their teeth need cleaning.
The problem is that a lot of people in my area don’t like paying for good quality treats when they see a cheaper version of it in Woolworths or Coles. It’s so hard to describe why they are cheap and that they are inferior and full of preservatives. Trying to educate people is hard. What’s worse is a lot of vets that I work with and know just don’t keep up with recent events or even care about nutrition. Do you know how many times I’ve heard a client say they feed Purina/Optimum/Pal etc and the vet just goes “Yeah that’s fine.” It’s so frustrating.
Educating people is extremely frustrating I agree, some days I just don’t worry about going on Facebook because I can’t deal with anymore delusions haha, if it’s cheap it’s like that because it’s inferior not because they care about it being cheap for you, their not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, but many just don’t see that and many more believe it to be fake because the truth is hard to face. I love helping people but when their so difficult about change I usually end up giving up as nothing I’m saying reaches them anyways and I pass the reins over to another person who can hopefully smack some sense into the person haha.
I think it’s best to just do what you can and those that refuse to listen will hopefully open their eyes one day and realise your not just a random shill on the internet but someone who is deeply concerned for their pets and you only wanted to help.