We love our dogs, we want them to be happy. So you’re out doing your own grocery shopping, you pass the pet aisle and think – surely it would be rude not to pick up some treats for the dog while we’re at it?

But how many of us actually look at the side of the packet at the (often verrrry long and difficult to decipher) list of ingredients?

Can anyone tell me what “derivatives of animal origin” are? Something vaguely related to an animal, maybe some leftovers from the abattoir (slaughterhouse) floor, can’t be that bad… right?

What about another popular ingredient “derivatives of vegetable origin” . That’s not good wholesome vegetables or even “vegetable derivatives” …

“Derivatives of vegetable origin” .

Doesn’t sound too tasty or beneficial to me.

A lot of treats and biscuits also contain a lot of salt, sugar and flavor enhancers. None of these are doing your dog any good.

For more information on pet food and treat ingredients, the Dog Food Analysis website is well worth a read. You may be shocked at what you’ve really been feeding your pet!

Luckily, there are dog treats and biscuits available with no “mystery ingredients” that they will love to munch on!

Our bestselling range of Scallywags biscuits are baked here in Dublin and our dogs just love them! They have no nasty hidden ingredients and are available in barley bites (with herbs and honey – Molly’s fave!), peanut butter, rye crunch (low fat) and oatees (parmesan cheese). Try them yourself to see how delicious they are

If you think your dog would prefer something meaty, our Arden Grange treats and hypoallergenic and made with wholesome, natural ingredients. They are currently available in Lamb or Salmon.

We have just started selling Petzerts in our store and have had a great response so far. These are frozen certified organic pots of probiotic and prebiotic natural yoghurt, made right here in Ireland! As they are frozen treats they are not suitable for mailing so are only available from our freezer instore.

It is very difficult to find good cat treats so we were very happy to see the ingredient list for our new gourmet salmon and vegetable cat treats. They are low fat and stuffed with salmon, carrots, broccoli, alfafa sprouts, apples and cranberries.

If you don’t mind getting your hands (and floors) dirty, knuckle bones are a great natural treat for dogs (your local butcher can help you there) also sweet potato and carrots go down really well.