Dog Treats for Large Dogs

Treats for a large dog should be big enough that the dog has to chew them, because a small piece goes down in a single swallow. Many bags sold as large dog treats are only a small treat in a bigger bag, so check the size of one piece, not the size of the bag.

Big dogs, big swallows

A 90 pound dog takes a pea sized piece without noticing it was there. That is fine for training, where speed matters, and the wrong choice for a chew, where the point is for the dog to work at it for a while. The same two numbers, the dog's weight and the piece's size, decide both.

The mouth is the measure. A big dog can fit a surprising amount behind the lips, including things that look too large. If a chew can be taken into the mouth whole, with room to spare, it is too small for that dog. Treat any chew as something that can break or lodge: the raw feeding notice on this site asks you to watch an animal while it eats for that reason.

Speed is part of it as well. A large dog can close its mouth on a treat before you have let go of it, so offer it on a flat open hand and keep your fingers well back.

Chews sized for the jaw

Hold the chew beside your dog's muzzle. A good size for a big dog sticks out past the lips on both sides when held across the mouth, and is thick enough that the dog has to pin it between its paws to work at it. If the dog can carry it off in its mouth like a stick, size up.

Sniff and Shift air dries Duck Necks and Chicken Feet in small batches in Malvern, with the chicken from New York, and a big dog may finish either in a sitting. They suit a big dog as a short chew, not a long project; for the long lasting kind, the guide to dog chews for aggressive chewers goes through the options.

The trade off with big dogs is speed. A large dog will finish in ten minutes what a small dog works at for an hour, which is where the bill for a heavy chewer adds up. Buy the size up and the sturdier kind rather than more of the small one.

Check the chew after every session. As it wears down it passes from too big, to just right, to small enough to swallow whole, and the last stage is the one to watch. Take the stub away once it is shorter than the width of the dog's muzzle.

The full range is in large dog treats, sorted by piece and chew size.

Training a big dog without a pound of treats

The pea sized rule holds at 90 pounds. A big dog works for a treat the size of a fingernail as willingly as for a whole biscuit, and a hundred of them cost a fraction of what a hundred whole ones do in food. Cut the pieces down once, in the kitchen, and carry a bag of them.

Spend part of the dog's meal on training, too. Measure the day's kibble in the morning, take a handful out as the training ration, and the rewards come out of the dog's dinner rather than on top of it. Praise and a thrown ball do some of the work as well.

Save the richer treat for the harder work and count everything against the day; dog treats for small dogs runs the same arithmetic at the other end of the scale.

Count out the day's training rewards into a jar or a coat pocket in the morning. When the jar is empty, the training rewards are done, and the rest of the day's rewards are praise and a game of fetch.

Treat calories at ninety pounds

VCA Hospitals advises keeping treats to a small share of the day's calories, and VCA puts the ceiling at 10 percent. A big dog eats a lot more in total, so its share looks bigger, and that can fool you into handing out more. The arithmetic below uses made up round numbers; the real figure is the one on the food's printed label or the one a licensed professional who cares for your dog gives you.

Suppose a 90 pound dog eats 1,200 calories a day, according to the printed label of its food, and the 10 percent VCA Hospitals allows goes to treats, which is 120 calories. USDA FoodData Central lists cheddar cheese at 403 calories per 100 grams, so 120 calories is about 30 grams of ordinary cheddar, a little over an ounce.

Now put a chew next to it. A single large chew can use a good share of that 120 before the first training treat comes out, so read its label for calories before you make it a daily habit. If the chew is the treat for the day, the training pieces come out of the meal.

The arithmetic cuts the other way too. A bag of large biscuits holds fewer pieces, and each piece is worth more. Break each biscuit in half, and in half again, for training, and keep the whole ones for when a big reward is the point.

Common questions

How big should a chew be for a large dog?

Big enough that the dog cannot take it into its mouth whole. Hold it across the muzzle: it should stick out past the lips on both sides. If the dog can carry it off easily, choose the next size up.

Do large dogs need larger training treats?

No. A piece the size of a fingernail works as well for a big dog as a whole biscuit, and it keeps the day's total down. Cut treats small once and carry a bagful.

How many treats should a 90 pound dog get?

It depends on the calories printed on the food's label and the calories in each treat. VCA Hospitals describes treats as something to hold to a small share of the day's calories. Weigh a sample of pieces once so you can count them.

Why do big dogs go through chews so fast?

A large jaw works through a chew far faster than a small one. Choose a thicker, denser chew rather than more of the thin kind. Take the leftover end away once it is small enough to swallow whole.