Puppy treats to match a small body in full growth
Treats for puppies need to do more than simply taste good. A puppy discovers the world through its mouth, and those first months are filled with training, house rules, socialisation and the very first teething. That makes the composition crucial: small pieces, clean raw materials and a high proportion of animal content, so the reward contributes something real rather than merely filling a gap. In this collection you'll find selected treats from ESSENTIAL FOODS suited to your puppy's size, motivation and digestion — from tiny training morsels to natural chews and grain-free dental care.
Mini Delights were created for exactly this. They come with duck, lamb, salmon and turkey, each with 50% of the raw material in question, and they're small enough that you can reward many times over without your puppy feeling full or unsettled in the stomach. Rabbit Delights consist of 100% rabbit ears and nothing else, making them a natural choice when your puppy needs to chew its way through a spell of itchy gums.
How to choose the right treats for your puppy
Begin by thinking about purpose. For learning name recognition, recall and walking on the lead, small pieces are unbeatable, because training needs to keep up a brisk pace. For the calmer moments at home, natural chews work far better, and here it's worth also looking at treats with a long chewing time as your puppy grows older and the jaw strength develops. Once the adult teeth are in place, the grain-free Dental Delights are a good next step. Grain-Free Classic Dental Delights contain 98% chicken, beef and turkey, while Grain-Free Beef & Rabbit Dental Delights and Grain-Free Beef & Game Dental Delights contain 96% meat, so dental care and great taste go hand in hand. If you'd like to explore the subject further, you can read more about oral hygiene and bad breath in dogs.
Remember that treats count towards the total daily intake. A puppy has a precise requirement for energy, protein, calcium and phosphorus, and too many rewards can shift the balance and affect growth. A good rule of thumb is to keep treats to a smaller share of the day's ration and adjust the meals accordingly. If you're unsure how to strike the right balance for your particular breed and age, the nutritional advisers at ESSENTIAL FOODS are ready to help by phone, chat and email, and will put together a plan that suits your puppy's growth curve and supports a healthy weight for life.
Grain-free treats and sensitive puppy tummies
Many puppies have a stomach that reacts quickly to anything new. That's why most of the treats here are grain-free and built around one clear protein source, making it easy to keep track of what your puppy is getting. It also makes it simpler to introduce new flavours one at a time and to spot quickly if something doesn't agree with them.
If you'd like to keep the whole day within the same line, you'll find plenty more options among our grain-free products.
Always introduce a new treat in small amounts over a couple of days, and give your puppy free access to fresh water throughout. As long as the stools remain firm and well formed, you can carry on with confidence.
From reward to the daily meal
Treats are a supplement, never the foundation. The foundation is laid with puppy meals prepared from fresh raw materials and human-grade ingredients, composed for the rapid growth a puppy goes through in that first year. Explore the range of meals for puppy and junior, and find inspiration for the first weeks, changing food, training and wellbeing in the Puppy Universe, where we've gathered our very best advice for the finest possible start.
As your puppy grows up, the needs change once again — both in the bowl and in the reward. Here you can explore our full range of dog treats and carry on the good habit of clean raw materials and honest, genuine flavour.
