Healthy Treats Joint & Hip Dog & Puppy Treats - 70g

The Healthy Treats Joint & Hip Dog & Puppy Treats are crunchy cream-filled treats with glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and MSM in the filling, alongside omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. They are a pleasant treat and the ingredient choices are the conventional ones for joints. What they are not is a joint supplement, and because that difference matters to anyone with an arthritic dog, we have published the actual numbers below so you can judge for yourself.

Key Features

• Joint Ingredients: Glucosamine at 0.115 per cent, chondroitin sulphate at 0.043 per cent and MSM at 0.025 per cent.
• Fatty Acids: Omega 3 at 2.4 per cent and omega 6 at 5.7 per cent.
• Meat Content: Chicken at 7 per cent, with milk and milk derivatives in the filling.
• Vitamins: Vitamin A at 2000 IU, vitamin D3 at 300 IU and vitamin E at 113mg per kg.
• Analysis: Crude protein 12 per cent, crude oils and fats 23 per cent, crude fibre 1 per cent, crude ash 4 per cent, moisture 8 per cent.
• Feeding Guide: VetIQ suggest 2 treats a day for a 5kg dog, 3 for a 10kg dog and 4 for a 20kg dog.
• Pack Size: 70g resealable bag.

The Numbers, Honestly

• Here is the arithmetic nobody usually shows you. At 0.115 per cent glucosamine, the four treats a day suggested for a 20kg dog work out to roughly five milligrams. A joint supplement for a dog that size is typically dosed at several hundred milligrams a day.
• So this bag delivers on the order of one per cent of a supplemental dose. That is not a criticism of the product, which is sold as a treat and priced as one. It is a warning against buying it as treatment, because a dog with hip dysplasia or arthritis will get nothing useful from it.
• If your dog genuinely needs joint support, ask your vet about a proper veterinary joint supplement at a real dose, and about pain relief. Arthritis is painful, it is very commonly under-treated, and dogs hide it by slowing down rather than by limping.
• The omega 3 is arguably the more useful ingredient here, since fish oil does have reasonable evidence behind it for joint inflammation. The same dose caveat applies.

What Actually Helps A Dog's Joints

• Keeping your dog lean is the single most effective thing, and it is free. Excess weight both loads the joints and drives inflammation, and weight loss in an overweight arthritic dog often does more than any supplement.
• Regular moderate exercise beats occasional hard exercise. Several steady walks a day suit a stiff dog far better than a long sprint at the weekend.
• At home: non-slip flooring or runners on tiles, a supportive bed out of the air conditioning draught, a ramp instead of jumping into the car, and food and water bowls raised if reaching down is hard.
• For a growing puppy of a large breed, the most important thing is not over-supplementing and not over-exercising. Forced exercise and extra calcium during growth are both associated with joint problems later, which is why a growth food's balance is best left alone.
• Signs worth a vet visit: slowing on walks, stiffness after rest, difficulty with stairs or the car, a changed sitting position, reluctance to be touched, or new grumpiness. Dogs rarely cry about pain; they just do less.

About The 4 Week Label

• Mark & Chappell label this range as suitable for puppies from 4 weeks of age. That is written for breeders: a puppy of that age is only starting to wean and is still with its mother and litter.
• What it actually tells you is that the recipe is gentle enough for a very young puppy. It is not a suggestion that a four-week-old puppy should be having treats, and it is not a reason to take a puppy off its mother early.
• Most people get their puppy at around eight weeks. From that point these are genuinely useful, because a soft-centred treat a puppy really wants is the easiest way to get house-training, handling, lead work and crate practice started.

The Main Food Does The Work

• A complete dog or puppy food is formulated to supply every nutrient in the right proportion. A treat sits on top of that, and it is not a way to patch a diet that is falling short.
• If you think the main food is not working for your dog, the answer is a better main food, chosen with your vet, not a supplement bolted on top. Adding things to a poor diet rarely helps and makes it much harder to tell what is causing what.
• Growing puppies are the case where this matters most. A growth food has calcium, phosphorus and energy balanced deliberately, and that balance is best left alone.

Who Makes It

• Healthy Treats is a range made by Mark & Chappell Ltd, a British company that sells pet healthcare under the VetIQ Healthy+ name. The brand is VetIQ; Healthy Treats is the dog treat line, and Healthy Bites is the matching line for cats and small pets.
• Every treat in the range is built the same way: a crisp baked cereal shell wrapped around a soft cream-filled centre, with the active ingredients carried in the filling. That is what lets them put something useful in a treat a dog will take by hand.
• Mark & Chappell state there is no added sugar in the range and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. The antioxidants used are vitamin E, ascorbyl palmitate and rosemary extract.

These Are Rich Treats

• Worth knowing before you buy: the cream filling makes this a high-fat treat. Across the range the crude fat content runs from roughly 23 to 30 per cent, which is higher than most dry dog foods. The calories per treat are low because the treats are small, not because they are lean.
• On a small dog that adds up quickly. Keep everything outside the main meals under about a tenth of the day's calories, and take a little off the main meal on days you use a lot of them.
• If your dog has had pancreatitis, is prone to it, or has been put on a low-fat diet by your vet, check before using these. A rich treat is exactly the kind of thing that gets overlooked when someone is being careful about the main food.

Feeding Safely

• Mark & Chappell ask that dogs be supervised while eating these, that they are fed as a snack between meals, and that fresh drinking water is always available. Sensible advice for any hard treat given to a puppy.
• Hand-feed rather than tipping a pile into the bowl. You can see what went in, you get the training value out of it, and in a multi-dog house nobody takes more than their share.
• Introduce them a couple at a time over a few days. A new ingredient in a large first helping is the usual reason for a loose stool that then gets blamed on the product.

A Treat, Not A Medicine

• This is a complementary pet food. It is not a veterinary medicine and it is not licensed to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease. The VetIQ name on the bag does not change that, and neither does the wording on the front.
• The fair way to read the range is good treats with a sensible extra in them, chosen to suit a situation. That is a reasonable basis for picking one bag over another. It is not a reason to use one instead of seeing your vet.
• If your dog is already on medication or a prescription diet, mention any treat you are adding at the next appointment. Prescription diets work by controlling exactly what goes in, and extras can work against them.

Storage In The UAE

• Mark & Chappell ask that the pack be stored cool and dry, out of direct sunlight, and used within four weeks of opening. That matters more here than in the UK, because heat and humidity turn the oils in a high-fat cream filling stale faster.
• Press the resealable strip shut after each use and keep the bag in a cupboard rather than on a sunny shelf or in the car. A fridge is not needed and tends to soften the shell.
• If a treat smells of old oil or crayons, or the shell has gone bendy, throw the bag out. Rancid fat is unpleasant rather than dangerous, but dogs refuse it and you have lost the pack anyway.

Currently Out Of Stock

• This one is out of stock at the moment. Message us and we will tell you when the next shipment is due rather than leaving you guessing.

Good To Know

• Complementary pet food for dogs. Not a complete diet and not a veterinary medicine.
• Supervise your dog while feeding. Feed as a snack between meals, with fresh water available.
• Resealable bag. Store cool and dry, out of sunlight, and use within four weeks of opening.
• A high-fat treat. Keep treats to roughly a tenth of your dog's daily calories at most.
• Made in the UK by Mark & Chappell Ltd under the VetIQ Healthy+ brand.
• Not for human consumption. Keep out of reach of children.
• Contains chicken, milk derivatives and wheat flour.
• Not a joint supplement. Ask your vet about a proper dose if your dog needs one.