Puppies are absolutely allowed to have treats, but they should be small, gentle and suited to a stomach that is still developing. A good rule of thumb is that treats should make up no more than around a tenth of a puppy's daily intake, so that the rest of the nutrition comes from its proper puppy meals. Choose treats made from pure fresh ingredients without unnecessary fillers, and keep the portions tiny while the puppy is learning how the world works. That way the treat becomes a tool in training and a source of joy, rather than something that disrupts the carefully balanced nutrition a puppy needs during its first months.

The question often comes up already during the first week at home, when everything from house rules to being house-trained has to be learned. Treats are one of the most effective tools you have, but precisely because the puppy is small and growing rapidly, there is a difference between what is suitable and what you should steer clear of. Below we go through which treats are right for a puppy, how many it may have, and how to use them so they support both wellbeing and training.

Which treats are suitable for a puppy?

The best puppy treats are small, lean and made from human-grade ingredients that you could recognise yourself. Pure meat and fish are an obvious choice, because they closely resemble the puppy's natural diet and rarely strain the stomach. At ESSENTIAL FOODS you will find, among others, Duck Mini Delights, Salmon Mini Delights and Lamb Mini Delights, which are designed precisely as small pieces in a size suited to a little mouth. They are easy to break into even smaller bits if you want to get many repetitions out of a single treat during training.

Avoid treats with a high fat content, lots of binders or strong seasoning, which a puppy's stomach is not equipped for. If your puppy tends to have a sensitive digestion, or you want to keep the diet completely clean, it may make sense to look towards grain-free treats, where grain has been swapped out in favour of other ingredients. You will also find a wide selection gathered in our treats, where you can choose according to taste, protein source and the individual puppy's preferences.

Quality over quantity is the key phrase. A treat of exquisite ingredients satisfies and motivates more than a cheap filler treat, and you therefore need fewer of them to achieve the same effect. That makes it both easier to keep track of the daily intake and gentler on the puppy's growth.

How many treats can a puppy have per day?

Treats should make up no more than around ten percent of a puppy's total daily intake, so that they do not displace the nutrition from its puppy meals. A puppy needs a precisely balanced blend of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to grow healthily, and too many treats can quickly upset that balance and fill it up, so that the appetite for its proper meals disappears. If the puppy gets an extra amount of treats on a given day, for example during intensive training, it can be a good idea to cut back a little on the meal itself that day.

The exact number depends on the puppy's size, breed and activity level, and there is therefore no single figure that fits everyone. A small puppy with a slight build should have far fewer treats than a puppy of a large breed, and because the pieces vary in size, it makes more sense to think in terms of a proportion of the day's total intake than a fixed number of pieces. If you are unsure how to strike the right balance between meals and treats, ESSENTIAL FOODS' nutrition advisers are ready by phone, chat and email to help you tailor the feeding to your particular puppy.

How to use treats wisely in training

Treats are your strongest tool when the puppy has to learn its name, recall, sit and house-training, because the reward creates a clear link between the desired behaviour and something pleasant. For this kind of repetitive training you want many small rewards, and that is why the tiny pieces from our Mini Delights are particularly well suited. Break them down further if needed, so the puppy gets a taste for every correct action without becoming full too quickly.

Timing matters more than quantity. A treat given at the right moment teaches the puppy more than a handful of treats given somewhat randomly, and this is one of the reasons why quality and small portions go hand in hand with good training. As the puppy masters an exercise, you can gradually reduce the treats and instead reward with praise, play or attention, so the treat retains its value as something special.

Remember to subtract the treats you use in training from the puppy's other intake, so the overall total adds up. On a day with a lot of training, it is better to give many tiny pieces than a few large ones, because then you keep the amount down while getting as many repetitions as possible out of the reward.

From puppy meal to treat: the complete feeding

Treats are a supplement, not a replacement for the puppy's proper meals. The foundation must be a puppy meal that covers the rapid growth, and here the BEGINNING series is created for the finest start with luxurious, grain-free puppy meals of fresh ingredients, human-grade ingredients and carefully selected local and regional delicacies, entirely without grain and unnecessary fillers. Once the basic feeding is in place, the treats become the detail on top that supports training and everyday joy without disturbing the balance.

Think of treats and meals as one combined total. If you choose treats that match the puppy's meals in quality and ingredients, you avoid unnecessary fluctuations in the diet, and the stomach gets the calm it needs to digest it all. If you want to gather what is relevant for the first months, you will find both meals and suitable treats in our puppy universe, where the advice comes directly from ESSENTIAL FOODS and is designed to accompany the puppy from its very first day at home.

In the end, it comes down to giving the puppy the best start with small, clean treats in measured amounts, a solid base of nourishing puppy meals and a sense of when a reward does the most good. Then the treat becomes exactly what it should be: a source of joy, motivation and a strong bond between you, as the puppy grows healthy and secure.