Calorie content on popular dog treats

Counting calorie content can be a big bore. Who wants to do it? Not I. Not for myself nor for my furry little kids. Wouldn’t it just be nice to eat what you want? When you want. However much you want. But the truth is, being aware of the calorie content in our dog’s treats or our human treats for that matter, can really help maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep the extra pounds off.

Just as us humans, in the midst of our zero self-control moments, are happily willing to plop ourselves down on the couch in front of the television with a big bowl of ice cream or a bag of potato chips, and consume it without a trace, our doggies also would happily consume an entire bag of treats when placed in front of their snoots. In fact, they would consume the entire bag with barking pleasure.

Even with the best training, our furry little friends cannot be taught the same self-control or to count their own calories. They see a treat. Smell a treat. Tails start wagging. Salivating turns into drooling. End of story. So being the responsible and in-complete-self-control doggy parents that we are, we try to be conscious of the calorie content our fur babies are consuming. We want to know accurate numbers and information regarding calories in our pet’s favorite dog treats.

So, let’s get to it. The calorie content of popular dog treats. It’s not as simple as it seems. Because there is such a ginormous amount of different dog treat options out there. They come in all different shapes and sizes. And many different ingredients. So naturally the calorie content will vary with each treat option.

Some popular treats that are out there can be as high as 400 calories in one sitting. And if you want to list table scraps as a part of popular dog “treats,” those numbers can go as high as 700 calories in one sitting, of course depending on what our Chewbarka’s are allowed to chow down on somehow sneak out of the trash.

Most doggos really only need 25-30 calories per pound, per day to maintain their weight. Small breed dogs generally weigh less than 22lb (10kg) so in theory, small dogs would need 660 calories or less. Medium breed dogs are between 22lb-55lb (10-25kg) so they would need at the max 1,650 calories or less. Large dog breeds can be anything over 55lb (25kg) so if a dog weighed in at 100lbs they would need about 3,000 calories per day at the max to maintain their weight.

If we could use our large dog who weighed in at 100lbs as an example. We can call him Charlie. Our big boy Charlie should only be consuming about 300 calories of treats per day. This is 10% of his allotted 3,000 daily caloric intake. We could also take a medium size dog that weighs in at 50 pounds as an example. Let’s call her Martha. Martha can only consume 1,500 calories or less to maintain her health and therefore she can have up to 150 calories per day in treats. If we have a small fur baby. Less than 10lbs. Lets call him Oscar. Oscar can have less than 300 calories per day so he can enjoy about 30 calories in treats per day.

Good thing is, here at Big Lu, we have your back when it comes to low-calorie, high quality treat options for all sizes and breeds. We have beef, pork and hare options. Our traditional bully sticks come in many different sizes and the calories range from as low as 55 calories per serving up to 320 calories per serving for our braided bully stick. Gullet strip and stuffed gullet are also good treat options ranging from 55 calories to 110. Pig ears 70 calories. All our dog treats are 100% natural. Free of hormones, antibiotics and preservatives. We offer Low odor, Single-ingredient, Anxiety reducing, Promotes dental health. Wheat, gluten, grain, and soy free. Perfect for aggressive chewers. Perfect options for our barkers.