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This is Melky, my BTF (Boston Terrier Forever).

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He loves tasty paleo treats that give him a shiny, silky-smooth coat and perk him up in the morning so he can lick his master's face to death until that old lug wakes up.

My pick for paleo treats for my pet is sardines.

They're both cheap (.89) and packed with nutrients. Sardines provide "total nutrition" for my paleo pal: Omega 3 fatty acids, Protein, Vitamin D, Calcium, Vitamin B12, Tryptophan, Selenium, Phosphorus, Vitamin B3...even Coenzyme Q10.

I'm feeding my boy 1 can/day along with grain-free dry food (which can get expensive).

Do you have any paleo treats you like to feed your pet?

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Thanks Matthew. I won't ask how you did that. – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:23
On the image hosting site right click on your photo and select "view image" so that only the photo is on the browser page, then use the address from that page. – Matt Jun 27 2011 at 17:32
Word. Thank you. – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:35
I have a one-eyed cat by the name of Mr. Magoo, that eats bacon and butter. – Dave S. Jun 27 2011 at 18:31
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 If your goal is to have a more effective alarm clock in the AM, I wonder if he would eat haggis? That'll cut through the morning fog in a jiffy with the first lick. – CaveRat Jun 27 2011 at 18:33
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14 Answers

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My dogs get raw beef scrap bones- marrowy and cartilge but also rib bones and whatnot, whole chicken legs or wings, egg yolk, sea salt and liver- whatever liver I can get in them and chicken giblets. I keep an eye on the 'reduced for quick sale' section at the grocery store to get super cheap steak, chicken, whatever and just throw it in the freezer. I've dehydrated liver and heart in thin slices for treats. My cats get a grain free dry food and then raw egg yolk and liver mixed with some canned grain free. I'll also add chicken wing tips or fish scraps (ask at your seafood counter about fish heads/scraps for stock but save the salmon heads for yourself :P). A treat they absolutely LOVE, and so does my one dog that thinks he's a cat, are my son's dried anchovies. You can buy them in the frozen section of Asian markets for under $2.

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Sorry- For a package of about 2 cups of dried anchovies. – Barb Jun 27 2011 at 17:43
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 I'm going to check out the Asian market. That's a great tip! There always seems to be cheap fish there. – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:49
Is liver sold in supermarkets free of toxins and Omega 6 fats? – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:49
I highly doubt it and I won't touch grocery store meat for me or my human family. Unfortunately I can't afford the good stuff for my pets. – Barb Jun 28 2011 at 0:27
Your animals eat better than most humans. Good owner! – MKS Jun 28 2011 at 1:52
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I make a lot of bone broth. My pooch gets the bones (big beef knuckles/joints) which after 36 hours in the crockpot are so soft that my 18 month old could probably eat them.

PS - AWWWWWW what a cute question Torso Dude!

EDIT - HEY I was wrong about the cooked bones apparently - raw only. Ooops.

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Thanks Meredith!(blushes) Where do you get the beef knuckles and joints? – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:06
Well I'm kuntry - so I buy my meat at farm out here and the throw in the whatnot no one else seems to want. Things like cartiladginous odds and ends. eatwild.com has a list of farms you can buy direct from. Or, conventional bones are always in the supermarket - usually considered pet food. Often times this is how raw milk is sold as well. – none Jun 27 2011 at 17:12
Good point about the supermarket being an option. I guess since we're dealing with cartilage and bone tissue I don't have to worry about the beef not being grass-fed. I think... – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:18
I got those pieces with my cow order. I've been making stew with them. Wish I had a dog to give them to. – Sara Jun 27 2011 at 17:20
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 Im sorry i have to comment again: occasionally, yes, a little bit of cooked bone is not going to kill them. No, of course not. However the person who wrote the answer says she makes the broth a LOT and that leads me to think the dog is regularly getting cooked bones like that. That is a known danger if done regularly like that. – ben61820 Jun 27 2011 at 21:52
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Dehydrated Green Tripe. alt text

AKA: THE high value treat. It is expensive, but for training purposes there is nothing else that will get his little heart beating as fast as this "doggie crack."

But I don't think you'll want him to lick your face after eating it.

And, if you want good (grass fed) beef liver mixed into it, check out the products at GreenTripe.com,

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My Shiba Inu likes fish oil capsules, he eats them like treats. The Boston is not a fan.

Also hard boiled eggs and chicken liver... and of course raw beef bone.

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Are raw eggs ok? – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 17:04
Aside from the salmonella risk, I can't see why not. – Sara Jun 27 2011 at 17:19
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 My pup gets a lot of raw eggs, with shells. In nearly four years, he's never had an issue. – Rose Jun 27 2011 at 17:30
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 Raw eggs are fine, they are just not as much fun to catch in the air. Treats should be snapped out of the air, otherwise they are just foods. :) – Vrimj Jun 27 2011 at 17:31
Raw eggs in excess are not a good idea. The raw white blocks absorption of biotin, which many pets don't get in sufficient amounts already. This goes for humans too. – animalcule Jun 27 2011 at 18:02
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My dude gets a raw egg, with the shell, a few times a week. He also gets beef knuckles every Sunday, and glares at me if I forget. He also gets chicken livers and hearts whenever I get 'em, which also tends to be once a week.

And he gets raw meaty bones for his food every day, which he seems to consider a Paleo treat. :)

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Oh yeah - egg shells. I keep my egg shells and grind them for puppy and garden and sometime me. Great point R! – none Jun 27 2011 at 17:36
Wow, that's our menu, too! Although sometimes my boy Simon will leave some shell behind. – ben61820 Jun 27 2011 at 17:39
Meredith, our garden gets the shells, too. Ben, Buster seems to care for the shells less than the contents. He eats them last, and sometimes leaves some behind, too. Interesting! He's such a healthy and good-looking dog that I regret not knowing about raw feeding when we had our first girl, Daisy. I bet Simon's in top shape, too. :) – Rose Jun 27 2011 at 18:02
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I make jerky for them, no seasonings, just slice kidneys, livers, lungs, whatever I get at the butchers. This way it's easy to keep. I never started my dogs on a "raw" diet (they're 7) so if I try to give them anything raw now they look at me like i'm an idiot. Hence, the jerky is closest thing I can get them to eat. I also give them bones after we've roasted them for us.

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Raw chicken feet.

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Yummy! Must add to shopping list. – Rose Jun 27 2011 at 20:10
My pets are so 'meh' about these! They are great for any animal with joint issues or arthritis though – animalcule Jun 27 2011 at 21:33
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My dogs get bones and things like that. They currently have a package of lamb necks defrosting for them. So, pretty much ditto what everyone else said.

But...

My boy dog won't eat raw chicken. Not really sure what that's all about, but it does mean giving him raw chicken liver is out of the question. So usually I take a container of chicken livers, boil them for about a minute so they are less mushy and more solid. Then I cut them into small pieces and dehydrate them for a while. They'll keep really well in a glass jar and I always have a steady supply of training-size treats.

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That's a good trick -- I use training treats, and I like this idea better than cheap junk salami or something. – Rose Jun 27 2011 at 21:17
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My dogs and cats eat bone-in raw meat and fish every day, and every so often cooked eggs and dairy products. I dispensed with processed pet food/grains 5 years ago, long before I went paleo myself!

For 'treats' I prefer something portable and not too messy. For training/bribing my dogs I use freeze-dried beef liver or any sort of stinky processed sausage, cut in little bits. :D

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Grass fed? I wish I could afford that! – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 18:07
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 Hah! I don't even get to eat grass-fed as often as I like, since I usually make less than $15,000 per year! My pets mostly live on bony scrap parts from local butchers like fowl necks and backs and stripped fish carcasses, also whatever leftovers I can scrape off the dead deer my hunter friends let me scavenge, soon-to-expire 'sale meats', etc. I have to get creative to feed them this way affordable. My dogs together weigh more than me. – animalcule Jun 27 2011 at 18:30
And I usually manage to feed both of them plus my two cats for $80 - $120 per month. – animalcule Jun 27 2011 at 18:32
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My German Shepard particularly relishes any raw organ meat.

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Is the organ meat from grass-fed animals or feedlot? And does that even matter when it comes to organ meats? – BAMBAM Jun 27 2011 at 18:16
Mostly conventional, although if I have grass fed, he gets to share. I switched him to a totally raw diet after my other dog died of lymphoma. Mostly conventional raw meaty bones, and he is thriving on it. – Kate Jun 29 2011 at 10:48
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My grocery store sells packages of soup bones (round femur slices with marrow). I keep these in the freezer for my monster dog. Frozen marrow takes a little more time and effort for him to remove, and he'll gnaw on the bone later, too. Kongs can be great also. You can fill them with all kinds of scraps, then freeze them. Puppy pacifiers.

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Totally endorse the kongs. I freeze them too. I used to think they provided hours of entertainment, but then one day I stayed home and watched Buster chow on that huge, frozen thing, and it took him all of five minutes to wipe it out, lol. – Rose Jun 27 2011 at 20:12
Yes, once they get their technique down, they plow through things pretty fast. – Jodi Jun 27 2011 at 20:24
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My pup is rad, she'll eat anything and actually eats not too far off from me. Eggs, hardboiled and raw, chopped crunchy veg, berries, meat, almond butter in the Kong. Liver, kidney, heart, etc., I'll make little mixes and give to her. She's a total runt and can't be given big food - maybe a knucklebone from a rabbit would be her size - so the latest treat I'm doing is via a flexible ice cube tray that the cubes pop out in the shape of Space Invaders. I press raw meat in, freeze, pop out, treat! She digs it :)

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you guys are awesome! thanks for all the tips on great treats! love this!

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My Boston won't eat any fish, but he loves chicken giblets and meaty bones. Hard to believe, but he refuses beef cubes! I'll be trying him on rabbit when the next US Wellness shipment comes. I feed about 40% raw and he can't tolerate any commercial food containing wheat or corn.

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Nance - Do you give the chicken giblets to your dog raw? – PrimalFit-D Dec 3 at 17:24
Yes, i give them raw giblets, raw meat and raw bones--it varies. At Thanksgiving, I cut cross-sections of the turkey neck; as my dogs are very small, I made additional cuts to get manageable pieces. They loved it! Later, I gave them each a bit of liver and a bit of raw meat from the back, scraps from where I cut out the spine in order to butterfly the turkey. I also spoon bone broth, either warmed or in jelly form, over their food at times. – Nance Dec 4 at 5:18

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