Dog treats and chews are an important part of your dogs overall well-being. But... Just as all foods are not created equal, treats and chews have their levels of healthy values.

When we discovered that our dog Molaki had allergies to wheat products that were in his dog food, we stopped to look at the dog treats and chews we were giving him. His favorite was a Milk bone product that also contained wheat. He was getting a double dose of wheat products from his food and treats. This led to a lot of misery for him as we were trying to figure out what was going on.

Trips to the vet's office yielded no cures, only shots of cortisone for temporary relief.

Our research led us to believe that wheat could be causing his problems. So we found a grain-free dry food as well as incorporating raw food into his diet as well. Skeptical at first, the combination did the trick and he regained his health back and became very vibrant.

Most dogs can handle a little wheat in their dog treats and chews as long as they don't have any type of grain allergies. If they do, then you are compounding their misery by giving these treats.

We've seen many people come into our store with allergy problems. We get them into a feeding program that addresses the problem. Some come back in and say, "my dog is still scratching really bad, this don't seem to be working." First thing we ask then is, are you givng them any dog treats and chews? They will usually tell us that yes, they get these teats that I can pick up in a huge bag from a big box store. Or yeah, she gets half my toast every morning.

Of course we then tell them to look at the ingredients in those treats. Most that you find in the big box stores that see them really cheap is loaded with grains. Wheat being so cheap is usually a major one. Of course if the parent is eating wheat toast for breakfast and the dog gets half that could be causing the problem as well.

When they take away the bad dog treats and chews, the problem usually goes away. If not, then we have to keep striping down the ingredients this dog gets until we find what he can eat without causing problems. Then we can go back to adding things into the diet.