Why dog owners choose oven-dried meat dog treats over plant treats. And how raw food & freeze dried fit into their diet.
In 2025, it seems that dog owners are driven by safety, then supplements (anything special for their dog to eat that ‘might’ make the dog healthier).
Humans spend so much on vitamins and Minerals and makeup for themselves. Doing for this, seems to make sense, yet many people feeding the same old plant based kibble material to their dogs.
Would you pay the same for a human meal for a very pretty salad, as you would expect to pay for a juicy prime steak? Which one do you think has better protein for an omnivore, let alone a carnivore?
If I owned a multibillion-dollar dog food company, or headed up the Marketing team, I would do the opposite of what they are currently producing. Those companies that have to justify quarterly growth and profit to shareholders rely on providing the minimum AAFCO standards (globally accepted). They do this by ensuring they make dog food with the minimum cost of ingredients. The combination of which can legally be called dog food, What can legally be ‘complete and balanced’, by an American volunteer group !?
We aren’t interested in changing people’s views about what the best kibble or canned food is for their dog. But nor are we interested in providing the cheapest treat ingredients just to make a dogs coat any more glossy. Pouring any oil into their food will do that. And THAT doesn’t improve their organ health, or joint health, or their brain, or longevity at all.
The reason that most owners think that dog food is whole and complete, is because giant factories and companies spend a LOT of money on providing ‘experts’ to hawk any product on social media. Do that enough, and if the influencer is good looking enough, and has some general qualification in the dog industry, well, that belief becomes ingrained.
If you read the ingredient list on dog food packets carefully, and the nutrition profile, you will usually see that there is little difference between dog food brands. Except for the brand, and what the makers pay the influencers to say.
The response to this by some savvy dog owners wanting a more natural dog diet, one that most dog’s digestive systems do better on (ie the food is more bio available and contains far more animal protein), is to go the raw feeding path.
I personally have dabbled in both (manufactured pellets, and raw feeding). And know that my dog only enjoyed high meat and offal content EVERY time. Because we didn’t teach them to snack on species inappropriate plant matter.
Of course you need to have food that your dog enjoys eating, but also be mindful of long-term effects, balance and stage of life your dog is in.
Many owners in both of these extreme camps (100% manufactured V raw animal diets) struggle with getting the balance right. Which leads them down the path of a mass of expensive supplements (often very low strength vitamins). They also add plant matter like blueberries, carrots, fennel etc. Things that are good in trace amounts, but not at the sake of replacing animal protein.
Macro nutrient first, micro nutrient, a far second is what makes the major positive difference for your dog.
To summarize the hundreds of articles (based on science) that we have created, let’s review what the different classes of treats can provide dog owners, to address any deficiencies in main meals.
What you get in Grain treats, vegan treats and freeze-dried treats
Dog food companies will willingly tell you that you shouldn’t feed your dog more than 10% treats per day.
And that is correct if you are feeding your dog grain or vegan treats. Because essentially you are just feeding your dog the same amount of vegetable matter or MORE than they are already getting. But perhaps more fat, salt and sugar, to make it more attractive empty calories.
Grains, sweet potato or any other numerous cheap herbivore food stock is LOW in absolute protein amounts and typically in bio-available protein too. For full review, we provide you with these offerings:
https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au/not-vegan/
https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au/ultimate-dog-food-protein/
If your dog food is provided with dog food that provides the bare minimum 18% protein (from any source), that aafco requires (that American volunteer group), then adding more vegetables or grain will NOT boost your dog’s protein level.
Quality meat protein can be used to build the brain, heart and muscle tissue. Protein is used in many chemical reactions within their body. It is a vital nutrition class that is usually overlooked.
But many people don’t know that MEAT PROTEIN can also be used interchangeably with carbs to provide energy (KJ). The only reason dogs don’t get more quality protein is purely input cost.
Both can be high in protein (if meat based), and most dogs are ok on raw meat diets (except lots of raw chicken meat that can have pathogens they might struggle with).
But the thing that stops most dog owners, on raw meat diets is perceived safety concerns. That of ‘bad bacteria’.
We researched and wrote an article about ‘freeze drying’ techniques in 2017, but it is just as relevant today
https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au/freeze-drying-dog-treats-not-good/
Back then we found that “Freeze drying processes usually work between minus 30 and 70 degree C” However to kill all bacteria, including e-coli the process needs to “ freeze it at minus 80 degrees C” We have since looked at google scholar papers on the matter, and there are high tech processes that they mention that use methods that don’t require such extremely low temperatures, but they cost a LOT to create, reliably.
If a freeze-dried brand uses these new, very expensive processes (different from conventional freezing techniques), that many human-grade snack companies can’t afford, then we applaud that. They will also have ZERO bacteria count after drying – JUST LIKE CONVENTIONAL OVEN DRIED DOG TREATS, already do.
The thing is, you are very unlikely to read about what specific process the freeze-drying companies are using, on the packet or website. And it’s also, so new, that most consumers wouldn’t know about it.
So, you are very unlikely to know what specific method they use. AND so, you are just as unlikely to know if their process kills ALL pathogens, like OVEN DRIED DOG TREATS.
And that means that every second that their treat is OUT of the machine, the pathogen population is increasing – just because it wasn’t completely killed off, and now the pack is being stored at room temperature, it will continue to grow.
A NZ Govt review of Freeze dried dog products in 2021 says that ” Freeze-dried pet foods are manufactured from raw meat by removing most of its water through sublimation within an environment with low atmospheric pressure. Water contained within the raw material diffuses out because of the low-pressure environment. No thermal treatment is applied and usually freeze drying is conducted below -40 °C.” (Ref 2) – all good so far, except that minus 40C is no where near the minus 80C required to kill all common pathogens – including bad bacteria.
“However, claims on improved immune responses, overall health, superior skin and coat conditions, and anti-allergenic effects in pets fed freeze-dried or chilled raw meat diets are unsubstantiated (Weese et al., 2005).” Ref 2
“The absence of a thermal treatment in the freeze-dried pet food manufacturing process results in a largely unchanged microbiological profile in the final product to that of the raw material. … this suggests that common bacteria and bacterial spores could withstand the freeze-drying process and they can maintain viability despite the low moisture environment created by freeze-drying.” (Ref 2)
So yes, if you are concerned about RAW meat feeding, you should also consider the those same concerns are relevant to conventional freeze-drying processes of dog treats.
This is why we recommend using this handy chart below for maximum nutrition AND safety (FULL removal of bacteria).
THE SAFEST DOG TREATS AVAILABLE, with highest protein.
Oven dried meat dog treats
The oven drying or medium temperature cooking is well known, because the vast majority of human food is cooked this way. Food inspection agencies have standards based on these methods. Ovens set at over 120C, kill ALL PATHOGENS. Not 90% not 99%, but 100% of the bacteria population.
And that is why oven dried meat-based dog treats, still reign supreme – for nutrition AND safety concerns.
But if you are going to get the most protein, for the lowest ENERGY input, its all about SINGLE INGREDIENT MEAT or OFFAL DOG TREATS
We don’t expect owners to stop feeding their dogs commercial dog food, or raw diets. Everyone has done research, and as said, they trust the sources that they have read and continue to review.
We just ask you to pause, and understand what is in the treats you are feeding your dog.
CONCLUSIONS
One more thing. We know people don’t buy only on logic. In fact, reason and facts tend to be low on the list of choice inputs. Just knowing that something is good for you, doesn’t guarantee a person will do it. It’s about emotion, right? How you FEEL towards something. That is often the disconnect in people feeding their dogs, truly healthy animal-based treats, and shiny packets of plant matter made by large faceless organizations.
What most people do, is just continue buying what they have always done. For convenience sake, at the local supermarket.
They align with the brand they see advertised all day long. And to quote one of my favourite films, its all about the idea of the treat, NOT usually what’s in it. Its about “an idea. Resilient… highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed – fully understood – that sticks; right in there somewhere.” (inception)
We tend to run on auto. Because there are plenty of other ‘moment by moment’ decisions that take up our brain space each day. That time crunch makes it very hard to change habits, good or bad.
So let me share with you why your dog will appreciate it, on an emotional level.
Dogs don’t know about health, but they know about primal. They know in the back of their brain stem, that they used to hunt for their food, and that the reward was the wonderful SMELLS of that food, and to some extent taste, but definitely the primal act of ripping that meat apart. That was their true reward.
Imagine making your dog healthy, while actually satisfying their primal needs. To do something they evolved to do, that is a genuine benefit to their body? Kind of best of all world’s right?
The reason people don’t go raw, is that they either trust the commercial dog food brand to supply everything, or they are concerned about safety issues of raw feeding, or the complication of compiling a whole, complete diet.
They might accept their dogs need more protein and animal fats etc, but they are risk averse, and time poor.
If you want bio-appropriate food, you won’t feed higher levels of plant than dog food already provides (vegetable based kibble and wet cans or rolls), nor will you give treats that are raw meat, or freeze dried, if there is the slightest chance that all of the bad bacteria hasn’t been eradicated.
These things are a big part of the rising tide of dog owners looking for good ‘functional treats’ to buy, animal-based dog treats. The main question is, if they are too risk averse to go the raw animal meat path, why would they buy anything besides OVEN cooked animal based treats, from a source they trust?
That is why we at HealthyDogTreats have been in business since 2011. Well before many cashed up, ‘fly-by-nighters’ hit the scene with very convincing looking facebook ads, looking to make a fast profit.
And why we continue to help owners address the protein deficiency that many dogs have, safely.
Reference
1 ASK THE VET: Harmful bacteria in freeze-dried raw meat treats can make dogs sick
June 5, 2023 https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jun/05/ask-the-vet-harmful-bacteria-in-freeze-dried-raw
2 Technical-Review-of-Animal-Feed-Processing-Methods-Processing-parameters-for-retorting-extrusion-cooking-baking-and-chemical-treatment-in-the-production-of-animal-feed-from-animal-derived-raw-material. Section 4.9 Freeze-dried and chilled pet food
Prepared by Animal Risk Assessment Team Animal and Plant Health Directorate Biosecurity New Zealand, Ministry for Primary Industries March 2021