Treat Tuesday: ZiwiPeak 'Good Dog' Treats vs. Daily Dog Food

I love using ZiwiPeak's Daily Dog air-dried dog food as training treats, but they also make actual training treats. Both are made from air-dried meat, organs, and seafood, so is the only difference the size of the bag? Kinda.

Treats versus Food

Visually, the only difference between the ZiwiPeak beef treats and beef dog food is the size of the pieces. The food comes in tiny little squares that are exactly perfect for training treats. The treats come in longer strips that I then have to rip into appropriate sizes to use for training. Otherwise, that's it. Unlike the Real Meat dog food and treats, there's no discernible difference in texture.

The primary difference between dog food and dog treats is vitamins and minerals. Just about anything can be in dog treats, but in order to be labeled as a complete and balanced diet, dog food has to meet a certain nutrient profile. This is why pretty much every dog food ingredient list ends with a bunch of chemically-sounding things. 

ZiwiPeak 'Good Dog' beef treats are made from beef, lecithin (hopefully not derived from corn), chicory inulin (a prebiotic), and parsley. ZiwiPeak Daily-Dog air-dried cuisine is made from all that, plus organs, green-lipped mussel, and assorted vitamins and minerals. Oddly enough, the website states that the treats are made from meat, organs, and seafood when all three flavors appear to be made from only meat.

Treats on the left, complete and balanced dog food on the right.

The ZiwiPeak treats and food are so similar that the dogs don't seem to really notice a difference. I personally find that the food makes perfect training treats right out of the bag, while the treats need to be chopped or broken into pieces. As an added bonus, the food is actual dog food, so I'm not filling my dogs up with extras when we have long or intense training sessions. Kibble isn't always exciting enough to work for, but they'll do nearly anything for a piece of ZiwiPeak.