Dog treats

[Alisa1950]

Can anyone tell me how many dried sprats a day I can give my cocker spaniel ...he's a few pounds over weight on a good vets diet and gets exercised.. He loves his dried sprays as a treat and I read they are low fat...he has about 12 a day...I'm worried he's getting too many

I actually thought they were high in fat, though healthy fat.
I only give my (large) dogs two day, and maybe a couple of bits broken up as recall treats on a walk.
They snap apart really easily - I can usually break one into 4/5 bits. My dogs absolutely love them but because the smell is so good a tiny bit seems to satisfy them!

Same here, my standard poodle gets 4-5 a day broken into treat sized bits. We have found the right amount of kibble plus treats that works for our dog. She's ideal weight. She also has mini bonios and a larger treat like a tripe stick.

I also have a Standard Poodle, she has more treats than my other dog who puts on weight easily.
Twelve does sound quite a lot. I use dried beef heart for treats while out walking and the pieces are tiny.
What is the vets diet he’s on? An extortionately priced kibble?? Hills Science or similar.

There are about 400 calories per 100g of dried sprats.

I find it very useful to understand how many calories my dog needs per day so that I can figure out how to combine foods and treats to still give him the right amount of energy.

There is plenty of help online on how to calculate it but if you have the weight, age, neutered status and exercise levels for your dog I can help.

As a guide, my 23kg young, intact, male springer needs about 1400 calories per day so 100g of sprat would be almost a 3rd of his allowance.

Your cocker is likely smaller, may be neutered, may be younger and may not be out and about as much as mine (about 2 hours a day) so could be considerably less. Easily half as much for an average weight cocker who is adult, neutered and walks for about an hour a day - so 700 calories a day.

However, all dogs are individuals so even within similar dogs there is variation. If your dog eats all this and maintains or gains weight then something needs to be cut back and the sprats might be one.

12 dried sprats is an awful lot. That would virtually be the equivalent in calories to a meal for a Cocker Spaniel.

I would say 2-3 a day maximum.

You could break them up to go further and swap some out for dried carrot slices (Burns do some), stored in the same bag so they smell sprat like!

My cockers exercise varies a lot each day so I visually check him every week as well as weighing him and I know his 'ideal' weight is just over 13kg. I therefore vary his treats accordingly depending on whether he is under or over.

As yours is overweight I would slowly cut back the sprats or try and substitute it for treats of less calories.

Thank you to everyone who came on with advice..I've struggled to find help on line.....I'll cut the sprats into small pieces so he can have 2 fish a day...I'm so grateful to you all. Thank you very much