Safe Sweet Chocolate Treats (Pets At Home Choc Drop Treats)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Pets At Home Choc Drop Treats
Date:	05/06/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Resonable price for a big bag, 100% safe, Grace loves them

Disadvantages: Contain a bit too much sugar

*What are these Pets At Home Choc Drop Treats?*
These dog treats are produced by the pet shop giant Pets At Home, who make and produce a wide range of pet care items including food, treats, grooming tools, training equipment, health care products, pet safety devices, toys and much more, catering for a variety of domestic animals such as dogs, cats, small animals, birds and fish.

*The product*
My girl Grace, bless her, loves chocolate just as much as any other red blooded female! She'll eat most foods, but she can be anywhere in the cottage, or even outside in the garden, and if I open up a bar of chocolate, she'll be right there within minutes. But of course, seeing as Grace is a dog, chocolate isn't the best snack for her, it can be very dangerous infact and is something she shouldn't really be eating.

Sunday nights are 'Me & Grace' nights, my fiancé often pops down the pub on a Sunday evening to see the lads and normally takes Benson with him, as it is a lovely little country pub where dogs are welcome and Benson loves going down there to be fussed over by everyone! This leaves me and my girl to have some nice quality time together, so we generally crash out on the sofa together, cuddle up and watch loads of rubbish on the telly whilst I munch my way through a packet of Malteasers. I have to admit, Grace use to get a few too. I know chocolate is bad for dogs, but I figured the tiny amount of milk chocolate on a couple of Malteasers wouldn't do much damage to a big 36kg Rottweiler.

A stop was put to this for good however when a dog, of similar size to Grace, got rushed into the surgery at work, seriously ill after being given half a bar of dark chocolate. This is much more than Grace ever had, and dark chocolate is so much more dangerous than the milk chocolate she got little bits of, but even so, it just reinforced what I did already know- that chocolate really is bad for dogs, and they shouldn't be having it at all, not even in tiny quantities.

After work that evening, a visit to the pet shop was needed anyway, so whilst there I decided to have a look for some of the doggie safe chocolate substitute treats that are available, so Grace could continue to have a little chocolately treat with no ill effects, and it was these own brand Pets At Home ones I settled on.

The treats are small discs, similar in appearance to a human chocolate button but they contain no Theobromine- this is the chemcial in regular chocloate that is toxic to dogs- milk chocolate has low levels of it, dark chocolate has moderate to high levels and these Pets At Home treats have absolutely none- so are therefore completely safe for dogs to eat, being made simply from milk, various oils and fats, minerals, vegetable derivites and lastly and disappointingly sugar.

They are suitable for all breeds and ages of dogs and the small, thin shape of the treat makes these ideal for younger or smaller pets especially, they'll also make a handy training aid as dogs can quickly eat them whilst on the move and then carry on with the next task and very conveniently, they claim not to melt like human chocolate does.

*Packaging*
The treats come packaged in a plastic pouch style bag which follows the green and silver colour scheme of Pets At Home, on the front we are told the product name and a picture of the product is clearly displayed, so you can get an idea of the treats contained within. On the back you'll find all the usual relevant information such as ingredients, nutritional information, a feeding guide and of course, contact details for Pets At Home, should you have any questions about the product.

The bag has a handy resealable strip running across the top which is useful for helping to keep the treats fresh even after opening although there is, unfortunately, no mention of the packaging being able to be recycled once empty.

*Price & Availability*
These Choc Drop treats are part of Pets At Home own brand range of pet care items, which means they can only be purchased from one of two places- either in Pets At Home stores, or from their website where they offer home delivery and frequent special offers.

They are very reasonably priced, with a 125g packet costing just 97p.

*My opinion*
Dog chocolate drops are something, until recently, I've always skimmed past when browsing in the pet shop and I've never really took any notice of them or seen any reason to buy them, as my dogs were quite content with the normal run of the mill meaty based treats which dominate the dog treat market. That was of course until I saw first hand the potential dangers even a small amount of chocolate can inflict on a dog.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm ashamed to admit, I use to sneak Grace a few Malteasers on a Sunday evening when we have our lazy evening crashed out on the sofa, and it never done her any harm but the case of the dog at work was the kick up the bum I needed to stop giving her them, as of course, I knew they were no good for her and she really shouldn't be having them. I knew Grace wouldn't be happy with me hogging the entire bag on Sunday evenings from now on, so that's why I brought these Pets At Home Choc Drop treats, so Grace could enjoy a little chocolate type treat, which was perfectly fine for her to eat.

Once I got home from the pet shop, I opened the bag up to see what the monsters thought of them. The treats were larger than I had been expecting, with each one being around an inch in diameter but just a few millimetres thick and were a deep brown colour with what looked like a light dusting of flour on them. They had no real smell to them, and looked pretty unappetising if I am completely honest, but I gave the dogs one each to try regardless.

Benson really wasn't too fussed by them, he ate the ones I gave him but they certainly weren't a treat he got excited about and he wasn't overly bothered about annoying me for another one like he normally does if I give him something he really enjoys. The reaction from Grace however was slightly more promising, she had a few sniffs at them before she decided to try one, but when she did, she clearly did enjoy her new treat and I'm sure she would have quite happily ate the whole bag if I had let her! Anyway, they were a reasonably good hit with the dogs, so I put the bag up ready for the next Sunday night.

When it came, Jason buggered off down the pub with Benson in tow and it was time for me and Grace to settle down and have our little bit of quality time together, which is lovely and something I really enjoy, as it is nice to have a bit of one on one time with the dogs occasionally, rather than them being together constantly all the time and me having to split my attention between them. Anyway, I cracked open my bag of Malteasers and Grace was there like a shot, waiting for her couple- she didn't seem too impressed when I refused to give in to her repeated whacks of her paw in my lap and looked even more unimpressed when I later chucked the empty Malteasers packet in the bin and reached for the Pets At Home drops for her treat!

She wasn't quite as enthusiastic about them this time as she had been previously, but I think she was more miffed that she was getting them rather than a couple of Malteasers but she did eat them up, and when she realised that was all she was getting, she was keen to look for some more. She did miss one though, and settled down for a sleep with the treat underneath her- it certainly didn't melt like a piece of human chocolate would but then I wouldn't agree that they are completely non-melting, it did go quite soft and sticky from the heat of her body.

Regardless, we've been using them every Sunday since and she has got use to them. Because Benson wasn't overly keen on them in the first place, I keep them purely for Grace now and she knows a Sunday evening, when Jason goes off with Benson, that it is time for her choccie drops and she wags her tail (or should I say, Rottie stump!) like mad and gobbles them up everytime, without paying a second thought to my Malteasers.

All in all, a nice cheap treat- they're a bit different, so make a nice change from meat based treats and they allow dogs with a sweet tooth to have a little bit of choccie, that is completely safe for them to eat. They are quite sugary though, so are defiantly something I limit Graces intake of, only allowing her a dozen or so once a week and they aren't very substantial, so don't really fill a hole like a chunkier treat like a Bonio would do for her, but otherwise, an apparently tasty treat which Grace really enjoys and I feel much happier knowing they are doing her no harm whatsoever, even if I do feel guilty about giving her the occasional Malteaser in the first place!

Summary: A quality SAFE chocolate style treat which dogs will love!