The 10 Best Freeze Dried Dog Treats

For a first bag of freeze-dried liver, Stewart Beef Liver is the safe bet: one ingredient, a tub that reseals and a maker that has sold these cubes since the 1970s. They smell strong, which is the point, and most dogs will work hard to earn one. The pieces vary a lot in size, though, and some are tough to snap, so small dogs may need them crumbled. Liver is rich, so a few pieces a session is plenty.

Puppy classes and long training sessions call for tiny rewards, and Pupford Training Treats are cut small for exactly that job. The maker says each piece has under one calorie, so a pocketful won't spoil dinner, and it pitches them as low-mess in the hand. The recipe is mostly liver with some beef heart and a natural preservative. That mix rules them out for a strict one-protein diet, and the bag costs a lot for its weight.

Whole chicken hearts make a big-deal reward for recall practice or nail trims, and Vital Essentials Chicken Hearts contain nothing else. The maker freeze-dries them at its own plant in Wisconsin. Each heart is chewy but splits with your fingers, so you can stretch one across a few tries. The hearts come bigger than many people expect, and the small bag runs out fast when you hand them out whole.

Dogs watching their weight still get a real meat reward from PureBites Chicken, which is plain chicken breast and nothing else. The maker puts each piece at about three calories, and a bag holds a few hundred of them. The meat crumbles at a touch, so it also works sprinkled over dry food. That crumbly texture leaves flakes at the bottom of the bag, and chicken breast costs more per ounce than liver.

Lamb is a meat many dogs have never eaten, which makes Stella & Chewy's Lamb Heart a handy choice when your vet suggests trying a new protein. The bag holds lamb heart and nothing else, so the label is easy to trust during a food trial. The chunks are dense and chewy, and small dogs will need them broken up. Some pieces run fatty, and the small bag goes quickly for what it costs.

If you are not sure your dog will take to freeze-dried liver, Vital Essentials Beef Liver comes in a small bag of bite-size cubes. Beef liver is the only ingredient. The maker buys meat in the U.S. and abroad, then freeze-dries it at its American plant. The cubes are a handy size for small and medium dogs. Buying liver in bags this small adds up, since the price per ounce is steep.

For dogs that need a break from beef and chicken, Vital Essentials Minnows are whole small fish, dried crisp, with nothing added. Each one is already a single bite, so there's nothing to break up for little dogs, and they're light enough to carry on a walk. The fish smell is strong and lingers on your hands, so keep the bag sealed. A bag doesn't hold many, so it empties fast.

Plenty of freeze-dried treats turn to dust in a pocket, but Stella & Chewy's Wild Weenies are firm, sausage-shaped pieces that split cleanly into smaller rewards. The recipe is beef with liver and kidney, plus a seaweed-based binder that holds the shape. That binder means it isn't a one-ingredient treat, which matters for a strict food trial. Picky dogs often take to them, but the bag is pricey for what's inside.

Budget shoppers get a lot of liver for the money with Caledon Farms Beef Liver Bites, from a small family-owned maker. The cubes are fairly uniform, which makes portions simple, and they suit medium and large dogs best. The only ingredient is North American beef liver. A few dogs have thrown up after eating them, a risk with any rich liver, so start with a piece or two.

Shoppers who want people-food standards can look at Whole Life Beef Liver, which the maker says it makes in its own U.S. plant to human-grade rules. The only ingredient is beef liver, cut into flat, fairly large pieces that dogs find easy to spot when tossed. Those pieces are hard, so older dogs or dogs with sore teeth can struggle, and small breeds need them broken first.