There is a whole category of dog treat that is really for the owner. It looks like something from a chocolate shop, it comes in a box you would happily hand over, and it gets bought for a birthday, an adoption anniversary, or as an apology after a week in kennels. That is a perfectly good reason to buy something. It is a bad reason not to read the back of it.

So, the back of it. There is no meat in these. The yoghurt truffle paw base is various sugars, oils and fats, milk and milk derivatives, vegetables and derivatives of vegetable origin; the mini bone base swaps the vegetables for cereals and adds minerals. Both analyse at protein 6%, crude fat 26%, crude ash 2% and crude fibre 1%, and the energy is 451 kcal per 100g for one base and 457 kcal per 100g for the other. Eight to a pack.

• 8 truffles per pack
• Two bases: a yoghurt truffle paw and a mini bone
• Protein 6%, crude fat 26%, crude ash 2%, crude fibre 1%
• 451 kcal/100g for one base, 457 kcal/100g for the other
• Various sugars listed first in both compositions
• Contains milk and milk derivatives; a complementary treat

Sugars come first, and there is no meat at all. Both compositions open with various sugars, then oils and fats, then milk and milk derivatives — and crude fat is 26% against protein of 6%, which is the profile of a confection rather than of a treat. Nothing in either ingredient list is meat. They also carry milk derivatives, so a dog that does badly on dairy should not have them. Treat these as an occasional present rather than a daily handout, and if your dog is overweight, diabetic or on a prescription diet, ask your vet before giving one at all.

Who it's for: owners buying a dog an actual present — a birthday, a Gotcha Day, a peace offering — who want something that looks the part and are clear that this is a treat in the confectionery sense of the word.