The Innocent Hound Puppy Training Treat Lamb

A training treat is judged on size and on how fast it goes down, not on what is in it. Anything a puppy has to stop and chew ends the session while they chew it, and by the time they look up they have forgotten what they were being paid for. Small and soft beats gourmet every time — which makes it all the more useful when a treat manages to be both.

The ingredient list here runs to four items: British lamb at 80%, vegetable glycerol, yellow split pea at 8.5%, and minerals. It is air-dried rather than baked, which The Innocent Hound describe as the way they keep the nutrients and the flavour in, and it is hand-made in Yorkshire. Analysed, it is crude protein 24.4%, crude oils and fats 20%, crude ash 2.2%, crude fibres 0.5% and moisture 22.2%. Single protein, grain free, described as hypoallergenic, and listed as suitable for feeding alongside a raw diet. 70G bag.

• 70G bag
• British lamb 80%, yellow split pea 8.5%
• Single protein, grain free, described as hypoallergenic
• Crude protein 24.4%, crude oils and fats 20%, moisture 22.2%
• Air-dried and hand-made in Yorkshire
• Listed as suitable for raw diets

On the fat figure. Crude oils and fats is 20%, which is a great deal for something you are handing over a hundred times in a training session, and no calorie figure has been published to weigh it against — so a heavy training day has to come off the puppy's dinner by judgement rather than arithmetic. There is no piece size and no piece count either, so how far a 70g bag stretches is not knowable until you open one. And be clear what it is: a complementary treat, not a complete food. The second ingredient is vegetable glycerol, which is what keeps an air-dried treat soft and pliable — worth knowing if that is something you avoid.

Who it's for: anyone in the middle of puppy classes who wants a soft, single-protein reward that can be handed over and swallowed in a second, and owners working around a grain sensitivity.