How Often Should I Give My Dog Treats?
Once a day? After every walk? Whenever he sits nicely by the dining table?
The honest answer is that vets do not set a number of times. They set a budget. Stay inside it, and how you split it up through the day is mostly up to you.
The budget: about 10%
Treats should stay under 10% of a dog's daily calories, and should never replace a meal. That is the line from WSAVA, the UC Davis veterinary nutrition service and the nutritionists who write for VCA. The other 90% or more comes from a complete and balanced food.
WSAVA turns the rule into a table for an average healthy adult dog at a good weight:
| Dog's weight | Max treat calories a day | |---|---| | 6 kg | 32 kcal | | 10 kg | 47 kcal | | 15 kg | 64 kcal | | 20 kg | 79 kcal | | 25 kg | 94 kcal | | 30 kg | 108 kcal |
Puppies, seniors, very active dogs and dogs on a weight-loss plan need different numbers, so treat this as a starting point and ask your vet for your own dog's daily figure.
Why the count matters less than the size
The same budget can be spent many ways. Here is what some common treats cost, from WSAVA and UC Davis:
- one 17 g digestive biscuit: 75 kcal;
- one tablespoon of peanut butter: 81 kcal;
- 28 g of lean cooked chicken breast: 47 kcal;
- 28 g of cheddar: 120 kcal;
- 50 g of raw baby carrots: 18 kcal;
- 63 g of boiled green beans: 22 kcal.
Look at the first line against the table. A single digestive biscuit is more than the whole day's treat allowance for a 10 kg dog, and nearly all of it for a 20 kg one. One biscuit at tea time, every day, is already the budget.
Now look at the carrots. A 10 kg dog could have a generous handful and still have room to spare.
So the useful question is not "how often" but "how big, and of what". Twenty fingernail-sized pieces of chicken spread across the day can cost less than one biscuit handed over at once. Dogs count events, not grams, which is why small and frequent tends to work better than large and rare.
What counts as a treat?
More than people think. WSAVA's definition is any food given on top of a complete and balanced diet, and it names snacks, chews, supplements and foods used to give medication, whether bought or made from human food.
In an Indian home that list is long. The roti end from lunch, the Marie biscuit with evening chai, the paneer cube a child slips under the table, the piece of chicken hiding a tablet, the dental chew from the pet shop. Each one comes out of the same 10%.
And it is often several people spending it. A useful habit: put the day's treats in one small jar in the morning. Whoever gives a treat takes it from the jar. When the jar is empty, treats are over for the day.
How much do people actually give?
More than the guideline, by their own estimate. In a 2023 survey of 716 dog owners, mostly in Canada and the US, owners estimated that treats made up a median 15% of their dog's diet (Nielson et al., Prev Vet Med, 2023). Human food and table scraps were given frequently by 30 to 40% of them, and those who fed human food weekly were more likely to describe their own dog as overweight or obese.
Two more findings are worth borrowing. Only 22% of owners used advice from a vet to decide how many treats to give. And owners who measured treats with a cup or scoop were more likely to keep track of how much their dog was getting. This was a voluntary online survey of North American owners, so it cannot tell you what Indian homes do; it does show that guessing tends to run high.
What about training days?
Training is where frequency really climbs: a short session can mean dozens of rewards. VCA's advice is to keep the same 10% ceiling and use your dog's own kibble as many of the rewards, since it is complete and balanced. Their example is a dog needing 550 calories a day, with 495 from food and 55 from treats.
Once a behaviour is reliable, VCA suggests rotating food with pets, affection, toys or lower-calorie rewards, so the number of food treats drops on its own. Our piece on [training treats and puppy meals](/blogs/news/training-treats-should-you-cut-puppy-food) goes into this.
How do I know if it's too much?
Watch the dog rather than the treat jar. You should be able to feel his ribs without pressing hard and see a waist when you look down at him. If he is getting round, the day's total is too high, and treats are the easiest place to cut.
Treats can also show up in digestion. A sudden pile of new or rich treats can bring on soft stool or gas. Diarrhoea that lasts more than a day or two, vomiting, a dog who stops eating his meals or seems unwell all mean it is time to call the vet; see [when to see a vet](/blogs/news/when-to-take-dog-to-vet-digestive-problems) for the red flags.
If your dog has a medical condition or eats a special diet from the vet, WSAVA notes that ordinary treats may not suit it; ask your vet team which ones do.
Where ChewCheer fits
Inside the budget, like everything else. ChewCheer is a daily soft chew with chicory root fibre and inulin, flavoured with chicken and pumpkin, and it counts towards the 10% just as a biscuit or a piece of chicken would. It is not a reason to give more treats, and it does not replace any part of a meal. It also contains chicken, which matters for a dog with a chicken reaction.
The short version
There is no right number of treats per day. Keep all treats, chews and kitchen extras together under about 10% of daily calories, and never in place of a meal. For an average adult that is about 47 kcal at 10 kg and 79 kcal at 20 kg; one digestive biscuit is 75. Small and frequent beats large and rare. Measure the day's treats into one jar, use kibble for training, and let your dog's waistline tell you whether the total is right.
Frequently asked questions
How many treats a day is OK for a dog?
There is no fixed count. The guideline vets use is a calorie budget: treats under 10% of daily calories. For an average healthy adult, WSAVA puts that at about 47 kcal for a 10 kg dog and 79 kcal for a 20 kg dog. A handful of pea-sized training pieces can fit; a single 17 g digestive biscuit, at about 75 kcal, already goes over the 10 kg budget.
Is it OK to give my dog a treat every day?
Yes, as long as the daily total stays within budget and his main food stays complete and balanced. WSAVA notes treats can be rewards, enrichment and a way to bond. Daily treats only become a problem when they add up past about 10% of calories or start replacing meals.
What counts as a treat?
More than most people think. WSAVA counts snacks, chews, supplements and any food used to hide medicine, whether bought or from the kitchen. Roti, biscuits, a bit of paneer, the chicken in his tablet: all of it comes out of the same 10% budget.
Is one Marie or digestive biscuit too much?
For a small dog, often yes. WSAVA lists a single 17 g digestive biscuit at 75 kcal, which is more than the full daily treat budget for a 10 kg dog (47 kcal). Break it into pieces and spread it over days, or switch to something lighter.
What are low-calorie treats for dogs?
Vegetables and some fruit. UC Davis lists 50 g of raw baby carrots at 18 kcal, 63 g of boiled green beans at 22 kcal and 76 g of watermelon at 23 kcal. Avoid grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, chocolate and macadamia nuts, which are harmful to dogs.
How do I know if my dog is getting too many treats?
Look at the dog. If you cannot feel his ribs easily or he has lost his waist, the day's total is too high, and treats are the easiest thing to trim. Measuring treats with a scoop or a fixed daily jar helps; in one survey, owners who did that were more likely to track intake.