Happy birthday to my Sprocker – half Springer Spaniel/half Cocker Spaniel and all energy – dog. It’s been four years already since I bundled her up and drove her home. This year she spent her birthday at Pets Canada 2024, a Canadian industry pet trade show like SuperZoo in the U.S., taste-testing freeze-dried pet treats.
Pets Canada trade show isn’t as big as its American counterpart but has grown. This is my first time taking my pup to a trade show. Why? First, I thought she’d be a handful. Second, I didn’t think she’d have fun. I was very right about the first one, but so wrong about the second.
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My spaniel loved Pets Canada. It was like trick or treating for dogs. It didn’t take her long to discover that almost every booth had a treat for her, or at least a belly rub and cuddle. She’s up for either and received plenty of both. Best birthday ever. Then she came home to a bowl of her favourite assorted treats. What did she select?
Here are 11 Sprocker-approved dog treats discovered at Pets Canada 2024.
If I had to identify a ‘trend,’ at the 2024 Pets Canada trade show, it would be freeze-dried everything. Check out my pup’s countdown of her favourite treats after her awesome sampling adventure:
Freeze-Dried Duck Hearts
Freeze-dried duck hearts from Shepherd Boy Farms in Indiana, USA, was one of my dog’s first treats at the show. She was hooked, not just on the hearts but on the concept of treats at every table. These duck hearts are freeze-dried raw with no fillers or additives. Each bite packs a lot of protein with minimal fat, and the company assures duck hearts have a strong flavour – that my spaniel seemed to appreciate judging by how fast the big piece of duck went down.
Dog Bites Cheddar Cheese
What dog doesn’t love cheese? Well, Dog Bites Treats newest dog treat is freeze-dried cheddar cubes. It’s cheese but without the mess or need for refrigeration, which is great on road trips. Plus, the cube size allows some portion control. Based in New Brunswick, Dog Bites products are prepared and packaged in Canada from real Canadian cheddar. No additives and just a bit crunchy.
Tilted Barn Cooked Beef and Oatmeal Roll
My spaniel’s been loving Titled Barn dog treats (affiliate link) since they first offered beef, or Canadian bacon sticks as treats. The Alberta-based company keeps adding new products thanks to their access to Canadian-farmed meats and this year it’s a fully-cooked complete meal for dogs in roll form. My dog loved the roll as much as the sticks.
Made in Canada from all Canadian products, each Tilted Barn roll is equal to two meals for a cocker spaniel-sized dog. Store them in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge before serving and make sure the uneaten portion goes back in the fridge within 30 minutes. It’s that fresh.
Ossobello Veg Chews
Ossobello dog bone was a treat only because it was gifted to my birthday dog at Pets Canada. Ossobello bones are actually more of a chew – which my dog selected last from the bowl of treats I gave her when we got home. Understandably, she finished all easy-to-chomp treats first then finished off her birthday meal with a solid hour of chewing this vegetable-based bone chew made from corn starch, potato starch, and glycerin. Made in Italy, Ossobello is a vegan pet treat option.
Cod Jerky Treats
Poseidon’s Pantry has a similar story as Simply Naked, who we met at SuperZoo 2023. This maritime-based company supplies large quantities of seafood to people. However, the company didn’t want to waste the perfectly good byproducts. Enter the pet industry.
For instance, Poseidon Pantry simply dehydrated salmon fish tails as dog chews, and all the centre pieces from cutting salmon fillets are ground into a healthy wet dog food topper. My dog tried the salmon and cod jerky treats, enjoying both equally. (I was surprised she liked the cod because fish isn’t usually her thing).
Rock Fish and Kangaroo Tail
Based in British Columbia, Wiggly Babies is a new Canadian company offering a variety of freeze-dried raw snacks for dogs from a cornucopia of proteins. My dog’s selection? I offered her Rockfish, which is a type of snapper in B.C. This white fish dries into a fibrous stringy soft treat. She ate that one slowly, but her preference was the Kangaroo Tail – it was the first treat she grabbed from her assorted birthday bowl when we got home.
Yes, kangaroo tail. I have mixed feelings about this protein source, but Wiggly Babies imports kangaroo tails from the Australian meat industry, slices them into discs, softens them a bit, and … suddenly they are my dog’s treat of choice in a bowl full of variety. Go figure.
Charlie Bear Meaty Bites
My dog has tried Charlee Bear products when I’ve brought them home, but this is the first time she scoffed one first-hand. She grabbed her own sample off the Charlie Bear table at the Pets Canada event, which was embarrassing for me. However, she was catching on to how this trade show sample thing worked.
At only five calories per treat, U.S.-made freeze-dried Charlee Bear Meaty Bites (affiliate links) are grain-free and contain small amounts of probiotics. The flavour my dog stole was chicken infused with real cranberries. She’s a chicken connoisseur.
Northern Soft Treats for Dogs
Made in Canada, Northern Dog Biscuit Bakery has been making and manufacturing crunchy dog treats (affiliate link) ever since their fussy dog, Tasha, was fond of anything they found. Now, 28 years later, the company added Softies to their line. Softies are a soft version from the Northern Dog Biscuit Bakery and my dog was enthusiastic. Her favourite? Softies pb + bacon. A full bag became her birthday gift!
Wonder Nuggets
The name alone had me. Wonder Nuggets are the new soft chew bits for dogs from Polkadog – a Boston-based company we met at the first Pets Canada event (formally PIJAC). At that time, dehydrated fish skin was its sole product. At this trade show, my dog eagerly chewed (half) a cod skin (affiliate link) tossed at her, giving me time to ask about the new products.
The company has an entire line of fun training-sized chewy bits – with clever names including Lucky Duck (affiliate link) and Salmon Says. But it was the Wonder Nuggets, made with whitefish and kelp, that I wanted my pup to try. She ate them but preferred chicken treats over fish, which I suspected.
Crumps Naturals
We’ve been following Crumps Naturals for a while, ever since my previous dog tried Crump’s dehydrated sweet potato at the Great Canadian Pet Expo in Toronto. As a company, Crumps’ offering of dog treats has grown. This year at Canadian Pets, my spaniel got to try both Crumps’ Naturals Venison Jerky with Chia Seeds and the Chicken Collagen Jerky (affiliate link). Her preference? As I suspected, the chicken. Always the chicken … especially if it’s jerky.
I Ruff You Pup-Pie
Finally, the big finish: my dog got to take home her own (entire) I Ruff You Pup-Pie, which is perfect for a doggie birthday (or gotcha day) celebration. The pie-shaped treat for dogs (affiliate link) from Lazy Dog Cookie Co. contains no wheat, corn, or soy and has real fruit sprinkles on the top. Made in the USA, the icing on the cake is that it visually appeals to people as much as pets and makes a great gift.
Overall….
Pets Canada is an industry event, designed to connect as many pet product brands with as many pet shops as possible – it’s good to see so many companies reaching out to the Canadian market. My dog didn’t sign any sales contracts, but she sure had a fun time as brand ambassador of sorts for everyone, especially those passing out freeze-dried treats.
Do I recommend that many treats at once, even on your birthday? No. It’s not the best idea. Pumpkin puree was on the menu for the day after birthday celebrations, but my dog has no regrets.
Writer bio: Sherri Telenko has been a professional writer for decades and a travel writer for the last two. She’s a member of TMAC (Travel Media Association of Canada) and Dog Writers Association of America and travels almost weekly with her canine companion, Victoria. Contact Sherri at dogtrotting.net here. All written content is original, written by a person, and based on experience and research. Please subscribe!
