Why we chose chicken

We tried a lot of proteins before settling. Chicken won on four counts, and it kept winning every time we went back to check.

It is lean

Chicken breast is one of the leanest muscle meats available, which means the protein arrives without a great deal of fat riding along with it. For a treat — something given on top of a complete diet rather than as part of one — that ratio is exactly what you want. More of what the treat is for, less of what it is not.

Dogs digest it easily

Poultry is highly digestible for most dogs, which is why it turns up so often in the foods vets reach for. A treat that goes down easily is a treat you can give after exercise, during training, or to a dog with a sensitive stomach who does not get on with richer proteins.

It dries beautifully

This one is practical rather than nutritional and it mattered more than we expected. Chicken breast has a fibre structure that gives up its water evenly and finishes with a clean, sharp snap. Fattier meats go waxy. Chicken finishes crisp, holds that texture in a sealed tin, and never needs a humectant to stay pleasant.

It is high value at the moment it counts

Ask any trainer what they keep in reserve for a difficult recall and the answer is meat. Dried chicken is concentrated protein with the water taken out — the aroma is stronger than fresh, which is precisely why a dog will turn around for it when a biscuit will not do.

And it needs nothing else

That is the part we keep coming back to. Chicken, dried until it snaps, is a complete treat on its own. No binder to hold it together, no glycerin to keep it soft, no smoke flavour standing in for the real thing, no colour.

One word on the label, and it is the word you were buying.

Every dog is different, so if yours is on a vet-directed diet, ask your vet which proteins they want you using — they will tell you in a sentence.