In an earlier post, I wrote about how in an effort not to waste some Goat Treat Samples I was given at the Mother Earth News Fair, I fed some to my dog, Pippin (4 pellets was enough of a treat for him.) I wrote to Manna Pro to ask if there were any problems in feeding these treats to dogs and this is their reply:
Good morning Ms. Thomas:
I hope you enjoyed the Mother Earth News Fair as much as I did.
I am so glad that your flock loved the treats —thank you for including the photo on your blog.
According to Dr. Rob McCoy Manna Pro Vice President, Nutrition and Quality Assurance, there are no ingredients harmful to dogs in the Goat Treats. However, Goat Treats do not go through extrusion cooking, as do most dog foods, and the starch could lead to digestive upset in dogs. Thus, feeding Goat Treats to dogs should be discouraged.
Best to you, your flock and Pippin!
***
I had to look up exactly what extrusion cooking was and here is an explanation from wisegeek.com
Extrusion cooking is a technique that makes it possible to create prepared foods within a very short period of time. A number of packaged food products are manufactured using this method, including various types of cereals, textured vegetable protein or TVP products, and a variety of different types of snack foods. Extruded products are found in just about every kitchen pantry today.
The actual process of extrusion cooking is very simple. Essentially, the food product is heated under a high degree of pressure, then slowly forced through a series of pores into another cooking chamber. As this process takes place, the moisture content of the food is reduced significantly, leaving behind a product that is thoroughly cooked and dried. The remaining extruded product is then ready for inclusion in dry mixes or further processing to produce many of the packaged products that many consumers rely upon today.
I don’t know about you, but extrusion cooking sounds rather like dead cooking to me. But anyway, there you go, officially you are not supposed to feed these Goat Treats to dogs.
Unofficially, I will continue feeding a nibble or two (they are the size and shape of chicken pellets) to Pippin because he enjoys them so much.
