I happened to notice that today was dog biscuit day. So I gave my dog an extra one this morning, just to celebrate. Then I had to start looking into dog biscuits.
Apparently, dog biscuits started out as dog bread, a low quality bread or maybe stale bread that humans no longer wanted that was just passed along to dogs. This was known to exist since Roman times. So while the Romans were off conquering the world, their dogs were at home eating old bread.
The dog biscuit, as we know it today, was supposedly invented sometime around 1860 by a lightening rod salesman by the name of James Pratt. As he travelled around selling lightening rods, he noticed dogs along the road chewing on hardtack, so he came up with something that was actually built for dogs. If you’ve ever had hardtack, it’s pretty close to a dog biscuit in the first place. But the idea of coming up with a snack for dogs in you’re a travelling salesman doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Distract the dog and maybe sell their human and lightening rod.
There didn’t seem to be much information on why February 23 was picked as the day to celebrate dog biscuits, or how long it has been going, but any day to celebrate dogs seems to be a good idea.
Of course, there are good dog biscuits and bad dog biscuits, depending on what ingredients they use in making them. Although really, I’ve seen my dog eat things that are far worse than a few fillers. I try to give her healthy treats, but sometimes it’s a losing battle.
However, I’m not in the bake your own dog treat camp. I love my dog, but I rarely bake things for the humans in the house. The dog is getting what I can find on the shelf.
She does like some things better than others. And a lot of the “healthy” treats, which tend to contain a bit more meat or something like it, seem to get her attention more. Some days she might even turn her nose up at a treat, but that’s rare. She’ll usually take them, even if she has no intention of eating them right away, and stockpile them for later.
There are supposed to be limits for the number of biscuits and treats dogs get in their day. But when it comes to dogs, I find it hard to keep count.
I think it might be time for another biscuit.
