Does anyone give their dogs PB2 instead of peanut butter? I want to try to start freezing some peanut butter in a Kong Extreme bone for Cleo when I have to go to work, but she's a few pounds overweight so I don't want to add too much fat or calories to her diet. As it is, I'm trying to balance her meals with some frozen kibble in a regular Kong and the kibble stash we are using for clicker training! I was thinking PB2 might fit the bill better because it has way less fat and calories than regular peanut butter. The vet has already discussed with me putting her on a lower calorie food after her spay since her metabolism will drop after it's done. That way she can get more volume of kibble in a day but for the same or less calories than what I currently use. So I don't want to supplement her kibble with something that will just keep the pounds on her!
I've no idea what PB2 is but please check it doesn't use Xylitol as a sweetener as that's bad for dogs. Lots of people just soften the kibble with water before freezing it in Kongs.
Thanks Barbara. PB2 is just powdered peanuts with a little salt. You add water to it to make it have the consistency of regular peanut butter. So there is nothing artificial in it like Xylitol. The ingredients are literally just roasted peanuts, sugar and salt. And I am going to do the softened kibble frozen too!
Sounds great. Peanuts themselves have a reasonably high calorific value (she says dredging up some university memory of working out what that was by setting fire to peanuts - no really we did!) but I'm sure adding some for flavour won't set your weight loss plans back
I would avoid giving anything which has added salt or sugar, particular for a dog who is on a weight loss programme. Salt and sugar aren't good for humans and dogs can live without them very easily
Thanks Rosemary. I do agree, but according to the nutritional label one serving (and I will only give her half) has only 1 gram of sugar and 94 mg of sodium. So even though they are added it seems like such a low amount that it should be ok. Am I wrong thinking that? I compared it to the label of the all natural peanut butter that I buy with nothing added and the nutritional values were pretty similar in terms of sugar and salt.
Not sure where you live but here in Canada I can get all natural peanut butter which is just ground up peanuts, nothing else added. But honestly I would try to find something else for the Kongs, peanuts do have quite a lot of calories. Kibble soaked in water, mushed up bananas or cooked sweet potatoes, or cooked carrots, Greek yogurt with 0% fat - all of these would be far less calories than a Kong stuffed with peanut butter alone. I tend to put a mix of stuff in the Kong - I rely heavily on the soaked kibble and bananas with a couple crunchy kibble shoved in the middle for fun and topped off with a spoonful of yogurt.
Thanks Lisa! I'm only using it in the bone which is a much smaller space to stuff so I'm only using maybe a tablespoon to give to her. I know peanuts are really high in calories so I'm trying to not use too much!
I once used my Nutribullet (high-speed blender) to grind up peanuts. They had been raw, I toasted them slightly in a frying pan (no oil added). It was the most delicious ground peanut mixture I've eaten -- made the bought peanut butter taste quite awful in comparison. So, if you're worried about all the additives in peanut butter or the PB2, you could try make your own (you might need to add a little more oil to get a consistency you like). I have read that xylitol is not just bad for dogs, it can kill them.
I've read that about xylitol too MF. That's why I like the PB2, it's no additives. Just ground peanuts and a little sugar and salt according to the label. And it seems the amount of sugar and salt added is low so I'm going to use just a little of this for now. She actually just stopped with the bone and is still sniffing all over the floor because it probably smells like it wherever she was chewing. A solid 45 minutes of licking, light chewing and sniffing around for more!
Ah, ok gotcha! Yes, peanut butter in the bone would be a much smaller space! You can freeze the bones, too - and use the other options for variety if you wanted.
