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July 26, 2026 7 min read
TL;DR: Puppies can have treats starting around 8 weeks. Stick to soft treats only until adult teeth come in (around 6 months). Portions need to be tiny, a puppy's daily treat budget is way smaller than an adult dog's. Safe foods: cooked chicken, plain yogurt, banana, blueberry, plain cheerios, plain Greek yogurt, small pieces of soft training treats. Avoid: hard chews, rawhide, anything with xylitol, choking-hazard foods, and adult dental treats.
The first thing most new puppy owners learn is that puppies will put anything in their mouths. The second thing they learn is that they should probably be careful about what they let the puppy put in its mouth on purpose. Treats for puppies are not just smaller versions of adult treats. The rules are different, the safe foods list is shorter, and the portion sizes are smaller than people realize.
This guide covers when puppies can start having treats, how much they should get, which foods are safe and which to avoid, and how to use treats effectively for early training. Plus a quick run-through of the "can puppies have X" questions people ask most.
Around 8 weeks is the typical start for soft treats. Before 8 weeks, puppies should be on mother's milk or a puppy-specific milk replacer plus introduction to puppy food, no extras. After 8 weeks, soft treats in small amounts are fine and useful for early training.
The key word is "soft." Hard chews, rawhide, dental sticks, and crunchy biscuits are not safe for puppies whose adult teeth have not come in. The deciduous (baby) teeth break easily and can be a choking hazard. Most adult teeth are in around 6 months of age, at which point harder treats become OK.
Way less than people think. A puppy needs more calories per pound than an adult dog because they are growing, but they are also very small, so the absolute calorie count is low. The 10 percent rule still applies: treats should not exceed 10 percent of daily calories.
For a typical small puppy (5 lbs at 8 weeks): the daily caloric need is around 200 to 300 calories, which means total treats should not exceed 20 to 30 calories per day. That is one or two small training treats, not a handful.
For a typical medium puppy (15 lbs at 12 weeks): around 400 to 500 calories daily, with 40 to 50 calories' worth of treats max.
The math gets serious fast. A typical commercial dog biscuit is 10 to 30 calories. A small cube of cheese is 10 calories. A spoonful of peanut butter is 95 calories (way too much for a young puppy).
For training, break treats into very small pieces. A piece the size of a pea is plenty for a puppy. They do not need much of any single treat to register the reward.
Here are the standards that are well-tolerated and safe for most puppies:
The gold standard. Plain boiled or baked chicken breast (no skin, no bones, no seasoning) is high protein, easy to digest, and most puppies love it. Cut into pea-sized pieces for training.
Same as chicken, plain breast meat cooked through. Lean protein, easy to digest, safe in small amounts.
A small amount of plain Greek yogurt (a quarter teaspoon for a tiny puppy, a half teaspoon for a larger one) is fine. The probiotics may even help establish healthy gut flora. See our yogurt guide for brands and types to look for. Plain only, never flavored, never with xylitol.
A small piece of banana (about the size of a fingernail for a small puppy) is fine. Sweet, soft, easy to chew. Do not overdo it, bananas are higher in sugar than most fruits.
Fresh or frozen blueberries are great puppy treats. Low calorie, soft enough for puppy teeth, packed with antioxidants. One or two at a time is plenty.
Yes, plain (original) Cheerios are safe for puppies in small amounts. They are low calorie (about 1 calorie each), small, easy to handle, and useful for training. Avoid flavored varieties (Honey Nut, Cinnamon Toast, etc.), which have added sugar.
Scrambled or boiled egg (no oil, no butter, no salt) is safe. A small bite is plenty.
Plain boiled or baked sweet potato, cut into pea-sized cubes. High fiber, naturally sweet, soft.
Plain canned pumpkin (not pie filling) in tiny amounts. Useful for digestive support if a puppy has loose stools.
Many commercial brands make soft training treats specifically for puppies. Look for ones with simple ingredients, real meat as the first ingredient, no artificial colors, and a small calorie count per treat. Break them in half for very small puppies.
Some of these are outright toxic; others are just bad ideas for young dogs.
Early training (sit, down, recall) is the time when treats become a daily tool. The criteria for a great puppy training treat:
Good options: tiny pieces of plain cooked chicken, small commercial soft training treats, small cubes of mozzarella or low-sodium cheese (sparingly), tiny pieces of soft jerky-style treats. For more on choosing or making training treats, see our training treats guide.
Yes, in small amounts. Plain natural peanut butter (no xylitol, no added sugar) is safe for puppies. Start with about a quarter teaspoon. Useful for pill delivery and lick-mat enrichment. See our peanut butter for dogs article for the safety details.
In tiny amounts, yes. Plain mozzarella or cheddar in pea-sized pieces. Skip if your puppy seems to have lactose sensitivity (loose stools after dairy). See our cheese guide.
Yes, plain low-sodium cottage cheese in small amounts is fine. Useful as part of a bland diet for GI upset. See our cottage cheese guide.
Plain Cheerios, yes, in small amounts. About 1 calorie each, soft enough for puppy teeth, no added sugar in the original variety. Skip Honey Nut and other flavored versions.
Plain Greek yogurt in small amounts is fine. Start with a quarter teaspoon, watch for any GI upset.
No. Lactose and sugar are not good for puppy digestive systems, and the risk of accidentally getting one with xylitol or other dangerous ingredients is too high. Use plain frozen yogurt or banana nice cream instead. See our ice cream for dogs article.
Yes, in small pieces. Soft, sweet, easy to chew. Do not overfeed (relatively high in sugar).
Yes, fresh or frozen. One of the best puppy snacks, low calorie and nutrient dense.
Yes, but soft only. Cooked carrots, mashed or in tiny soft pieces, are fine. Raw carrot sticks are too hard for young puppy teeth, save those for adult dogs.
Small pieces of peeled apple (no seeds, no core) are fine. Cut into tiny pieces to avoid choking.
For training sessions, multiple times per session is fine, that is the point. Just keep portions tiny and account for the total daily count. Outside training, two or three small treats per day is plenty.
Some puppies will start to expect treats and turn into beggars if you treat them too often outside of training. The fix is consistency, treats are for training, calm behavior, and specific moments. Random handouts at the dinner table create a lifelong beggar.
Teething puppies (around 3 to 6 months) want to chew on everything. The right treats can help; the wrong ones can damage their teeth or pose a choking risk.
Good options:
Skip: hard chew toys, rawhide, anything that requires hard chewing.
Around 6 to 12 months (depending on breed size), your puppy will graduate to adult treat options. Small breeds mature faster (6 to 9 months); large breeds take longer (12 to 18 months). The signals: all adult teeth in, normal adult chewing strength, no more growth spurts.
At that point, you can introduce harder biscuits, dental chews, and longer-lasting treats. Keep the calorie math the same, treats should still be no more than 10 percent of daily calories.
Puppies can have treats from around 8 weeks, but only soft ones until adult teeth come in. Portions need to be tiny (think pea-sized pieces). Safe foods: plain cooked chicken, plain yogurt, banana, blueberry, plain Cheerios. Skip hard chews, rawhide, bones, and anything containing xylitol, chocolate, grapes, onions, or macadamia nuts. Use treats mostly for training; do not turn your puppy into a beggar with constant handouts.
If your puppy has eaten something they should not have, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (1-888-426-4435) right away. Puppies have smaller body sizes and faster metabolisms, so toxic foods hit harder and faster than they would for an adult dog.
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