Freeze-Dried Liver Dog Treats: Our Beef Liver Guide

Amount is the one rule with liver: a dog can eat plain beef liver, and freeze dried liver dog treats are the no-cooking way to give it, one ingredient in pieces that break small in your fingers. Liver is a treat, not a meal, and for most dogs a few small pieces a day is the whole budget.

We freeze-dry beef liver in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and most of the questions below have been asked across our folding table.

Can dogs eat beef liver

Yes, as long as it is plain. Plain means no salt, no onion or garlic, no butter in the pan and no breading. That rules out liver pate and liverwurst, which carry salt and seasoning along with the liver. Liver boiled or baked with nothing added is plain, and so is freeze-dried liver. Raw liver is plain too, and people who feed raw already have their own handling rules for it.

How much liver can a dog eat

Our bag says to feed it as a treat or reward, not a complete diet. A common rule of thumb keeps all treats put together to around 10 percent of the day's calories, and liver is part of that 10 percent rather than something on top of it.

Liver also has a ceiling of its own, because liver is rich. People who feed raw diets keep liver to a small share of the bowl on purpose. More liver is not better liver. It is currency, not food, so pay it out in small pieces and never by the bowl.

By dog size:

• Small dogs, under about 20 pounds: one medium piece a day, broken into several training bits.
• Medium dogs: two or three pieces, broken down the same way.
• Large dogs: a small handful, still broken small.

Our liver runs about 83.2 kcal per ounce, as printed on the label, so even the 1.5 ounce bag is a long run of rewards when the pieces are small.

Liver as a training treat

Two things make it work as a reward. The piece breaks, so one medium piece turns into several small rewards. And it is light and dry rather than greasy, which matters when the bag lives in a jacket pocket.

On our own scorecard liver gets 5 of 5 for training value, the top mark we give anything, and 3 of 5 for crunch, so it is not a hard biscuit snap. Break it to pea size even for a big dog.

What to look for in freeze dried liver dog treats

Most bags on the shelf look alike. Four things tell them apart.

• One named ingredient. The label should say beef liver and nothing after it. Not "meat", no glycerin, no smoke flavor.
• Piece size. Medium pieces you can break by hand suit training. Whole slabs work too, but you do the breaking.
• How it breaks. Freeze-dried liver breaks clean and dry. If a piece bends, it has taken on moisture or it was dehydrated with warm air, which leaves liver leathery and tough.
• Where it is made. A short label tells you the town and who made it, and a guaranteed analysis should be printed on the bag.

Raw, cooked or freeze-dried

Beef liver treats for dogs come in three forms, and all three are plain liver.

Raw. People who already feed raw use it as it comes, with their own handling rules. It is slippery and it stains, and it needs the fridge.

Cooked. Boil or bake it with nothing added and slice it small. It firms up as it cooks and keeps a few days in the fridge.

Freeze-dried. Shelf stable and already broken small, with no cooler or cooking involved. It is the form that works as a treat you carry, and it is the form we make.

The first time

Start with one small piece and give it a day. If the dog is the same dog the next morning, go to two or three, then settle into whatever your training week needs. Rich food, too much at once, is the usual way a new treat goes wrong.

Puppies can have it once they are on solid food. We list our liver for puppies as well as adult dogs, and the only change is to break the pieces smaller. For an older dog or a small mouth, a splash of water softens a piece in a minute. If your dog is on a special diet, or already gets organ meat in meals, ask your veterinarian before liver becomes a daily fixture.

Liver next to heart and tripe

• Beef heart is muscle meat with an organ's name. It is milder than liver, so it can be fed in larger pieces.
• Green tripe is the stomach lining and the smelliest of the three.

We use liver as the training currency and heart as the everyday reward.

Our freeze-dried beef liver

If you want it freeze-dried, our freeze dried beef liver dog treats have one ingredient, beef liver, and we freeze-dry it in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The pieces are medium sized and break easily, and they come already broken into bite-sized pieces for training. They are lightweight and non-greasy, which is why a bag packs well for a car trip. We list it for dogs of all sizes, adult and puppy, and treats ship from us.

It comes in 1.5 ounce, 3 ounce and 6 ounce bags, and all three hold the same liver. The small bag is the one to try first. The 6 ounce bag suits a house that trains every day. More of what we make is in the freeze-dried treats collection. The guaranteed analysis is printed on the bag. The feeding line says to feed it as a treat or reward, not a complete diet. It also says to always provide fresh water and supervise while feeding.

Storage and the crumb problem

Reseal the bag after opening and keep it in a cool, dry place. Freeze-dried liver pulls moisture out of humid air and goes leathery if the bag sits open, so close it between rewards.

Liver crumbles. That is the trade for the clean break. A hard-sided tin keeps the crumbs together, and at the end of the week you tip the dust over dinner.

We built a separate site on this one treat: livertreats.net goes deeper on beef liver than this page does, and it sells the same bag.

Beef liver questions

Can dogs eat beef liver every day?

In small amounts, yes, as long as liver and every other treat together stay around 10 percent of the day's calories. If you feed it daily, use it as the training treat and something plainer as the everyday reward.

Can my dog have liver pate or liverwurst?

No. Both carry salt and seasoning along with the liver, and pate often has onion and butter in it as well. Plain liver only.

Can puppies have freeze-dried beef liver?

Once a puppy is on solid food, yes. We list our beef liver for puppies as well as adult dogs. Break the pieces smaller and start with one.

Do freeze-dried liver treats need refrigeration?

No. Freeze-drying makes them shelf stable. Reseal the bag and keep it somewhere cool and dry, and it will ride in a coat pocket.

Is freeze-dried liver the same as dehydrated liver?

No. Dehydrated liver is dried with warm air and usually comes out leathery. Freeze-dried liver is frozen and then dried under vacuum, so it comes out dry and brittle and breaks into small pieces by hand.

Can dogs eat chicken liver too?

Yes, plain and in small amounts, by the same rules as beef liver. Ours is beef liver only.