Are Crumps' Naturals Sweet Potato and Beef Liver Chews Safe for Dogs? Calories per Piece and Daily Limits by Body Weight

Short answer: Yes — for most healthy dogs. Crumps' Naturals sweet potato and beef liver chews are single-ingredient dehydrated treats with no added sugar, salt or preservatives. Keep them inside the 10% treat rule: roughly 2–3 sweet potato slices or 8–10 liver bites a day for a 20 lb dog. Liver needs a firmer cap than sweet potato.

Bottom line: Dehydrated single-ingredient chews are among the easiest treats to portion because the ingredient panel is one line long. Sweet potato slices land near 12–18 kcal each and beef liver bites near 4 kcal each, so a 20 lb dog's 40–50 kcal treat budget disappears fast. Liver is the one to measure carefully because of its concentrated vitamin A and copper.

Are Crumps' Naturals chews safe for dogs, and what does "single ingredient" actually mean?

Crumps' Naturals chews are considered safe for healthy adult dogs when fed as treats rather than meals. The sweet potato products contain dehydrated sweet potato only; the liver products contain dehydrated beef liver only. No added glycerin, no wheat gluten binders, no artificial colour — which removes most of the variables that make treat labels hard to read.

That matters because treats sit outside complete-diet regulation. A food that says "complete and balanced" has to meet the nutrient profiles published by AAFCO — 18% minimum protein content on a dry-matter basis for adult maintenance, 22.5% for growth. Treats are labelled "intermittent or supplemental feeding" and carry no such requirement, so their job is to be palatable, digestible, and calorically small. A one-line ingredient deck does that job well.

Crumps' Naturals is an Ontario company, and their dehydrated line is made in Canada — one reason it turns up so often in our Canadian-made pet products conversations. In our store we see customers reach for these specifically when a dog has failed a few flavoured biscuits: fewer ingredients means fewer suspects during an elimination trial.

The genuine risks are dose-related, not ingredient-related. Overfeeding any treat dilutes the balanced nutrition in the bowl. Overfeeding liver specifically stacks fat-soluble vitamin A, which the body stores rather than excretes. And any hard, chewable strip can be swallowed whole by an enthusiastic dog. The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends supervising dogs with all chews and discussing individual limits with your veterinarian if your dog has liver, kidney or pancreatic disease.

How many calories are in a Crumps' Naturals sweet potato chew?

Dehydrated sweet potato runs roughly 340–360 kcal per 100 g, so a typical Crumps' Naturals sweet potato slice weighing 4–5 g works out to about 12–18 kcal. Thinner "fries" style pieces land closer to 5–8 kcal. Always confirm against the calorie statement printed on the bag you buy, since slice thickness varies by batch.

Water removal is what makes the number surprising. Fresh sweet potato is about 77% moisture; dehydration takes that down under 12%, concentrating carbohydrate and fibre content roughly fourfold by weight. A 30 g handful of slices — which looks like nothing in your palm — is close to 100 kcal. That's a quarter of a small dog's entire daily intake.

On the plus side, that same concentration delivers useful soluble and insoluble fibre, plus beta-carotene. Pet owners tell us they use a single slice as the last-thing-at-night treat because it takes a determined dog three or four minutes to work through it, which is longer than a biscuit lasts by an order of magnitude.

Daily limits by body weight: the 10% rule in real numbers

Veterinary nutrition consensus caps treats at 10% of daily calories, with the remaining 90% coming from a complete, life-stage-appropriate diet. Below are working treat budgets for average-activity adult dogs, followed by what that buys you in actual pieces.

• 10 lb (4.5 kg) dog — ~250–330 kcal/day, so 25–33 kcal of treats: 1–2 sweet potato slices or 6–8 liver bites
• 20 lb (9 kg) dog — ~400–500 kcal/day, so 40–50 kcal of treats: 2–3 slices or 8–12 liver bites
• 40 lb (18 kg) dog — ~700–900 kcal/day, so 70–90 kcal of treats: 4–6 slices or 15–20 liver bites
• 60 lb (27 kg) dog — ~1,000–1,200 kcal/day, so 100–120 kcal of treats: 6–8 slices or 20–25 liver bites
• 80 lb (36 kg) dog — ~1,300–1,500 kcal/day, so 130–150 kcal of treats: 8–10 slices or 25–30 liver bites

Two caveats. First, these are budgets for all treats combined — if your dog also gets training rewards on a walk, the chews have to share. Second, dogs on weight-reduction plans should sit closer to 5%. Our nutrition experts at the North York store usually suggest weighing out the day's allowance into a small container each morning; it stops the two-people-in-one-household double-feeding problem cold.

How many liver treats can a dog have per day?

Keep beef liver to no more than about half of the daily treat allowance, which for most dogs means 5–20 pieces depending on size. Dehydrated beef liver contains roughly 15,000–20,000 IU of vitamin A per 100 g, plus meaningful copper, so it's a supplement-strength food rather than a filler biscuit.

To put that in context, AAFCO sets a safe upper limit of 250,000 IU of vitamin A per kg of dry matter in adult dog food. A 1 g liver bite carries roughly 150–200 IU — trivially small on its own, but 40 bites a day, every day, alongside a diet already fortified to profile, is how excess accumulates. Chronic hypervitaminosis A in dogs is uncommon and takes months of heavy intake, but it's documented in the veterinary literature indexed on PubMed, alongside a growing body of work through 2024 on hepatic copper accumulation in susceptible breeds like Bedlington and West Highland White Terriers.

Liver is also rich in highly digestible protein content — around 65–70% on a dry-matter basis — which is exactly why it works as a high-value reward. If your dog is in a recall class at Downsview Park and needs something that beats every squirrel in Toronto, liver is the tool. Just bank the calories: skip the evening chew that day.

Sweet potato chews vs beef liver bites: which one for which dog?

Sweet potato suits dogs that need a longer-lasting, lower-fat, plant-based chew; beef liver suits training, pill-hiding and picky eaters who need maximum aroma per calorie. Many households keep both and use them for different jobs.

If you want the whole shelf in one view, browse our full range of dog treats and single-ingredient chews — the dehydrated section also includes air-dried and freeze-dried options from Crumps' Naturals, Fare Game, Tilted Barn and Caru.

Are dehydrated chews safe for puppies?

Most puppies can have soft, small dehydrated pieces once they're fully weaned and eating solid food, usually around 8–10 weeks — but keep treats to 5% of daily calories during growth, supervise every chew, and break slices into thumbnail-sized pieces. Hard, whole chews are better saved for adult teeth.

The reason for the tighter 5% budget is that growth diets are balanced on ratios, not just totals. Puppy formulas hold calcium between roughly 1.2% and 1.8% dry matter with a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio near 1.2:1, and large-breed growth formulas cap calcium tighter still. Displacing 15% of a puppy's intake with treats skews those ratios during the exact window when skeletal development depends on them. The American Kennel Club and most veterinary nutritionists agree: treats stay small, food stays primary.

Deciduous teeth are also softer than adult teeth. Our team at Ashario Pets recommends soaking a sweet potato slice in a splash of warm water for 60 seconds for puppies under four months — it goes chewy rather than brittle, which reduces the shard-and-gulp risk. For teething relief, a rubber toy from our dog toys and chew toys range does the job with zero calories attached.

Can sweet potato chews cause choking or an intestinal blockage?

The risk is low but real, and it comes from swallowing behaviour rather than the ingredient. A dog that inhales food without chewing can lodge a half-slice at the back of the throat. Blockage risk rises with the largest pieces and with dogs under 15 lb, so size the piece to the dog and stay in the room.

Three practical habits reduce it to near-zero. Snap slices into two or three pieces for dogs under 20 lb. Feed chews on the floor, not from your hand, so the dog isn't lunging. And retire the last stubby end rather than letting it be swallowed whole. If your dog gags, retches repeatedly or can't settle after a chew, treat it as urgent and call your veterinarian or an emergency clinic — the ASPCA keeps a 24-hour animal poison and emergency line for exactly these moments.

Which dogs should skip liver chews entirely?

Dogs with diagnosed copper-associated liver disease, dogs on prescribed vitamin A therapy, and dogs with a history of pancreatitis should avoid liver treats unless a veterinarian clears them. Diabetic dogs need a conversation about the carbohydrate load in sweet potato too, since a 15 kcal slice is almost entirely starch.

For those dogs, lower-risk alternatives include air-dried white fish or single-protein poultry treats, both of which carry less concentrated micronutrient loads. In our store we see customers with copper-sensitive terriers switch to fish-based rewards and keep sweet potato as the daily chew — a reasonable compromise. If you're building a diet around a diagnosis, our guide to food for specific dietary needs is a better starting point than the treat aisle.

What to do next: portioning, storage and pairing chews with the right diet

Start by finding your dog's actual daily calorie target on their food bag, take 10% of it, and write that number on a sticky note near the treat jar. Everything else follows from that one figure.

A few specifics worth doing this week:

1. Weigh the pieces once. A kitchen scale and one 30 g sample tells you exactly how many slices per bag and roughly how many kcal each. You only have to do it once per product.
2. Subtract treats from meals. If your 40 lb dog gets 80 kcal in chews, remove about a quarter-cup of kibble that day. Most dry foods run 350–450 kcal per cup — check the guaranteed analysis panel and calorie statement on your bag.
3. Store them dry. Dehydrated treats reabsorb humidity fast in a GTA August. Roll the bag tight or decant into a sealed jar; softened liver spoils quicker than it looks.
4. Match the base diet. Treats can't fix a diet. If your dog's coat or stool is off, address the bowl first — compare options across our dry dog food selection or shop raw dog food for higher-moisture feeding.
5. Support joints separately. Chews aren't supplements. Glucosamine, omega-3 and probiotic support belong in a targeted product — see our dog health and wellness range or read up on canine wellness essentials.

We're at 1111A Finch Ave W, Unit 2, North York, ON M3J 2P7, open 7 AM to 11 PM daily, and we deliver around the GTA via Instacart and other services. If you'd rather talk it through with a person, reach our team directly and bring your dog's current food bag details.

More treat-math breakdowns, including calorie caps for training rewards and toppers, live on our dog care blog.