For high-repetition reward training, Crumps' Naturals dehydrated singles are the better pick because the pieces are tiny, single-ingredient and low in calories. BuD'z soft trainers win when a dog needs a fast, aromatic, easy-to-chew reward — young puppies, seniors with worn teeth, or dogs that ignore dry crumbs.
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Shop Dog Treats →Both lines sit in the same aisle of our dog treats collection, and plenty of households here end up buying both: dehydrated liver cubes for the long obedience sessions, soft bites for recall work at the park. Below we break down the numbers that actually decide which bag belongs in your treat pouch.
How many calories per piece does each treat have?
Dehydrated single-ingredient treats generally fall around 2–6 kcal per small piece, while soft semi-moist trainers typically run 5–12 kcal per piece because of added moisture, binders and fat. Across a 60-rep training session, that difference can swing from roughly 120 kcal to over 500 kcal.
Here's why it matters. A 10 kg (22 lb) adult dog eating a maintenance diet needs somewhere near 400–500 kcal per day. Veterinary nutrition guidance — echoed by the American Kennel Club — puts the treat allowance at no more than 10% of daily calories. That's 40–50 kcal for our 10 kg dog. Forty kcal buys you somewhere between 8 and 10 soft bites, or roughly 15–20 dehydrated mini pieces. If you're running a reward-based program with 50+ repetitions per session, the arithmetic stops working on soft treats unless you break them.
Crumps' Naturals dehydrated products — think mini trainers and sweet potato chews — lose most of their water during low-temperature drying, which concentrates protein content but keeps each piece physically tiny. A sweet potato slice is mostly fiber content and carbohydrate with almost no fat. BuD'z soft trainers hold moisture, so each piece feels bigger and smells stronger, but you're also paying for water weight in the calorie line.
Always confirm the kcal figure on the bag you're holding. Treat makers reformulate, and under AAFCO model labelling rules — carried forward in the 2026 Official Publication — calorie content statements on treats are required but can be listed per kilogram, per piece, or both. Our team reads those panels with customers constantly, and the per-kilogram figure fools people more often than any other number on the bag.
Ingredient panels: single-ingredient drying vs soft-treat formulation
Crumps' Naturals builds most of its dog line around one named ingredient — beef liver, chicken breast, lamb lung, sweet potato — with nothing added. BuD'z soft treats are formulated recipes: a protein, a carbohydrate carrier, a humectant to keep the texture pliable, and usually a natural preservative.
Neither approach is inherently better; they solve different problems. If you're running an elimination diet or managing a suspected food sensitivity, a limited ingredient treat with one protein is the only thing you can safely hand out mid-trial. Dehydrated beef liver is exactly that. A multi-ingredient soft treat, however carefully made, introduces variables you can't isolate.
On the other hand, soft treats can carry things dry singles can't. Moisture means the treat can be torn in half, stuffed into a lick mat, or hidden around a pill. In our store we see customers buying soft bites specifically because their senior dog has had extractions and simply can't crunch a dried lung chip anymore.
A note on protein numbers: dehydrated organ treats often show a guaranteed analysis above 50% crude protein and under 15% fat content, because removing water concentrates everything. Soft trainers commonly list 12–20% protein with moisture at 15–25%. Those panels aren't comparable side by side unless you convert both to a dry-matter basis — a step most shoppers skip. If you want a plain-language walkthrough of label math, our dog blog covers it in more depth.
Which treat fits each life stage?
For puppies under about five months, soft trainers are usually the practical choice: the pieces compress between baby teeth and get swallowed fast, which keeps a training session moving. For adult and working dogs, dehydrated singles give better calorie control. Seniors depend entirely on dental condition.
Puppies
Puppy jaws are inefficient. A 12-week-old spends three or four seconds grinding a hard dried chip, and in reward-based training that delay weakens the association between the marker word and the reward. Soft treat size for puppies should be roughly pea-sized — about 0.5 cm across — and you should be able to tear one piece into three. Puppies also have high energy requirements per kilogram, roughly double an adult's, so the 10% treat ceiling is slightly more forgiving. Still, growth diets are built around precise calcium and life-stage formulation targets, and loading up on treats dilutes that balance.
Adults and sport dogs
This is where Crumps' Naturals earns its keep. Agility and scent-work handlers go through 100+ rewards in a session, and a 3 kcal piece is the only way to do that without blowing past maintenance calories. Dehydrated sweet potato dog treats also work well for dogs on a reduced-fat plan, since the fat content is negligible.
Seniors
Dental health decides it. Dogs with intact molars can keep crunching dried singles — the mild abrasion is a small bonus. Dogs with periodontal disease, missing teeth or jaw sensitivity need soft bites, warmed slightly in the hand to release aroma. The American Veterinary Medical Association notes that periodontal disease affects the majority of dogs by age three, so check your dog's mouth before you commit to a 500 g bag of anything hard. Any bleeding, odour or reluctance to chew needs a veterinary exam, not a treat swap.
Value: cost per session, not cost per bag
Judge training treats by rewards per bag, not bag size. A 300 g bag of dehydrated mini pieces can yield 250–400 individual rewards because each piece weighs about 1 gram. A comparable soft-treat bag often yields 60–100 pieces unless you break them, since each bite runs 3–5 grams.
That maths flips the intuition most shoppers arrive with. The lighter dehydrated bag frequently lasts longer through a six-week obedience course. Soft treats close the gap if you tear every piece in half — which you should anyway, both for calories and for speed.
Storage changes the equation too. Dried singles keep for months in a sealed container at room temperature; GTA basements in August are humid enough that we tell people to add a desiccant pack or refrigerate once opened. Soft treats dry out and harden within a few weeks of opening, so buy the size you'll actually finish. Pet owners tell us the resealable pouch gets abandoned by week two — a glass jar on the counter works better.
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Honest fit warnings before you buy
Neither line suits every dog. These are the situations where we steer customers away.
Skip Crumps' Naturals dehydrated singles if: your dog is under four months and loses focus while chewing; your dog has significant dental disease or missing premolars; you need a treat that can be smeared, stuffed or wrapped around medication; or your dog genuinely won't work for a dry, low-aroma reward. Some dogs also gulp dried chips whole — if yours does, pieces need to be small enough to swallow safely or soft enough to compress.
Skip BuD'z soft trainers if: you're mid-elimination trial and need a single named protein; your dog is on a strict weight-reduction plan where every 10 kcal counts; you want a shelf-stable treat that survives a tackle box in the car all summer; or your dog has a known sensitivity to a carrier ingredient in the recipe. Soft formats also leave residue on your fingers and in the pouch, which matters more than you'd think on a two-hour hike.
For dogs with diagnosed food allergies, work with your veterinarian before changing any treat. If you're still mapping out suspected triggers, our food for specific needs guide is a reasonable starting point.
Side-by-side recap
Here's the short version of everything above, in one place.
| Feature | Crumps' Naturals | BuD'z |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | High-rep reward training, weight management, elimination trials | Puppies, seniors with dental wear, pill-wrapping, recall work |
| Format | Dehydrated singles and chews (low moisture) | Soft, semi-moist bites |
| Typical kcal per piece | Roughly 2-6 kcal | Roughly 5-12 kcal |
| Protein source | Single named protein (beef liver, chicken, lamb lung) or sweet potato | Formulated recipe with a named protein plus carriers |
| Rewards per 300 g bag | About 250-400 pieces | About 60-100 pieces (more if halved) |
| Shelf life after opening | Months, sealed and dry | Weeks before hardening |
| Price tier | $$ | $$ |
| Available at Ashario | Shop Crumps' Naturals | Shop BuD'z |
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Common questions about training treats
What are the best low calorie training treats in Canada?
The lowest-calorie options are dehydrated single-ingredient treats at roughly 2–6 kcal per piece, especially dried lean protein or vegetable slices. Canadian-made lines like Crumps' Naturals fit that profile. For a 10 kg dog with a 40–50 kcal daily treat budget, that's 10–20 rewards without displacing meals.
If you want to stretch further, break each piece into quarters. Dogs respond to the event of being rewarded far more than the volume, something every trainer confirms within the first week of class. You can browse Canadian-sourced options in our made in Canada pet products section.
Are dehydrated sweet potato dog treats good for training?
They're excellent for calorie control but mediocre as a primary training reward. Sweet potato slices are high in fiber content and very low in fat, which makes them a safe everyday chew, though most dogs rank them well below liver or lung for motivation. Use them as a filler reward, not a jackpot.
Portion sensibly: a 2–3 cm slice is enough for a medium dog, and large slices are intended as chews rather than trainers. Dogs with sensitive digestion sometimes need a few days to adjust to the added fibre. The ASPCA maintains a reference list of foods to avoid if you're ever unsure about a plant ingredient.
How many treats can I give my dog per day?
Cap treats at 10% of daily calories. A 5 kg dog needing about 250 kcal per day gets 25 kcal of treats; a 30 kg dog needing around 1,100 kcal gets about 110 kcal. Subtract that amount from meal portions on heavy training days to avoid gradual weight gain.
Weigh your dog monthly and track body condition rather than relying on the bag's feeding chart alone. When customers come in asking why their dog gained 2 kg over a winter of indoor training, the treat pouch is almost always the answer. Supportive options for joints and digestion sit in our dog health and wellness range, and any persistent weight change deserves a veterinary conversation.
Key takeaway: Crumps' Naturals dehydrated singles deliver more rewards per bag at 2–6 kcal per piece, making them the stronger choice for high-repetition reward-based training and weight-managed dogs. BuD'z soft trainers earn their place with puppies, dental-compromised seniors and medication wrapping, where chew speed and aroma matter more than calorie precision. Many households keep one bag of each and match the format to the session.
