Peanut butter (xylitol-free)

Peanut butter is a good dog treat. It carries protein, healthy fats, niacin, and vitamins B and E, and dogs are wildly motivated by it — which is why it is the default vehicle for hiding a pill, stuffing a KONG, and loading a lick mat for nail trims, baths and crate training. That popularity is exactly why one label check matters more here than anywhere else in the pantry: peanut butter is not something a dog steals, it is something you hand over on purpose. The check is xylitol. The FDA's consumer update on xylitol names peanut butter specifically and tells owners to read the ingredient list of any nut butter before giving it to a dog. The complication is aliases: "birch sugar" and "wood sugar" are xylitol, and in imported products it may appear as E967. Scanning for the single word "xylitol" will miss those. If none of those terms appear on the panel, the jar is fine on this count. Sugar-free, keto and "no sugar added" nut butters are where it shows up most, and brands reformulate quietly, so re-read the label on every purchase — including the product you have bought for years. If your dog has eaten a xylitol-sweetened peanut butter, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 immediately rather than waiting for signs. Once xylitol is ruled out, the remaining issue is calories. Peanut butter is dense in fat, so a generous daily habit produces weight gain and raises pancreatitis risk. Roughly 1/2 teaspoon for a small dog and 1 tablespoon for a large dog is the ceiling, inside an overall treat budget of 10% of daily calories. Salted versions add sodium that matters for dogs with heart or kidney disease. The cleanest choice is a single-ingredient, unsalted, unsweetened peanut butter — the kind where the label reads "peanuts."