When a child gives the dog freeze-dried fish

Kids and fish treats can work as a household job when an adult runs the plan. The adult weighs the day's share and breaks the pieces, the child hands them to the dog, an adult watches the dog eat, and everyone washes their hands afterward, because the fish are freeze-dried raw.

Can kids give a dog fish treats?

Yes, as the last step of a plan an adult has already made. Our listings give no rule about children, and we will not invent one, so what follows is a set of house rules, not advice about any child. A parent knows their own child.

What our listings do say is about the fish and the feeding. The fish are freeze-dried raw, made in Malvern, Pennsylvania from imported fish. They are treats or toppers, not a complete diet. Fresh water goes out with them, and someone supervises while the dog eats.

So the division of labor is simple. The adult handles every decision: how much, what size, when to stop. The child handles the handing over. That keeps the dog's day's share in one set of hands, which is where it belongs.

Think of it like letting a kid hold the wrench while you decide which bolt it goes on.

Why should kids wash their hands after fish treats?

Because the fish is raw. The sardine heads listing puts it in one sentence: "This is raw fish, so wash your hands after handling it." That is the heads listing's line, and our sardines are freeze-dried raw as well.

The sentence says "your hands," and in a household that means every pair of hands that touched the fish. A child who handed out three pieces washes up, and so does the adult who broke them.

We are not going to add a reason. The listing gives the instruction, and this page repeats it.

A habit helps here. Make the washing part of the routine, in the same place each time, right after the last piece goes to the dog and before the child goes back to whatever came next.

How can an adult set up the share for a child to hand out?

Start with the dog's daily number, and ask your veterinarian for it first. With no vet's number, the treat calculator on the sardine page gives one, starting from a 10 percent default that is set for dogs and credited on that page to VCA's treat guidance.

The sardine bag says: "Metabolizable Energy: 3,347 kcal ME/kg (approximately 94.9 kcal/oz)." From that figure the calculator turns calories into grams and ounces, and our weighing guide shows the kitchen scale side.

Then set it up so the child cannot go over:

• The adult weighs the day's share into a small dish
• The adult breaks the pieces ahead, since the sardine listing says to break the fish into smaller pieces for rewards
• The child hands the pieces to the dog one at a time
• The dish is empty, and the share is done for the day
• Everyone washes their hands, and the bag is resealed

The dish is the whole point. When it is empty, the fish is finished, and no one has to count anything or remember a number.

What about the family cat?

Keep the cat out of the child's job and keep the vet in charge. On the cat question, the sardine listing says only that cats are included, with the fish broken up or crumbled.

The 10 percent default belongs to the dog. How much the cat gets is the cat's veterinarian's call, and this page gives no number. If the cat gets fish at all, an adult handles it, using the amount the cat's vet gave you.

If the cat is nearby while the child feeds the dog, that is a household arrangement for you to work out. Our pages say nothing about it.