Zuke's Mini Naturals Training Treats

Dad

I saw this one online. Thought it looked good. Your first reaction?

Boldo

The bag itself smells like dried meat and something sweet. Not overwhelming. That's a start. The pieces are small, which means you're probably planning to torture me with training instead of just giving me real food like a normal person.

Dad

Okay, you've been staring at it for ten minutes. What's the verdict on smell?

Boldo

Clean. No weird chemical smell like the last batch you bought. Smells like actual chicken and sweet potato, which is suspicious because usually when something smells good it tastes like cardboard. But this one... I need to investigate further. Hand one over.

Dad

Now that you've actually used it — what do you think?

Boldo

Fine. They're not going to change my life. They're small enough that I barely taste them before they're gone, which defeats the purpose of training treats if you ask me. Wait, is the cat looking at his empty bowl? He's definitely looking at his empty bowl. Anyway, the texture is decent. Not hard. Not mushy. A real treat, not a biscuit pretending to be one.

Dad

The cat hasn't touched it. Does that mean something?

Boldo

Means it's specifically for dogs, which is fine. Cats are weird. They'd probably prefer a used napkin anyway. The fact that he's not interested tells me these aren't going to fall apart and end up all over the kitchen. That's actually good.

Dad

Rate it. One to five. You know what the ones are.

Boldo

Four. They're legitimately good. I don't love them the way I love real chicken, but they're not a waste of your money like those training treats from last month that tasted like compressed sadness. They smell right, they taste right, they're the right size. I'd take more.