Best Treats for French Bulldogs: Healthy, Low-Calorie Options

Quick answer

The best everyday treats for most healthy French Bulldogs are tiny portions of their regular food, soft commercial training treats with clearly stated calories, or small pieces of plain low-calorie foods such as green beans, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, apple without the core or seeds, and blueberries. Plain cooked skinless chicken or turkey can be a useful high-value reward if your dog tolerates it.

Treats should usually provide less than 10% of daily calories, not 10% of the food’s volume. A Frenchie eating 500 kcal a day therefore has a maximum treat budget of about 50 kcal. Dogs that are overweight, on a veterinary diet, or completing an elimination trial may need a smaller allowance or no separate treats at all.

No single treat is best for every French Bulldog. Age, weight, chewing style, allergies, digestive history, dental health, and breathing problems all change what is appropriate.

Best options at a glance

The portions below are one reward, not a full day’s allowance. Cut food into small, soft pieces, introduce new foods gradually, and count every piece in the daily calorie budget.

What you need	Practical option	Example reward-sized portion	Main advantage	Important caution
Frequent training rewards	Part of the dog’s measured kibble	1 piece, or half a larger piece	Complete and balanced; no new ingredient	Remove it from the meal rather than adding it
A commercial training treat	Soft treat labelled about 3 kcal or less per piece	1 small piece, or break one into 2–4 rewards	Easy to carry and portion	Verify current calories and ingredients on the package
A low-calorie crunchy reward	Plain green bean, cucumber, or zucchini	1–3 small pieces	High water content and low calorie density	Too much fiber may cause gas or loose stool
A sweeter whole-food reward	Blueberry or apple without seeds and core	1 berry or 1 small cube	Useful variety in a tiny portion	Fruit still adds sugar and calories; never give grapes or raisins
A high-value reward	Plain cooked skinless chicken or turkey	3–5 g, diced into several pieces	Helpful for difficult training situations	Avoid seasoning, skin, bones, and ingredients excluded by the diet
Licking or food-puzzle enrichment	Measured regular wet food or soaked kibble	Take the portion from the meal	Slows delivery without adding a separate treat	Supervise and wash the feeder after use
Dental support	A current VOHC-accepted chew in the correct weight range	Use only as its label directs	Evidence for the product’s plaque or tartar claim	It may use most of the day’s treat calories and does not replace brushing

These are examples, not prescriptions. A dog with pancreatitis, diabetes, kidney disease, gastrointestinal disease, food allergy, painful teeth, or another medical condition needs choices approved by the veterinary team.

How many treats can a French Bulldog have?

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) recommends that treats make up less than 10% of a dog’s daily calorie intake. The other 90% or more should come from a complete and balanced diet appropriate for the dog’s life stage.

Use this calculation:

Maximum treat calories = total daily calorie allowance × 0.10

Use the daily calorie allowance your veterinarian has provided or the amount that is actually maintaining a healthy body condition. A package feeding guide or our French Bulldog food calculator can provide a starting estimate, but individual needs vary.

Worked example: training treats

A healthy adult Frenchie eats 500 kcal per day.

Maximum treat budget: 500 × 0.10 = 50 kcal per day
A training treat contains 3 kcal.
Ten treats provide 30 kcal, leaving 20 kcal in the budget.
Breaking each treat into four pieces creates 40 training rewards without changing the 30-kcal total.

The number of rewards is not what controls weight; the combined calories do.

Worked example: a dental chew

A Frenchie’s daily plan provides 470 kcal, so the maximum treat allowance is about 47 kcal. If one correctly sized dental chew contains 42 kcal, only about 5 kcal remains for every other extra that day. Giving the chew plus the normal training treats would exceed the allowance.

WSAVA reference points

For an average healthy adult dog in ideal body condition, WSAVA’s example table gives these upper limits:

Body weight	Maximum calories from treats per day*
8 kg (17.6 lb)	40 kcal
10 kg (22 lb)	47 kcal
15 kg (33 lb)	64 kcal

*These are general reference points, not French-Bulldog-specific prescriptions. Calculate 10% from your dog’s actual calorie plan when available. A puppy, senior, sterilized dog, highly active dog, or dog gaining or losing weight may have a different energy allowance.

Do not sharply cut a complete meal to make room for lots of treats. Treats are usually not complete and balanced, so replacing too much of the main diet can dilute essential nutrients. See the weight-based French Bulldog feeding guide for a fuller portion-adjustment method.

How to read a treat label

Look for kcal per treat, kcal per piece, or kcal per kilogram. Calories matter more than marketing terms such as “natural,” “premium,” or “guilt-free.” “Low fat” also does not automatically mean low calorie.

If the label provides only kcal/kg:

Divide kcal/kg by 1,000 to get kcal per gram.
Weigh one treat in grams.
Multiply kcal per gram by the treat’s weight.

For example, a product with 3,200 kcal/kg contains 3.2 kcal/g. A 2 g treat supplies about 6.4 kcal. Breaking it in half makes two rewards, but the two halves still total 6.4 kcal.

If calorie information is missing, WSAVA advises contacting the manufacturer. Also check the serving size and the exact product variety: two treats from the same brand can have very different calories.

Read the ingredient list for known restrictions, but do not diagnose a food allergy from the label. “Limited ingredient” and “hypoallergenic” marketing do not make an over-the-counter treat suitable for a veterinary elimination trial.

Choosing the right treat for the situation

Situation	Better starting choice	What to avoid or discuss with the vet
Many repetitions during training	Meal kibble or a soft treat divided into tiny pieces	Large biscuits given after every repetition
Overweight or easy weight gain	Meal kibble, tiny green-bean or cucumber pieces, and non-food rewards	Adding treats without reducing calories elsewhere; changing a weight-loss ration without guidance
Sensitive stomach or frequent gas	One simple option introduced in a very small amount; keep a food-and-symptom log	Several new treats at once, fatty scraps, or frequent product switching
Suspected food allergy	Only the foods or therapeutic-diet rewards approved by the veterinary team	Flavored chews, supplements, toothpaste, pill pockets, and unapproved treats
Dental support	Correctly sized product on the current VOHC accepted list	Bones, antlers, hooves, or chews too hard to indent or bend
Puppy training	Tiny soft pieces of the puppy’s complete food	Large hard pieces, excessive extras, or products outside the labelled age range
Senior dog or painful mouth	Soft, easy-to-chew pieces after a dental check	Hard biscuits or chews that cause hesitation, dropping food, or one-sided chewing
Frenchie with BOAS signs	Calm, cool training with tiny soft rewards and breathing breaks	Feeding while heavily panting, overheated, distressed, or gulping frantically

Non-food rewards count too: praise, a favorite toy, sniffing time, or access to a desired activity can reduce the number of food rewards once a behavior is learned.

Dental chews: how to choose one safely

The Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) reviews submitted evidence and awards its seal to specific products that meet standards for helping control plaque, tartar, or both. The seal applies to the named product and claim—not automatically to every product from that company.

Before buying a dental chew:

Confirm the exact product on the current VOHC dog list.
Choose the version labelled for your dog’s weight and age.
Check its calories per chew and fit them into the daily budget.
Make sure the chew is not excessively hard. AAHA advises avoiding hard items such as bones, antlers, hooves, sticks, rocks, and hard yak-style chews because they can fracture teeth.
Supervise every session. Remove the remaining piece when it becomes small enough to swallow whole or develops sharp edges.
Stop if the dog gulps, repeatedly gags, vomits, has diarrhea, or shows mouth pain.

A VOHC seal supports a dental-efficacy claim; it does not guarantee that the chew is appropriate for every dog. Daily toothbrushing and veterinary dental care remain important.

French Bulldog-specific considerations

Weight and breathing are connected

French Bulldogs are brachycephalic. VCA notes that excess weight worsens signs of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), so “just a few extras” can matter. Track weekly or monthly weight and body condition with the FrenchieCheck weight tracker, and reduce treat calories if weight trends upward rather than waiting for a large gain.

Use small, calm rewards

Some Frenchies become excited and gulp food. Use soft pieces small enough for a training reward, deliver one at a time, and pause the session if the dog is breathing noisily, struggling, or panting heavily. Do not offer food to a dog in respiratory distress or during overheating; breathing and cooling come first.

Dental chews are different from training treats: they must be the correct size and should not be small enough to swallow whole. Always supervise them.

Introduce one change at a time

New treats can coincide with gas, soft stool, vomiting, or itching. Start with a tiny amount, keep the rest of the diet stable, and record the product, ingredients, portion, and symptoms. Timing alone does not prove an allergy, but a clear log helps the veterinarian evaluate the pattern.

During a veterinary elimination trial, even flavored medication, toothpaste, supplements, rawhide, and table scraps can invalidate the result. Use only rewards approved by the veterinary team—often pieces of the prescribed food itself. Our French Bulldog elimination-diet guide explains the process.

Treats and foods to avoid

Do not give dogs chocolate, grapes, raisins, currants, onions, garlic, leeks, chives, macadamia nuts, alcohol, caffeine, or raw yeast dough. Xylitol is an emergency toxin for dogs and may appear on labels as birch sugar, wood sugar, or birch bark extract. Check nut butters, sugar-free foods, dental products, and medications before using them as rewards.

Avoid cooked or raw bones, antlers, hooves, and excessively hard or sharp chews. Raw and freeze-dried animal treats can carry harmful bacteria; the FDA advises that raw pet food is more likely than processed food to contain organisms such as Salmonella and Listeria.

If your dog may have eaten a toxic food, keep the package and contact a veterinarian or pet poison service immediately. Do not wait for symptoms or induce vomiting unless a veterinary professional tells you to.

When to stop treats and call the veterinarian

Seek urgent veterinary help for trouble breathing, blue or gray gums, collapse, choking, a swollen abdomen with unproductive retching, or suspected toxin ingestion.

Contact your veterinarian promptly for repeated vomiting or diarrhea, blood, severe lethargy, facial swelling, hives, persistent itching, ongoing ear problems, reduced appetite, weight change, mouth pain, broken teeth, or repeated gagging after chews. A treat guide cannot determine whether these signs come from food, BOAS, dental disease, or another medical problem.

Frequently asked questions

Are carrots good treats for French Bulldogs?

Small plain carrot pieces can be an occasional low-calorie reward for a healthy dog. Cut them to an appropriate size and supervise. A dog with painful teeth, a prescribed diet, or digestive sensitivity may need another option.

Can French Bulldogs eat blueberries?

Yes, many healthy dogs can have a blueberry as a small occasional treat. Wash it and cut or flatten it if your dog tends to gulp. Introduce it gradually and include its calories in the daily allowance.

Is cheese a good training treat?

Cheese can be high-value but is calorie-dense. WSAVA lists 28 g (1 oz) of cheddar at about 120 kcal—more than the entire daily treat budget for many Frenchies. If your dog tolerates dairy, use a crumb-sized amount rarely rather than cubes.

Are grain-free or single-ingredient treats automatically better?

No. Those labels do not prove that a treat is lower calorie, nutritionally superior, or safe for a dog with suspected allergies. Choose according to the dog’s health plan, calorie density, texture, portion, and veterinary advice.

What can I use during an elimination diet?

Use only what the supervising veterinarian approves. Pieces of the prescribed kibble or a compatible version of the same therapeutic diet are often the simplest rewards. An unapproved “single-protein” treat can compromise the trial.

How do I know whether a dental chew is too hard?

AAHA suggests avoiding products that cannot be indented with a thumbnail or bent slightly. Also choose the correct size, supervise chewing, and stop if your dog tries to swallow large pieces or shows dental pain.

Bottom line

For most French Bulldogs, the most useful treats are measured meal kibble, tiny low-calorie whole-food pieces, or soft commercial rewards with transparent calorie information. Keep all extras below about 10% of daily calories, use high-calorie treats sparingly, and count dental chews in the same budget. Medical diets, weight-loss plans, food trials, and breathing or swallowing problems require individualized veterinary guidance.

Sources

This article provides general education, not a diagnosis or an individualized diet plan.

Medical Disclaimer