By Marsie Hall Newbold
Enquirer contributor

How's a human to choose which treats will taste best to doggie palates?

We took our case to the dogs and asked the students in Gary Jettner's puppy kindergarten class at Johnstone Farm in Sycamore Township to help us in a very informal taste test.

We lined up these treats in the following order: 1. Bil Jac Liver Treats; 2. Canine Carry Outs (beef flavor); 3. Bark Bars; 4. Bonz; 5. Milk Bone; 6. Mr. Barky's. Each treat was placed on a plain, white paper plate and laid out in an evenly spaced line on the sidewalk in front of the steps of the classroom. Fresh plates were used for each participant, to avoid prejudicing the jury.

Six puppies took part in our experiment:

• Rudy, a golden retriever-husky mix owned by the Boutet/Ruedebusch family of Anderson Township.

• Casey, a yellow Labrador retriever, owned by the McLaughlin family of Blue Ash

• Maggie, a chocolate Labrador retriever, owned by the Bartels of Blue Ash.

• Juneau, a "part Lab and part, maybe German shepherd" owned by the Palopoli family of Loveland.

• Junior, a golden retriever owned by the Steppe family of West Chester.

• Ally, a black Labrador retriever, owned by the Callaways of Blue Ash.

Each dog was taken individually to the front door and let off the leash in front of the treats. They were free to choose whichever treats they wanted, in whatever order they wanted. We kept track of the order in which each treat was chosen.

The results

1. Canine Carry Outs (beef flavor). The most popular treat, it was chosen first by three dogs.

2. Bil-Jac Liver Treats, (chosen first by two dogs)

3. Bonz

4. Bark Bars

5. Milk Bone

6. Mr. Barky's (never chosen higher than third; chosen and quickly spit out by Rudy).

The taste test proved that dogs, carnivorous beasts that they are at heart, like soft meaty treats best and are not impressed by vegetarian offerings. Not even those with cute packaging.