[RonE]

Now, what do I do with it?

I opened it to see what it looked like and I'm thinking of cutting off a few patties to put on the grill tonight for my supper. It smells pretty good.

I guess I can cut some pieces to put in Esther's Kong. I can hide the antibiotic pills that the vet gave her yesterday. I could use it for training treats.

As a last resort, I guess I could FEED it to her.

Okay, so once in a blue moon I shop impulsively. Anybody found any interesting uses for this stuff?

[briteday]

Good training treats since most group classes prefer moist treats vs dry ones that leave crumbs to distract the next dog.

That's about the only time I buy them. My dogs love them though!

[luv4gsds]

"101 uses for Natural Balance Rolls"

I know of one woman on another forum that mixes it up in kibble for her dog. I have also heard that it makes great training treat.

[RonE]

I won't be mixing it with her kibble. If she inhaled her Canidae any faster, she would eat the stainless bowl.

[Renoman]

Ok, since we don't want her to inhale her stainless steel bowl, how about using it as a 'special treat'.

I know a lot of people that use the roll as an addition to the dry food, but that obviously won't work for Esther, since we don't want you posting that you've had to visit the emergency room to have her feeding bowl removed from her throat.

You could use it as a treat when you're trying to teach her something she hasn't yet caught on to ???

Some people just feed the roll as the main source of food for the dog. Didn't say that's right..... just said they did it.

[BoxMeIn21]

I like it with cheese and triscuts...
Rowdy is extra attentive when I use for training treats.

[RonE]

Here's what I did.

I cut some of it into strips and stuffed into a smaller Rhinocone. She's been working on it for about twenty minutes now and I've never seen Esther so focused on something that wasn't fuzzy, round and yellow.

I did this because it's raining and I don't want to play outside.

'Course, if she can't get it all out, I'll have to put it on an ant hill so it doesn't start to stink in a few days.

But I'll put my money on Esther. Since dropping it down the stairs has little effect, her revised strategy seems to be squeezing the Rhinocone like a tube of toothpaste.

I wonder if I could use the jerkey maker and the food dehydrator to make rawhide substitues. Only one way to find out.

Edit: She's still at it - almost an hour now.

I can't tell if she's having fun or getting pissed off. I do know she's getting a lot of jaw exercise, which may come back to haunt me.

[beaglechaser]

On the weekends that is what the gang gets for breakfast as we patrol the outer rim of the dog park with their basset buddies. Gotta keep everybody safe from ground squirrels.

It is also terrific as a way to hide pills.

[Curbside Prophet]

Originally Posted by RonE

Anybody found any interesting uses for this stuff?

Did you get the 3 foot long one? I'd stick that thing in a holster! I've heard it is an excellent equalizer if you should ever get mugged.

[cshellenberger]

LOL, I buy the Beef flavor and it smells JUST like summer sausage! Hubby actually ATE a piece it smelled so good (he said it was a little dry). I find it works GREAT if you have to give meds, just push the pill or capsule into a small cube and it goes right down, no questions asked! It makes great training treats and if cut small enough is great for 'charging a clicker' in clicker training. Of course there's always using it for kong or other toy stuffing.

[poodleholic]

That stuff is like doggie heroin, just to let you know! LOL

It IS great for training treats - can cube tiny bits that hold their shape and don't get your fingers/hands messy!

[RonE]

When I turned in last night, she'd been working on that Kong for 2-1/2 hours and was still hard at it. I was a little nervous when I got up this morning and there was no sign of the Kong at all, but she just pulled it out from under her bed and has started up where she left off.

Tenacity is a good quality in a Plott hound, right?

[titaniummd]

I feel like my dog is more interested in the smell of what we eat versus his own food. AFter realizing he isn't getting our food then he eats his kibble.

Would adding this make him eat his food, immediately rather than wander around and eat it cause that's all there is?

[Inga]

Another great use is cutting up small cubes of it and hiding all around then send your dog to find the pieces. this keeps my guys busy for some time and there mind is working as well. A good thing to wear them out. You have to start simple and obvious but they learn quickly to look or sniff harder to find the prizes. And NO my house does not smell like a Beef roll. LOL

[SMoore]

I use the lamb as her "special treat" she only gets it when in training classes. Any other time when practicing at home I just use the bil-jac training treats.

My German Shepherd loves it. As soon as we get into her training class she starts sniffing and pawing at my treat pouch.

I also use it when trying to teach her something new. I call it doggy-crack. Every dog i know loves the stuff

[RonE]

Originally Posted by titaniummd

I feel like my dog is more interested in the smell of what we eat versus his own food. AFter realizing he isn't getting our food then he eats his kibble.

Would adding this make him eat his food, immediately rather than wander around and eat it cause that's all there is?

If you add extra yummies to the kibble, your dog will hold out for it. He needs to learn to eat whatever you give him (assuming you're giving him a quality kibble.)

Also, some dogs are really good at separating the stuff in the dish that they like from the stuff they don't. We had a beagle we could have hired out as a lab centrifuge. He could inhale a bowl of moist dog food and leave a little pill behind.

[nlkeple]

Originally Posted by RonE

If you add extra yummies to the kibble, your dog will hold out for it. He needs to learn to eat whatever you give him (assuming you're giving him a quality kibble.)

Also, some dogs are really good at separating the stuff in the dish that they like from the stuff they don't. We had a beagle we could have hired out as a lab centrifuge. He could inhale a bowl of moist dog food and leave a little pill behind.

After we had Lady for a month we were all excited and wanted to have give her a special treat for dinner to celebrate the occasion. I mixed some wet food into her dinner and she picked up every piece of kibble licked the wet food off and dropped the kibble piece on the ground. I was shocked, I couldn't believe it.

Did Ester manage to get all of the yummy out? I have wanted to get Lady interested in a kong or something similar so she can have a treat/activity when we have to leave her at home. So far she has not been terribly interested in the Kong but it is because I am hesitant to put anything really good in it. She has such long hair that if I put in Peanut Butter or Yogurt (then I freeze it) she ends up needing a bath afterwards.

[Equestiana]

I use the Turkey kind for training treats (dog has a sensative tummy, doesn't do well with lamb!) it's probably the only treat she hasn't gotten bored with!

[Shaina]

Hm how long to the big rolls last? Do you have to refrigerate or freeze them...and even if you don't have to, would they keep well if you did? I might have to try those out.

RonE - That is some serious tenacity...I love that she hid it under her bed to get some sleep and keep it safe for the morning

[FilleBelle]

Shaina, I cut the whole roll up into little cubes, which I arrange on a baking sheet and put in the freezer so that the cubes freeze separately, rather than in a big, beefy clump. When they're solid, I put them in a Ziplock and thaw out a handful at a time, as needed.