[Daenerys]

I am looking for suggestions on good training treats. I have been using actual dog treats including the Bil-Jac Little Jacs liver treats because they're like the perfect size, and some other random ones the rescue gave me for training my foster, but I am looking for some more variety. I was thinking some cut up hot dogs and string cheese, but what else? What do you like to use? What does your dog love?

 

[Canyx]

Really, anything human grade since they don't get it for free. Brae was in his first ever group class, and I used boiled chicken breast. I love string cheese too!

 

[Lillith]

I like using Pet Botanics which I buy on Amazon as "regular everyday training treats." I like to carry those around in my pockets. They're dry, small, and kind of smelly so the dog really likes them. They come in a variety of flavors, so I switch them up often. As a higher value treat that gets used for recall and more difficult behaviors, such as ignoring other dogs on walks, I use these chicken jerky or steak jerky things by Top Chews that I buy at Costco. I just rip them up into little bits as I feed them to the dog. They're also smelly, and the dog loves them.

I also like to use hot dogs and cheese and human food, but my issue with that is its kind of annoying to stick in pockets and take on walks. If you forget them in pockets, they rot. They're annoying to get out in cold weather because "juicy" things freeze together, and gloves. They spill and get pockets dirty, and if you have a food pouch, which I do, it gets that messy so then you have to wash it every time. And also I hate spending time cutting them up, lol. Lifestyle choice issues, but that's why I like to use store bought treats. If I know I'm going to be working on something more difficult and new to Ralphie, I might dig out some hot dogs to take with me, but typically they're reserved for learning new behaviors at home.

But, some awesome human food type treats I like are the cheese filled hotdogs. Super top notch! Lunch meat. Also, a cheap trick I learned was putting regular kibble in with hot dogs or other yummy meat, and then the kibble kind of soaks up the juices and the flavor.

 

[CptJack]

My regular, every day, 'treats' are basically pro-plan savor (my dogs love that stuff; I have no idea why) and Kiran thinks Milk bones are crack, which I find even more bizarre, but ok.

Training class treats are actual food. Steak, liver, string cheese, hot dogs, boiled egg, jar of PB, frozen meatballs, frozen chicken-nuggets - whatever. It's basically 'toss the kitchen and come up with dog safe food and go' time.

When I had to really use super high value stuff with Kylie it was all steak and beef liver for her. She's past that now.

 

[CptJack]

I like using Pet Botanics which I buy on Amazon as "regular everyday training treats." I like to carry those around in my pockets. They're dry, small, and kind of smelly so the dog really likes them. They come in a variety of flavors, so I switch them up often. As a higher value treat that gets used for recall and more difficult behaviors, such as ignoring other dogs on walks, I use these chicken jerky or steak jerky things by Top Chews that I buy at Costco. I just rip them up into little bits as I feed them to the dog. They're also smelly, and the dog loves them.

I also like to use hot dogs and cheese and human food, but my issue with that is its kind of annoying to stick in pockets and take on walks. If you forget them in pockets, they rot. They're annoying to get out in cold weather because "juicy" things freeze together, and gloves. They spill and get pockets dirty, and if you have a food pouch, which I do, it gets that messy so then you have to wash it every time. And also I hate spending time cutting them up, lol. Lifestyle choice issues, but that's why I like to use store bought treats. If I know I'm going to be working on something more difficult and new to Ralphie, I might dig out some hot dogs to take with me, but typically they're reserved for learning new behaviors at home.

But, some awesome human food type treats I like are the cheese filled hotdogs. Super top notch! Lunch meat. Also, a cheap trick I learned was putting regular kibble in with hot dogs or other yummy meat, and then the kibble kind of soaks up the juices and the flavor.

For the record, you don't have to cut up hot-dogs (or string cheese) to use them. The hot dogs thing was a weird revelation for me since it seems to obvious but you really can just stick the whole thing in your pocket and pinch off bits as you feed.

 

[Lillith]

For the record, you don't have to cut up hot-dogs (or string cheese) to use them. The hot dogs thing was a weird revelation for me since it seems to obvious but you really can just stick the whole thing in your pocket and pinch off bits as you feed.

I have to in the winter because I can't tear them off into little enough pieces with gloves on. They come off in big chunks. In warmer, non-glove wearing weather its fine and I can use my nails, but I still hate stuffing the things in pockets!

 

[Kathyy]

I didn't know that! Max thought hot dogs disgusting so I've never really used them. Would last a lot longer than a stick of string cheese. I do like the handy wrapper though. I will cut up string cheese if I need a flat larger bit but otherwise it's bits pinched off. I use string cheese as a pill pocket as well.

In the olden days when we ate bread and had american cheese in the house I'd make a cheese sandwich, melt in the microwave and cut into strips after smashing it flat. Once cool it wasn't messy and at the time I always had the makings. Could do the same with peanut butter or any other spreadable.

At home the dogs work hard for bits of vegetable trimmings. Try it. Also bits of breakfast cereal are much loved. You can try cereal at class and outside if you spike it with something meaty and smelly like hot dog.

Chicken breast is lean and easy to shred so if dog is on a diet or too much food is a problem substitute some for dinner.

If I'm out of everything I usually have egg. Beat one and make a firm thin plain omelet. An egg takes 30 seconds to cook through in my microwave so I'll let it go for another 30. Works well.

Only dog treat I buy these days is lung. If you find the flat kind it's easily broken into small pieces. It should be less rich than liver so you can use more.

How long has it been since liver brownies were discussed? I make more of a bread and use egg or canned fish instead of liver sometimes. Whirl a bit of garlic and an egg in a food processor or blender. Add 1/2 pound or less of liver, canned fish, more eggs [peanut butter is great but I'm allergic]. Dump into a bowl and add enough flour to make a thick paste. Spread on well greased or parchment paper lined pan as thin as possible and bake at 350*F until cooked through. If you like cut into bits and bake until dry. I leave in doughy strips so I can pinch off bits and am much less likely to drop treats all over the place. I freeze most of it so don't have to worry about spoilage or overdoing the treats. A regular can of tuna with one egg makes a 10-12" round.

 

[Life With Atlas]

I use regular training treats for at home for stuff he already knows - when he was younger I would use my nail to break those in half too. Another favourite is freeze dried liver (Pure Bites) broken up. He loves those! When we go to class I like to up my treat game so he usually gets chicken, cheese, ham, turkey, bacon, whatever other meat I might have available. If I can I like to bring two different ones - like the dried liver and something else. Just to keep his interest a bit more, or use the lower value ones for being calm in his crate and the higher value when we are out working.

I usually put them in little sandwich bags to put in my pocket so my pockets don’t get so icky. It seems to work for the most part. I need a better training bag as the one I have isn’t easy to get stuff in and out of. Maybe training treats but not meat or cheese.

 

[Kathyy]

I use sticks and pinch off bits so I can deliver fast and accurately. Even without a bag inside it takes me too long to get more out and I am so liable to drop them. We train on grass and that seriously disrupts the session when that happens.

 

[[email protected]]

We have a dehydrator.....we dehydrate and use mostly livers, chicken breast, beef strips, sweet potatoes. Dehydrator is great. Really convenient, dogs love the treats, and much cheaper than buying treats.

 

[MarieLovesChis]

I really like Merrick Lil Plates for training treats. My dog likes them a lot and they smell pretty strong. They're really small and easy to cut into quarters to make them even smaller. I like that a lot as my dog is small and I try to keep added calories down to a minimum. Vital Essentials is well received by my dog too, specifically the rabbit and tripe flavours. These are also very small. Fruitables makes some training treats as well but my dog actually prefers their crunchy treats, which are easy to snap into quarters without shattering so they work for us.

 

[rkj__]

My dog loves meat and cheese, but is certainly motivated by dried liver as well.

 

[Kathyy]

Thanks for starting this thread. I found a can of sardines that had been sitting in the pantry for a year and made up sardine bread. They were a big hit. Made 2 microwaveable plates of thin crust pizza with the can plus an egg. Couldn't tell if the sardines were better received than the usual string cheese but both of us had boffo classes yesterday. Bites when confronted Bucky sat and took treats from the instructor! Ginger's butt stayed down and she crawled!

 

[3GSD4IPO]

It depends on what I am training. For teaching tracking (for instance) I use cut up Fresh Pet that I freeze and separate into baggies. It has a lot of odor so it is good for training a young dog what we are doing out there and to develop good habits and most dogs love it. Once the food starts to come off the track I switch to pieces of kibble placed strategically on the track. It has a lot less scent. I feed Fresh Pet or even better like Deli Roast beef or even a raw chicken foot at articles to solidify in my dog's brain that stopping and indicating that article is a big paycheck and worth it to the dog.

For teaching obedience I have used hot dogs and string cheese but I also used Red Barn dog food rolls (cut up) and I used to use Natural Balance but they changed the formula and it is not too soft and malleable.. does not cut up nice and sticks to fingers and it's just bleah. Some of the Blue Buffalo Smokehouse dog food rolls are also good but it seems they may be phasing those out?? I have also used frozen cut up Fresh Pet. Of course I also have a hungry dog!

The point is I swap it up and change it, sometimes during a training session and other times between training sessions.

 

[gingerkid]

I've been using a lot of Ziwipeak dried food - it's a good size for Snowball and Ida, but also easy to break up for the little.

I also really like freeze dried raw food toppers like, K9 Naturals and Nature's Variety Instinct.

And the crunchy tricky trainers are the perfect combination of motivating without making him completely over the top, and the shape is easy to handle for feeding to a shark who is also missing bilateral lower premolars which means food often falls out of his mouth if his head is tilted at all...

For the little, I've also been using the Pure Bites freeze dried shrimp (which are technically cat treats). They're dry and smelly, and also work pretty okay in a treat n train.