Calliesmom
Moderator
Your FAVORITE training treat? Help!
- Thread starter Lacey'sMamma
- Start date
corbinam
Moderator
Bentley goes TOO crazy for liver...so I can't use it much for training. He loses his brain over it.
We use turkey hot dogs, too, and they work well. I cut them into tiny pieces before we go, and they're perfect.
Bentley actually didn't go crazy for the Zuke's treats. He likes "wet" treats more, so the hot dogs are way more exciting.
We use turkey hot dogs, too, and they work well. I cut them into tiny pieces before we go, and they're perfect.
Bentley actually didn't go crazy for the Zuke's treats. He likes "wet" treats more, so the hot dogs are way more exciting.
BarbV
Forums Celebrity
I'm with the Zuke's. The boys love them and they come in small bites so that you are not over-treating. In fact when Bacca was a puppy in puppy school and house training, I actually would cut the Zukes into 1/4's so as not to overfeed.
Lacey'sMamma
Forums Enthusiast
I got the lamb zukes and cut them into 1/4's as well. She really likes them, they work well and i like the ingredients!
SheltieChe
Forums Sage
Dognations are recent favorite with all dogs that I know, they go nuts over it. I have made my own with ease in microwave from any meat, pork, turkey, beef.
Easy mix of ground meat, egg and rolled oat. Only bad part you have to keep them in the fridge/ freezer as they are as natural as they come and do not last long out of fridge.
I also have made boiled lived with garlic, boiled chicken breast. Except Zukes I really do not buy any treat anymore, it is much less $$ on my pocket. Add to it that salmon recipe and we all set to go.
I posted dognation recipe on recipe site.
Easy mix of ground meat, egg and rolled oat. Only bad part you have to keep them in the fridge/ freezer as they are as natural as they come and do not last long out of fridge.
I also have made boiled lived with garlic, boiled chicken breast. Except Zukes I really do not buy any treat anymore, it is much less $$ on my pocket. Add to it that salmon recipe and we all set to go.
I posted dognation recipe on recipe site.
k9kreationz
Forums Celebrity
A lot of my trainers use Natural Balance rolls. They just break of bits, roll them in their fingers and give them to the dogs. I hated it. Mostly because it got messy.
For soft treats, I tend to use Zuke's training bits. I don't usually break them apart, but you can. I've tried a variety of the square ones different brands sell, but honestly, they smell so bad/strong, that IMHO, it's distracting to the dog (well, it is for Koji who can sniff out food a mile away). He's so focused on my stinky hands and bag that he doesn't do anything. Zuke's isn't that strong smelling, so it works.
Is there a reason for SOFT treats? I ask, because I konw typically trainers want that so it takes them a bit longer to chew it, but I never understood the difference. I use soft treats as a "special" treat. Otherwise, I typically use Charlie Bears or other hard treats. Koji still does anything for them, so I quit buying soft ones (cuz they smell, go bad fast, and make my hands stink afterwards, lol)
For soft treats, I tend to use Zuke's training bits. I don't usually break them apart, but you can. I've tried a variety of the square ones different brands sell, but honestly, they smell so bad/strong, that IMHO, it's distracting to the dog (well, it is for Koji who can sniff out food a mile away). He's so focused on my stinky hands and bag that he doesn't do anything. Zuke's isn't that strong smelling, so it works.
Is there a reason for SOFT treats? I ask, because I konw typically trainers want that so it takes them a bit longer to chew it, but I never understood the difference. I use soft treats as a "special" treat. Otherwise, I typically use Charlie Bears or other hard treats. Koji still does anything for them, so I quit buying soft ones (cuz they smell, go bad fast, and make my hands stink afterwards, lol)
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
Soft treats are usually prefered because like you said they don't take as long to chew. So there is a long a break before moving on especially handy when teaching something like heeling and you can treat in motion.
If you are teach a stationary exercise and treating at the end of the behavior and then releasing the dog hard treats work fine.
Another reason is for alot of dogs in a class situation hard treats are not motivating enough with distractions. At home, kibble and hard treats are usually fine.
You can use anything your dogs will work for. Justice dislikes charlie bears and spits them out. Same with popcorn. But Diva would run over her own mother for popcorn. So I will use popcron sometimes with Diva.
My pups loved the Bil Jacks liver treats but they where extremely gassy afterward, which was very hard to live with. I now give them the Bil Jack peanut butter flavor and they will do anything for a treat. They break nicely into small pieces so you do not have to worry about over feeding.
HopeShelties
Forums Enthusiast
I know this is late, but I buy the rolls of natural balance dog food and cut them up into tiny bites, and put them in the freezer in baggies until I need them. They're like $10 for 4lbs (will last forever with 1 or 2 dogs, or take care of my herd for 2 weeks :x ). Almost every dog I've met loves it. They don't call it puppy crack for nothing...
corbinam
Moderator
Stacey, do they last/stay in a piece in the heat? I ask because there are some foods that sort of melt/disintegrate when we're out at the agility field for awhile (we can't use cheese because of it)