Just wondering what dog treats you use for training? Any recommendations? With Rally classes looming, I feel we need to brush up on a few things. Looking for treats that are small or easy to break into small pieces. Our dog does not have a discerning palate: everything tastes wonderful to him.
Day to day, I use kibble, but for higher value I use ham, cheese, Primula "tube cheese", roast chicken, dehydrated liver, turkey frankfurter, sausage, homemade treats: liver, sardine or tuna cake made in a pyramid pan so it forms perfect sized treats.
I make lots of my own dog treats, biscuits and liver cake things. I also use squeezy cheese, sausage, sardines (mashed and fed in a squeezy bottle), sometimes chicken. But someone at agility suggested I try special dog frankfurters from the pet treat section of Tesco and these have been a great success for agility. However none of this stopped him refusing to give up, and then eating, a dead duck on the beach on Christmas Eve .
My every day treats are roast beef, chopped into little pieces of about 3/4 of an inch long by 1/8 of an inch wide - they are not messy and easy to break into smaller pieces (if you've cut across the grain). I buy a joint of topside specially for the dog. Super value treats include pork sausage, Boinio biscuit, Schmackos (!). Roast duck and boiled duck giblets are a rare but super treat. Liver cake - (must try a pyramid pan). Sardines from a tube. Polish frankfurters. Cheese (Edam is the least messy) - mainly used for vet visits.
Rodi sausage cut into tiny pieces. Not the whole sausage....from what is left ended in the freezer for next time! Other dogs in training class came after me when I had it with me the first time!
I used roast beef or sometimes pork. I was much stingier than @edzbird and would get three or at least two pieces out of her one. I also find other dogs really like me. A trick is to change it up once in a while. Dogs get used to the same old, same old. Sometimes a few bits of cut up green bean would be regarded as a special treat.
Sam used to love the biscuits made by fish4dogs , I had two bags of them left after he died , they are too big for Nelly so I put them in a plastic bag and bashed them with the rolling pin , sorted . I also use tiny bits of cheese from time to time x
Wow ...what a selection. I feel quite mean now because I was thinking of trying something dry and a bit bland. Our boy gets a little over excited with very tasty treats like sausage and chicken and then the focus of the training goes out of the window. At our last dog training session, I was commended for his heal work. They could only see the back of us as we walked away - dog glued to my side, head looking up at me. From the front they would have been able to see him frantically licking my hands and nibbling my coat trying to find the cheese. Have looked on the fish4dogs website they have quite a variety. I might try kibble too (he is raw fed so it will be something different). Thanks for your replies.
For Homer it depends on his excitement level. We went to agility classes where they insisted on high value treats such as sausage or cheese. These sent Homer into a complete frenzie and all he could focus on was the smell of the treat and not in the task required which caused lots of frustration for both of us. Plain kibble was a better option for him but I had to fight my battle against the trainers. Every now and then I take a bag of cheese or cut up sausage on walks to reinforce his recall. His ball his a good treat too.
We use vegetables as everyday treats, and then peanut butter cake, sausages and cheese mix as a high value treat. And primula tube for off lead rewards. This is what the assistance dog was trained with as a pup. So in everyday life unless going somewhere very different it’s just vegetables and tube cheese.
Cheese is still a powerful treat at class but has been significantly overtaken by sausages or viennas, as they are called here. We don't eat processed meat in our house so I have a bit of a problem keeping DH away from Harleys treats! But back to the topic, she really does love them.
The problem I have is some things like cheese and liver can upset Rory's tummy. So I have to get different things. His colitis is under control now but I have to be careful of fatty things.
We mostly use "Mrs Hubbards Dog Biscuits, Assorted Flavor package" They are about the size of the smallest "Milk Bones", and our dogs love them. I some times use packaged salami, but I really don't think our dogs care much what it is. If it is a treat, they think it is great.
Wonderful insight! However, my little Ema, 6 months (PT for Emma ) has a fragile stomach so I am sure I should get too creative... Any suggestions for fragile tummies? Thanks a lot
I use kibble, Fish4Dogs calamari for high value and fishy nibbles. I also buy some of their variety sample bags which are great value at just under a fiver and mix them up in a jar so she gets them as a sort of pick and mix. She also has feelwells and pet munchies and Arden Grange lite biscuits (they smell horrible and are huge, she can’t believe her luck when she gets one of those). I also buy Ziwipeek. Technically it’s kibble but incredibly expensive if you were to feed it to your dog as food. I got the idea from an Ian Dunbar training video. I also use sausage, cheese, primula squeezy cheese, steak and salmon. Sometimes I’ll fill baby food pouches with mashed up sardines and water. The only thing she can’t eat is dried sprats and I try to steer clear of cheap treats. I made the mistake of buying some treats from the pound shop not a good idea she had runny poo. I will also buy homemade dog treats at farmers markets. I think I can safely say I have a very spoilt little girl.
