Hello folks Grace is 12 weeks old now and is doing really well. I am trying (for the first time) to use little treats during this process - I am struggling to find something very small i.e. not filling but very tasty. We keep ferrets too and their dried food pieces (about 8mm round) look ideal and are very tasty - I've tried them. You may have guessed where this is going. Is this food safe to use for lab pup treats? We use Burgess' or James Wellbeloved. If not can anyone tell me a good alternative that is very small but tasty. I don't want to fill her up with training rewar treats Thanks for any help
Re: Treats Hi there, For most puppy training, I found just using a handful of their own kibble, and giving it in single pieces, worked just fine. Only problem is it makes the bottom of your coat pocket smell funny Cheese cubes make a great 'jackpot', as does cold cooked chicken (no bones of course!) Hope that helps! Sam.
Re: Treats Thanks Sam Have used individual pieces of her food but she's cute and learned early that that's not a treat. She is getting fed the correct amount at mealtimes but is not a "wolfer" of food and often goes backwards and forwards for 20 minutes until it's finished.That's why I was looking for something very small bt very tasty. May try chease but not keen on dairy stuff Cheers
Re: Treats We keep ferrets too and I have used ferret food as treats on occasion. But, it probably is not recommended in any quantity. Might be very much higher in protein? One way to get the cheesy taste without too much cheese is to shake up a lot of little cubes of toast in a bag with a few cubes of cheese. The toast seems to take on the cheesy flavour. My dogs love these.
Re: Treats I sometimes make my own treats , very easy and dogs seem to love them, in fact I could do with some right now, off to bake ! Liver treats Chopped raw liver 1 egg plain flour just mix the whole lot in a food mixer to a sort of sticky dough , place onto a baking tray and roughly spread it out, bake in med oven for about 15-20 mins , cool and then chop into small pieces, you can freeze this too . If raw liver isnt your thing , you can substitute the liver with a can of tuna , but use the tuna in spring water and drain well first .
Re: Treats Another cracking idea - and cheap as chips. so long as I can stop myself cooking the liver and eating it myself Thanks Kate
Re: Treats Just checked the ferret dry food and it is 36% protein so 10% over the Eukanuba I use - they are only tiny pieces so with caution I suppose they could be used occasionally. I was looking for an "off the shelf" treat if possible too.
Re: Treats The chap that does our dog training recommended using an off-the-shelf dog food (that he says is pretty dreadful as dog food but great as a treat for training). I almost hesitate to suggest it with all the healthy feeding that goes on with the dogs on the site, but here goes......"Frolic"! It costs under £4 for a 1.5kg bag from somewhere like Pets-R-Us (oops I mean Pets at Home) and the beefy one smells best for doggy noses I think. It looks like small rings and its easy to put a small handful in your pocket, then if you gently squeeze them they neatly break into 4 small pieces - a perfect little treat! Probably you'll all say its dreadful stuff, but did the trick for us, and we still buy it (when not using Premium treats on the Recall Programme LOL) Jacqui
Re: Treats Hello Jacqui That's a great suggestion too and I'll give it a bash along with the other suggestions. I'm sure any sensible dog owner will agree you can be a little too "clinical" at times when trying to do the best for your dog. I have had dogs all my life and always want to do the best for them (and me). Ive not poisened one yet even though all of them have tried to do it to themselves. Grace my new wee arrival was caught just today chewing on foxglove leaves after I turned my back for 2 seconds !! This forum is a credit to all who developed it and all who I've had the pleasure to communicate with - keep it up Cheers Dene
