When you have an eight week puppy what can you reward it with (food-wise) when training recall? A bit of it's regular food? Kibble? Can a little puppy be given a piece of a doggy biscuit? What would you suggest at this young age? Thanks.
Re: Rewards Is puppy home yet? Weren't you waiting that last time you posted? I think most things dogs like - meat, fish - are fine even for a very young pup. But don't over do it, sometimes they can have upset tums from moving house, and so sticking mainly to the same brand of kibble as the breeder fed is sensible until they settle. I used kibble at first - particularly for the first few days as didn't want to introduce new food. I got my puppy on the Saturday and went to puppy class on the Tuesday. The first thing the trainer did was swap my kibble for chicken! And she was dead right, kibble wasn't cutting it in puppy class. He was nervous at first, but by the end of the class it needed a handful of chicken to get his attention. I tried to stick to cooked chicken (but checked the salt content, and avoided ham and processed meats for that reason) and bits of fish. I rapidly moved on to fish for dogs treats (rice and cod/salmon) and still mainly use these unless I need something really special.
Re: Rewards I have always used peices of Penny's kibble for basic training. It's only recently where she's been having more intense training that we've needed something a bit different. Just be aware that you need to take it out of the daily food allowance as it's easy for pups to get diarrhoea from being over fed. This goes for treats too - if you are using a lot you will need to cut back on the size of their meals.
Re: Rewards Whatever your puppy likes (and doesn't upset his tummy) will be fine Dogs choose what motivates them the most and we need to try different things to see what really gets their attention. You can kind of 'rank order' treat options from 'most wanted' to 'least wanted'. Use treats lower on the scale for easy situations or things he has learned well, and treats right up the top of the scale for more distracting situations or new things he is learning. We use the Fish4dogs fish treats too, like Julie, as they are high on our dog's list. Also high on his list are roast chicken, raw meat, cut up sausage or hot dogs, and cheese cubes. Dried liver and ham are kind of in the middle. Kibble is on the bottom (but he still likes it). Once your puppy settles in, try a range of things in small quantities and see what works best.
Re: Rewards Thanks to all that gave me ideas of what to "treat" my future puppy with when training. Yes, you are right, Juliet....puppy not home yet but I am getting prepared both mentally and physically for it! There is so much information to gather before she/he arrives! I will be careful not to over-feed, thanks for that info. I have printed out all your suggestions and am sure will be trying them ALL! Thanks again.
