Treats?

edited February 2008 in General


What kind of treats do you give your dogs? How often? Do you only give it to encourage good behavior or just for fun as well?

Comments

  • edited November -1
    dried raw meat. sometimes a piece of sweet potato.
  • edited February 2008
    I use peanut butter or frozen canned food in Kongs, and they love the Wellness grain free jerky treats.  When I'm doing obedience training with News, I use hotdogs.  I mostly give them treats when I'm training them, but sometimes for fun if we are just hangin at home, or when I bring them to work(that's where the Kongs come in).
  • edited November -1


    I keep a few types of treats around.  In the morning he has been getting some Lamb lung treats, and when Jennifer leaves some biscuits by Natura.  Dehydrated sweet potatoes in the evening and a Canidade type biscuits.  Sometimes he also gets peanut butter, or rawhide chews that go on his busy buddy toy.


    Treats are mainly for when we leave, but also for some training or some fun.

  • edited November -1
    Lucy's treat array is pretty boring due to her digestive issues. She gets salt free rice cakes on a daily basis and a few teaspoons of canned pumpkin on special occasions (e.g. right after bath time). She gets about 1/8-1/3 of a human rice cake a day, sometimes more if we go to the dog park. I use them as bribes so she comes when called. Since they have almost no scent at all, I don't get harassed by the other dogs. I feed it to her in small, bite sized chunks right before I leave for the day or some time during the afternoon.
  • edited November -1
    We don't generally keep treats on hand as my pups will do their training for ordinary kibble (in the house).  Otherwise, I use cheese or beef jerky.  I have also been known to buy a whole liver and chop that up and bake it for treats, which they love, but the process of washing and cooking liver makes me want to puke.  
  • edited November -1
    The process of reading about you washing and preparing liver made me want to puke.Wink
  • edited November -1


    The first trainer we ever had for obedience classes made her own liver treats (jerky type substance).  Nemo has never bonded to a stranger so quickly.  I've thought about making them in my dehydrator, but the smell of liver slowly drying out for 12-16 hours doesn't get me all that excited.  I think Nemo might also destroy my dehydrator while trying to get at the liver.

  • edited November -1
    I baked it in the oven, but if I were to dehydrate it, I think I'd find a way to do that outside.
  • edited November -1
    I know Jessica stays grain free with her treats as well, does everyone else do it too? Or is treats an exception because it's only occasionally?
  • edited November -1


    I used freeze dried liver treats (google it and you will come up with a lot of sources, both organic and otherwise). They come in a tub all cut up into little cubes and they work great for training. My Kuma loves them. I wouldn't do well cooking my own liver - yuck! He much prefers the freeze dried liver treats to dog biscuits.


     


    Also, I treat with training generally.

  • edited November -1


    Most of Nemo's treats are not grain free.

  • edited November -1
    I don't use treats with grains very often, but I do occassionally buy commercial treats which have grains in them.  My dogs get grains more often than that, though, because they eat scraps here and there.  Isaac drops food on the floor and sometimes I let them lick my plate after I'm done eating.  I'm not too strict about it since they don't get very many grains, it's not such a big deal to me.  
  • @Edgewood What brand do you use for the freeze dried liver treats? ChoCho and Goro are starting their classes and we wanted a good healthy treat. We've been using "Zuke's Mini Naturals Salmon Dog Treats" which I cut in half for ChoCho and in 4th for Goro. Seems to work pretty good, but we want variety.
  • @Edgewood Is "Pro-Treat Beef Liver, Freeze Dried Dog Treats" good?
  • I've used those dehydrated liver treats before I'd have a mix of dehydrated liver, tiny bits of hot dog, and string cheese for training. They also have chicken liver and dehydrated beef meat too. I haven't tried chicken liver or the beef meat I might try it soon though..

    I've used this treats before Saya likes the taste they have wide selection to choose from to dehydrated meat, liver and even cod.
    http://www.wholelifepet.com/page.php?PageID=398&PageName=Our+Products

    They'll also send free samples to you.
    http://www.wholelifepet.com/page.php?PageID=2251&PageName=Consumer+Inquiries

    Saya thinks kibble are yummy treats so I use Bella's wellness core ocean for training treat. lol

    I've also used ziwipeak venison dog food as training treat they're small bites and Saya likes it. I got a free sample of it and plan to order some once it's close to being out. I like it's ingredients though it's expensive, but since they're treats not fed as food it lasts a bit longer.
  • I cut up a block of chedder cheese into sticks and let them get a nibble while training. If they do something exceptionally well, they get to take a bigger bite.

    I get the best training response with boiled beef liver, and it's cheaper than buying pre-made liver treats. They're already sold in raw slices at Vons and so I boil, drain, and cut it into stripes or cubes. What I don't use, I let it air-dry in the fridge. I tried making liver cookie treats, but they're only tempting the day I make the treat, not a day or two after.

    In a pinch, I've used the Natural Balance treat rolls and cut them up. Back-ups are Solid Gold and Wellness treat squares that can be broken down in one hand.

    For snacks, I give the hard treats, like dehydrated chicken stripes or biscuits. I always ask them to do one thing like going into a crate or waiting before giving such a large treat.
  • Saya loves string and chedder cheese I give them in small bits.

    Cooked liver is good too I can get a lot for good price..

    I gotten a free whole turkey once so I cooked the meat, gizzards, liver and heart and cut it into small bits and froze in small ziplocks so all I need to take one out and let thaw for training. I also use it to make dog treats.

    Saya likes fish fudge I add liver, meat and heart to make the fish fudge more yummy.
  • @saya.... what is fish fudge?
  • http://www.food.com/recipe/tuna-fudge-training-dog-treats-120199

    This is pretty much what it is. I use caned salmon or sardines or both..

    I also have added cooked ground veggies and meat with it and added bit more wheat flour.

    I cook it on a cookie sheet instead cake pan.

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    I put them in small ziplock bags so I can take one out for training or just take couple.
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    All the little bags get put into big ziplock.
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    Saya seems to enjoy them I've also mad dog cupcakes and added cooked turkey plush the carrots to it.
  • edited May 2012
    It's not a training treat, but Goro and ChoCho love the Yogurt-banana-honey-PB popsicles I make them lol. Plain fat-free yogurt, 1tbs of PB, 1tbs of honey, and 1/2 of a banana. Put them in an ice tray and freeze it. Goro does backflips for them... but then again... he does backflips for his kibble! I give 1 to Cho and 1/2 to Goro when it's really hot out :)
  • Sounds yummy Saya loves plain greek yogurt as a treat she loves peanutbutter too,
  • We first tried it with plain greek yogurt (because it's the one we had in the fridge) but thought it was too dry and sour for them, so Jeff used them for his morning shakes. We'll give it a try and see if they like it as much. I'm sure Goro is up for anything :)
  • @Hinata23 - you must have me confused with someone else because I have not tried freeze dried liver treats. But both dogs love Zuke's minis (either Salmon or Chicken, only Sachi likes the Peanut Butter). They are small, non-greasy, and IMHO, very good for training classes because of their small size and they don't make your hands gross with oils. http://www.zukes.com/woof/mini-naturals.html

    They have a wild rabbit, bet my guys would like that too but our local store doesn't carry that.
  • edited June 2012
    @Edgewood Sorry I saw a post posted back in feb of 2008 and thought you did.

    Could be a glitch in the system. There's a blank space between the post and your signature at the bottom.
  • @Hinata23 - hmmm....not sure. I don't remember using them, but that post seems to be mine. Oh wait, now I do remember, I did used to have the freeze dried liver treats, it came in a plastic tub. They were kind of all shapes and sizes and Kuma did like them. But I had forgotten since I have not bought them in many years now (no local source, I think I might have ordered them online). They kind of smelled bad (to me), he liked them! I really like the smell of the Zukes (and so do the dogs). I think that is why I stopped using them, the smell.
  • @edgwwood Hahahahahaha ok. Makes sense. I'm going to ask the local pet boutique if they can order the Zuke's wild rabbit treats. Goro an cho love the salmon ones. Maybe they'll like the new ones :)
  • LOL yeah liver can smell! Raw or dehydrated coarse nothing compared to raw kidney! haha

    I someday might get my own dehydrator I know people who do their own and dehydrate meat, liver, heart and stuff like that.
  • My Lapphund loves absolutely everything (well, except cherry tomatoes...), so I've used lots of different things. Mostly various kinds of meat and cheese when training her, though she's extremely food-motivated so sometimes ends up too wild to actually -learn- if the treat is too high-value (ergo, why I do not train with fish. Got freeze dried whitefish treats from someone at a show years ago whose dog didn't like them. Mine liked them too much. Dog loves fish).

    I can get decent results with just kibble, though, too, so sometimes I don't even bother with special treats. From me she mostly gets treats for actually doing something. From my parents, they keep Milk Bones for her (not good for her, but...). They give them to her because she's cute. Sigh.
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