What training treat do you use for your puppy?

[Jen and Zoe]

Hi there,

We are almost out of the bite size training treats I bought for Zoe when we brought her home so time to do some research and figure out what to buy next. For the first treats I just picked up the Train Me! treats from Petco but I'd love to know what you all use and if there are healthier alternatives out there.   I've read about freeze dried liver treats - not sure if certain brands are better?  

Zoe likes the Train Me! treats just fine.  Sometimes she seems more excited about them then other times though. Is there something that your puppy just loves?

Thanks,

Jen

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I use bits of real chicken too. I started using them when Lucy went to agility classes. She'll do just about anything for real chicken. Oscar LOVES them too and he learns super quickly with chicken. We've also used Trader Joes Organic Chicken and Brown Rice sticks. They're soft and its easy to pinch off a small piece at a time. I try to keep them to a minimum though, as I'm not sure where they come from. Right now, when I'm not training with real chicken, Oscar gets plain kibble (Fromms). He's very food motivated and pretty easy to please.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I likev the idea of boiled chicken Definitely the safest and probably the cleanest & healthiest

[Jen and Zoe]

Thanks for all of the replies - some great treats out there and I love the homemade ones.  We are vegetarians (not Zoe of course) but while I can buy her dog food and treats with meat I just can't bring myself to cook a chicken.  I'm going to see how Zoe likes a few flavors of Zuke's since many of your pups enjoy them.  

Thanks again!

[Emily & Wispa]

If you can't bring yourself to actually cook the chicken, how about buying pre-cooked?? 

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

I have a longer post below but wanted to share this information with as well.  The top 10 foods, as reported in Modern Dog magazine, Yogurt (fat free no added sugars or flavors), flax seed, salmon, pumpkin, sweet potato, green beans, eggs, brewer's yeast, apples, oatmeal.  You can look for the entire article on the internet, it gives the information for why each are so good for them.  They claim that frozen green beans are a real treat.  I know we used to have a mini dachshound and she gained weight too easily so we subsidized her feed with green beans and she never hesitated to dive in.  Hope this helps

[Brody and Valor]

When we take Brody to his obedience classes he does really well and pays more attention if we use hotdogs and cheese bits, also we use the Wellness lamb treats, and freeze dried liver. His "high value" treats are def the hot dog and cheese though.

[Emily & Wispa]

We were urged not to use store-bought treats for training.  And to be honest, it makes so much more sense to give your puppy something like little chunks of sausage or chicken.  It's so much better for them, too!

We get packs of cocktail sausages from the deli and for training we cut them up into very small bites.  She goes nuts for them!

[Camilla and Darwin]

We've used tiny pieces of all beef hot dog, tiny pieces of mozzarella cheese, and we also love Zukes brand treats. They have "Zukes minis" which are perfectly sized for training.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Hi, we have had Meg for two weeks and totally stunned at how intelligent these doodles are. I love training her, in fact I almost feel like I am lucking out and somehow she must have known these things because she catches on so very fast. I recently read an article about the top 10 human foods that are GREAT for dogs, in that list was apples, pumpkin, sweet potato and several others. We have a tiny orchard to keep my hubby busy and dehydrate a lot of apples. Yesterday I took one dried apple slice and broke it in 10 tiny pieces, in less than 15 minutes she had the 'shake' concept. Waited about 30 minutes and tried the same thin again, TA DA, she shakes hands. The things we use off that list so far are the sweet potatoes (whick can also be dehydrated for later snacks, apples and every morning when I fix my breakfast she gets one tablespoon of yogurt (the article suggests that is plenty and the probiotics in it as good for her as it is for me).

We use bits of her puppy food for rewards and training but are definitly adding the apple pieces, she loves them.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Judy,

Thank you for the great list of puppy recommended treats.  I am going to include several of them in Hurley's diet.

[Jen and Zoe]

Thanks for the great list - I checked out the article you mentioned on Modern Dog. They have a few other articles on there with other foods listed too.  I'm going to pull the dehydrator out and dehydrate a yam tomorrow and see how Zoe likes it. such an easy treat to keep around!

[sf1]

Freezed dried liver treats...I just break off very tiny pieces in my hand...I use them on walks and off lease walks as well. Funny, when I call "Milo come", even with 10 other dogs around, he comes every time and folks can't believe it...haha.