Treats For Post-Pancreatitus Grey

[Guest kikilestranger]

This is my second post, I'm not sure if this is common or not, but I thought I'd ask and see what I get!

 

We have a girl, 5 yrs, we've had her 2 months now, and she is wonderful. Her retired name is Sophie.

About a month ago, we had a bout with a moderate case of pancreatitus, which she received much medical treatment, love, and rest for, and is now all better.

The Vet warned us though, that we can't feed her any foods that are abnormally high in fat or sodium content, or it could trigger another episode.

So, no hot dogs (which is a shame, because she only had one and loved it). She also seems to be pretty picky about what kinds of treats she'll respond to.

We went to a Greyhound Picnic here, and she got a goody bag with lots of different kinds of treats, some she liked, some she left alone, and some it just

seemed like she ate because it was there, not because she was excited about it.

Has anyone found a good, but healthy, treat that their dog seems to really love? We have a LOT of training to do with her, and I know she'd do a lot better

having a treat that she really loves, and will perform well for.

We live close to a Petsmart, as we as a specialty natural pet supply store, so anything store bought we could probably find.

Any suggestions would be "greyt"! Thanks!

[spottydog]

My guy will also spit out some dog cookies that other people have given him at events. We buy bulk cookies, little bone shaped things, called Liv'r' crunch at an independant shop. They are very popular in our house. He sits for them!

[Hubcitypam]

Poodle had a near death bout with pancreatitis a couple of years ago . He has been fine on lots of commercial treats but we too ditched hot dogs.

 

The hands down favorite treat in these parts are dried yams from Family Dolllar. No contest. They'd all three stand on their heads for them. They are kind of chewy though, so wouldn't be the best training treats.

 

My bridgekid Rex used to love freeze dried liver bits and our secret Santa this year sent some duck jerkey that was very well received and easily broken into small bits.

[Rickiesmom]

Check out Fruitables - they seem very, very benign. Here at least, they can be bought at most natually-inclined pet food stores as well as my vet clinic.

[PrairieProf]

Beth has had near pancreatitis, and I use various freeze-dried pure meat treats for her for informal training. We recently began another training class and I have been using small amounts of fat-free hot dogs (yes, they make them!) or cut-up bits of fat-free cheese, for things that are extra high-value and soft and can be cut very small. I never heard of sodium as an issue for pancreatitis, only fat and, secondarily, protein -- and if you're really talking training treats, all you need is tiny bits, so even in an hour session they're really not getting that much. You could also use something like canned white-meat chicken, if you can stand the stink and wet. Or something like deli turkey breast would probably work.

 

For regular treats, she likes Natural Balance biscuits and dried yam chews -- but she's not too picky!

Edited November 19, 2011 by PrairieProf

[Guest kikilestranger]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I think the dried yams, and the natural jerky meats sound like a good (not so stinky!) option.

Fat free hot dogs I will also be looking for, I had no idea those existed! She really seemed to like the one hot dog she got to scarf down, so that may be our new training treat.

Thanks again!

[seeh2o]

Merrick's Texas Hold'ems, they are dried lamb lungs. They are he equivalent of doggy crack in my house!

[Batmom]

I'd try the nonfat hotdogs -- I slice hotdogs thin enough that I seldom use more than half a hotdog in an hour's training class. I line my pocket with one of those little plastic sandwich bags .

 

But, if that makes you nervous, freeze-dried chicken breast also works pretty well.

[PrairieProf]

I'd try the nonfat hotdogs -- I slice hotdogs thin enough that I seldom use more than half a hotdog in an hour's training class. I line my pocket with one of those little plastic sandwich bags .

 

But, if that makes you nervous, freeze-dried chicken breast also works pretty well.

 

Ha, those are the main training treats around here. Glad to get the virtual OK from Batmom. Freeze-dried stuff is nice because you can leave it in your coat pocket for use on walks, etc.

 

I slice my hotdog into thin rounds and then those rounds into halves or generally even quarters. I think I got by with even less than a half hotdog! My understanding is that for actual training sessions you need tiny soft treats -- otherwise they're going to lose focus chomping at something.

 

Beth used to LOVE Merrick dried beef lung, but they don't make it any more -- I've been hesitant to try the lamb, as I know she does fine with beef but am not so sure about lamb.