What's Your Favorite High Value Training Treats?

[Guest DeniseL]

Hello friends.

 

Just looking for a few suggestions on SUPER YUMMY impossible to resist training treats. Izzy is starting a basic obedience class and I will need someting for that, but I am also looking for something that I can keep in my pockets on walks that won't get too nasty in the summer....so far string cheese works fairly well, but even that doesn't interest her overly much....and any comercially prepared "treat" like puperoni, etc only work to get her attention in the house or outside when there are absolutely no distractions.

 

So, what is your favorite, or I should say, your houndie's favorite training treat?

[kathleenmaeve]

When my Mom did agility, etc. with her dogs she used cooked hotdogs - nuked them for a minute and cut them up into pieces. They fit into a plastic bag easily. Also, cheese cubes- the stinkier the better. If mozzerella string cheese isn't strong enough, try bits of cheddar. But, cheese and meat can be harsh on houndies' sensitive digestive systems. Not sure if galgos have as many stomach issues as some of the greys do, though.

 

Jennifer's blog has a great entry on high value treats for training hounds: http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/search/label/High%20Value%20Treats

[vjgrey]

Dehydrated lamb lung. My pups go nuts for it, and it's easy to break into small pieces.

 

We get ours from Bestbullysticks.com

[OwnedBySummer]

I use dehydrated lung or liver, both work well. Broken into small pieces. Neither one gets nasty.

[ramonaghan]

These training treats from Blue Buffalo are working really well for us. And their sticks—Sweep loves the lamb & apple—are great too. (Incidentally, the sticks also fit perfectly into the small end of a Kong; I use half as a plug when I am filling the Kong with something messy.)

[Hawthorn]

Real meat every time - chicken, beef, liver, sausages (low-fat, no onion) and plenty of it! Different varieties of cheese go down well too but I don't like to give too much of that. Hot dogs at a pinch. For training classes, I'd take a mix of the above. I've never really worried about whether or not it goes nasty in the heat because we're never out long enough for it to be a problem in hot weather. I just stick it in a food bag inside a waist bag and zip it up. Freshly cooked, warm meat seems to be especially high value.

 

I think of all of these, the sausages are possibly the top favourite. I remember once going on a small group walk where the dogs were all off-leash. I had some warm, freshly-cooked premium angus beef and garlic sausages in my bag which were particularly smelly. Shortly into the walk one of the other owners pointed out that I had a small string of dogs following intently behind me .

[RedHead]

The only thing that works here is "real" meat as well...and it has to be fresh, he won't do the dehyrated kind for very long I tried hotdogs, cheese, dehydrated liver, etc. but then I found real success and a much higher training focus when I started using just chopped or ground meat. I often buy a whole chicken and roast or boil it (keeping the good meat/broth for me) then cut up the rest. I also buy cheap roasts and chuck and mix that in as well. Not exactly clean, but I don't find it a huge problem.

 

 

 

 

[Sambuca]

Dried tripe works w amazingly well. Zuke minis, Plato brand freeze dried treats break up well, Merrick tripe patties or their little sausages, cloud star brand treats. Putting some peanut butter in a baby jar and letting her have a lick or two as a reward always works. Dried fish, beef liver, beef lung, etc. these have varying degrees of messiness. I put them in a plastic baggy before putting them in my pocket or training pouch. Every dog is different. You just need to find what works for yours. Sailors favorite training treat is bagels and cream cheese. Bu loves hard boiled egg yolks.

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

I also use the dehydrated liver/lung!

[XTRAWLD]

Hot dogs! Messy, stinky and effective! For cleaner times, dehydrated lung works great too.

[Guest DeniseL]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try the hotdogs and lungs, and maybe some more stinky cheese...im supposed to bring a variety with me to the class...

[a_daerr]

Yep, don't waste your money on anything labeled 'training treats' in the pet store. We use hot dogs, Kraft cheese crumbles (perfect size, no prep time), cubed chicken, steak tips, and sausage. If I'm in a hurry, I use Milo's Kitchen brand treats, then cut them up into small pieces. The two big things to consider are size and texture. You want the treat to be no larger than a raisin. And it should be relatively soft (reward the behavior and move on, the point is lost if the dog needs to spend a lot of time chewing). Speaking from experience, it is good to have two or three different kinds during a training session, as they can sometimes get bored with one.

 

I hope you like obedience class! It worked wonders for my two.

[krissy]

I buy beef liver and heart and bake them in the oven on low heat. I check on it periodically since the thickness of the pieces is always different, but I find between 45-90 minutes usually does the trick. If you half cover it with milk before baking there is almost zero liver smell in your house.

 

I do buy training treats from the store. I also use kibble. A lot depends on your dog's food motivation. Both of mine are happy to accept lesser value treats in training which allows me to either reserve the really good stuff for important behaviours (recall) or for when a dog gets a behaviour we were struggling with. I also mix up my rewards. Not knowing what might be coming makes the dog more reliable. The extension on that later on is that the dog stops getting any reward for the behaviour every time, so the dog gambles to see if he will get a reward.

[GreytHoundPoet]

We use freeze dried chicken or liver usually, or cut up pieces of Natural Balance rolls.

[GeorgeofNE]

George will eat anything, so I don't bother looking for anything "high value," but when I was trying to teach him to walk up stairs, I tried everything including liverwurst, and NOTHING was good enough to overcome his fear!

 

Had to go all old school and walk him up the stairs, paw by paw, over and over, until my back hurt so badly I could barely stand

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

The highest value treat I have found for Jayne is braunschweiger, but you really can't give much at a time. To make it workable I roll it into little balls and coat them in corn starch to keep them from sticking. I keep them in the freezer until I'm ready to use them, then just pull a few out at a time.