Training Treats For The Finicky

[Guest Waterdog66]

So Audrey loves her food and horks her meals down before I even get a chance to get back after putting her bowl in front of her. (Grain Free Merrick Chicken and Sweet Potato)

She does seem to have a bit of a discriminating palate and has turned her nose up at several different samples of training treats. We did "Breakfast at Tiffany's" last weekend and walked around Petco with our coffee and she even rejected the biscuits they were offering at the front counter.

SO: I have been using her Kibble for training. It seems like kibble tends to be lower in kCals so I guess it is not so bad that she will do almost anything for an extra bit of it during the day, (Even walk up and down those confounded stairs)

Any ideas/recommendations on reasonable training treats for her?

When she first came home, she smirked at a spoon of peanut butter but after putting it in her supper a couple of times she decided she liked it. I tried introducing her to training treats in a similar way and she leaves them in her food bowl. (Will lick the bowl clean right round the training treats) Not sure what else to do except find something that does work that won't impact her regular nutrition.

[Guest ShanYu]

I would say if she will work for kibble - spare the costs of other "treats" and go with that! My boy Nike will do anything for any kind of food so I did the same thing!

[tuff]

I use those little mini-pepperonies, the low fat variety made from turkey. Precut and easy to dispense. The ingredient list is not too awful either. A whole package is only about 280 calories, if you get carried away. Two of my hounds have fairly sensitive GI tracts, and have not gotten pudding poo from them.

[Guest undergreysspell]

Gracie will do anything for plain old Cheerios-she loves them!

[Guest Waterdog66]

I think I am going to try a few other types of kibble as well; just for variety.

I also need to sort out some new extras for her (Yogurt, Peanut Butter etc.) but it seems like on the food front; all is well.

Kibble seems to be an easy treat for her and in any case, she can smell it from petty far off and snarfs up anything that falls out along the way.

Guess we are going to stick with Kibble for now

[philospher77]

Kibble is what I use for familiar places, especially in the local neighborhood. Trust me, when you have a ten-pound dog that gets half a cup of food a day, you learn to count every calorie! So, if kibble works, go with it. However, in higher distraction areas, where you need more value to your treats, I'd try dried liver, Natural Balance food roll, Stella and Chewie's freeze dried food (I use the cat version, since it comes in nuggets), or string cheese. That's the relatively clean, easy to use stuff. Slightly less healthy, and more messy: nuked hot dog pieces, squeeze cheese, peanut butter, and raw chicken feet. To be honest, raw chicken feet make lousy training treats, but are great for counter-conditioning.

[Guest Waterdog66]

Oh, gonna have to try String Cheese.

I am also going to try some avocado with her meal and I am certain she will love sweet potatoes. (Just need to leave out the Adobo Sauce for the hound version)

[Guest blueberri]

Cheese is Sparky's favourite. His teeth chatter and he goes nuts.

 

The dog trainer we used recommends hotdogs, sliced into small chunks. He goes nuts for chicken nuggets, especially McD's chicken bites (which he obviously doesn't get often). Ditto sausages. He also loves fruit - apples, bananas, strawberries, mandarins and kiwifruit.

 

Dried liver is his favourite "typical" dog treat. He had to have a few pieces before he got the hint, as it has very little scent.

[Guest Giselle]

Most animals actually prefer to "work" for their food. It's called "contra freeloading".

 

If your dog likes her kibble, it's much better to reserve parts or all of her meals for training. Think about it. That's hundreds of practice sessions a week! Your dog will AMAZINGLY well trained if you can reserve her kibble for training!

[RedHead]

I usually buy whole chickens on sale, or the rotisserie ones from the grocery store. I roast it up, eat the good parts myself and debone the whole thing in containers for training. Easy, cheap, no worry about nasty things, and the pups like it. I switch it up with beef as well, sometimes there are really cheap roasts on sale.

[Guest kkaiser104]

Oh, gonna have to try String Cheese.

 

I am also going to try some avocado with her meal and I am certain she will love sweet potatoes. (Just need to leave out the Adobo Sauce for the hound version)

 

 

 

Be careful with avocados...

 

http://reboundhounds.blogspot.com/2009/03/avocados-poisonous-for-dogs-or.html

[OwnedBySummer]

I can only wish that Summer would work for kibble, talk about easy and inexpensive! If Audrey is happy with that, go for it!

 

Summer won't really ever work for food, although she WILL work for lovings. Not as convenient but certainly cheap. We did agility last summer and lovings was her reward.

 

I have managed to convince her lately that dehydrated beef lung isn't too bad as a substitute, LOL. I like the dehydrated lung vs the dehydrated liver (or any other treat) as it's drier -- thus my little treat pouch never gets nasty and, on a therapy dog visit, I can have a resident feed Summer a piece and not worry about what may be left on their fingers. Both the lung and the liver break up into small training-size pieces quite easily.

[Hubcitypam]

I've used freeze dried liver, hot dog pieces, cheese and tuna cat treats. My sisters dog would do anything for a chicken nuggent - especially a BK one. Buddy obsesses over Honey Nut Cheerios - If I was going to train him I'd start with them.