What's Your Grey's Most High Value Treat?

[Rijnbeek]

Hi all.

 

It has been more than four months since we adopted our 5 year-old grey, and she has started showing somewhat uncontrollable interest towards other dogs, especially fluffy small ones.

We have read how to distract with high value treats when there is other dog in sight and eventually desensitize.

 

Our girl is food motivated so we think this is going to work well, but we are wondering what we could use as high value treat and how big they should be cut into.

 

Any inputs would be appreciated

 

Thank you!

[Paisleymomma27]

Dried beef lungs or soft food frozen in a Kong. She goes crazy!

[Remolacha]

Food.

 

Seriously, Conner is what is known as a food whore, so he will enthusiastically eat just about anything. Cheese is usually good, or freeze dried liver, or cat treats. Anything with a strong smell, and keep the size as small as possible without getting your fingers nipped. You may have to experiment a bit, some dogs go nuts for mini marshmallows, some couldn’t be less interested, for example.

[Hubcitypam]

With Rex high value changed daily - hot dogs, cheese,Vienna sausage, cat treats, freeze dried liver, Smaller bites are best.

[Time4ANap]

Freeze Dried Liver ranks pretty high in this house too. This is the one we use - https://www.amazon.com/Stewart-Freeze-Dried-Treats-Liver/dp/B000255OIG

[Potomacpupsmom]

Stella and Chewy's Tantalizing Turkey Meal Mixers. They are freeze dried raw turkey shaped like regular kibble and they LOVE them.

[Rijnbeek]

Thanks all for your replies!

 

Cheese and hot dog sound great. Do you just get ones for humans or are there any made specially for dogs??

 

Mini marshmallows sound interesting, too....! Our girl has never had anything that sweet so it is going to be interesting to see how she goes.

 

Keep more ideas coming please

[Hubcitypam]

Some trainers feed marshmallows as treats. talentedmrripley who was a GHOF greeter loved Twinkies. Human hot dogs - also liverwurst if you'll eat it too.

[Toffeesdad]

Smelly cheese, marshmallows, stinky salmon and sweet potato treats

[greysmom]

For training purposes your treats should be small - @ 1/4 inch - just big enough to taste and swallow in one bite.

 

Cat treats work really well, along with dry cat food, as they are really smelly! Which is what you need to hold your dogs attention for this kind of behavioral desensitization.

[FiveRoooooers]

Food.

 

Seriously, Conner is what is known as a food whore, so he will enthusiastically eat just about anything. Cheese is usually good, or freeze dried liver, or cat treats. Anything with a strong smell, and keep the size as small as possible without getting your fingers nipped. You may have to experiment a bit, some dogs go nuts for mini marshmallows, some couldnt be less interested, for example.

Connor and Aiden are brothers from a different mother (and dad)

 

Aiden will eat just about *anything* - eat first, determine what it is later. We take mini mooshies when he visits his friends at the Forgetful Folks home, and also use them for training. Animal crackers and goldfish are high on the list.

[WalterWallerson]

Hi all.

 

It has been more than four months since we adopted our 5 year-old grey, and she has started showing somewhat uncontrollable interest towards other dogs, especially fluffy small ones.

We have read how to distract with high value treats when there is other dog in sight and eventually desensitize.

 

Our girl is food motivated so we think this is going to work well, but we are wondering what we could use as high value treat and how big they should be cut into.

 

Any inputs would be appreciated

 

Thank you!

 

 

cheese

marshmallows

crunchy dog treats

cauliflower

cold cuts

[ramonaghan]

Babybel cheese. She knows the sound of that wrapper versus any other wrapped item and will come running into the kitchen the second she hears it.

[Hubcitypam]

My pitiful schnauzer foster adores Annie's graham cracker bunnies. Both he and the yorkie foster before him adore won ton strips. The ones at .99 only. I put them in soup and salad.

[Rijnbeek]

Thanks for more ideas! Babybel cheese sounds great but they are quite pricey here in Australia...

 

So, I ended buying mini marshmallows, fish flavor crispy cat treat and turkey ball looking thing.

She seems to love the cat treat the most, mini marshmallows were way too small for her to chew

 

Hopefully the desensitisation will go well with those treats!

 

Thanks all again for your input

[Hubcitypam]

Need people recipes for those marshmallows besides rice krispie treats?

[HeyRunDog]

Another vote for cheese and or peanut butter

 

I cook a chicken in the slow cooker just on its own so I know what's in it. I eat the best bits and all the pickings get frozen in 1/2 inch bite size pieces on a tray before being put in a container which I keep in the freezer. I use them frozen as they are small enough not to cause harm. The stock gets frozen in an ice cube tray to add to her food as a treat.

[Hubcitypam]

Oddly enough my first yorkie adored raw bell peppers.

[robinw]

dog poop, especially frozen

[krissy]

You want something small and easily eaten. You don't want the dog to have to think about eating it... so ideally it should be something that doesn't really require chewing (cut or broken up small), isn't sticky (straight peanut butter out of the jar), and isn't crumbly.

 

Keep in mind that the highest value foods for most dogs are things like steak, grilled chicken, hot dogs, and cheese. Of course some dogs have strange tastes so it's important to experiment. I had a dog in one of my obedience classes that was absolutely nuts about fruits and veggies... the owner used to pick an apple off my backyard tree when they arrived, sliced it up with a pocket knife and use it for treats. One time he also brought cut up turnips which made me laugh. Although many chow hounds are pretty excited about all sorts of foods, and would still take a lower value treat in a highly distracting situation, they still have a hierarchy and we should reward accordingly. My dogs will work for kibble... but when I ask them to work against high distractions I give them steak, cheese, chicken, and canned dog food. The compensation has to reflect the dog's effort and/or the importance of the task.

[palmettobug]

Had a Lab that would fight you for strawberries, but Johnny prefers his fruit and veg cooked. He is nuts for cheese, we share a cheese stick every evening. He also loves yogurt and baked goods, but those don't work well in training!

[Remolacha]

dog poop, especially frozen

Now there is a high value treat!

[EllenEveBaz]

I sliced hot dogs into thin "coins" and broiled them quickly to make them not as squishy and hard to handle. When that started to seem like too much work, I switched to Zeke's mini treats, which come in a bunch of different flavors, and are tiny and not messy.

[Greydawg]

Liverwurst. We cut it in treat-size pieces and keep it in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Both dogs go nuts for it.

(Also an easy way to administer meds.)

[Rijnbeek]

Thanks all for your replies!

 

You want something small and easily eaten. You don't want the dog to have to think about eating it... so ideally it should be something that doesn't really require chewing (cut or broken up small), isn't sticky (straight peanut butter out of the jar), and isn't crumbly.

 

Keep in mind that the highest value foods for most dogs are things like steak, grilled chicken, hot dogs, and cheese. Of course some dogs have strange tastes so it's important to experiment. I had a dog in one of my obedience classes that was absolutely nuts about fruits and veggies... the owner used to pick an apple off my backyard tree when they arrived, sliced it up with a pocket knife and use it for treats. One time he also brought cut up turnips which made me laugh. Although many chow hounds are pretty excited about all sorts of foods, and would still take a lower value treat in a highly distracting situation, they still have a hierarchy and we should reward accordingly. My dogs will work for kibble... but when I ask them to work against high distractions I give them steak, cheese, chicken, and canned dog food. The compensation has to reflect the dog's effort and/or the importance of the task.

 

We have tried crispy cat treats (fish flavored "party mix" to be exact) and mini marshmallows. They hold our girl's attention for a while but she not when the other dog comes too close to walk pass. She refuses to take the treat and just looks at dogs...

So, we are now thinking of trying cheese and hot dogs. Not sure if anyone would be interested in the progress and what works etc, but will come back to post update in few days or so

Edited March 11, 2019 by Rijnbeek