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Go to Treat?
What is your go to training treat? Please share! Wai’s favorite is String Cheese.
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32 Replies
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Great topic, @keala – I’ve moved it here to the Motivation channel in case someone is looking for ideas.
I’d forgotten about string cheese – thanks for the reminder. It’s so handy and easy to break into tiny, tiny pieces!
My girls love cheese of all varieties. Also any meat I happen to have leftover. I usually mix it all up together with kibble, if I’m teaching a class so that people can just grab a handful, but not make their dogs throw up on the way home because of grease overload!
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Those are great ideas! Thanks for the tips. ???? Wai says those are great ideas too lol ????
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Oooooo, so it depends! One of my dogs loves, loves blueberries, especially frozen!
Cheerios are also a big hit! I use them a lot with my clients!
I just took out string cheese today for my sister’s pup to mix things up and, to be a ” new” reward for walking up the hill by himself today!! So, cheese for the win in his case!!!
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Blueberries are a great idea! I forgot they can have those ???? I’ll have to try them with Wai ????
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Thanks!
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My girl Joy LOVES blueberries – but, she loves all food – anything I’m eating is yummy to her. Except ginger. Ginger is poison. So if sprinkle it on my yogurt, she will NOT lick the bowl. ????
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Yes! I forgot about yogurt. ???? Definetly a yummy treat for humans and dogs. Thanks for sharing!
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Frozen blueberries are such a good idea! I’m going to try that. ????
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PS – Ginger is not poisonous and Bliss gladly laps it up.
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At home anything that’s available is fair game, from stinky packaged dog treats to sliced sandwich turkey to kibble.
On the go, it’s grabbing a slice of American cheese to slip into my pocket, or leftovers we keep in a little tupperware and I also really like the Bark Pouch product – no mess on your fingers, super tasty for the dogs.-
I’ll have to try the Bark Pouch! Thanks for sharing. ????
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Let us know what you think of it!
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Another treat Wai likes, are Goat Hoof trimmings. Super yummy and pocket size. ???? ????
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I also forgot to add: Wai likes Donkey Hoof Trimmings too. He doesn’t like the horse hoofs as much. Maybe there is a different smell? Whatever is in them he loves them the best.
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???? yes they do look like small fishes! Maybe that’s what Wai thinks too? ????
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Okay – goat hoof trimmings are the cutest. lol – at first, I thought they were tiny fish! (Another great option is dried fish, except they are really smelly to handle!)
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LOL – on my tiny screen (before my first cup of coffee) I was sure they were little fishes!
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Hoof trimmings — wow!!!! That is so original, and I bet a ton of dogs would love those!!
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I had the same thought. That’s the first I’ve seen of that! Shows you what I’m missing out on by never having been a farm owner. ????
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The hoofs are similar to the antlers or cow hooves at per stores. Except the horse, donkey and goat hooves are smaller and thinner. So the dogs eat them faster.
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That’s a really weird one! I like that it’s a NOVEL treat, but I haven’t yet seen this is a Pet supplies store in my area (I only shop mortar-&-brick stores, so if it’s only available on-line that’s fine, but it likely won’t be in my repertoire). In response to the more general question– it definitely depends on the taste buds of the dog-I’m-working-with but one thing I’ve been using now is Bil-Jac’s grain-free Chicken & Sweet Potato treats: they’re healthy, already tiny and -evidently- YUMMY. Unfortunately I’ve only seen one size- 10 oz.- and it gets used up pretty fast. Also pieces of muenster cheese – or any others except ‘pepper jack’, and of course the perennial favorite, all beef hot dog slices. One more old favorite is that big tub of Freeze-dried Liver treats, I can’t remember the brand name now, but alot of dog trainers I know swear by it.
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I use a variety of different treats. My general use one is Ziwi Peak as dogs love them, they are nutrious, and I can break each little square into as many as four little bites and get a lot of training out of a few good calories. I also carry some freeze-dried single protein product like salmon. String cheese is definitely in my tool box too.
But my go-to when nothing else will get a dog’s attention is kind of embrassing for this vegetarian to admit…I have my carnivorous husband save his bacon grease. I fill a GoToob with that and keep it in the fridge. Of course I use if very sparingly but it has worked wonders!
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OMD – BACON GREASE! What a sensation that is, I’m sure. Kudos to you for being willing to handle it.
True story: Joy got her pill last night in… you guessed it – a tiny bit of bacon grease on the end of a spoon. (Normally it’s peanut butter, but I was cleaning up and she didn’t mind the upgrade at all!)
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Genius, @jenwalker ! Have you ever tried mixing the bacon grease with other food, to act as a flavor enhancer?
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When I’m working with my own dogs, or with clients’ dogs, I love to get mileage out of their regular kibble, when that’ sufficiently motivating. Rarely will that hold up around big distractions, though. I’m always on the look-out for new taste sensations for the very picky and/or easily distracted or reactive dogs, to find their version of ‘crack.’ Tyson and Perdue offer cooked and seasoned chicken strips in the freezer section, and that has proven to be very high-value to many dogs, even better than hotdogs and cheese, other go-to treats. Small cubes of ham are a hit with many dogs, but I try to use sparingly.
When I’m really stretching, I’ve even used meat baby food — it has a surprisingly nasty scent, which I’m sure dogs appreciate. The small glass jars are easy to palm, and I’ll offer it to the dog for just 1-2 licks before removing again. Once the jar is empty, I’ll often refill with pate-style canned cat food, or cat food cut with canned pumpkin.
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This is so cool! I never thought about meat food for babies. Thanks for sharing! ????
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I hope it’ll be helpful in a pinch. I call it crack in a jar!
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I didn’t know those frozen pre-cooked things existed! I guess I don’t have to tell people to chop up rotissierie chicken any more! And the baby food in a jar is brilliant, and so affordable if you are only using a lick or two at a time.
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As a vegetarian, I like the frozen chicken strips because no cooking is involved. Plus you can take out just the amount you need for a training session, and the rest stays fresh in the freezer. Cheaper than high-value dog treats, too.
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Horses got shod today. Brought home one of the thicker hooves. And Wai loved it! ❤️ Here is a video of him giving it a good chew ????.
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Stella and Chewy’s Lil bites are my go to food/treat when my dog won’t eat. This occurs most frequently when we are out competing or traveling, or she is being boarded, My dog absolutely loves these.♥️????????????❤️???? They are freeze dried treats so I can easily keep them in my vehicle for the long days where my dog has refused to eat her kibble. They also make dinner patties that I included below in the pictures. They don’t seem to carry the same flavors yet for the Lil bites that they do in the dinner patty variety The only problem I have with the dinner patties is that she tries to swallow it whole, so I end up having to break ithem up and consequently the Lil bites just make it easier. Personally I think they say the little bites are for small dogs just simply because of the size of the treat. I have friends that use the Lil bites for their big dogs for training treats.
My dog boarder recently stated ‘You would swear I was feeding your dog steak!’
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Hi @minid21 –thanks for posting this. I’m glad to know how tasty this is to some dogs, especially because it’s much ‘cleaner’ to handle than fresh proteins. ????
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