What do you use for training treats?

The breeder we got my German shepherd from told us she uses small pieces of hot dogs - they are cheap, and the dogs love them. I wondered if that was a bad nutritional decision, especially since it's being used over and over. Then again, a few little pieces aren't going to hurt if you don't over do it. What have you used in the past? I'm not about to spend a fortune on treats for training purposes.

 

I cut up peperoni, salami, hot dogs and cheese, i keep it in the refrigerator and that's what we use when trying to really train hard things.

 

It depends on what our dog's favorite food.
Our recent dog likes bread so much so we give him bread as treat.
And before I have a dog that likes peanut so much so I give her peanuts for her treat.

 

Anything.Very small piece of dry of vita weet biscuit, Natures Gift mini treats, cheese, very small amount of milk to get her back inside. I guess if you don't overdo it, so it's not a meal, things should be okay.

 

I use Jer-High Treats- they have treats in different flavors including salami and pepperoni. I used to give them animal byproducts which I steam or expose under the sun prior to usage but they can become smelly. They also need to be refrigerated which means they have to be thawed if I want to start training them.

I also tried dog biscuits but since they crack and break into tiny pieces, I decided to go for natural meat jerky or Jer-High treats. My dogs love the smell of it.

Here's a picture of what I use.

 

I use Purina's Beggin' Strips in very small pieces. Considering what everyone here has been listing, I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong o___O...then again, probably not. I just get anxious over my little girl easily.

 

Hot dogs aren't necessarily the most nutritional, but really, neither are those treats you buy at the store, ya know? I think in small quantities, it wouldn't be bad. The same goes for little bits of pepperoni, sausage, etc. I actually make our own treats (just with flour, bacon grease, etc, and baked like normal cookies would be), so if I were training a new dog, I'd just make them smaller and use those.

 

My dog is motivated by anything that resembles food. She's a small dog so I don't want to screw up her diet. I usually treat her with her dog food which is small enough that 20-30 of them won't make her gain weight. Sometimes I'll break up pieces of her dog treats.

She can get pretty wound up for special treats. She'll jump in the air multiple times and run around me. For her, less tantalizing treats are better. Otherwise, I can't get her to settle down enough to do her training.

 

Beggin Strips and pupperoni broken into small pieces also works really well for a training reward. I mix things up on my dog a lot because i don't want him to develop an intolerance to anything.

 

My dogs favorite is weet biscuit. I only give it to him if he is being a good boy. You have to see what your dog like and dislike to see what treats to give him.

 

Usually, I use small pieces of bread. I know it's not nutritious at all but it's my Homer's favorite treat...especially if it's old - because it's crispy. I also use slices of a carrot because he would do anything to get them and he aways listens to me when he sees that I'm holding one in my hand.

 

I've tried a variety of beggin strips as well as doggie biscuits but my dog just ignored it. I don't use hotdogs because it's processed and one doesn't really know what the manufacturers may have used to enhance its flavor. As you know some spices are not good for dogs so I don't want to take a chance that it might contain a certain spice that might hurt my pet. I used plain boiled chicken (just the meat). Since we only used it to train our dog when she was just 4 months old we did not need a lot of it so it did not cost too much.

 

Actually, when I briefly trained one of our dogs how to do some things, I did not use food. I just used love and attention. It seemed to work actually. She remembered the things I taught her for the whole of her life. They were nothing very complicated: just "sit" and to come back to me if I clapped my hands in a particular way.

 

I have used a variety of things for training. It really does depend on the dog but I have used carrots, apples and the occasional pieces of meat. I have had some that treats just don't work and I have used toys. I have one that was totally trained with a tennis ball because that is her favorite thing. See what the dog goes nuts over and use that to help train. Make sure you use positive reinforcement also because there will be a time when you wont have what works with you.

 

This is really cute but love and attention probably wouldn't be enough for my Homer, he is very greedy and vain - he is used to the fact that I always admire him no matter what he does. Yup, I made a few parenting mistakes
If I want him to do something, I have to show him that I have a treat for him - otherwise he won't listen.

 

As our puppy is only 12 weeks old and quite small (spaniel x poodle) I currently make my own chicken treats in order to make sure she is having something healthy and nutritious during training sessions. I look out for special offers and buy the cheapest bulk packs of frozen, boneless chicken pieces I can find. I defrost enough meat to last three or four days and use scissors to cut it up into tiny pieces (the size of a small pea). Then I fry the pieces in a large frying pan (with a teaspoon of olive oil and half a teaspoon of finely chopped garlic ) until they are very well done, dry and almost rubbery in texture. These chicken treats will keep for three or four days in the fridge and cost less than a bag of shop bought treats. Our puppy loves them and is already responding well to training.

 

I use carrots, cheezits, and actually medium size puppy food. The bites are small enough that they're always wanting more, and they are very easy to keep in a pocket of my jacket.