# Suggestions for puppy training treats?



## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

Hi! I've got a 13 week old mixed puppy, Molly, & we've been working on some basic commands. So far for training treats we've been using her kibble, the kibble we're switching her to & some soft Wellness Treats for Puppies, which are her favorite so I try to reserve them for potty rewards. I thought I'd try to add one or two more high value treats to the mix for her basic command training and I was kind of horrified at the list of ingredients of most of the treats on the market. I did see the freeze dried liver treats on the shelf but before I buy them I thought I'd check with more experienced people about the appropriateness of this treat for a puppy. I've seen trainers in videos using cheese & meat but I'm concerned about how all these new substances will affect her digestion. Any suggestions on your favorite puppy training treats would be greatly appreciated.


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## TorachiKatashi (Sep 29, 2010)

I save cheese and meat as my highest-value treats. Kibble - if your dog takes it, my own dog turns his nose to kibble if I offer it as a reward - I'd save as a low-value treat for reinforcing things your dog is already very good at. For the majority of training, I use Zuke's Mini Naturals. Bear goes nuts over them. For a puppy and/or small adult, you could even cut them in half and get twice as much out of the bag.

And congrats for educating yourself and caring about what ingredients go into what your puppy takes in. I'm sure your girl has a good future ahead of her.


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## Fuzzy Pants (Jul 31, 2010)

I went with the freeze dried liver treats for my pup. She loves them most of all. Blue Buffalo makes some treats as well that I give sometimes. I also give zukes & wellness puppy treats from time to time. Boiled chicken cut up into small bits is also good. For vet visits I give her a little bit of cooked turkey bacon or bits of sandwich meat at the end. She never gets that any other time though.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

TorachiKatashi said:


> I save cheese and meat as my highest-value treats. Kibble - if your dog takes it, my own dog turns his nose to kibble if I offer it as a reward - I'd save as a low-value treat for reinforcing things your dog is already very good at. For the majority of training, I use Zuke's Mini Naturals. Bear goes nuts over them. For a puppy and/or small adult, you could even cut them in half and get twice as much out of the bag.
> 
> And congrats for educating yourself and caring about what ingredients go into what your puppy takes in. I'm sure your girl has a good future ahead of her.


Thanks so much for the suggestion & the kind words. I'll look for those Zuke's treats next time I'm at the store.


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

You can make your own cookies and liver treats, cheap and healthy. Also turkey hot dogs or low fat hot dogs are great, cut in to firths then cut small bites. Same thing with string cheese and pepperoni. Get creative & keep high value treats as small bites and only for training.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

Thank you all so much!! Great ideas!!!

ETA: Picked up the freeze dried liver treats & she LOVES them. So much that she seems to have learned "sit," which I was really struggling with teaching her. Thanks again so much for the suggestions!!


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

I'm far from experienced, but our puppy also absolutely loves the liver treats. One thing we did start doing, for the times we're training something new, and acting like a pez dispenser, is cut them up nice and small, or shred them down to size. I don't know what size the ones you have are, but the ones we got are HUGE, taking too long to eat and too much food intake for one training run. Luckily she likes her kibble, so for stuff like leash training where we are constantly reinforcing, she eats her lunch interspersed with a really stinky yummy treat 

Side note about the recipes online for dog treats. I've noticed many of them call for garlic powder. I'm wary of that. I just mention that since you are another like me who is in search of a good dog treat! Some of those ingredients out there are scary!


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

The recipe I use for home liver treats calls for a little garlic, if you look at packages in the store they often have garlic. Garlic is often stated to be a no no because of it's relation to onions which are a big no no. Garlic is safe in small quantities but each owner needs to decide what they are comfortable with. If making your own treats you can simply leave out the garlic.

If you are getting the 'liver bait' treats I cut them into 6-8 pieces for training treats.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

Greater Swiss said:


> I'm far from experienced, but our puppy also absolutely loves the liver treats. One thing we did start doing, for the times we're training something new, and acting like a pez dispenser, is cut them up nice and small, or shred them down to size. I don't know what size the ones you have are, but the ones we got are HUGE, taking too long to eat and too much food intake for one training run. Luckily she likes her kibble, so for stuff like leash training where we are constantly reinforcing, she eats her lunch interspersed with a really stinky yummy treat
> 
> Side note about the recipes online for dog treats. I've noticed many of them call for garlic powder. I'm wary of that. I just mention that since you are another like me who is in search of a good dog treat! Some of those ingredients out there are scary!


Yes! Those liver treats are huge, lol! I've been cutting them down into tiny pieces, too. We'd never learn anything otherwise. I wondered, too, about re-hydrating them to make them faster to chew. 

I'd love to try making some treats for her, too. As you said, the ingredients in many of the treats out there are scary. High fructose corn syrup? What dog needs corn syrup? I don't buy human food with bad ingredients. I'm not going to start with my puppy. 

Like you though, I'm also leery about potentially dangerous ingredients but I think it's good to check in with the vet. I was ready to have our avocado tree cut down after reading on the SPCA website that all elements of the tree are poisonous. After discussing it with my vet, I found that it's only the fruit & she'd have to eat a lot to get sick so since we can avoid that, the tree stays.


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

Beef liver is Busters favorite.

Home made- I purchase a package of presliced beef liver at the grocery store, lay it out on a cookie sheet and stick it in the oven at 250 for about 1 1/2 hours. Cut into small pieces (not much bigger than a pencil eraser) and back into the oven for about a half hour. 1 package, less than $2, makes 2-3 weeks worth of treats depending on how busy we are.

Store bought - I use Prime Taste Freeze Dried Liver  I cut these down to about the size of a pencil eraser, getting 4-8 treats per piece.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

LuvMyAngels said:


> Beef liver is Busters favorite.
> 
> Home made- I purchase a package of presliced beef liver at the grocery store, lay it out on a cookie sheet and stick it in the oven at 250 for about 1 1/2 hours. Cut into small pieces (not much bigger than a pencil eraser) and back into the oven for about a half hour. 1 package, less than $2, makes 2-3 weeks worth of treats depending on how busy we are.
> 
> Store bought - I use Prime Taste Freeze Dried Liver  I cut these down to about the size of a pencil eraser, getting 4-8 treats per piece.



Thanks for the preparation tip! I would even know where to begin working with raw liver, lol. Prime Taste just happens to be the brand I grabbed. I'm glad to know it's a good one.


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

JulieK1967 said:


> Thanks for the preparation tip! I would even know where to begin working with raw liver, lol. Prime Taste just happens to be the brand I grabbed. I'm glad to know it's a good one.


Glad I could help  I started this because my boy has food allergies (corn, wheat, soy & chicken that we've confirmed so far). Since this is home made, I know what Im putting into him is safe, it's inexpensive and he loves it. On treat making days, Buster hangs out in the kitchen a lot. Especially while Im cutting the strips into smaller pieces so that he can do some quality control testing LOL

Buster got a little bag of Prime Taste treats from a friend. He loved them so much that now I buy them for him. I like that they're USA made and single (safe!) ingredient treats.

Oh, when handling liver keep some lemons on hand. Rubbing a cut lemon on your skin will get rid of the nasty stench the liver leaves behind


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

This is the recipe I use for treats:

1 lbs liver (can use any animal liver. for a variety can add any organ meat like chicken hearts or turkey breast)
1/2 C corn meal 
1/2 C wheat germ 
1 C healthy flour like wheat or soy 
1 egg

Optional suggestions:
1 tsp. granulated garlic (not salt) 
1/2 C dried parsley 
1/4 cup grated Pramesan cheese 
1/2 -1 C veggies (I like using canned beans like kidney, fresh cooked split peas, brown long grain rice, all high fiber)

Liquefy livers in food processor, add other ingredients. Mix until smooth like a brownie batter. Spread on a cookie sheet (I use foil to line the pan) until it's evenly spread about 1/3 inch thick. Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes. When cool cut into treat sized squares. I keep a 2day supply in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator & freeze the rest in freezer.

Keep in mind you don't want to go overboard with liver, there is a limit to what is healthy, this is why I will often use 1/2lb liver with the rest another organ meat or turkey breast.


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## JulieK1967 (May 29, 2011)

luv2byte said:


> This is the recipe I use for treats:
> 
> 1 lbs liver (can use any animal liver. for a variety can add any organ meat like chicken hearts or turkey breast)
> 1/2 C corn meal
> ...


Oh, wow, this is great!! I so appreciate you taking the time to post all of this. I never thought I'd be so excited about liver, LOL!



LuvMyAngels said:


> Glad I could help  I started this because my boy has food allergies (corn, wheat, soy & chicken that we've confirmed so far). Since this is home made, I know what Im putting into him is safe, it's inexpensive and he loves it. On treat making days, Buster hangs out in the kitchen a lot. Especially while Im cutting the strips into smaller pieces so that he can do some quality control testing LOL
> 
> Buster got a little bag of Prime Taste treats from a friend. He loved them so much that now I buy them for him. I like that they're USA made and single (safe!) ingredient treats.
> 
> Oh, when handling liver keep some lemons on hand. Rubbing a cut lemon on your skin will get rid of the nasty stench the liver leaves behind



Yep, the USA label & single ingredient are the reasons I felt comfortable grabbing this brand. Thanks for the lemon tip!


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## luv2byte (Oct 21, 2009)

You are welcome. I also have a couple recipes for doggie cookies I make but mostly I make the brownies. Our mini aussie has fiber responsive colitis so we are careful about what we feed and I've adapted a few recipes to be high fiber for him and I got lucky that they see the treats as high fiber. Almost always I put split peas in the brownies, my dogs love them and they are super high fiber - I cook them on the stove in low sodium broth then once cooled I then add them to the brownie mix. When Skyler has a colitis flare I often will make a mix of rice/peas or give him a handful of the treats, great way to help control his colitis.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

A training treat is just a taste, in order to mark correct behavior. A jackpot is 3 or more small treats, rather than a large treat, because dogs seem to respond to multiples better than large size.

I use pieces sliced the size of a dime, then cut into fourths... for my 65 lb dog. This allows me to give one treat per second, when I get quick responses.


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