# Treats When Training



## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

I've always used Milkbones, with our blacklab/border collie. I break them up into little pieces so he doesn't get full. We've continued that with Carson and it's working great.


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## AuntCare (Aug 14, 2006)

Small soft treats are the best for training. They allow you to give the dog something really, really yummy and to jackpot (giving the dog a number of treats at once to mark a really good achievement) without losing the dogs attention because they are chewing.

Trainers that I have had have recommended treats no larger than your pinky nail. String cheese, bits of chicken, hot-dogs are all good. There are also a lot of store bought soft treats, just make sure you break them into little bits.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

Dylan M said:


> I see everybody talking about giving treats when training. What treats do you mean? What are good treats to give them without making them full so they will not eat their food or giving them an upset stomach? Thanks for any info!


What I did when Augie was little was to take a small amount of kibble from each meal and put it aside. 10 or 15 pieces or so. I'd put them on a napkin and then there would be 45 pieces for treats. I wanted the kids to be able to give him a treat whenever they wanted to train him, without me going, "Heyyyyyyyy, how much are you feeding that dog?!?"  It worked pretty well, and he wasn't getting overfed and he wasn't getting something that might not agree with his puppy tummy. You can also buy "training treats" in a petstore--they're usually tiny, soft treats. I just picked up a can for Augie at Petsmart (if you live in the US) the other day.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

We bought little puppy size milkbones.....


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## ontariogolden (Oct 24, 2006)

We have Petsmart where I live in Canada. Not sure if they are all over the place but we do have one.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Here are some basic tips for training treats:

1) If your dog is overweight, and very into his food, measure out his daily amount of kibble, and simply take a handful of that. Use pieces of kibble as rewards!

2) The treat should be soft, chewy (except kibble if you use that) and TINY so the dog can wolf it down in a nano second and thus not stop walking, etc to chew and swallow

3) If your dog is NOT obsessed with food, the treats should be exceptional. Garlic butter ground hamburger works wonders. So does liver, but use this in limited amounts. Train before meal time.

4) Consider toys- a ball motivated dog can be rewarded with a toss of the ball after a good "stay" or recall. A tuggy dog can get a good tug session after some nice heel work. Use what your dog loves! That is the key. Goldens are so trainable BECAUSE they are so motivated by so many things (food, praise, toys, etc).


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

We mainly used dried liver, dried fish and her favourite tiny bits of CHEESE and also her regular kibbles... 

A month ago I bought a 6Kg bag of Bakers Complete to read about the sugar content the next day!!! So now we use that as TREATS - It should last for at least a whole year!!!

We do not overindulge her but she also like french baguette so I must say we do like giving her a piece of bread around 9pm - (as a snack really - not everyday, 3-4 times a week).

Amber likes everything we even used green beans and raw carrotts as experimental treats. She doesn't really care as long as we give her something.


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## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

Another thing we've used is pieces of cat food. They love that stuff, and it's small and works great for treats....if you have a cat too.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

ontariogolden said:


> We have Petsmart where I live in Canada. Not sure if they are all over the place but we do have one.


Petsmart is in Windsor, ON and all over Canada and the USA. We used to go to PetSmart when we live in Windsor. But here in Sarnia we have a chain called: SuperPet.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

Carsonsdaddy said:


> Another thing we've used is pieces of cat food. They love that stuff, and it's small and works great for treats....if you have a cat too.


Our problem was whenever a dog was around...we couldnt keep the cats away. Any advice on that. How do you stop cats from eating the dog food Lol.?


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## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

Our cat doesn't eat the dog food so i don't know about that, but to keep the dog out of the cat food we've put it on the counter so she can get up there and eat in peace. If we had a laundry room i'd put it in there and put a small pet door in, and keep th door closed, but alas we only have a laundry closet.  I don't really like having the cat on the counter all the time but it's the best we could do to give her a place to eat where the dogs can't get to.


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