# What's the best high value treat?



## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

My two GSDs are both rescues who each came to me with a lot of baggage. Now that the weather is great (and my sister is home from the hospital) I want to start 'unpacking' all that baggage, and I know some high value treats will go a long way to help me do that.

Who makes their own, and who buys? Both Orick and Jada LOVE bits of roast chicken, probably more than anything, but I would be happier with something dry and not so messy, LOL. What is everyone's (dogs') favorite high value treat?

Thanks!

Susan


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Woolf's crack is Natural Balance roll food - duck being the highest value.


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## Packen (Sep 14, 2008)

Cut up chicken gizzards!


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## GatorBytes (Jul 16, 2012)

I dehydrate beef heart and turkey hearts - goes nuts for these.

I also make a baked treat with nominal amount of buckwheat flour and liver etc. it is a soft treat, not messy and I break squares into smaller treats, so 1 treat = 5 or 6...he loves these too...but the dehydrated is tops


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I change up treats all the time but Bil jac frozen is Karlo's favorite most often. Feeding raw makes it more of a challenge to find things the dogs like, so I go with natural balance rolls, string or cubed cheese or grill chicken breast with some garlic.
Unfortunately we can't buy Bil jac in MI, unless it is from the warehouse and purchased by the case. It isn't the best, nutrition-wise but makes for great tracking bait and training rewards. One batch I got had green tripe as the first ingredient. I was impressed with that.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

I dehydrated some green tripe in my machine once. ONCE. I don't think I've smelled a more awful thing in my life, but I thought Kaiju was going to simply burst he went so nuts for it. I think some prepared raw companies make little moist pelleted green tripe normally used as topper for kibble, but those would probably work very well for training treats too.

Besides that, pretty much anything dehydrated is his favorite. I did one time rub down a pound of liver with about a half teaspoon of garlic powder and dehydrated that. I accidentally distracted my entire class and had to remove it from the room - none of the other dogs could concentrate and they kept running over and sitting in a circle in front of me!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I buy because it's easy and I'm lazy, lol. My current favorite is Real Meat dog food, which is basically air dried meat and not a lot else. It doesn't need to be refrigerated and comes in perfect sized pieces, but can also be broken up into smaller pieces with your fingers. I use the 90% Meat Air Dried Beef: Real Meat Pet Food



> Air Dried Beef Dog Food
> Ingredients: Beef, Beef Liver, Beef Heart, Beef Kidney, Pumpkin, Inulin (from Chicory), Vegetable Glycerin, Ground Beef Bone, Yucca Schidigera(BioAide), Pea Powder ,Kelp, Parsley, Rosemary, Sea Salt ,Betaine, Choline Chloride, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E Supplement), Pomegranate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin E, Yeast Extract(Agrimos), Flaxseed, Barley Grass, Iron Proteinate, Selenium Yeast, Copper Sulfate, Nicotinic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (source of iodine), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid
> Guaranteed Analysis
> Crude Protein (min) 35%
> ...


I haven't found a dog (or cat!) that doesn't love it, and even have dogs at flyball sucking up to me to get some. 

They make treats too, but they're more expensive per ounce than the food, and come in smaller packages. A two pound bag last me quite a while. I also use string cheese.


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

Lara's favorite is probably turkey from the deli at the grocery store. She can hear the bag from a mile away and even knows what 'turkey' means now...


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## Mister C (Jan 14, 2014)

Maddie's faves were dried turkey hearts, dried liver and human-grade beef jerky.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Forgot treats on the way to training, only a gas station along the way so I got a pack of jack links beef jerky. Yes, too much salt, but for a one off event Ranger went nuts for it.


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## Mister C (Jan 14, 2014)

Nigel said:


> Forgot treats on the way to training, only a gas station along the way so I got a pack of jack links beef jerky. Yes, too much salt, but for a one off event Ranger went nuts for it.


Yeah, human grade beef jerky is quite salty. I didn't use it as a training tool but would sometimes give in while she was begging. She had to be laying down, quiet and calm before I would reward her begging eyes.


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

My male has lower food drive but loves cheddar cheese and Orijen's duck treats. I track him on my grain free peanut butter cookie recipe, I just make tiny balls out of the dough and bake for 5 minutes. Just coconut flour, eggs and peanut butter. He also tracks for baked chicken cut up. He loves chicken. He gets bored of dehydrated beef liver, since he was raised on it.

My female will eat anything, but she is crazy about zukes chicken treats or cut up chicken. And cheddar cheese.


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## ChetsDad (Nov 9, 2013)

My guy LOVES boiled chicken breast. Also, a lady I met uses Buddings lunch meat slices. Her GSD went crazy over it, my guy, not so much, but man, hers loves it.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

While my boys' favorite training reward is playing ball, I do also use hot dogs. I cut them into thin slices and microwave them until dry and crunchy.

All my dogs LOVE those!


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## harrisbrown99 (Oct 26, 2013)

I hydrate my. Chicken, beef, lever, Is worth to invest in hydrator. I cut it when is it half way frozen, that way is it easier to cut. You can give your dog much as you like, and will not gain weight. All my dogs and cats love it.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

Bil Jac frozen


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

I finally had some time to go back and read everyone's suggestions--they're great! Thanks! (and my dogs thank you all too!) :laugh:

Susan


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## Tratkins (Feb 15, 2014)

Dried lamb and chicken...oh and drive thru hamburger if I am in a pinch!


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Hotdogs. Cut into small pieces. I tried lots of stuff. That's what my dog loves. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## The Stig (Oct 11, 2007)

Pax8 said:


> I dehydrated some green tripe in my machine once. ONCE.


  

You are a generous owner; once is one too many for me. I have a cheap cleaver & old cutting board whose life purpose are only to slice frozen green tripe rolls. I am Asian and have eaten some gnarly & disgusting stuff, but even I balk at green tripe. 

I used to use NB rolls, but my dog actually got bored with them as bait for our tracking. :thinking: So, now we use turkey hotdogs as HV treats and the remaining NB as food reward for obedience training.

I am tempted to purchase a dehydrator now.


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## SummerGSDLover (Oct 20, 2013)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> While my boys' favorite training reward is playing ball, I do also use hot dogs. I cut them into thin slices and microwave them until dry and crunchy.
> 
> All my dogs LOVE those!


Laurie, how long do you microwave them to make them crunchy
?
*-*Summer*-*


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## jme12 (Aug 23, 2013)

Blue cheese. My GSD stopped paying attention to a RABBIT for blue cheese.


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## sabledog3 (Apr 27, 2014)

Hot dogs or just plain biscuits, he loves little dog bone biscuits for some reason. If I don't feel like using treats or don't have them,I use the freedom to sniff as a reward


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## Kuma of Manenggon (Mar 29, 2014)

All beef kosher hot dogs..nough said


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

The Stig said:


> I am tempted to purchase a dehydrator now.


Dehydrators are awesome! I have a little Walmart one: Nesco / American Harvest 4 Tray Food Gardenmaster Dehydrator: Appliances : Walmart.com

It works like a charm on everything I put in it. It held two entire chopped up deer lungs easy and had them well dried in about four hours. I've even dried tracheas in it.  It's saved me hundreds of dollars easy at this point, and the treats it produces are much healthier than most things I would buy.

I could just boil the meat, but I really like it dehydrated because it saves all the oily/wet mess you get in a treat bag and on your hands from boiled or pan-fried meat.

And yeah, the tripe was pretty bad. I've done it one more time since then with the dehydrator running in the garage instead of in the house, but the tripe is still just a bit too rank for my taste even after it's dried. I thought the worst food I ever smelled was going to be durian, but the tripe is above and beyond that!


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