# What kind of treats do you use?



## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

I've been using hot dog bits, and a variety of store bought meaty treats (different brands and types). The store bought ones seem rubbery and my puppy isn't crazy about them. I've also tried using the smallest biscuit type treats I can find and then breaking them into tiny pieces but my dog has to stop and crunch those so they're not very effective! 

Hot dogs are fine but they don't seem very healthy! Any suggestions?


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Boiled chicken! I've taken an entire chicken and boiled it. Once it's cooled I cut it up into tiny pieces. My GSD can't refuse chicken and when we are doing something that requires both my hands, I can pop some into my mouth with out gagging on them!


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

I used to use hot dogs but recently tried steak oh boy, talk about focus!
It's not expensive considering you can get a good sized london broil for about $5 cut into strips and then pea sized pieces, it's cheap compared to some stuff thats out there. I make portioned bags and put them in the freezer.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Liver, hotdogs, cheese, kibble, cat kibble, chicken, beef, NB rolls......


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

kiya said:


> I used to use hot dogs but recently tried steak oh boy, talk about focus!
> It's not expensive considering you can get a good sized london broil for about $5 cut into strips and then pea sized pieces, it's cheap compared to some stuff thats out there. I make portioned bags and put them in the freezer.


I've been thinking about steak - it'll probably have to wait till after Christmas though . . . I can just hear the commentary from my husband, in-laws and adult sons!


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Lilie said:


> Boiled chicken! I've taken an entire chicken and boiled it. Once it's cooled I cut it up into tiny pieces. My GSD can't refuse chicken and when we are doing something that requires both my hands, I can pop some into my mouth with out gagging on them!


I used left over chicken the other night - he definitely liked it! I guess I'm going to have to start scavenging more of the leftovers!


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

jakeandrenee said:


> Liver, hotdogs, cheese, kibble, cat kibble, chicken, beef, NB rolls......


Liver  . . . I'm not sure I can handle that!! I hadn't thought of cheese - that's worth a try too! Kibble works but he stops to crunch it. What are NB rolls?

Dumb question but raw beef is fine right? What about chicken - I'm not feeding the RAW diet but can I use raw chicken for treats or should I cook it?


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

I use these: Costco - Celebrity Chicken Jerky 2-pack I can break little slivers off and keep them in my pockets without stink or staining


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

NB rolls are Natural Balance Rolls.....they are great, easy to cut up and NOT messy.


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

jakeandrenee said:


> NB rolls are Natural Balance Rolls.....they are great, easy to cut up and NOT messy.


Can you get those at the major pet supply stores?


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## smdaigle (Mar 14, 2008)

Jax's Mom said:


> I use these: Costco - Celebrity Chicken Jerky 2-pack I can break little slivers off and keep them in my pockets without stink or staining


Ha! I seem to be going through a bunch of sandwich bags lately - using them to line my pockets and my little treat bag that I can hook onto my belt (or waistband). I've never been to Costco but maybe there are other similar brands.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Yes, Petco and Petsmart has a different brand. It comes in big chubs....you can freeze it as well.


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## ZAYDA (Apr 22, 2010)

With my puppies I always used bil jak's I think thats how you spell it.


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## Pattycakes (Sep 8, 2010)

I used to use hotdogs...but now I just give her cheese. Works pretty good. 

Didn't think about using steak...will have to try that. I can't use chicken since Uschi has an allergy with it.


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## ba1614 (Feb 17, 2010)

I use cheese, and whatever the family is having, I'll cook an extra 1 or 2(chicken, pork chop, steak, venison, bear, whatever) to cut up. Once a week I make some liver treats by just dumping it in a pyrex dish, douse it in garlic powder, and bake it.

Old Roys soft kibble works well, and is cheap. I get a box of 30 packages for about 12bucks and it lasts me a good year because I just use it when I run out of home made.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Home made beef crunchies (see recipe) and home made chicken jerky. Before I started that I used little smokies.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I also make the beef crunchies and they are way and above the preferred treat in my house. I buy family sized and discounted packs of stew meat. I also use cheese sticks and cubed chicken. Oh, and oysterette crackers are a rare taste sensation since I'm not one to buy packaged dog treats- the salt is enticing!


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

Sorry Sandra, I meant to get back to you and hadn't gotten around to it yet. I like the Natural Balance rolls too, and you can get them at Petco and similar stores. The NB website might have a list of retailers if you can't find them. You do need to refrigerate it, but if I'm feeling lazy I just toss my whole treat bag in the fridge when I'm done. I use a quart sized ziplok bag with the top cut off as a liner for my bag (fits perfectly!) when I'm using anything the slightest bit gunky (cheese, hot dogs) or that needs refrigeration, so I can also just pull the liner bag out and put it in the fridge. I slice the roll thin, stack the slices, and cut into tiny cubes. You can cut up a whole roll if you want and store it in the freezer. 

I've used freeze dried liver (usual pieces are way big, I cut down into 1/4" pieces), Solid Gold and other good quality brands of jerky treats, which I also cut into much smaller pieces, Zuke's Mini Naturals (another good choice for when I'm lazy because the pieces are the perfect size already), Plato salmon treats, Yummy Chummies, and I found some awesome salmon jerky at Costco that they haven't had since. I was able to order a couple bags directly from the company, but they haven't responded to my last email. 

My dogs love crunchy Liver Biscotti, but the pieces are too big to use for training, I use them for nail trims. And we use biscuits for when we leave and the dogs go into their pen in the garage, or just because we feel like it. We use Wellness brand and Wet Noses mostly.


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## EchoGSD (Mar 12, 2010)

All of my dogs love biljacs liver treats...for training I cut them into thirds for just enough to taste without having to chew. My dogs also like Zukes (any flavor, but the salmon makes my hands smell for hours!). Echo, the GSD, is not very food motivated but for some reason a plain cheerio is heaven for her...go figure....


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

I view training treats as "junk food" at my house, so my dog is allowed to have ingredients in her training treats that I would object to having in her normal food. I like to get a variety of them and like getting different ones I haven't gotten before.

A staple for training treats for us are BilJacs Little Jacks, which are the ones they make for "small" dogs. I still usually cut them in half since they're not all that tiny. I also get Zuke's, Starmark's Every Flavor Treats, Sniffers 101, and BilJac's America's VetDogs treats. I get the latter mostly because they support a good cause because they are gigantic and I usually have to cut them into three to five pieces.

I also occasionally get the Natural Balance rolls, string cheese, and hot dogs for training. I really like string cheese for some things, like training focus, where I might want to spit treats at the dog rather than giving them by hand.


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## RockinIt (Jan 29, 2011)

I like to use hot dogs and cheese as well. I really like using pre-sliced cheese with the pup because I tend to get too focused on training and don't watch how long I work her. A slice is easy to grab and go and I just pull off finger-tip sized pieces until I run out of slice...then it's break time.


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## Achielles UD (May 26, 2001)

I stopped using hot dogs when my sheltie developed pancreatitis. We trained a lot and he got a lot of them. The high fat was really not good for him so I stopped using them for pretty much everybody (but absolutely none for the shelties).

Instead I had to find an easily acceptable and affordable treat for all the dogs. I am currently training 4 for competition, so you can imagine how much I need! (I'm big on food btw lol)

So, besides string cheese (which I will use on occassion, but again, not with the shelties) I had no clue what to use. Then I decided that as long as the treats weren't the dog's main food source, the treat ingredients shouldn't matter too much.

I don't have a petsmart or petco or any pet store in the area really... it's walmart or nothin pretty much. I did find, Purina Moist & Meaty Steak flavors. $4.88 plus tax at wally-world and there are 12 little baggies of 30-40 pieces that are just the perfect size! Nearly every dog I have used them with LOVES them. Talk about cheap training doggie crack lol 

So, I mostly use the PM&M with all the dogs now (clients too).


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

I use Wellness Pure grain and preservative-free treats, but I use a knife to cut them down to tiny squares (one treat becomes 4-6) and they're working great, and I don't have to feel guilty about overloading him with hotdogs or cheese (never had good experiences giving dogs cheese).


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## spidermilk (Mar 18, 2010)

I use his kibble (take a portion from his dinner) if we are doing something basic with low/no distraction.
I use BilJacs or freeze-dried liver for training new things or when there are moderate distractions.
For the grand-daddy of them all and very distracting situations I use boiled chicken breast or beef heart cut into tiny pieces.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I cook liver and boneless chicken for my dogs to use as treats. I also use Flint River Ranch Jubilee wafers when I need to use something I can just stick in my pocket for a day. The wafers are great because you can break them up and use really tiny pieces if you want to or give a giant treat for a job really well done.


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## ripsofie (Oct 28, 2010)

I use Purina Moist and Meaty. They come in a 72oz box for $6.47. Twelve individually wrapped packages. They are small little bites. They say are made with real beef and can be used as food.. so should be healthy-er


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## RockinIt (Jan 29, 2011)

ripsofie said:


> I use Purina Moist and Meaty. They come in a 72oz box for $6.47. Twelve individually wrapped packages. They are small little bites. They say are made with real beef and can be used as food.. so should be healthy-er


Purina Moist and Meaty Dog Food | Review and Rating

I recently started using these too, but don't be fooled into thinking that just because they say made with real beef that they are healthy-er. 

For my dogs treats are their junk food. Their regular food kibble is Blue Buffalo. I also prepare some meals when I get the time to. 

There's a book called Chow Hounds. The name of the author slips my mind right now. It's more about obese dogs, but they go into the ingredients of commercial pet foods in relation to how they can word things on their bags and for advertising. It also goes into feeding a hybrid diet of prepared foods and kibble. I like that it also makes a correlation between diet and exercise to have a dog with a healthy lifestyle.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

I use beef good quality hot dogs. I split them long-ways into 4 "sticks" then dice those. Each piece is no bigger than a pea.


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## shepherd513 (Jan 26, 2011)

My puppy works really well for the wellness treats. They're kind of like little jerky squares. They come in different flavors and you can still rip the little squares into pieces. They're soft so they can eat them quickly while training.


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## MikeyMerciless (Jan 15, 2011)

We use the regular milk bones for the most part. Sometimes we give Crystal those MarroBones with the beef flavor. She loves them


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## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

I use kibble, chicken, wellness treats cut up in bite size pieces, and green beans. Sometimes I mix the chicken, kibble, and wellness treats up together so they never know what they're going go get. If I want to use a high value treat I go for the green beans Dodger goes nuts over them and will do pretty much anything for a green bean. He loves green beans so much that everytime I get a can out of the pantry he runs to the kitchen and waits for a green bean, even if the can is just soup lol


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## Veronica1 (Jun 22, 2010)

I am a Zukes fan. 2 calories per treat, they don't smell bad and no gas either.

Zukes Mini Naturals – Dog Training Treats, The Perfect Training Treat for Dogs


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## DCluver33 (May 27, 2010)

DCluver33 said:


> I use kibble, chicken, wellness treats cut up in bite size pieces, and green beans. Sometimes I mix the chicken, kibble, and wellness treats up together so they never know what they're going go get. If I want to use a high value treat I go for the green beans Dodger goes nuts over them and will do pretty much anything for a green bean. He loves green beans so much that everytime I get a can out of the pantry he runs to the kitchen and waits for a green bean, even if the can is just soup lol


I forgot to add I also use freeze dried liver


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

MikeyMerciless said:


> We use the regular milk bones for the most part. Sometimes we give Crystal those MarroBones with the beef flavor. She loves them


Those are way too big for training treats, which is what the OP is looking for. I have larger biscuits that I use at other times, such as when we put the dogs in the garage pen when we leave. But for training you need_ tiny_.


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## Shadow's mum (Mar 13, 2010)

we use diced raw chicken hearts, dried liver, cubed cheese and ball time or a squeaky toy


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I cook liver and cut it up in small pieces or use cheese. I also use freeze dried liver at times and Flint River Ranch Jubilee wafers but the wafers have to be broken up into small pieces.


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