Treats

[pwhite48]

Hi all

I'm just trying to gague opinion on what you all use as treats?

I read lots of stuff on here and other sites about the effectiveness of treats with training, bedtime, toilet training etc. But what are the best treats to use, especially for puppies.

No doubt this is entirely subjective, but I've seen liver cake, gravy bones, fruit & veg, cheese mentioned and wondered what do the trick without piling on the calories  

In terms of brand names - and recommendations on what packets I should be picking up from my local pet store?

Thanks as always
Phil

ps - only 2 more days to go. Picking our pup us (at last!) on Thursday night                    

[Gilly]

I wouldn't be inclined to give your puppy any treats at this age. Once you start rewarding every piece of good/correct behaviour with a treat, it doesn't take long before they want one everytime and will only perform for a treat. Plenty of praise is what i would use and don't get into the treat rut  :wink: You could use pieces of your dogs dry kibble as a small bite sized incentive and then introduce other things as pup gets older ie, fruit and veg etc. Butty expects something from me everytime she does a wee outside  :roll:    :shock: I have had to resort to treats with recall, to make me more interesting to come back to  :shock:  :roll:                    

[Mary]

I did (and still do occasionally) reward Lottie with small treats when she was younger.  I used very small pieces of cheese but often use liver cake now and she responded well to these when I was teaching her the basics.

As Gilly says though, they will constantly look for a reward once they are in that routine although I have managed to cut it out mostly.  I did reward Lottie for doing her business and even now at 15 months she will come in from the garden and stand looking at the cupboard :roll:  But, I don't reward her anymore and she seems to accept it :wink:

I also rewarded her on her recall which worked wonders (she'll do anything for food) and once she was well into the routine of returning, I gradually reduced the reward by praising her lots without a reward and then next time praise and reward.  I rarely take treats out with me now but she always returns when I call her (obviously in her mind there is always the slender chance that I may have a treat for her :wink: ) then loads of praise still.

I don't think you should ever take their actions for granted, I do and will always praise her for good behaviour, with or without a treat :wink:                    

[Magic Star]

I have never given Indie a treat for toilet training incentive, just plenty of GOOD GIRL, OH YOU CLEVER BABY!!  in a silly voice :roll:   Much to the probable annoyance of my neighbours :wink:   With recall, I started with the treat, I used a small bit of carrot or a bit of cheese like Mary suggested.  Then as she gradually got the hang of it, I praised her with voice and strokes, and occasionaly I will give her a treat for returning.  

Gilly,thats great that Butty will  work for a piece of her kibble?  Indie just won't entertain her normal food as a treat :roll:  She just stands there looking at me as if to say, you expect me sit and stay for that :roll:  :?  But thats just probably Indie knowing that I will swap it for cheese if she wont work :wink:    Does anyone else have this problem?  

Good luck with the training, I am sure you will find wat works best for you and your pup!  Oh just thought of another treat I use its called Beef Jerkie, you can buy it from asda, and it breaks really easily into diddy pieces,  Indie would jump through hoops for that  (not literally)

Emma and Indie                    

[Mary]

I would not advise to use treats as a reward for toilet training (it was desperation with me :roll: ) even though I'm way past doing that, Lottie still looks forlorn when I ignore her looking at the cupboard :roll:

Emma, Lottie would respond to kibble too...it's FOOD!!!  She would respond to anything hoping it may be edible :roll:                    

[PennyB]

Wilf started on treats as rewards as soon as he started puppy class at about 15 weeks old. I give mine schmackos or bits of cheese or hot dog sausages. Sometimes its worth varying things and also may be if outside have a special toy to play with them as a reward (useful for recall type exercises).                    

[Loraine]

I am Ms Neurotic and avoid giving them anything with artificial colours or additives because I worry about the effect it will have. I use James Wellbeloved Crackerjacks broken up and put in the Kong when I go out and also last thing at night they get a tiny piece before the light goes out.   During training classes I used tiny bits of chicken.

They both love any fruit that I eat (apples, satsumas, grapes, pear, melon and banana)

I have never used anything during recall.  This is probably why they don't come back to me when called - well they do... sometimes!

Loraine                    

[Anita]

I didn't really use treats with Phoebe either. Just at first when she went to training classes. I used her Kibble too. It was hard as everyone else had hot dog sausages and cheese! I used it for recall training for a while but not too much as I didn't want her treat dependant!

Lots of praise works wonders!                    

[Colin]

I'm sure it's possible to train a dog without treats or by using fruit and veg but can't imagine my two tolerating this. Jimmy in particular would have packed his favourite toys in a poo bag and taken himself off to the nearest Cocker Rescue if I'd attempted to reward good behaviour with a sprout or the like !

There was a lady at Misty's classes who attempted to use fruit and veg for training her Lab puppy, it was a relief to the rest of us when she abandoned this idea and resorted to Schmackos as he was disrupting the whole class. He wouldn't do anything he was told and kept making mad lunges at all the other pups, trying to steal their more tasty treats. :roll:  

I'd check the packaging if you decide to use manufactured dog treats, Phil, as some aren't suitable for very young pups. Starting off with kibble will probably be tempting enough in the beginning to teach Honey "sit" etc , you could make adjustments to her meals to compensate if necessary. Nutro do some biscuits for puppies, Choice Puppy Mini Biscuits........ both Jimmy and Misty love them and Nutro claim them to "promote healthy skin, shiny coat and vitality" ! I suppose all dog food manufacturers do claim their products as healthy but I'm willing to take Nutro's word for it. :wink:                    

[Phil]

We use small pieces of cheese to train Brin, and small pieces of biscuits as a reward for not making me sound like a hyperactive mad-man in the garden at stupid o'clock in the morning.

I read somewhere that the treats shouldn't be to big, something that they can almost swallow whole otherwise by the time they've finished chewing it they will have forgotten what the treat was for.

We've got to look forward to weaning him off the treats at some stage but its made our life alot easier at the moment.

We start puppy training tomorrow (and we might even take the dog as well) so it will be interesting to see what teacher has to say.

Phil.                    

[Luvlylady]

With bella i gave her treats for doing somthing right , even when we first got her as a result she learnt stay sit down roll jump ,up ,down loads more in just 1 day when she was 12 weeks old and it remains shes well behaved and the reward for these was chicken brest but i wouldent give small puppies doggy treats not till a few more months