Treats

[Kayann]

A while ago I started training our two dogs in basic training. I have been using liver treats broken up as training treats, but they both seem to be really getting quite fat now and my Vet suggested they need to loose some weight. He said I can train with carrots, but both girls will not eat them and look to me for the real treat.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for non fattening treats. I try to do at least 1 hour training for each dog twice a day, but have to treat the other dog for not barking at the same time, so both get quite alot of treats.

Kayann

[OSoSwift]

I use Happy Paws training treats (one of the advertisers if you click on the banner at the top of the page)

They are small, contain no fat, preservatives etc. You would find that a small amount would give you , numerically, a lot of treats. I haven't found they make any difference to my dogs weight, but they are not inclined to put on a lot. There are many different flavours, so I am sure you will find something they would like.

They also seem to last forever, even when using them to give medication to the old dog twice to three time daily and training both the younger ones often.

Oh and carrots are okay, but I did see on here somewhere someone was told no to use too many due to the sugar content.

Have you tried cutting down their meal? I would reduce their meal so I could still train with treats worth working for.

[Guest belgian.blue]

Happy Paws Training Treats

[KismetKat]

I just take into account how many training 'treats' they've had that day when making their dinners.

For training I tend to use whatever leftover chicken I have from a recent roast, and also used thinly sliced up cooked sausages.

[moosepup]

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for non fattening treats. I try to do at least 1 hour training for each dog twice a day, but have to treat the other dog for not barking at the same time, so both get quite alot of treats.

Not sure what you mean... are you treating the other dog to keep quiet whilst training the other dog? If so, you are just giving them double the treats unneccesarily. Train them on their own and have the other dog in a different room.

:D for Happy Paws Training Treats. They are excellent. If you can't find the advertisement up top the website is Happy Paws

[WreckitWhippet]

Reduce the amount of their daily meal. Stop treating the one you aren't training and don't reward the other as often. There's more to training than shoving treat after treat into your dog and it must be an awful lot , to be putting on weight. Liver treats are low fat.

[Tiggy]

I train for 5 to 15 minutes at a time and I use tiny tiny treats of meat/liver/cheese etc. What sort of training are you doing? 1 hr is a really long time for a training session or do you mean out on your walks? I just use treats for recalls on our walks.

[Poodle Mum]

I doubt that liver treats for training would be making them "fat"

When a vet says a dog needs to lose weight, they mean cut down on the daily food that they eat as their meal.

[spottychick]

Agree with all the above.

Plus, another option for healthy treats is apple. I would try a few different "treats" and see what they like. I use celery, carrot, apple, ryvita, cracker biscuits - for both my dogs.

My boy dally is being trained and has been under-nourished so he gets the healthiest treats I can come up with. He loves everything I give him. My girl dally is currently on a diet and she THINKS she's being starved. So she is so desperate for food (and this is a dog who used to be totally NOT food oriented) that she will get excited about treats now that she wasn't interested in before.

If they are hungry they will eat whatever you give them. But if you are using treats in training as a reward it's better to use high value treats, such as roast chicken/liver/cheese, and like people have said, use them wisely and take them into account when you feed them their regular meals.

[huski]

Reduce their daily meals or use their daily meals as the training treats.

If I am after a low fat treat I boil some chicken meat and cut it into little pieces. You only need tiny tiny pieces when training, smaller than the nail on your pinky finger.