Training Treats

[Hunny]

Thanks for all the ideas...you've all been so helpful and I'm off to the shops today to stock up on all the goodies required for doggy school!!

I am already finding old cat biscuits in my pockets.... :D

[corvus]

I've often thought about the Scotties rolls, but didn't know if they were firm enough to hold their shape once cut up and couldn't bring myself to try. Do they hold together as well as 4 Legs rolls? I tried VIP, but found it was a bit mushy once thawed.

Yes, Scottys rolls hold up as well as Four legs, without the bits of corn flying around.

Woot! I hated that corn. I'm so converting to Scottys. The BARF meatballs are handy for carrying around and breaking off bits as you go, but they make my house smell like a burger joint, and sometimes I can't keep up with my own clicking. :p

I guess sometimes I don't use a treat bag. Now that I think about it I do a fair bit of training at home without the treat bag that I had kind of forgotten about. And I reward with things other than food pretty regularly as well. Sometimes I manage to do the right thing by accident.

[B-Q]

I'm lucky enough to work in a restaurant so I bring home a lot of half eaten parmi's and steaks to chop up.

When I don't remember to keep the leftovers I buy a mix of things, chop them up, mix them together, divide them into containers an freeze them. I just got back from the supermarket now and tomorrow will be frying and chopping up some breef heart, lamb liver, kabana and chicken to freeze for the next few weeks training. I also sometimes buy those dry liver treats and smackos and chuck them in with the wet treats, that way they soften up.

[Ambrosia]

We use the Ziwi Peak air dried as treats. The dogs go crazy over it

Use a DOOG bumbag.

[stonecutter]

Some other weird things are banana, apple or broccoli but they're only when we're training at home - I think i would get laughed at if i cracked out the banana at training

Uh - don't look in my treat pouch then for the piece of banana that is saved for emergency recall if Ziva ever slips her lead!

Ziva turns her nose up at frankfurst and cabanossi, but loves Aldi chicken & ham sandwich roll and tasty cheese. She also loves whatever Shell is dishing out to Zero at the time ;) (I think because she gets pieces the size of half a chopstick tip with me but Shell has Sibe-sized bits!)

Oh - and I use a Premier treat bag (that has the snap open/shut top) - I didn't have any bum bags left over from the 80s/90s and it has a few pockets and split rings that are useful.

I don't think Ziva is conditioned to the bag - all her food at home is training based - so we use a bowl, a cup, hands, frisbee lids.

And I feed Ziva about half her dinner before training @ obedience club - otherwise she is so hungry that all she does is snap and nip at my hands.

Edited May 23, 2011 by stonecutter

[Red Fox]

I've seen dogs that have cued off the sight of treat bags and this impacted them later on, there is a big difference between training a dog then stepping into the obedience ring and suddenly not having all the things on you that your dog has been 'taught' to cue off! It's one of the things I stuffed up with Daisy, she started cueing off the sight of food and this caused issues in the ring when she realised I didn't have any food on me.

I feed a variety of food for treats, I often buy chuck steak/beef off cuts and boil it so I'm not constantly feeding fatty or salty stuff.

But Daisy's highest value reward is DEFINITELY sweet food especially donuts or gingerbread.

Go on Huski, post the pic of Daisy with the donut Christmas tree

In answer to the OP - we use 4Paws mostly and cooked roo or chicken sausage. Occasionally a bit of left over roast chicken (which I find a bit too messy for my liking), meat or cheese. At home I use a variety of lower value treats - cheese, ham, cat biscuits, natured gift treats, whatever is on hand at the time.

[B-Q]

I just got done frying and chopping hearts, liver, chicken breast and kabana for the next few weeks.

I do enough up to last me a few weeks at a time, resulting in a couple of hours work to lead to this.

I suppose Im also lucky that Quinn will work for ANYTHING. I took bits of zuchini in her treat bag yesterday and she's happy with them aswell.

Edited May 23, 2011 by B-Q

[stonecutter]

B-Q - do you keep those in the freezer?

I chop everything up, flash freeze on sheets in the big freezer then bag. I do feel bad going through a few ziplock bags each week. I suppose I could wash them in soapy water for re-use - might give it a go.

[Jigsaw]

I prefer to use soft treats when training. As said before kibble is sometimes inhaled and then coughed up. Not much fun if you're working on heeling duration and your dog has to stop and cough up kibble! I sometimes use a treat bag and sometimes use a vest with gritty pockets. Depends on the treat sometimes. I buy small roasts from Coles and cook them up, kangaroo sausages are a favorite, sometimes the dog food rolls and there's usually a bit of cheese mixed into it along the way. I do use kibble when training at home or some other dried treat. I steer clear from Devon and chicken rolls now after my dog had a pancreatitis attack after I used a small amount of Devon roll (1/2 cup) as treats during a training session.

[whiskedaway]

We have to be careful what we use because of Akira's belly, so we use kabana and cheese. Soft smelly foods are my favourite to work with, and both Akira and Halo will do anything for a piece of cheese. Cheese is normally an agility treat and kabana an obedience one. Halo gets small pieces of beef liver for showing - it's not too smelly so she doesn't go nutso over it.

[Sayreovi]

I just got done frying and chopping hearts, liver, chicken breast and kabana for the next few weeks.

Oh I don't think I could stomach frying it....does it smell?

I've been really stingy with what treats I train with at the moment as they only get the devon roll cut up Really need to get back into all the other goodies. I train with no bumbag anymore, it was annoying me and I couldn't get to the food easy enough with one, so now I put a handful in my pocket and have the rest in the jackpot container. I just restock my pocket when I run out.

[Henrietta]

Man, I've been so lazy lately. I'd love to do what you do B_Q. Usually, I just forage around in the fridge and find some cheese. I do cook up chicken and use left-over meats. I did up heart once and she didn't like it.

For special jack-pot treats, she loves to lick (sweet) yoghurt out of a container. Makes me wonder if she is a sweet tooth... maybe I should test her on doughtnuts for some extra special treats? I find that we do better when I chop and change my treats (fair enough, I like variety too).

I have a vest, a couple of jackets and about 3 old pairs of pants that are dedicated to training. I stuff pockets full of treats and make sure I retrieve them out of pockets when I've finished. And I don't go anywhere else with my dog training clothes. I don't like training bags. I started out using them, but it's just easier for me to use pockets. Much more natural for me and therefore it makes it easier to reinforce in a timely manner. I used to get my treats stuck in the corner of treat bags and would spend most of my time rummaging around awkwardly. I don't seem to have the same problem with pockets.

Spelling, grammar etc.

Edited May 23, 2011 by Henrietta

[B-Q]

B-Q - do you keep those in the freezer?

Yeah - but I found the cheese went a bit crumbly after I defrosted it so I didn't use ti this time.

I just got done frying and chopping hearts, liver, chicken breast and kabana for the next few weeks.

Oh I don't think I could stomach frying it....does it smell?

Yeah - bad. I've done it enough recently though that it doesn't bother me anymore, I just do it when noone else is home. lol

My family never forgave me the time they came home to find liver in the dehydrator and the entire house smelling of it.

Everyone that knows me thinks I'm the most revolting vegetarian they have ever met.

Edited May 24, 2011 by B-Q