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I just paid $13 for 12 oz of training treats for the new pup. Should have bought Ribeye steak. Anyone have a more ecomomical alternative to the store bought treats?
Location: Vermont, grew up in Colorado and California
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??Cubed cooked/baked unseasoned chicken breast,,,or Dog food kibbles, lil milk bones.? I say little milk bones because, we had a large dog that loved them, we gave her her little ones/puppy size so she could get them more often and not gain so much weight.
My treats are free. I'm bad, I pretend I have something in my hand when I want him to sit/down and when he does it, he does not get rewarded. I know, I know. I'm a horrible pet mommy, but it's not always like this. I promise, I do give my dog treats, and if you've seen pictures of him you can clearly see he is a little too well-fed. Sometimes I really need him to do something and I don't have treats near me. Besides, if I rewarded my pudgy baby every time I asked him to do something, he'd be one of those 100lb Bulldogs! I like the fact that he listens whether or not treats are present, since I don't always carry them around.
We used to train in a group and away from home...so I needed something that would travel well and not completely stink up my bait bag. The freezed dried chicken was perfect..no smell, no mess and the dogs loved it.
Hot dogs are too high in sodium and sugar to really use as training treats. If you MUST use hot dogs, cut each one into about 50 (yes, very thin!) coin shapes then quarter these. Dump the whole thing into boiling water for about three minutes to get rid of some of the fat and sodium and sugar. Strain off the water and divide into plastic bags and freeze if you want.
I always use chicken breast, poached. I buy them in bulk, poach and then freeze them, thawing as needed.
Training treats can be REALLY tiny. The point is that it should be something the dog doesn't have to really chew, because you want him to pay attention to YOU. Chicken, cheese and steak are the high-value treats. Dogs will do any behavior you want to get them. That's how I taught my dog to 'go' on command: 'go potty' for #1 and 'hurry up' for #2.
Why the expensive items? I have used Kraft singles cheese, break in small pieces. Dogs will do anything for taste of cheese!
Yes, just look at Artie
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and not gain so much weight.
