If you are considering training your dog, there are some choices that you have to make. What treats to use for training is one of them. The question you might have right now is “What Are The Best Dog Treats For Training?”.
I’m glad you asked that question. Because in this article, we will be discussing what treats to use and when to use them. At the end of this article, you will soon find out what treats you finally put inside your dog treat pouch.
Here is a short video on how to determine what is a high-value treat for your dog, which you will learn as you go through the article:
What Does Your Dog Like?
The first thing to do is to figure out what treats your dog likes. There are many different varieties and flavors of dog treats that are available in the market. It is a matter of what your furry friend reacts to the most.
When you do find what he likes, you will be able to do a lot of things that you thought he could never do. They can also be more focused when the right treats are used. However, rotating treats are also a good thing because they will not get tired of the same old thing.
The Value Of Dog Treats
During your research you might have encountered the terms: High-Value Treats, Mid-Value treats, and Low-Value Treats. The type of treats that you give can be classified into these categories. These classifications can greatly affect how your dog performs with the treats that you give.
Low-Value Treats
These treats are the dry and crunchy type. They usually have fewer calories than high and mid-value treats. They are used by most dog trainers to wean out the treats during training.
When should you use them?
- Use them throughout the day to reward for continuous good behavior
- When you are trying to avoid treats during training for a specific behavior
- When lessening the calorie intake of your furry friend
Mid-Value Treats
Semi-moist or dry treats made from ingredients that your furry friend doesn’t usually get from their dog food. They are more often given as rewards for training rather than high-value treats.
When should you use them?
- Continuous training for a specific behavior
- When surrounded by moderate distractions
- As part of regular enrichment training
High-Value Treats
These treats are mostly freeze-dried or moist. They are smelly, and something that your furry friend rarely gets. Some examples of these would be liver, small pieces of chicken, and peanut butter. This is a gold star standard for them when training.
When should you use them?
- When starting to learn a new behavior
- When highly distracted, this gets their attention real quick
- During socialization and exposure training
- For counter conditioning like aggression, loose-leash training, and anxiety.
How To Choose The Best Dog Treat
Choosing the best treats for your dog is the hardest part of this. You are going to have to test out different treats and figure out what he likes most. Knowing the characteristics of the different valued treats, what should you have when you do this test?
Protein
Layout a variety of proteins that they can choose from. There are treats made from beef, lamb, chicken, fish, pork, and non-meat treats.
Texture
You can have moist, dry, frozen, wet, or jerky.
Easy Delivery
Make sure that the treats you are going to be giving your dog are bite-sized and they can easily swallow. You don’t want to be waiting for him to finish the treat before you move on to the next one. Having smaller size treats can also help out during training since they spend less time chewing, you can focus more on training.
When doing this test, make it a knockout tournament of treats. Offer different types of treats in each hand and close it. Offer it up to him and the one that he paws, licks, or sniff the most is the winner and will move on to the next round. Remember to reward your pooch with the treats he chose for doing a good job.
Once you have ranked the treats, now you know which are the high, mid, and low value treats for training. Use them wisely.
Endless
Training your dog is an endless task. He will always be using the behavior that you teach him and there are always new tricks you can teach him. To make sure that you get to reward them with the treats they chose for training, get yourself a dog treat pouch to put the treats in.
If you need more tips on dog training, click here to check out our article on “How Do You Carry Dog Treats?“.