Here Are 7 of the Best Dog Training Treats

Training your dog can require quite a bit of work. There are a few training methods that owners can use to make their dogs recognize commands. The most popular one (and the technique that institutions like the American Kennel Club recommend) is the reward method. Using this training technique, you encourage your dog to act on a given command using a treat. When they do what you say, you provide them with a food treat - at least to start. Then, as they learn to do the command, you gradually wean them off the treats. Of course, this method means that you'll need the best dog training treats! If your dog is uninterested in the food, there's no way your dog will perform the task for you!

Here are seven high-quality dog treats for training. You won't need all of these, but your canine friend will undoubtedly love at least one of these!

Cheese: One of the Best Dog Training Treats There Is!

Arguably the best dog training treat is also one that might already be in your fridge. Dogs love cheese. When it comes to finding good training dog treats, the smellier, the better, and cheese has a distinctive odor. Many trainers say that cheese is their first choice for a dog treat.

Does your dog love cheese? Here are some tasty cheesy recipes for your dogs! 

There are many types of cheese, of course. Typically, when training your dog, string cheese works best. It's easy to pull apart and give to your pet in smaller quantities. Other people liked Swiss or cheddar cheese for the same reasons. While you could, in theory, give your dog a fancier cheese, there's a good chance that it won't have as much impact on their taste buds as it might on yours! Keeping it simple keeps the costs down and still gets the job done!

Chicken

Most dogs love chicken. Much like with cheese, the chicken doesn't need to be fancy. A small, cooked piece of plain chicken will suffice for most canines, and the odor of chicken is strong enough to get pique the interest of most dogs!

Looking for easy to make yet tasty chicken recipes for your pup? Try these DIY chicken recipes out! 

Venison

Venison is another popular option as a training treat. Dogs love the smell of it, and it is also much healthier for your pet than beef or pork. In a 3 oz serving, venison has 10% of the fat that beef has and 50% of the fat that pork has. It's a much healthier option and is one of the best high-quality dog treats for training.

Dry Cat Food

Dogs generally love cat food. The problem is that they love cat food due to its high meat content. That high protein content can be hard on dogs' stomachs, but in small quantities, dogs tend to tolerate it quite well. So, if you are going to go this route, please keep your treats to a minimum and try to go for organic cat food as much as possible. You should only use a few small cat food pieces at a time and monitor your dog for any issues afterward.

Baby Food

The same food that you buy for your little ones works astonishingly well as a dog treat! Open up a jar of chicken and gravy baby food, for example, and your dog will come running! Since you can't hold small amounts of baby food in your hand, this treat works best when you are doing recall training or are working in distracting situations. It's one of the best puppy reward treats!

Dog Food Soft Roll: Another One of the Best Dog Training Treats

Food rolls are a favorite amongst trainers because most dogs love them. Purchasable in most pet stores, these rolls come in beef, chicken, or lamb flavors and have lots of fresh meat! These rolls are also inexpensive, which is a bonus!

Their Daily Kibble

Whatever you kibble you feed them every day that they already know and love can also work as a high-quality dog treat for training! Most dogs will gladly respond to practice if they get to have some extra of their favorite food!

The Best Dog Training Treats Make Training Easier

Ultimately, having proper training dog treats will make your job of training much more manageable. If you're struggling to get your dog interested in the food you're offering, it will ensure that training your dog is significantly more challenging. While your dog may not love all the suggestions above, there's likely one that your canine friend will love!

What are the best treats for dog training?

Smelly and soft treats usually work the best. Smelly treats will ensure that your dog will follow your hand since they'll be able to detect the food item. Dogs, in general, find soft items faster and easier to eat. Therefore, by picking smelly and delicate food items, you'll be providing that quick reinforcement that dogs need. These reasons are why cheese is such a top-rated training food: it's soft and smelly!

What kind of treats to use for puppy training?

You can use the treats listed above for puppies. However, please keep in mind that puppies may require more training hours than full-grown dogs. Therefore, you'll be giving them many treats per day. To keep the calorie content low and to keep the treat, well, a treat, you should ensure that your puppy's training food pieces are as small as they can be while still having an impact. You don't want your puppy filling up on treats and missing their nutrition from their proper food!

How many training treats can a puppy have?

There are no definitive guidelines on this. For the most part, the answer to this question depends on how unhealthy the treats are. If they are awful for your dog's health, you'll want to limit them as much as possible. However, if you pick healthier treat options, then you can be more liberal with them. In general, though, you'll want to limit your dog's treat diet to no more than 10% of their food. By keeping the percentage so low, you can ensure that the dog treat always remains special and that it won't significantly impact your canine friend's caloric intake.

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Written by Leo Roux

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