Irrespective of if you happen to are watching a dog owner or an expert dog trainer train a dog, you’ve likely seen them use treats.
Treats are an important a part of dog training using positive reinforcement. There may be a excellent reason for that. Food is a large motivator for many dogs. This makes them an important currency when teaching them latest things and changing their behavior.
In this text, I will be sharing every little thing dog owners have to find out about training their dogs using treats.
Let’s get into it!
Are Training Treats Good For Dogs?
The reply to this query depends entirely on the form of treat that you just are using. More often than not training treats bought from the shop usually are not necessarily the healthiest option. It’s because corporations want these treats to taste good to the dog, making them a greater reward.
An excellent solution to get around this problem is by breaking these treats up.
Even just pea-sized pieces of treats are rewarding to dogs. Breaking treats up into small pieces will prevent you from feeding your dog 50 treats in a training session. Really, you can be giving them 50 pieces of a treat, which normally finally ends up being just just a few whole treats in point of fact.
Still, if you happen to are fearful about your dog putting on just a few kilos there are healthier options. Pieces of carrots, tastes of canned pumpkin, and pieces of boiled chicken will be great rewards which are lower in calories.
Treat Training Vs. Non-Treat Training: Which is Higher?
Research shows that the very best dog training methods are those who use positive reinforcement. This is particularly true for basic obedience training.
While treats are frequently the simplest type of positive reinforcement, toys and praise are also common rewards for dogs. Treats are frequently just the simplest solution to give dogs a brilliant high reward quickly.
It will probably look like we’re bribing our pets with treats during training sessions. Nevertheless, that is just the very best solution to keep our pets motivated when teaching them something latest. Over time you’ll find a way to phase out using treats and depend on praise as the first reward.
High-Value Vs. Low-Value Reward: What’s the Difference?
In positive reinforcement training, there are two forms of rewards.
These are high-value and low-value rewards. A high-value reward is something that your dog loves. For many dogs, high-value rewards include very tasty treats like meats and pieces of cheese.
Meanwhile, a low-value reward is something that your dog likes, but it surely isn’t going to motivate them as much because the high-value reward would. An excellent example of a low-value reward is dry kibble. Despite the fact that many dogs like their kibble, it shouldn’t be nearly as good as a bit of hot dog.
Easy and Healthy Dog Training Treat Ideas
There are various various things you can use as a treat in your dog.
Listed below are three different routes that you would take when selecting training treats.
Pantry Ingredients That Make Great Training Treats
Many pantry ingredients are protected for dogs to eat, and so they make great treats as well.
For instance, boiled chicken with none seasonings will be a terrific high-value reward for many dogs.
Listed below are another foods that could make for excellent dog treats:
- Canned pumpkin (make sure that there are not any seasonings or sugar.)
- Cooked sweet potato (no seasoning or butter)
- Small Pieces of Cheese (high calorie, use sparingly)
- Carrots
- Apples and pears (no seeds)
- Peanut butter (high calorie, use sparingly)
- Pieces of lean meats (make sure that there are not any seasonings and that the meats are low fat)
- Blueberries
- Watermelon
- Cooked peas
- Cooked green beans
Any of the above items could make for a superb dog treat. Higher yet, most of us have not less than one among this stuff available. It remains to be essential to recollect in case your dog has any food sensitivities or allergies when feeding them pantry ingredients.
Good Quality Training Treats to Buy From the Store
In fact, you would also at all times just purchase training treats from the shop. Listed below are a few of my dog’s favorite treats:
The entire above treats are very prime quality and would make a terrific alternative. Nevertheless, any treat that your dog likes and digests well is great as well!
Amazing Homemade Training Treat Recipes
There are also many homemade dog treat recipes. This method of constructing dog treats is growing in popularity.
Try these super fun and easy homemade dog treat recipe ideas, and I can almost guarantee your dog will love them.
Mouthwatering Liver Treats for Dogs
Liver is a superb treat for dogs since it is each tasty and nutritious. Here is a terrific homemade recipe for liver dog treats.
- 1 lb of chicken livers (undrained)
- 2 eggs
- 16 oz of Jiffy corn muffin mix
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix eggs and chicken livers in a blender until smooth and fully combined.
- Mix liver and egg mixture into corn muffin mix. Stir until well combined.
- Cover a jelly roll pan or baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Spread mixture onto the pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until firm.
Adapted from Treats, Play, Love by Patricia Gail Burnham, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2008.
Delicious Sweet Potato Biscuits
Many dogs love the taste of sweet potatoes.
Here is a terrific, healthy dog biscuit recipe that can fulfill your dog’s sweet potato craving, adapted from My Baking Addiction.
- 1 cup pure, canned sweet potato
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 ¾ cups of whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, or gluten-free flour
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix ingredients until the dough is firm.
- Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
- Roll dough into small balls. Place on a cookie sheet with some space in between.
- Evenly press down so the biscuits can be about ¼ of an inch thick.
- Bake for half-hour or until golden brown.
How Many Training Treats Can You Give a Puppy in a Day?
The reply to this query will be pretty complicated.
It’s because it involves calculating what number of calories a puppy needs in a day. You will even have to know the way many calories are in each treat, and the way much of your puppy’s weight-reduction plan must be treats.
To maintain things easy it’s an excellent idea to give a puppy two average-sized treats maximum.
Breaking these treats up into many small pieces will help stretch the ration out. This may mean you can use treats for training without risking your puppy’s health. If the treat is large just use one.
When Should I Stop Giving my Dog Training Treats?
Once your dog is responding to a command 90-100% of the time, you’ll be able to stop giving them treats each time.
It’s because when a command is at this stage in the training process dogs will respond well to simply receiving praise. This known as phasing out treats.
How one can Phase Out Training Treats
Phasing out treats is rather a lot simpler than it could seem. Once your dog is responding to a command consistently, you’ll be able to start the treat phasing process.
Here is how you’ll be able to phase out treats.
Step 1: Have your dog reply to a command consistently.
Step 2: Start only giving a treat reward for excellent execution of that command. Some examples of this are:
- The dog listens to the command in a short time.
- The dog does the command in a high-distraction area.
- The dog followed the command higher than they’ve prior to now.
Step 3: Raise the standards for if you give a treat as your dog gets higher at it.
Step 4: Proceed raising your expectations for a treat reward until your dog will do the command anywhere without one.
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