[caseynotis]

Hi everyone!
I’m new and first would like to say Thank You, for all this wonderful information about dog foods & treats & everything! We just adopted a rescue puppy and I want to make sure we are feeding him the best we can (within the wallet’s ability 🙂 ) . Sarge is a 7 wk old Akita/Rotti/Lab mix, started on Innova Puppy Food at 5 wks (not sure what happened to the mom), so for now we are continuing with the Innova until I do some more research to see what else is out there.

So my question – I’m looking for a treat to use for training purposes…’sit’, ‘come’, etc..so not chew toys/bones, but something small to reward him with. He could care less about his food used as the treat, so someone had given us a box of Puppy MilkBones we started with today. Holy Gas Batman!! Obviously not a good choice, so I’d like to figure this out very quickly & get something else on hand. I read about using cut up vegetables or hard boiled eggs? Is that correct?

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

Jennifer

[caseynotis]

Thanks for your response – I looked at the link and could not see where the treats are actually manufactured, do you know? And one of the ingredients is ‘Patato’ ? I’m assuming that should be ‘Potato’? I’m also a little confused about the treat not being too hard, as I had thought with their puppy teeth they preferred crunchier textures.

[Shasta220]

It doesn’t really matter if it’s hard or soft. Generally, dogs like soft texture more – but all dogs are different. My favorite training treats so far are Zuke’s brand. They’re tiny, soft, and have fairly quality ingredients. I do a LOT of treat training with my dogs, so I’m always looking for money-saving options. What I do now, is buy a small bag of dog food. I make sure the brand/flavor is different from their current food, so they don’t think they’re getting cheaped-out of course!
But for sure, make sure to check out the ingredients first. I don’t think it needs to be specifically “puppy” formula. Just make sure to avoid fillers, sugars, dyes, by-product, etc.

You could also try making your own. There are tons of great recipes online… Making my own treats is one of my favorite hobbies!

[caseynotis]

Thanks Shasta! I actually picked up some Zuke’s treats yesterday, ironically 🙂 I’d love to make my own though, so I’m off to check out recipes ! Thanks again !

[Shasta220]

Here are tons of ideas: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/pet-food/pet-treats/
Just be careful…I’d try to avoid sugar/wheat, as those aren’t very good for a growing puppy, but it’d be easy to substitute or omit unnessecary ingredients.

Here are some wheat free ideas: http://www.crazycrumb.com/wheat-free-dog-treat-recipes.html

You can also just cut up chunks of meats, veggies, fruit, etc. And pop them in a dehydrator or oven. One I would like to try are sweet potato strips. You bake them until they’re chewy. Mmmmmm! Most dogs love sweet potatoes too.

[caseynotis]

Awesome! Thank you so very much for the links ! I’m definitely staying wheat-free because, well, I can already tell it makes a difference 🙂

[thegoodlife]

liver chops, liver chops, liver chops! check out https://www.wholebites.com I train dogs for a living so I get them in bulk from there and they work wonders with my pups, they also have ones mixed with natural veggies so they are super good for them too!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by thegoodlife.

[caseynotis]

ohhh those look great!! Thank you for the info!

[caseynotis]

Okay I’m confused — I looked at the link last night & saw the treats, and now when I click on the link, I get a Certificate Error, and it redirects me to a Cuban video company?

[caseynotis]

Okay I got it — the website is http://www.wholebites.com, not HTTPS… 🙂

[thegoodlife]

oops! my browser adds an s for some reason :S but yep thats the one! Think its 10% off now too, glad I looked 🙂

[theBCnut]

The S is a denotation of a site that has extra security in place so it is supposed to be safe to buy with your credit card from those sites.

[caseynotis]

@theBCnut – isn’t it strange how this link doesn’t seem to follow that security rule? (my dh is in IT so always tells me to be wary of retail sites that do NOT have that S) – but this completely (tries to) redirect you to a video company. The Website Certificate error pops up, but that doesn’t always mean a site is unsafe.

@the goodlife – thanks again !

[theBCnut]

Yes, it is strange. It does make me wonder. I just got the certificate error, no redirect, but my husband is also in IT and I don’t know how much the security on my computer has to do with all the things that come up differently on my computer than on other people’s computers. I will go to sites that people comment on here and only get half of what they say is there sometimes.

[thegoodlife]

odd because it works fine for me even when I type https://www.wholebites.com .. I also get the little lock thing beside it saying this site is verified and safe to use your credit card on. I have been using it for over 6 years now problem free :S

[thegoodlife]

OK…. SO, I have contacted the admin about this and he said the site was just in maintenance mode and must have been clicked during that process and redirected to his 2nd site which sells specialty videos about vintage trains and street cars haha! He said it is completely safe and not to worry as he is the sole admin and owner of both sites. Hope this clears it up!

[Haywood U]

I had really good luck with these liver treats – they are nice and small, about the size of those soup & oyster crackers.

http://www.petco.com/product/107245/Charlee-Bear-Dog-Treats-with-Liver.aspx

I’ve also used these – found both at Big Lots for under $3 a bag. Both are small sized treats – probably about the size of :

http://www.wag.com/dog/p/nutro-natural-choice-crunchy-treats-with-berries-10-oz-116742

and these, although the ones I used were peanut butter flavored, and not the new alligator or crawfish:

http://www.biglots.com/p/c/dogs/bayou-bites-natural-dog-cookies

[Alok R]

Buy it from http://www.headsupfortails.com/dog-food/dog-treats.html

[Roger S]

Puppies take several months to learn their name, and it helps to give them a little extra motivation to pay attention. I used positive reinforcement training techniques like
Mix rewards such as treats, toys and personal affection.
Use a consistent verbal praise command and stick to it.
Find delicious treats and toys that motivate your pup.
which is suggested by professional and the important thing is that you should avoid punishment entirely.

[Patricia H]

I would like to advise that you stay away from Blue Buffalo soft training bits. I bought a bag of the chicken flavored ones and both of my dogs got vomiting and diarrhea from them. Since we didn’t connect it to the treats right away, it happened twice within 4 days and my 14-week old golden retriever puppy ended up at the vet. The vet wants us to report it to Blue Buffalo.

[McLovins P]

This is normal if you are a new pet parent. It is only sensible to take things slowly, and everything else will fall into place. Treats are technically necessary for the home, especially when training a puppy.

There are various online pet foods company that provides pets treats but McLovins pet is one of the best online shops for treats. You can select freeze-dried dog treats for your puppy.
You can visit here:- https://mclovinspet.com/

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by McLovins P.

[MARCIA H]

Please do not feed your dog anything that comes from India, China, Thailand, etc., treats or food.

I get my Andi the only treats she’s allowed to eat from deedogdelectables.com — homemade, organic, limited ingredients, and you can get either jerky treats or cookies/biscuits or both. My dog likes the beef jerky best, but she doesn’t turn down a treat! You can break the jerky up into little pieces for things like potty training, which you know you’ll be handing out often during the day. Well, we hope you will, LOL!

If you’re shopping for chewy toys, Petsmart, Walmart, grocery store, discount store, big box store — Just say NO! And beware of deceptive packaging – the front will proudly say “MADE IN THE USA” but the back says “with ingredients from China.”

No food or treats you can buy at ANY discount store, big box store, chain pet store, or grocery store are fit for your dog to eat. I’ve seen too many dogs die or get very, very sick from eating mostly Purina, Hills, and Royal Canin, which are all nothing but garbage. This is my opinion, of course, based on my personal experiences, and I stand by it.

If you have any trouble going to shop at deedogdelectables.com – please let me know. Thanks!
p.s. No, that’s not my business, but my dog has eaten treats from there for three years or more.

[Patricia A]

I give Bixbi Rawbble freeze dried for treats. No reason a treat shouldn’t be nutritional. My Chihuahuas’ love them.

[Vinod Kumar P]

There is a new trend moving towards natural puppy treats. For example – https://snouters.com/product/snouters-goodmama-cheese-puffs/

Generally seems a good option.

[MichaelFlanagan]

Thanks for so much useful information.

[heba M]

Puppy treats with dental benefits at PET UNION TREAT: https://www.petuniontreat.com/dog-treats/sponge-dog-treats/sponge-star-chips-dental-dog-treats.html

[David W]

Cheese puffs can be one of the best options if you are looking for puppy training treats. These bite sized cheese puffs are made by puffing up yak chews into delicious and crunchy puffs that won’t be hard on teeth of your puppy. Also these treats are grain and gluten-free which is suitable for dogs with allergies and sensitive stomachs. Here’s an article if you are wondering what yak cheese puffs are:
https://tibetandogchew.com/blogs/blog/microwave-yak-chews-how-to-make-the-best-yak-cheese-puffs

[Eddie C]

Hi Jennifer, congrats on your new rescue 🙂 Our chi pups really like nature diet treats – https://www.naturediet.co.uk/cat/natural-dog-treats/ and they’re also on the wet puppy food. Not sure hard boiled eggs will do much for the related smell issues! Best of luck

[LuluandMango]

Our girls love Munchbird Chicken Chips, great for puppies https://www.munchbird.com/products/chicken-chips-for-dogs

[LuluandMango]

If your puppy is a chewer, you can try Munchbird Lamb Trotter (Lamb Feet for dogs), our girls love it!
Lamb Trotter l Lamb Feet l Healthy Dog Treats, 100g (9-12 pieces)

[LuluandMango]

Munchburd Rabbit Ears with Fur is also a great option, our girls went crazy about those fuzzy bunny ears.
Rabbit Ear Dog Treats l Natural Treats, 100g Bag (9-12 pieces)

[Author]

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