Training Treats and Kong Fillings

EmptyPockets

What do you use when you are training your dog, treat-wise? And what sort of things do you fill a Kong with?

I'm asking because, with two young dogs, I am doing lots of training with them: 2-4 sessions each, per day, involving everything from muzzle and harness wearing, to basic things like 'paw' 'down' 'settle' etc etc... We also like to give them each their Kongs in the evening when we're settling down and want them calm before bedtime.

However

I am finding that both of them are considerably 'soft' in the toilet department (to the point of being almost liquid sometimes). I know it's the treats and rewards because when I was poorly for three days I didn't do any training and their poops returned to normal.

I use a variety of things, including:

Dog treats, such as these
Chicken
Pasta
Cheese

These are all cut into really really small pieces. If I use their regular food, they don't show as much interest in the training.

Kong I usually just use peanut butter, pasta or chicken...

I've considered cutting down on the training sessions, but both dogs enjoy it a lot, and the Collie especially, seems very eager for the mental stimulation.

I'm just interested what others use and if it has the same effect on your dog?

Missy_Spud

Hi maybe the chicklen/cheese is too rich for thier tummy, maybe you should try just dog treats, my dog has those meaty sticks which i pull into smaller parts when im giving as a training treat, you get big packs at the £1 shop, as for the kongs are the dogs puppies? when my dog was teething we got her a kong toy and filled that with the kong paste and some of her treats like gravy bones/small markies like the pedigree ones but you can get smaller ones in pets at home which fit nicely in those kong toys.

hope that helps

EmptyPockets

Missy_Spud wrote: »

Hi maybe the chicklen/cheese is too rich for thier tummy, maybe you should try just dog treats, my dog has those meaty sticks which i pull into smaller parts when im giving as a training treat, you get big packs at the £1 shop, as for the kongs are the dogs puppies? when my dog was teething we got her a kong toy and filled that with the kong paste and some of her treats like gravy bones/small markies like the pedigree ones but you can get smaller ones in pets at home which fit nicely in those kong toys.

hope that helps

Thank you for your reply.

I switched to using the chicken, pasta or cheese, after finding that using the proper dog treats alone was giving them the runs - I thought something like real meat or cheese might not have such an effect but it does... I haven't tried the Kong paste - the dogs are 1-year-old and 9-months-old, approximately. I'll have a look for those pound-shop ones though, thanks.

cinderellacomplex

I use cheese, sausage, chicken, whatever is on hand really. Sometimes I use the little bites of (high quality) dry cat food but that is very high in protein so it would depend on the dog, mine loves it and doesn't gain weight or go hyperactive, I still don't give her too much though!

I only really use food treats when we are starting a new trick or with things that require her to stay calmer, for example in the training classes. The rest of the time we use toys -balls are great outdoors, and tuggys are fab for working up enthusiasm too. A recent favourite is 'ducky' - it's just whatever inspires your dog the most. Squeaky toys can be great too.

I think that when you are doing tricks you could get away with using toys, it would mean you could continue with the training and still cut down on treats.

chris_n_tj

These are two well used ideas that we use. The liver cake I portion up and freeze.

Liver cake
8ozs Liver [preferably Lambs]
4ozs S/R Flour
2 Eggs
2 Cloves Garlic/ or 2 tsps garlic puree. (you dont need to use garlic if you dont want)
Whiz in a food processor - add in 1 cup of Self-Raising flour.
Spread out thinly on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes in a moderate oven. Cool and chop. Freezes well.
Be warned the dogs will sit by the oven lol.

Dried liver
Bake in oven (gas 7) for 15-20 minutes to make it firm
and easier to cut. Cut into ¼ inch cubes and spread on baking tray.
put back in oven for approx 40-50 mins until baked hard.
As they are completely dried, they are not messy and keep for weeks.

cyberbob

I use these treats as training ones. They are available in larger sizes.

http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=101&idcategory=14

Also things like carrots. I never use cheese due to the dairy content and some dogs don;t handle dairy well.

CSJs other treats are good. I also use these ones.

http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=38&idcategory=14

ddebski_us

cinderellacomplex wrote: »

I use cheese, sausage, chicken, whatever is on hand really. Sometimes I use the little bites of (high quality) dry cat food but that is very high in protein so it would depend on the dog, mine loves it and doesn't gain weight or go hyperactive, I still don't give her too much though!

I only really use food treats when we are starting a new trick or with things that require her to stay calmer, for example in the training classes. The rest of the time we use toys -balls are great outdoors, and tuggys are fab for working up enthusiasm too. A recent favourite is 'ducky' - it's just whatever inspires your dog the most. Squeaky toys can be great too.

I think that when you are doing tricks you could get away with using toys, it would mean you could continue with the training and still cut down on treats.

Ooh - my pup loves her "ducky" - so much that I've sewed it's feet up soooooo many times!!

I fill her kong with sausage, cheese chunks, chicken and soft cheese to mush it all in. She *loves* it. She likes carrots too..........

xDx

cinderellacomplex

ddebski_us wrote: »

Ooh - my pup loves her "ducky" - so much that I've sewed it's feet up soooooo many times!!

I fill her kong with sausage, cheese chunks, chicken and soft cheese to mush it all in. She *loves* it. She likes carrots too..........

xDx

Echo's ducky is missing a foot and has no stuffing left in his head lol. She'll be getting a new one for Christmas, this one has been around for a while now. I used him to teach her to jump into my arms this last week, very useful ducky!

EmptyPockets

cyberbob wrote: »

Also things like carrots. I never use cheese due to the dairy content and some dogs don;t handle dairy well.

Ahh yes, the cheese being dairy might well be a big part of the problem... I only started using cheese as it was suggested in the Kikopup vids. I forgot I have also used carrot, but might now start using it more as they do love it.

EmptyPockets

chris_n_tj wrote: »

These are two well used ideas that we use. The liver cake I portion up and freeze.

Liver cake
8ozs Liver [preferably Lambs]
4ozs S/R Flour
2 Eggs
2 Cloves Garlic/ or 2 tsps garlic puree. (you dont need to use garlic if you dont want)
Whiz in a food processor - add in 1 cup of Self-Raising flour.
Spread out thinly on a large baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes in a moderate oven. Cool and chop. Freezes well.
Be warned the dogs will sit by the oven lol.

Dried liver
Bake in oven (gas 7) for 15-20 minutes to make it firm
and easier to cut. Cut into ¼ inch cubes and spread on baking tray.
put back in oven for approx 40-50 mins until baked hard.
As they are completely dried, they are not messy and keep for weeks.

Chris :T

I'm sitting here trying to make a food shopping list for later, and I've now added the ingredients above

cyberbob

EmptyPockets wrote: »

Ahh yes, the cheese being dairy might well be a big part of the problem... i only started using cheese as it was suggested in the Kikopup vids. I forgot I have also used carrot, but might now start using it more as they do love it.

Carrot our Golden goes mad for carrot. So it's always a hit. A lot of people do recommend cheese but I have always avoided it due to the fat content and due to it being dairy. I have known a few people have tummy problems due to dairy.