Need advice on dog "training" treats.

[newbury]

We are pretty serious about getting a new pup, either a Corgi or a Border Collie.

A problem area is that SWMBO, whom I love dearly, is not good at withholding food unless she knows it might kill the dog. We finally got SWMBO to NOT give the dogs chocolate.

But if SWBO's eating almost anything that is "safe" it's share and share alike

I also love giving the dog treats but recognize I need to limit it to "healthy" and small quantities. And I want to be able to carry treats with me at all times for training.

My conundrum is - What is a REALLY good, over the counter, small sized pieces, dry treat for training?

I go into Petsmart and they have aisles of stuff.

Any recommendations?

 

[Turbys_1700]

Tractor supply has dried beef livers. They are a little large. We cut them up for our dachshund. He loves them.

 

[Dadnatron]

Well, I won't get into the issue of 'free food if you have it' and 'trying to train a dog'. They'll train you just fine.

But, I use the regular dry dog food. I use specific times to train, and train for specific behaviors. I also train to teach them alternatives to food. Such as 'praise and pets'. This way, I don't have to keep food with me, should I want to work on something at any given time.

I was a psychologist when I was younger, and taught a rat to do a 360 slam dunk (ping pong ball through appropriately sized hoop). I believe that consistency, consistency, consistency is the key to a happy dog and good behavior. When there is no 'alternative behavior allowed', such as jumping up on me 'this time' but not 'next time'... then the dogs will be much happier and know exactly where the line is and how to maintain it.

My wife thinks I'm 'too harsh' in my requiring our dogs to toe the line. However, my dogs are excellent with their behaviors and abilities, and they never have the need to sulk because they never do things they haven't been taught are OK and appropriate.

yea... I have a thing against teaching dogs bad behaviors and then calling them 'bad'...

 

[BlackOps]

i am a serious trainer for 47 years and i never train for food - only praise. food is a gimmick and they work for food - you want them to work because they like to and they get praise and the relationship with you is what they thrive for. only free info i will give.

 

[CobyRupert]

Your conundrum is NOT - What is a REALLY good, over the counter, small sized pieces, dry treat for training?

You need to train the SWMBO, not the dog!

(Then again, the fact you call her SWMBO probably means that will never happen.)

^Edit: I hope this doesn't sound too harsh.

 

[Travelover]

For treats, I buy a different brand of kibble than the dog's regular diet, in a small bag and feed them as treats. The dog loves them and there are cheap.

 

[PJSprog]

My wife is a certified trainer, and usually uses Pup-Peroni treats cut into small pieces as a "high reward" treat. Other than that, their regular kibble should be fine. (we have 3 border collies, by the way)

As CobyRupert pointed out, though, most of the "training" is centered on the humans, not the dogs.

 

[newbury]

My wife is a certified trainer, and usually uses Pup-Peroni treats cut into small pieces as a "high reward" treat. Other than that, their regular kibble should be fine. (we have 3 border collies, by the way)

As CobyRupert pointed out, though, most of the "training" is centered on the humans, not the dogs.

Having been owned by a Border Collie and a Corgi I realize that most of the "training" will be them training us.
And I'm not meaning I'm going to try and train the subject to "roll over" "stand on your hind legs" etc. I'm more concerned with things like "it's safe, please quit barking and thanks for warning us", "come here please", "calm down, it's fireworks", "thank you for using the outside facilities" etc.
Pup-Peroni sounds good, if I don't eat too much.

 

[Shaneard]

We use filet mignon cooked medium, that's the only thing our dog will eat. Rare or overcooked and he turns his nose. Tell me who's spoiled?

 

[newbury]

We use filet mignon cooked medium, that's the only thing our dog will eat. Rare or overcooked and he turns his nose. Tell me who's spoiled?

Sometimes you just have to do what you've gotta do.