Need advice on dog "training" treats.

[Zerk]

I don't have a clue what all this swmbo ll.

I googled it. It means neutered modern male. Sad thing to see.

 

[jack707]

Pig ears

 

[Zerk]

Its not that hard. I can't believe we have threads on what kind of treat to give a dog. Plus dogs are different. One dog I have won't touch chips. Cereal falls on the floor, I have to pick it up.

I wouldn't thin pig ears would be good for training. Would it cut easily into small pieces?

 

[jack707]

When I use to have a dog he would go nuts over a pig ears or beef bones.

 

[Zerk]

Sure. But not something you are going to use to train with. Going to give him a pig ear every time he sits?

As for training or not training with treats. I don't typically. But I am not convinced it is as bad as some say. Once the dog learns it, they know it.

 

[westcliffe01]

Go to the salad section of the supermarket and get a bag of "bacon bits".
1) You know what it is and it was produced for human consumption - unlike what is made in china
2) Most people, not to mention dogs, love bacon......
3) Measure off a portion, put it in a zip lock bag in your pocket and you are ready to go.
4) Priced by weight, it is probably cheaper than the other treats of questionable content.

 

[jack707]

Sure. But not something you are going to use to train with. Going to give him a pig ear every time he sits?

As for training or not training with treats. I don't typically. But I am not convinced it is as bad as some say. Once the dog learns it, they know it.

No! pig ears are special treats

 

[Bluesman]

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?

I know this sounds stupid, but I train our Aussies using dry cat food as treats. I guess it's different enough from regular dog food, but it works.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

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.

For barking, if there is really something to bark at the dogs get praise for alerting us. As soon as the praise starts they realize everything is OK and quit barking. If they bark for no reason, either they get ignored or they get to go out in the kennel. DO NOT shout at the dogs to shut up, because they just think you are barking too.

I don't use treats to train, just praise. Keep the training sessions short and frequent, no more than 5 minutes at a time several times a day. Training consists of waiting for behavior you want to reinforce, then praise. If you aren't getting the behavior you want, just stop. Just having the walk be over is punishment enough for most dogs. When they realize they have to play the training game they really get into it.