What TREAT for Obedience Class???

I won a 7 week obedience course for Lacey. She has to pass "Basic Manners" to advance into Agility.

Had the 1st class last Tuesday; owners only. Lacey comes with me for her first time this week.

We are supposed to bring "hundreds" of treats for our dogs for the hour class. For a dog Lacey's size, I will need something soft which I cut up to about 1/4 pea size.

I've been trying to figure out what to get for treats and now is the last minute. Any suggestions?

The instructor said liver treats are common, not necessary. She just uses whatever she has in the fridge as leftovers; cuts it up and freezes it in a Tupperware container.

I don't have any leftovers right now!!!!

When my Lacey went to school years ago, I took pepperoni and cheese, kind of messy, but it worked. ;) With Layla just completing months of schooling ( :rolleyes: ) I found nothing, and I mean nothing worked for her, she is not food motivated. Some people in class did well with cut up hot dogs or any leftover they had at home. :)

Oh THANK YOU! I was drawing a blank and getting panicky!

You're welcome Sandie! They say the idea is to make it something special, something they don't usually get at home. :)

Yes mabye cut up hot dogs or cheese or pepperoni or mabye some cooked noodles?

Cheese works great. So does hot dog. HAVE FUN! :D

In-Class Treets??
:)

SmokeMutt and I suggest Cheerios - he liked the Frosted Cheerios!

Before we started "First Grade", I gave him some Home Schooling and quickly decided that
even a "small" sized bisquit took WAAAAY too long for him to munch down.
Inspiration hit when I went grocery shoppin ... Cheerios sounded good to me!

Turned out HE liked 'em too ... so I loaded the Treet Pouch with Frosted Cheerios and
we started home schooling. Worked like sliced bread!
I could load a mouthful and *spit* one into my hand whenever a reward was required.

ANNNND ... whenever *words* were required - I could talk without spewing Cheerios all over
IF I loaded a SMALL mouthful.
If seious SHOUTING was required - I could *gulp* & *swallow* a mouthful of treets without
fear of up-chuckin a gob of liver or some other vile DOG flavored yummie.

We BOTH almost missed the second half of his first night's class ...
between "Home-School practice", pre-class warm ups, Good Dawg rewards,
and ME having to *gulp* a few to communicate in class ...
We were both so SICK of Frosted Cheerios we couldn't look one in the eye! :rolleyes:

Together, in one day, we'd consumed 3/4 of a LARGE Box of the darn things!

After a week of de-tox ... they started tasting OK again ...
I started loading only a SMALL handful in one cheek.

Yup, CHEERIOS ~ in Moderation ~ make good Training Treets!

:D

We always used Coachies, They are quite small and my dogs loved them.

http://www.petbehave.co.uk/shop/imag...chiespouch.jpg


They come in a small pack or a tub, Pretty sure you should be able to get them in US.

In pets at home near me they aren't with the pet treats they are near the clicker training packs so you might need to look around for them.

The one guy I know takes hot dogs, cuts them in thin circles, nukes them and then lets them dry. You can get a bunch of treats out of one hotdog if you slice them thin. They last a long time too.

I ALWAYS use real meat. There is absolutely no need for store bought treats. Take a chicken breast or steak or turkey or whatever. Plain boil it. Cut it up into little chunks and voila! I've yet to meet a dog who did not like real meat, and dogs seem to appreciate it when you give them real meat and not wheaty biscuits ;)

Hot dogs make great treats but can be greasy and make her really thirsty. I used to use hot dogs for Jack in his agility classes and he would always have a greasy head from me petting him. :o String cheese is also really easy and you can keep it in your pocket.

Another option is Natural Balance. It comes in a roll of different sizes and flavors. It's really smelly so the dogs love it and it's really easy to cut up in little pieces. Kept in the fridge it also lasts a long time. It's my new favorite for obedience/agility classes.

I would definitely suggest Natural Balance or Red Barn soft rolls... like Ashley said! ;] (click!)

You can cut them into teeny, tiny pieces, and they smell strong enough to be very high value to almost any dog; but they aren't gross or greasy like a lot of meats. They can also be frozen and they keep for months & months... plus they have pretty good ingredients!

I also recommend investing in a treat bag, (like this). They are soooo useful for training, and you can also use it in Agility. I hate keeping treats in my pocket or in a plastic bag.

Good luck with the classes! I'm sure Lacey will make you proud. C:

It may be too late to suggest something, now, but I usually will chop up small pieces of veggies (like carrots or green beans). Finn gets plenty of protein in his daily meals, so I don't necessarily make his treats meaty. The veggies are usually a lot less messy, too. :)

I too prefer the Natural Balance/Pet Botanicals type rolls for training treats. They're quite easy to cut up into your desired size pieces. I've yet to know a dog that didn't like them.

My other personal favorite is Wysong cat treats (though i doubt you could get that as a last minute thing, but i had to mention it.)

Thank you all, now I have a good variety to select! Phred, I see we need a variety so we don't overdo it on any ONE thing! :D

Lacey refuses to eat veggies, so the carrots and such won't work for this dog. :( Sugar used to LOVE her carrots, now she sees Lacey and won't touch them.

I'll be sure to pick out a few things today for tomorrow's class.

Thanks again!

I recently made a batch of liver treats and tuna fudge for my three. They were great for agility training! Soft enough to break apart and nice and smelly for the dog.


Liver Treats

2lbs baby beef liver
2 cups of wheat germ
2 eggs
2 cups corn meal
2 tbs of oil

1. Mince liver well in processor
2. Add all wet ingredients
3. Fold in dry ingredients (if needed add water)
4. Spread on cookie sheet 1/4 - 1/2" thick bake @ 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until brown, cool cut and freeze.


Tuna Fudge
2 (6 ounce) cans tuna (do not drain)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup parmesan cheese


Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended.
Spread mixture into a greased 9x9 cake pan.
Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Store in refrigerator or freeze.


Liver Lumps

1 lb. liver
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 egg
2 c. whole wheat flour


Preheat oven to 350F. Mix liver, egg and garlic powder in food processor until smooth (a blender will work too) until liver looks like baby food. Stir in flour a little at a time, until you have a thick but pourable batter. Spread into a greased 8"x8" pan. Bake until dry, approx. 30 minutes. Cut into 1/2" squares. Freeze and use as needed. No need to thaw.