# Training Rewards?



## Dave Immure (Oct 15, 2008)

I was wondering what everyone uses for their training rewards. I spend around 30 dollars alone a week for training rewards (zukes, wellness jerky etc). Does anyone make their own treats? Use raw meat as treats? Anyone have any recipes they would like to share?


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## Chad Byerly (Jun 24, 2008)

Turkey hotdogs from the health food store.
Cut in half length ways, and then each half into 4 long sections.
Now cut across the 8 long pieces, about 1/8" or so, you end up with lots of pieces.
Microwave in paper towels for 30 seconds or so, and wring the excess grease and juice.
Now they're less slimey, and dogs seem to think they're more delicious.
Again, I'll stress cut small, then you have tons of treats.

Also, I don't like the brand, but stuff like the Natural Balance tubes, cut up small work well.
Or Wellness has some kind of soft square treat (softer than their jerky squares), our dogs love those (cut or broken up while training) but they turn into rocks if you leave them in your pocket too long.

And our dogs will work hard for their kibble (Innova or Instict, or other samples picked up), but my rottie does better with moister treats (or he ends up coughing).

Also, as a "what the **** was that" kind of surprise, I've kept the tiny Wellness catfood cans in my pocket (they can't smell anything until you pull the lid off).


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

ditto on the weiners

I also use ice cubes if I'm in the kitchen.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

Costco or sam's club meatballs cut up work well. I use RAW meat at times.


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## Al Curbow (Mar 27, 2006)

A ball or small tug


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## Meena Moitra (Jul 11, 2008)

I am a bit embarressed to say:
I give kibble.
I have my dogs on B.A.R.F. so as they all kinds of great stuff, I had to go what I knew as treats as a kid. Processed food was my treat. My mother was into health food in the 60'/70's. So far so good. I mean if chicken liver is normal, what else to do?


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## todd pavlus (Apr 30, 2008)

hillshire farms summer sausage. it's cheap, not slimey, and you can cut it into any size or shape you want


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

Al Curbow said:


> A ball or small tug


you don't train with food first?

I use food the build the action and the tug to build intensity.


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## Matthew Grubb (Nov 16, 2007)

Bil-Jac dog food that you find in the frozen foods section of your grocery store. It's cheep... have yet to find a dog that doesn't love it... is easy to make little "training bits" with.... and it doesn't get "buggy" if you use it for tracking.


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## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

Chicken jerky we get at Sam's club and freeze dried liver mostly. My OB trainer said to "atomize" your bait so I use very small pieces. Otherwise it's a distraction, as my GSD will take 10 minutes to eat a cheerio. Sniff it, take it, drop it, sniff it, lick it, sniff it, finally eat it. With tiny tiny pieces I can keep feeding it to him while we're on the move and it's not a distraction for him.


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## mike suttle (Feb 19, 2008)

Frozen Bil Jac. if I am out of Bil Jac I use hot dogs.

then for the big paycheck, i lift my finger off the botton for a split second.....LOL (just kidding)


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I make Connie's chicken jerky:
Get a bag of frozen skinless boneless breasts, stick them in the microwave in a single layer, on a heavy paper bag on a plate, nuke them until they are cooked dry, break them up, stick them in a baggie, toss them in the freezer - Wallah - Doggie Crack, great for tracking bait or training bait.

I use frozen Bil Jac when I go to Oklahoma for training, I think it's great too (perhaps not as healthy, but a lot cheaper than my chicken), but it's not available all over the country, you can't buy it out west either in Cali or Washington.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Isn't Bil Jac considered a bio hazard in some states? :lol: ;-)


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Beef liver drizzled with oil and garlic, slow baked until dry and leathery - just like Mom used to make. Cut up small and freeze.

Weiners cut into small pieces and microwaved until chewy. Add some kibble for the last minute to soak up some of the juices. Softens the kibble a bit and makes it a bit more appealing, though my dogs will eat anything.

Deli meat ends. In my inner city grocery store they sell chunks of beef or ham ends for cheap. I buy the beef, make sandwiches for a week for me, then when I'm sick of it, cut up the rest and use it for dog treats.

Sample bags of kibble I get from the pet food store. Something different for the dogs, but again, they eat anything. Dry kibble makes Ronan cough, but if mixed in with something meaty, soaks up some of the moisture and gets softer.

Most of this is in my freezer, so I grab a mix of whatever is there and go.


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## Jacqueline Guptill (Nov 4, 2008)

All 3 of my dogs go nuts for liver. I either buy bags of dried liver treats(100% beef liver) at the pet store or cook it myself. I also use wieners or other moist treats as a variety.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Maybe huntin dawg rewards are different, but, I can get them to do anything I want. Actually, they are pretty tasty but you got to run them through a pressure cooker first. Keeps all the dogs tuned in at any rate. If they don't find them and let me know where they are....they just don't get a reward.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v401/hicntry/WildBill-Cassidypupswsquirrel001r.jpg


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

I use the dog's regular food, whether that be cut up raw meat or kibble.

If I'm training a dog, I have a specific goal that I'm working toward. Ever interaction serves a purpose. So rather than dumping food in a dish and then trying to find the good stuff for training, there's no food in the dish. It's all in my hand, and you gotta earn it!

I used to go through 30 POUNDS of treats a month. Not so healthy. I switched to using food and I'm loving the training results.

One flaw - for whatever reason, the dogs I have done this with don't like to drink water. NP, I'll use water as a training reward. :lol:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

leslie cassian said:


> ... Most of this is in my freezer, so I grab a mix of whatever is there and go.



Me too.

"Mixed bag" = slot machine excitement! :lol:


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

I use freeze dried beef/tripe/chicken nibblets - they also have some with vegetables/fruit in them. http://www.animalfood.com/ They are about the size of a "normal" thumbnail...don't make a mess even if you forget them in a pocket and throw them into the washer/dryer:roll: , need no refrigeration are *HEALTHY *and more in line with the raw feeding that my crew eats. They are also great for the road and can be stored in the vehicle - available at anytime when you happen to drive by a nice tracking field or training area:twisted: I call em - doggy crack - as every dog I've met really likes em.

I tried BilJac - *there are* dogs that don't like it - as I have two of em:mrgreen:


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

I've had to train every exercise without use of _any food_, primarily because I couldn't find anything he liked. Don't get me wrong, this guy totally loves his food at mealtime, he'll have two pounds of beef and two chicken thighs devoured in less than a couple minutes.

I've noticed a few people who I train with that use food don't know how to train without it, so advising me has been difficult. I only recently discovered that my boy likes cheese sticks, but he's 16 months old now, and I might as well go all the way. I haven't introduced the dumbell yet, but I doubt he'll do it for food. The tug (sometimes a ball), my voice and gestures was all I really _had to have_. I waited until 13 months old to teach the long down, and by voice alone.

I have a new young dog that REALLY loves food, and this will be a new experience for me, teaching schutzhund obedience with food. Everyone at my club thinks I'm against using food for training, even my wife, but really I'd just prefer to use _whatever's most effective for that dog._


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## Julie Ann Alvarez (Aug 4, 2007)

I try to keep a bag of Turkey Jerky in my stuff- or string cheese. This is for teaching new things or working dumbbells. A big plus is every one gets to eat the jerky if they are hungry :-k 

For tracking I use whatever I have in the freezer/fridge. But I am going to try kibble next summer.


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## Heather Wilkins (Sep 24, 2008)

I normally use turkey hot dogs cut up into nearly microscopic pieces, but lately I've also been using these smaller Bil-Jac treats that I still pinch in half.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Bil-Jac for me. Dry, soft, and easy to use. And the smell...dogs love them!


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Something I just remembered with the terriers. One hunting partner would keep a toothpaste type tube of this energy stuff to give her dogs. Can't remember the name but it was easy to handle and dispense.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Bob, I think its called Nutrical. I figure for my continued patronage and all the money I spend on pricey dog food, I load up on the samples. I use it for training treats and tracking. My dogs will work for kibble. I also buy hotdogs when they are on sale and have used string cheese. Thy do like a bag with different stuff in it. 

Terrasita


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

That's it! Thank you mam!


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Actually Daryl, I noticed a somewhat similar phenomenon when I fed almost exclusively raw...the moderately food motivated dogs weren't quite so food motivated for dry treats any more. For agility, I had to use almost all exclusively high priority treats (cheese, hotdog, Zukes) because the drier treats, Zoso would eat, but it's be like "meh..." compared to his meals. His favorite at the end of a track was a tin of sardines. I hated getting the "juice" on me accidently. Blech...

I found these kinda cool pumpkin and chicken strip treats on sale at the Orscheln's last week.  Don't remember the brand, but they're just a little strip of dehydrated pumpkin with dehydrated chicken wrapped around.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> ..the moderately food motivated dogs weren't quite so food motivated for dry treats any more. For agility, I had to use almost all exclusively high priority treats (cheese, hotdog, Zukes) ...


And bits of cooked meat.

Even raw-fed dogs like cooked bits of real meat, I imagine because of the smell.

I get the one-pound tub of Simon and Huey's from Leerburg, too: pencil-eraser in size, and soft. Hundreds in a tub.


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## Julie Ann Alvarez (Aug 4, 2007)

I heard of a local trainer whom used to use cheese whiz- she would apply it to her training vest and when she worked dumbbells the dog would be allowed to lick it off. She passed away before my time but I would have liked to see that.


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

Anything in my fridge. I use food to teach a pup behaviours and used to bring a lot with me around, but found over the years I got lazier and lazier and the dogs were responding just as well without, or with a prey item. I don't even use treats with the grown dogs anymore, especially as I have one who refuses to have food if he thinks there's any opportunity to get his ball.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Lyn Chen said:


> Anything in my fridge. I use food to teach a pup behaviours and used to bring a lot with me around, but found over the years I got lazier and lazier and the dogs were responding just as well without.....l.


Well, yeah! :lol:

I don't give food rewards every time after the teaching phase, after going to 80% and 50% and then random. 

That could get pretty old.


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

I actually never give food rewards after the teaching phase anymore. Which is usually just a couple of sessions, depending on the dog. When he understands it, I just turn the whole thing into play and never bring food again. I don't think I've bought treats in over a year. Perhaps this has all to do with my recent dogs, all being play/praise motivated. It is good not having to deal with moldy bait bags or sticky fingers anymore, though.


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