Tiny doggie treats?

February 5, 2006 8:10 PM

We recently adopted a 10 mo old Bichon. I'd like to find out whatever it is that the dogshow people on TV use for their frequent scooby snacks to reinforce positive behavior.

Bonus points if they are human-edible. Hey I need a reward too!

posted by toastchee to Pets & Animals (15 answers total)

I suggest Kong Tots. Low calorie so your dog(s) don't get fat while in training. I believe they are human grade.
posted by terrapin at 8:45 PM on February 5, 2006

We have used 2 different things. One, I'm afraid, I don't know what it is. My wife buys it. It's like a ball of delicious dog dough and you pinch pieces off. When you're working on things like stay, sit, heel, etc, you use a larger lump which you don't give to them, you just let them put it in their mouth and sort of gnaw on it.

The other we've used is little pieces of dried liver, tiny little pieces, that you keep in a little pouch. Human edible? Probably, but I don't think it's delicious.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:52 PM on February 5, 2006

Definitely the dried liver. One book I read before we got the Best Puppy Ever suggested that most of their nourishment during the first few weeks could/should come from treats given by you for good behavior.
posted by SashaPT at 8:55 PM on February 5, 2006

I always have a stash of ordinary kibble in my pocket. It goes through a magical transformation in my pocket, because my dog thinks that it's a delicious and wonderful treat.

When that fails, (like when we're working on focus outdoors and there's a parade of neighbors and their dogs) I go for the freeze-dried organ meat. Liver and lung are big favorites around here. There's nothing like entrails to get a dog's attention.

All of this is theoretically people-edible, but it's not people-enticing. The freeze-dried organ meat smells like old shoes, but dog goes for it. If you want something you can snack on too, try unsalted popcorn or plain puffed rice or Cheerios.

I highly, HIGHLY suggest getting and using a bait bag if you go for the organ meat. That smell lingers on clothes.
posted by cmyk at 9:06 PM on February 5, 2006

The real answer is whatever the dog really likes -- the rule of a reward is that a reward is something your dog really does like, not something you think your dog ought to like. Different dogs like different things, so try stuff and see what your dog really RILLY likes.

Human-compatible stuff includes cheese, hot dogs (often nuked until a bit dry and crispy, but you could eat 'em too), chicken, steak, etc.

Stuff you wouldn't want to eat but the dog might like: dried liver, plain old (good quality) dog kibble, dry cat food, other pre-made dog treats.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:43 PM on February 5, 2006

When we were training our dog, we used Nature's Recipe training treats. They're tiny, soft, and chewy, and they look like tiny little steaks. Our pup loved them! Found them @ PetSmart.
posted by viachicago at 9:43 PM on February 5, 2006

String cheese - the individually wrapped mozarella sticks are universally popular.
posted by Alylex at 9:53 PM on February 5, 2006

My dog adored baby carrots. She would get up in our faces and try to steal them from our mouths if we were eating them. Some dogs don't seem to think they're edible, though... you might give them a try, especially if you have a bag of carrots that don't taste very good or are old and dried out. You could chop them up to make them a little smaller.
Man, I miss my dog. She died a few weeks ago.
posted by MadamM at 10:13 PM on February 5, 2006

My trainer told me to use something that is quickly consumable, i.e. super soft doughy chewy treats, because with hard bones or bisquits, by the time the dog finishes eating them he's already forgotten what he did to deserve them.
posted by Brittanie at 11:43 PM on February 5, 2006

What the pros use is liver treats. Our dog, however, will do pretty much anything for thin-sliced ham cut up into little squares, which is, of course, human-edible.

MadamM: Our previous dog loved carrots - we think it might have been to do with the fact that at one point we had baby guinea pigs, who consumed a lot of carrots once they got older, which she may have been slightly jealous of. She died more than 3 years ago and I miss her. Sorry about your dog.
posted by Lotto at 12:34 AM on February 6, 2006

We also have a bichon. At puppy training class the trainers encouraged us to use chicken to get things started. That certainly worked and they probably could have had him riding a unicycle. We were advised to make sure the dog was quite hungry whenever we trained him. Feed about a third of a puppy's diet in rewards and cut down on the size of regular meals. Over time we have made rewards more or a lottery: sometimes he gets kibble, sometimes a dog biscuit, sometimes a chance to play with something, sometimes just praise. It's a bit like Vegas.

I think bichons - in particular - have a reputation for being easiest to train by means of persuasion rather than command. It is also much easier to train him when he has had a chance to run about and let off steam first.
posted by rongorongo at 3:39 AM on February 6, 2006

I think you could teach a dog to pick locks using only Bil-Jac Liver Treats (in the purple carton). However, they are way too big for training treats and need to be sliced up or pinched apart. They've got the texture of a try Tootsie Roll, but they certainly don't smell like Tootsie Roll and I haven't braved putting one in my mouth yet.

I'm told that dog show handlers use jerky, since they store the treats in their own mouths when they don't have a free hand.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:51 AM on February 6, 2006

Currently enrolled in puppy obedience class. Our instructor recommends 3 levels of treats: low-power, medium-power and high-power, depending on your dog's personal tastes.

Low-power would be something like his regular kibble.

Medium-power would be something better than that, but not mind-blowing, like a dog treat that he doesn't normally get. (We like Pupperoni.)

High-power would be people food, like hot dogs or cheese.

Use the different "powers" for rewards based on the difficulty of the command.

I would imagine the handlers in dog shows use people food of some sort, if they keep them in their mouths at times. (Although, Pupperoni doesn't smell half bad...)

However, puppies will also eat their own poop, so it's not like they have highly evolved taste buds or anything.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:20 AM on February 6, 2006

Most dog treats are pretty much just junk food. Many trainers do just fine using their normal food. That said, our black mutt loves just about anything. Highlights being Greenines (lawsuit not-with-stand), and just plain peanut butter too. the PB is good for hiding a pill in if you need to, btw.
posted by joshgray at 6:49 AM on February 6, 2006

We did much of our training using plain old kibble. Sometimes, we'd mix in different pieces of treat, so she never knew what to expect. Freeze-dried liver works well on our lazy pug.

Also, regarding string cheese: Many dogs are lactose intolerant. Our dog loves the cheese, but once after a particularly cheese-heavy puppy class, she was puking and crapping like mad.
posted by MrZero at 7:52 AM on February 6, 2006