Here Fido! Sit Daphne! These may be phrases that you hear yourself constantly saying out loud to your pooch, but he or she may not listen. Motivation is always a bonus and can help train even the most stubborn of dogs out there. Whether you have asked all the right questions before you bought the puppy, or have already introduced it to your household and want to train it, you will find that there are many different methods and styles available.
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| Name | |
|---|---|
| Wagg Training Treats with Chicken, Beef, and Lamb | |
| Barker and Barker Low Fat Dog Training Treats | |
| Extra Select Puppy Treats | |
| Harrington’s Training Treats | |
| Fish4Dogs Super Star Training Treats |
Often times, the most commonly used method is through dog treats and this method typically works the best because let’s be honest, what dog does not like to eat. Some of the other traditional methods include clicker training, whistle training, and reward training with something other than treats.
As we mentioned above, dogs love food and dog training treats, so it can be a wonderful tool to help you train them. But, before you just hand your pooch any treat, you want to make sure you are choosing the best dog training treat you can. After all, your dog is your baby and you would not want them to consume harmful chemicals or ingredients.
Another thing you need to keep in mind is the quality and taste of the treat too. If you choose a lemon-flavoured treat, not many dogs like the taste or smell of lemon, so these treats may be ineffective. You want to get the best response from your dog, which means you need to give your dog the tools to respond well.
Below, we will take a look at low and high-value treats, features of a good training dog treat, and provide you with some of our expert recommendations. Along with these treats, you will also need a good dog training book, or have a look on Youtube as there are many good tutorials on there.
Best Dog Training Treats UK
Below, you will find some of the dog treats that we recommend. These treats will help encourage your pooch to perform to your commands and can be used for all types of training.
Wagg Training Treats with Chicken, Beef, and Lamb
All of Wagg treats have been made since 1923 and come in a wide range of flavours, should you find that they prefer one over the other.
These treats are made with chicken, beef, and lamb and are shaped into small bones to ensure you can grab them easily and hand them over to your dog. They are designed with a moist texture to help your dog easily chew and swallow it on the go.
We chose this treat for the list because it is made with NO artificial colours or flavours.
Barker and Barker Low Fat Dog Training Treats
The treat itself has only 0.3 calories per piece, so you will feel confident using them to train. One thing to keep in mind is that these treats are made with human-grade ingredients and are both grain and cereal free, so they are ideal for those who may suffer from grain allergies.
Each one of the treats is made to fit in your pocket and will not crumble, so rewarding your pooch is as simple as can be.
Extra Select Puppy Treats
These treats are the perfect treat and will fit in your pocket with ease. The puppy treat itself has a vanilla flavour that dogs love and is designed to be soft on your pup’s teeth too. This product can be used for all dogs ages 3 months and up. It is also one of the best puppy training treats in the UK.
Harrington’s Training Treats
Harrington’s treats made the list because they are made with NO artificial colours, NO artificial flavours, and NO added sugar. These treats are also small in size, so they will fit easily in your pocket.
Fish4Dogs Super Star Training Treats
You will find that these treats are small enough to be used regularly and they fit in your pocket without an issue and you never have to worry about them crumbling. The treats themselves come loaded with the salmon scent to help grab and maintain your dog’s focus.
Feelwells Semi Moist Training Treats
Feelwells Semi Moist Training Treats are moist, so they do not crumble easily, and they are not dry, so your dog can enjoy them. The treats themselves are cheesy in flavour and are made with oats, but are rice free, which means they are suitable for those dogs who may have an allergy.
One of the nice things about these treats is that they are made with NO artificial flavours, NO preservatives, and NO artificial colours.
The Feelwells treats are made for all dogs over the age of 10 weeks.
Bonus Recommended Product
When it comes time to hand out treats to your dog for a job well done, you want to make sure that you are able to keep the treats in a safe place where they will not crumble or become destroyed. In addition to that, you do not want your pockets to smell like dog treats.
You may want to pick up a small treat bag that can be used to hold the treats that you plan to use to train your dog. We have provided a recommendation below as we think this treat bag is perfect.
TuoDing Dog Treat Training Pouch
The pouch does come with a dog poop bag holder built into it, so if you are away from your home and on the go, you will always know that you can clean up after your dog.
The TuoDing training pouch allows you to wear it three ways, which makes it extremely convenient to use. You can wear it around your waist, with the shoulder strap, or on your belt. The nylon material is made from weatherproof materials to ensure that you can use your pouch whenever and wherever without the worry that the fabric will be ruined.
One of the nice things about this pouch is that it does come with a 100% money back guarantee for your peace of mind. You can enjoy this pouch multiple ways and store your dog’s treats in the zipper pocket or in any of the three patch pockets.
Low and High Value Treats: What Do I Choose?
When shopping for treats for your dog, you want them to have the best of the best, but it is important to take a moment and think about how you expect to train your dog. If you only offer them one type of treat over the other, you will not see much progress, especially when your dog starts to act stubborn.
It is often recommended that you use a general mix of both high and low value treats to elicit the best responses from your dog. For example, you could use a low-value treat for general and basic commands and a high value treat when your pooch is being stubborn or when you want them to take on a new command.
If you have a good mix and variety of dog treats, your pooch will stay interested in training and respond better to you when you give commands. Remember, one single treat can become boring after a while. Just think about how you would feel if you were only rewarded with vanilla cake with vanilla icing all day, every day that you trained for something. It would be nice at first, but the excitement would quickly fade away.
You may be wondering right now what the difference is between a low and high value treat for your dog. When we talk about value, we are not saying that you should give your dog a treat that is cheap or unclear in its quality. Low value treats would be, for instance, pieces of your dog’s kibble. High-value treats are quality dog treats that may be organic in nature, made with premium ingredients, or even, some human food.
Yes, we said it, human food. What dog does not like human food? It is a big motivator for many dogs, but it is important that you do not feed your dog human food that can make them ill such as chocolate. You should also human food sparingly, as it can cause your dog to fatten up beyond his or her healthy weight range.
So, what type of human food can you give your dog when training? It is often recommended that you keep the treat small if it is to be real food, but you can feed them a piece of boiled chicken, some beef, or even cheese when they accomplish a command from you. It would be ideal to use this as a high-value treat and should only be used in times when your pooch really does something big or when you really need to encourage them to do something.
What’s the Perfect Dog Treat?
There is more to a dog treat than just being shaped like a bone or coming in a pack labelled for dogs. You will find that there are many variations, flavours, colours, and styles. Below, we will point out some important features that you should look for in your dog treats.
Convenience
When you look for a pet treat, especially one to be used for training, you want to make sure that it is easy to carry and is not too bulky. Since you will be working on a lot of commands with your dog, you need to be able to have a handful or so of treats in your pocket or bag and bulky treats will only weigh down your pockets.
Size
Just as we mentioned with convenience above, you need to choose a treat that is small in size. The reason for this is because you need your dog to be able to consume the treat quickly and without becoming distracted. If you choose a larger sized treat, then your dog will have to stop training to eat it and this can cause them to lose focus.
Tastes Good
Of course, this is going to be different for each dog, so you may have to try a couple of different flavours or brands until you find the right one, but you want the treat to taste good for them. If your dog does not like the taste of the treat, then what motivation do they have to train and receive it?
Healthy
Yes, healthy dog treats for training can be delicious, so don’t panic. You do want to make sure the treat you choose to use is healthy because if it is not, you may actually cause your dog to put on unnecessary weight that they will have to lose later on.
Friendly Reminders About Dog Treats
We wanted to put a few gentle reminders out there for you when you do feed your dog treats to train.
- Do not overfeed, especially if you plan to train him and use one of the best dog treats as rewards, as this can lead to them quickly gaining too much weight
- Treats should not make up more than 10 per cent of their diet
- If you want to provide them with human food as a treat, you should do so in moderation and make sure that there are no additional fats or spices added to the treat