rookie question - treats

[booksandwool]

So I'm starting to try a few things with the new dog, and I want to have a stash of little treats for reinforcement, but I want to give loads so I don't want them to be massive or expensive.... any advice on what to get, and where from? (online is easiest, just hard to tell what's small).
Thank you!

Don't buy them, apart from chews, as most of the commercially produced ones are rubbish

We use tiny bits of cheese, hot dog, chicken ie proper food. A tube of primula is very handy out on walks and ddog is very happy with some of his normal kibble

Try zooplus for chews as they usually have stuff on special offer and make sure you get the right size for your dog

I've just bought the dried liver on the recommendation of a friend. Her dogs apparently love it far and above any other treat.

I bought it from Amazon and apparently it's very easy to have loads in your pouch and to rip them up into even smaller pieces. It's quite a big box though so I hope she likes them.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003TL0A5C/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1418202568&sr=1&keywords=liver+dried

Dried liver is ace, as are lamb lites - Maltesers for dogs apparently

I only buy the lites now, and tear them into small pieces. At weekends I make a batch of liver treats. Just buy a couple of packs of the cheapest liver, cut it into small pieces and bake in a cool oven for a couple of hours. I then freeze it and just pick out a handful every day.

My only problem is that every other dog on our walk knows me by smell now, so I am treating half the dogs in the neighbourhood!

Alpha what are the ingredients in the dried liver treats - are they 100% liver?

Dancing yes, they are simply dried out liver.

Dancingyogi - I think they are just baked until dry slivers of liver. They are certainly gluten-free.

Sadly my puppy isn't much interested in food generally. We should have called her Kate Moss.

Interesting, thank you!
I was sort of hoping not to have to do too much/any prep hence am not too keen on cooking liver, cutting up cheese etc but a tube of primula could work...I almost fell off my chair at the price of that big box of liver treats...

Yes, it's a lot of money but I suppose a big box. If you PM me your address, I'm very happy to put a handful in an envelope and send them to you so you can try them out.

I'm just getting my head around having to have a pocket full of dried liver.

I contacted a seller, who told me the Davies liver treats had no information regarding ingredients on the box, which is unusual. Made with liver - doesn't mean that liver is the only ingredient.
I make my own liver jerky -it's not that smelly, but it's a bit of a faff, I'm looking for something with no additives.

www.barkerandbarkertreats.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_65&product_id=69

These are made with 100% natural ingredients.

Thing is natural ingredients is a bit of an open statement....they could still contain sugar, rice, potatoes, corn etc. I want a liver treat that contains liver and nothing else! I've seen liver treats that contain only 3% liver, so I. A bit cautious about buying anything processed without a list of ingredients.

Dancingyogi - What is wrong with a bit of potato in the liver treat, for example?

I suppose if you are looking for a highly specialised liver-only treat, it would be best to email the manufactures and ask for the ingredients.

I don't mind if there's added fish oil and potato to be honest. So long as the dog finds them delicious.

Alpha I care about the composition of treats because my dog gets half of his food intake from training treats, so I avoid treats with fillers like rice potatoes and corn, plus I think treats that contain loads of fillers aren't great value for money. It would be useful to find a commercial supply of liver jerky at a reasonable price for convenience but in the mean time I can just make my own.

Dancing - Ah interesting.

can i ask how long you bake liver in the oven for .Then does it need defrosting before using ?

To bake the liver you need to start by slicing it to about an 1/8 inch. Boiling the liver first makes it much easier to slice and doesn't affect the final product, up to you. Then place the liver in a single layer and bake at 90C for around 2-3hours, turning it over every 30mins or so.
I bake it till it's crisp as its more pleasant to handle, it breaks easily into small treat size pieces, my dog really likes the crunch and it doesn't need to be stored in the fridge. If you want it less crunchy, bake it for less time and store in the fridge - lasts around 2 weeks depending on moisture content or freezer for longer term. It's my Dpup favourite treat.