Training treats for raw fed puppy

[LionSock]

Hi does anyone have any recommendations for healthy training treats for a 8 week old, raw fed puppy please?

I do have some dried chicken hearts which are quite large so I break them into small pieces. Puppy seems to struggle to pick them out of my fingers though.

I also have some dried sprats but haven't opened the packet yet. Do these break up easily?

I was thinking about cooking a chicken breast and cutting into small pieces but as he's raw fed, is this a bad idea?

I see people mentioning cheese and peanut butter on here all the time but surely these aren't any good for dogs?!

Am I just over thinking this?

Can't advise on what's appropriate for a raw diet as I don't raw feed but regarding cheese and peanut butter I just use those for high value treats e.g when leaving puppy alone or recall training when out and about and then use 'better' treats for everything else.

I raw feed and use cheese as treats. I just give in very small portions because obviously it's quite fattening.

Have you thought about drying out meat?

Sprats don't tend to crumble. They feel like crusty paper that sounds weird I know.

tiny pieces of chicken breast is also a good idea

I buy dried beef heart, can't remember the name of the brand- I'll look it up! Or just natural 100% chicken or venison treats from Pet Munchies. Natural Instinct do lamb lung which you can cut up and use for treats and they also do dried liver which is frozen.

Farm Food Trainers the company is. They do need beef heart or venison heart.

I get treats from Treats2sit4 which are pure meat which is air dried. My dogs adore them, esp the Atomic drops

Always makes me laugh when people do raw food diets & feed cheese & dried meat. That's not a raw food diet at all!

Just give up on the raw food fad & feed your dog kibble!

Well I see your point but I'd look a bit odd with a pocket full of chicken wings in the park. I just choose the treats with no meat derivities or cereal in them.

Derivatives!

Feed your dog kibble then? I work in veterinary & it's the most pointless diet of them all. We have domesticated dogs to the point their guts do not need & most of the time don't tollerate ""raw food"". Dogs are also scavengers, not hunters - they eat & always have eaten anything from the floor. Cooked or uncooked.

Cereal etc isn't great - but then look for a complete dog food with less of that in.

Mayo if you work in a vets your knowledge on raw feeding and it's benefits is alarmingly poor.

I've nothing against kibble, there are some really good quality ones available which I've tried but my dog would rather starve than eat it whereas she's never turned down a raw meal.

Oh dear it's like bottle/breast all over again!

I've nothing against kibble. It's just not the way I feed my dog. Hopefully you can respect my decision.

Okay so basically dried meat is the way to go. Sparkling, I'm dreading opening the sprats tbh. My 5 years old DD is absolutely disgusted by them

Thanks for all the ideas and links everyone. Honestly lionpup eats better than we do!

Millieswolfheart does dried fish training treats which stink but my dog likes them . Would those be any good?

Thrive does 100% meat dried treats. And natures menu ones are ok too

Thanks for all the suggestions. My pup is on dried but I hope to gradually swap to raw soon. I'm on the lookout for tasty treats to nail recall. Training tomorrow. I baked liver cake last night! Boak.

That's funny FingerOut - because the majority of the colleagues I've worked with over the last 10years of veterinary would agree.

Of course I respect your decision lionsock but if you're going to do the raw food diet do it properly, not half arsed by feeding non raw food such as dried anything or cheese - it defeats the point

Oh wow Mayo. If you work in a vets then that's scary!

I also feed raw. Because every day I see the health effects that feeding kibble and a poor diet has on dogs.

There is a huge difference between feeding kibble and cheese
Okay cheese isn't raw but it doesn't do half the damage kibble does.

We have not domesticated dogs to the point their guts have changed that drastically. If you seriously think dogs aren't meant to eat raw then I will happily invite you into my practice and see how big the positive changes are in dogs that are put onto raw diets - and yes we promote a raw diet here!

A lot of vets gain from dogs who are fed shitty diets. Poor diets lead to health problems. Health problems = more visits to the vets which end in more $$$.

If you are actually suggesting that people feed their dogs kibble over raw, then you need to study diet more.

Cooked chicken is fine. The only reason that it's "raw" instead of cooked is it would be a ballache to cook every day for a dog when there's no benefit to it! The point of feeding "raw" in dogs is the fact that it's fresh unprocessed ingredients aka "real food" rather than something which is made in a factory. It's not the same as the human "raw food" diet which does appear to be faddy, and in which it probably does matter if you occasionally eat cooked or processed foods.

Using cooked chicken over raw for treats does have a benefit in this case because it's less slimy and bacteria-friendly for you to handle, which you need to do a lot when training. It makes no difference to the dog, just to you.

Dogs have been fed kibble for years & not had problems. This is just another fad diet as in the human world. Be gluten free, wheat free, dairy free etc when half the people on these diets have no intolerance to the things they are avoiding!

You are feeding a ""raw"" diet that isn't even raw. You are selling products to the consumer saying this is what their ancestors would have eaten so they should too when that's just not he case.

The reason veterinary is so undecided on raw diet is because there hasn't been a conclusive study on it saying it's any better than feeding normal dog food.

Obviously there are some brands of dog food that are considerably better than others. But you will always have a low/mid/high range market.

What problems are you seeing from a kibble diet? Are you sure you can put it down to it being the kibble causing the problem or are you just seeing what you want to see with rose tinted glasses?

I feed my cat (not necessarily raw) but grain free and as natural as I can. On the grounds he wouldn't eat grain naturally, he would be eating mice and rabbits. He's shinier and less dandruff on it, his coat has improved massively and he likes to tear apart raw chicken wings

Thank goodness my vet is far more clued up on the MASSIVE benefits of a raw food diet over kibble. Your posts laughable. Do you know half the shit that's been found in various kibble brands? Anti freeze ffs!

I suggest you start researching, in embarassed you work in a vets and don't know the benefits.

www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/kibble-never-a-good-option/

I feed raw because, you know, dogs are carnivores. Dogs have been fed kibble for maybe 100 years at most before that it was mainly raw meat offcuts/bone. 100 years is not evolution of the canine gut to a kibble fed diet. True there is little evidence for its benefits in dogs just because there has been very little research however the evidence is so overwhelming for other carnivores (wolves, big cats etc.) that there really doesn't seem to be much point in doing research specific to dogs.

I don't have time to read the article right now but I will do when I have a chance.

As I've said before - no one I currently or previously work in the profession with has ever fed a raw diet. Neither do I.

However we do feed good food of a high standard - not littered with propylene glycol!

You will do what you will do - this is just going to be another MN fight where unfortunately we both feel we are right - pointless to contiune!

Dogs have been fed kibble for years & not had problems. This is just another fad diet as in the human world

Oh my. I suspect you have lied about working in a vets then Mayo because if you did, you really wouldn't believe what you just put. Any single dog who is fed a kibble based or commercial food diet suffers the consequences. It is the equivalent to feeding your child fast food every day. You may not 'notice' or 'see' the consequences but they're always there.

For example, I have never had to remove teeth from a dog who has been raised on a raw diet. Do you know how many dogs I deal with where I'm having to remove teeth because of their poor diets? Raw fed dogs have the bones to clean their teeth. Kibble fed dogs do not. And no, dentastix do not work.

You are feeding a ""raw"" diet that isn't even raw. You are selling products to the consumer saying this is what their ancestors would have eaten so they should too when that's just not he case

When my dog tucks into a freshly killed rabbit I'm pretty sure she's eating 100% raw even complete blocks such as Natures Menu etc are 100% raw.

What problems are you seeing from a kibble diet? Are you sure you can put it down to it being the kibble causing the problem or are you just seeing what you want to see with rose tinted glasses

Again I'm gobsmacked. Diabetes, obesity, dental problems, allergies, behavioural problems. And guess what, I have never treated a raw fed dog for diabetes! I have never seen an obese raw fed dog! However I have seen dogs allergies go away or become less problematic once put onto a raw based diet, we have been told by dog owners (and I have seen first hand) how a dogs behaviour has improved once they are taken off kibble and commercial brands that are full of sugars.

I recommend you study more, Mayo. Because if you actually did work in a vets (and I mean more than just a receptionist - I'm on about actually treating animals) then you will see the effects that a poor diet has on dogs (animals in general).

No one wanted a 'MN fight' to be honest Mayo.
The OP asked for a suggestion for healthy treats and then you came and told us we were wrong for not feeding kibble. Most dog owners and trainers I know feed raw so we must all be doing our dogs a great disservice.