High value treat ideas

[MissShapesMissStakes]

My 6 month old miniature poodle can be great off lead. Unless he sees a person he doesn’t know or any dog. Therefore I find it hard to let him off lead because I don’t want a dog that runs up to people who don’t want it/dogs that aren’t in the mood for a giddy pup in their faces.

I need to find a Hugh value treat that is better than them. If I’m honest we are a veggie house apart from him. He eats a healthy diet of Orijen and I’m not expecting him to be veggie. But I would like treats that don’t require me to cook the meat/fish. I’ve tried pre cooked chicken. He likes it but doesn’t love it. He does really liked cooked carrots and green beans, and cheese but not enough.

Are there any great high value, easy treats out there that might get him a little more motivated to listen to me while out?

The treat that worked for me and was very high value for my dog, used only for recall training, was pure chicken liver treats. I got them from a company called Thrive. They're not cheap but my dog went crazy for them.

The only drawback is that you can't give a dog many of them at a time because they're very rich. My dog is also small so I used to break them up into very small pieces for her.

I used to have a vet that kept them for any unruly dogs as he claimed most dogs would kill for them.

You can buy small dog training treats

Liver paste! You can carry a tube with you and squidge a bit out for him to lick off. Primula cheese is good for this too, but only sparingly as it can be a bit heavy.

If he's fed wet food, you can get tubes you can fill with it to take out. When I was training our pup, I used to take her breakfast out with us on walks.

Hot dogs cut into tiny bits

I buy from a company called Treats2sit4, and my dogs go mad for the Atomic drops which are dried liver. If you can deal with them, dried sprats are very popular with my dogs, or how about the ready cooked cocktail sausages?

Tennis ball? My greedy dog won’t swap a tennis ball for any food in the world as it is The Source Of All Fun.

My bitch, however has nothing she likes more than chasing things. So she stays on the lead.

I use Barker & Barker little liver training treats. They’re tiny and you get loads for your money. My puppy absolutely loves them. From eBay or the company direct.

I guess Jackman would be Hugh value treat. I'd come back for him 😉

But otherwise, Millie's Wolfheart do training treats, and mine will do almost anything for their Sunday roast sausage treats.

Treats2Sit4 do 6 varieties of dried offal training treats (no cooking required!) that DDog loves. There are other sellers of equivalent treats but they're the cheapest I've found.

Tubidog liver pate from Zooplus (or Arden Grange brand) is the most high value treat there is and just has to be squeezed from a toothpaste style tube direct into their mouths.

Many people also swear by tiny chunks of cheddar cheese.

I second finding a toy too....my gsd would sell his soul AND mine for a ball. Food was not his currency, but pick up the Chuckit flinger and blue whistling ball and he was at my side like a crufts obedience champ, and he would not even look at or acknowledge other dogs or people for fear they might want to play with his toy!

The other one liked a squeaker...when he was going through his rebellious "run off to meet and greet phase" I kept a squeaker from an old toy in my pocket and he'd come back to that in a flash....he would then get a treat, and I could hold onto his collar and do "look at me" but that never worked with the first one.

Nearly forgot - dried sprats. They're doggy crack.

Only downside is that they come still looking exactly like fish, and need to be broken up which is a bit smelly. It depends on how acceptable this is to you as a vegetarian.

Mine isn’t too bothered by food but comes back quickly for her squeaky tennis ball.

You could try small cubes of cheese. Our dog likes the thrive too. But the white fish ones rather than the liver for some reason

Thanks for all the ideas!

I’m off to google. Have primula already in though so will give that a go.

I always worry that he shouldn’t be eating some of these things that are meant for people. Are there any ingredients that are a complete no no? I know there is something with a funny name in peanut butter that can’t be eaten by dogs. He does like peamutt butter though. Never thought to take it out with me as it’s messy but can try.

Also love the idea of coming back for a squeaky toy and using the noise to call him.

I feel some doggy shopping coming on!

We take him to an old enclosed tennis court in the park to practice recall. So will try a few things out.

Dogs were traditionally raised on scraps. DDog has a mixture of good quality dry and wet dog food and often some of whatever we're eating. He's also an awful scavenger and eats anything he can find on pavements. Vet couldn't find anything wrong at last annual check up, dog won local shiniest coat contest over the summer and hasn't had any health problems whatsoever; vomit is exceedingly rare. I really wouldn't worry about DDog eating human foods.

The only big no nos are things like chocolate, onions, leeks, grapes and raisins (there are some others, but those are the biggies). Xylitol is the sweetener in peanut butter that is to be avoided. Tbh I can't remember the last time I saw it in human peanut butter (though I do always check!) so DDog just gets the cheap stuff from the supermarket.

Have you tried using a long line (not extending lead) in the park for practicing recall? Must be attached to the harness not collar for safety reasons, but it provides real world conditions with a safety mechanism.

Thank you Avacado that’s reassuring. Our pup also eats anything he comes across on the floor if he can.

His tummy can be a bit delicate but I suppose if it’s coming out of the right end it’s not the end of the world. And I can keep an eye on what seems to disagree with him.

I’ve tried a long line. He goes bonkers though and we all end up getting tied up in it. I don’t know how people manage them!

Our trainer got us to work out the highest value treats by laying out a little buffet and seeing which one DDog went the most nuts for, it was the best day of his life. Especially when we had to repeat it several times to ensure accurate results

Think we had cheese, his regular kibble, chicken jerky treats, dried fish treats and cocktail sausages. The last one won so that's what he gets when he does well with his reactivity issues. We keep them in the freezer and they defrost quickly on walks so you can pull a little off

Candy - that sounds fun! Have ordered a few treats so will see which he prefers and got a squeaky duck that he loved in the shop. Will keep that for recall and pop some liver paste on it for good returns.