Best training treats

[Dogchatname]

Hi all, I have a chihuahua/Mini pinscher pup (10wks) and I was wondering which treats your small breed finds irresistible. We've started some gentle training, but recall is non existent. I know it's very early days!

At a young age with the likelihood of a delicate tum, I would just use the kibble you feed the pup atm. (Assuming you feed kibble).
As the pup gets older cheese is a real favourite of all the dogs I know. That said I only know labradors and similar sized dogs, but I don’t believe that size affects cheese appreciation 😉

So weird! I just came on to The Doghouse to ask the same thing.

I’ve always had medium and more recently, large breed dogs, but our next pup is going to be a toy breed. I was going to ask what people use for training treats that’s easy to handle (given that they will need to be tiny), high quality, motivational and not too calorific, as obviously the pup’s daily intake is going to be minuscule compared to what we’re used to feeding our dogs. I see so many obese toy breed dogs and can see how easy it would be to feed too much if not very careful.

I’m planning not to bowl feed at all and will use kibble at first, which should help a bit, but I need some ideas for higher grade rewards.

Really hoping my pup is going to be more toy/play rather than food motivated, that would make life a lot easier!

@LeaveMyDamnJam my lot have always loved cheese as one of their top grade treats, but I’m imagining it needing to be tiny crumbs if I’m not going to be overfeeding a toy breed. I’ve always made liver cake as well, but the pieces would need to be so tiny, I can’t see me being able to handle them without fumbling and giving accidental jackpots left right and centre.

Treat2Sit4 is a great small company who make pure meat treats - my dogs go utterly mad for the Atomic drops, but for puppies I use the chicken or plain liver ones. They break up easily for small dogs and pups.
I also use dried sprats for treats, again they break up cleanly and easily and it is good for them with all the fish oil.
Arden Grange do a liver paste in a tube which the dogs love, and they can lick straight off the tube, but it is a bit of a faff with taking the lid off each time to give it to them

Ours responds best to small cubes of cheese or chopped up hotdogs, or I also make tiny biscuits with sardines and cheese, or peanut butter and banana in...basically it has to be quite stinky and high value for them to want to come for it over whatever else it is they are up to!

She also loves the Wagg training treats that you can buy pretty much everywhere...We've tried all sorts of fancy / real meat ones but for packet treats rather than homemade those are her favourite by a mile, even though they don't particularly smell of anything to me.

I second anything stinky! Mine loves tuna and little cubes of cheese.

I also freeze little chunks of broccoli and carrot to soothe his gums which he always seems to enjoy.

He also goes nuts for a cardboard loo roll tube!

Thanks everyone, some great suggestions here. I'll give them all a try and see which he likes best. YY to the cardboard roll, mine loves shredding paper rolls (or just paper in general). I'll start with cheese.

I remember reading in one of the puppy books that treats should be the size of a pin head. So lots of really teeny tiny pieces.

@CMOTDibbler thanks for reminding me about Treats2Sit4. I had completely forgotten I used to buy from them when we were doing behavioural work and wanted something healthy for treating. My boy was mad for the Atomic Drops as well. I like the way you can cut them up into tiny pieces and they don’t crumble.

@SockDrawer that’s what I’m worried about. How to handle such tiny treats without dropping them everywhere and rewarding the wrong things.

We do cardboard rolls too. My last Lurcher had such a reputation for loving them that people used to save them up for him and bring them round by the bagful, so we always had a cupboard full. We still have loads, as he lost interest in them when he was really ill, so I have put aside some particularly thick ones that came in the packaging for my son’s new computer, as I reckon they’ll be great for teething and look like they’ll last ages. He loved cardboard in general though. He was never happier than when he was helping dh squish cardboard boxes to fit into the recycling bin! My old boy was never interested in cardboard rolls until the other dog had them, but this week I have just managed to get him interested when I’ve put treats inside and folded the ends up. First time he’s touched one since we lost his friend in June.

I am finding there are so many new things to consider with toy breeds when you’re used to hulking great heffers! Realised the other day we’re going to need steps up to the sofa and bed and a tiny toy pup will be more than a little lost in the boot of our estate car, with just the dog-guard and tailgate guard, so am looking into crash-tested crates instead. All our dog related kit is massive so we will need to downscale everything. (Eg Can’t see our next pup trailing the same longline we used for our galloping Lurchers!) Thank goodness we have a long-term plan and don’t have an imminent new arrival, as I feeling like I have a lot to learn, despite having had dogs for over 30 years!

We have the steps, they're brilliant, if a bit bulky and in the way! Saves me having to bend down to pick him up 1000 x a day.

@Dogchatname good to know they are useful, thank you.

We are a bit tight on space in the living room, so I was considering getting a low, upholstered footstool as a sort of halfway-house instead, but want to avoid repeated jumping up and down, especially while bones are still forming, so think steps would be better, at least until they’re fully grown. We’re actually planning to replace the suite before we get the pup - I wonder if they do any with built in steps for little dogs!

Barker and Barker little liver treats - these are tiny and I've never known a dog that didn't go mad for them!

Bounce and Bella treats are great as well but very slightly bigger.

Another vote for Treats2sit4!