Whoooooooo hoooooooooo I am so excited, i will soon be picking up our new little girl (Lab retriever).  I've read loads and loads of books on how to have a 'perfect puppy' so I plan to put a lot of hard work into the training side of things!  The thing is, i can't decide what to do about rewards, I know I want to use this method to train her, but I need some advice on what to give.

Should I cook some chicken and give her small pieces of that?  Or shoudl I buy processed treats?  I was out with my other half the other day looking at the shelves full of treats in Pets at Home and we've bought some little biscuits adn things like that, but I'm worried about the amount of treats to give her and whether they are nutritionally sound?  I'm guessing we'll be using quite a few treats in the first few months of her life - I don't want to give her the wrong things and make her fat - can you help me please?

Thank you
Nx

Hi Nicky, ive only had my new pup home a week, bet your really excited!!
I also would like to know what would be a good treat to train my boy with as ive been searching through pet shops and all the puppy treats they cant have till their 4 months old :(
I dont know if they can have any other dog treats on the shelf, they dont say their not suitable for puppies but i didnt buy any just incase, im a bit confused, my breeders said not to feed my pup any human food before his 5 months, to stick with his diet as it is. But i dont want to wait till 4 months to give him treats. Help me too!!

Hi Nickyxh

Lucky you. I confess that Im getting broody again now our 'little girl' is 2.  Being a Lab she will probably eat absolutly anything, normally the smellier and more disgusting the better. Also the bit they never cover in training books is them training you to hand over treats when they decide they want one rather than when they have earned them!

I confess to being rather biased on dog treats (my website is www.barkery.co.uk) but I have met so many dogs that have had problems with even as little as one or two chew that had something in that they reacted to some of which have nearly resulted in the poor dog being put down. So personally I dont take risks. Chicken is fine but can be messy when training as can cheese in this weather. Also I find it useful to have different 'grades' of treats as they can get a bit blaze about one type from time to time. Also my Labs would spend all of training running through the list of 'tricks' if I had liver treats in the hope that they should get one - not very helpfull if you are training sit stays! So I tend to have something less interesting to hand and only bring out the liver when it is REALLY needed.

As for getting fat well I believe that pups should be a little bit on the chunky side and so long as the treats are not loaded with fat and sugar (often called beet) and you reduce the amount you feed at meals to allow for training treats there shouldnt be any problems. In fact mine will work quite well for their ordinary dry mixer now they are trained.

Hi Bluebell,

I juss got round to looking at 'The barkery'.  I'll definitely be in touch just before we get our puppy at the end of July to place an order - if she likes the treats we may well join the tummy rub club as well!

Thanks for your reply
Nicky x

Thanks Nicky

Always good to get feed back.

I clicker train and use food as reinforcement (as well as toys etc).

I do not buy any commercial dog treats as if you read the ingredients they usually contain added salt/sugars, milk proteins, colourings etc etc etc.

healthy treats would include:

Cooked/raw liver, heart, meat etc
Any bits of fruit bar grapes and raisins
Any vegetables bar onions
Actual dog food, not all meals have to be given in a bowl, my dogs often get most of their daily ration during training right from 7 weeks old.

I certainly am not of the belief that puppies should be on the chunky side, fat puppies make for fat adults in all species; they should always have a waist.

The higher reward the more self control is required and if a dog is being correctly trained a high reward should be no detriment to stay training IMHO and E.

My dogs luuuurrve cheese and not just bog standard cheddar. I tend to buy a lot of goats & sheeps cheese as I am intolerant to cow's milk and the dogs love these. But, as others have said, their favourite treats are most effective if used sparingly. As far as commercially avaialble treats go, I try not to give many of these but I do buy one called Natures Menu. They come in 65g bags costing about 69p or so. Ingredients are: Meat & animal derivatives 95% including min chicken 30%, minerals. The treats are already quite small but I tend to half them again forour bigger dog and cut them into thirds for the puppy. My most commonly used treat is carrot (peeled and diced). They love it!!!

We started with whatever dried food as treats then moved onto Mattesons low fat smoked sausage. You find it in the cooked meats part of supermarkets. Use only about 1" per day and cut into tiny pieces, about the size of your little finger nail. Its not the size but the smell that they do their training deeds for. Our Bichon is now 15 months old. Also get liver muffins from Dog deli ( www.thedogdeli.co.uk) one muffin gets cut into eight pieces and used one piece per day. Again by the time you cut it into tiny pieces they will literally jump through hoops. Don't forget to give treats for returning toys and playing games as well as everyday manners. We play hide and seek games by putting a slit and stabbing holes into a tennis ball and hiding it all over the house and garden.
Good luck
Deb

PS Sorry just remembered you are getting a bigger pup than ours so quantities to reflect.

When mine were little I used their dog food as treat,:D got the sample kinds. I even use the jerky treats but I cut them up into tiny pieces and found one can go a long ways, I just put them all into a freezer bag. Hotdogs, carrots cut up seem to work real nice. I try to change them so they don't get bored, I also altranate between praise, treats and toys...

Congrats on ur puppy :)

I have seen them natures menu bags, maybe il give them a go! why do you think those pedigree puppy treats say you cant use them till their 4 months?

I use Nutures Menu treats as well (only occasionally) I also use grapes (cut in half) and cheese etc. Blues Mum, how is ur little boy doing now? Hope his eye is better. :-) I would love to see some pics! :D

Grapes and raisins are/can be poisonous to dogs :( Do a search on google

Thanks Melodysk, i will do that just now. :-( I had nop idea! It says in a book i have that you can give grapes! Oh dear! :-(

I just did a search, and you are right. It says in large quantities they are bad, but the info is pretty varied so i think i will stop using them just to be safe.

Thanks again Melodysk. ;-)

Just proves that information in books is not always correct. :-(

Hi mackleback, blues absolutely fine now, his eye is alot better, send me your email addy and i will send you some pics! :)
My retriever has good boy choc drops for his treats sometimes and i gave blue about 6 today, they got him sitting on command! lol
I started by giving him half, but coz his mouth is so big he prefered them whole! and after his little treats he sat for me and was pleased with a kiss and cuddle after instead of a choc drop :)

Training treats can be anything that motivates the dog.  If something is to be used as a 'reward' then it must be rewarding.  They should be of high value but small.   Because they do not form a major part of the diet then it does not matter too much what they are.  Having said that I would not waste money on commercially made treats and I do not like paying for preservatives and colourants anyway.

I would use a selection of:   cheese, liver, kidney, heart, sausage and if your dog likes fruit and veg then these can be used too.    

Hello Everyone!

Thank you very much for all of your replies, they are very helpful!  I must confess, I hadn't even considered carrots as an option!  I think I'll try and stick with as much natural food as possible for treats and as you suggest also use other rewards as well!!  I don't want a fat puppy!!!

I am goign to see her for the first time on Friday..........this is going to be a long week!!!!

Nx