This is my first post & I'd like to say HI and introduce myself. My name is Jenni & our family has a new pet. It's our first one. I never thought I would allow it while my kids are still so young and making messes of their own but it happened & we love him. A 5 wk old Min pin invaded our home 9 days ago, we picked him up from a friend on April 17th, '08. We did not know 5 weeks was too early to separate a pup from his mom and litter mates but the other 2 pups left were leaving in the next 2 days also. Whats done is done & we dedicated to raising him right. I love the show 'It's Me or the Dog", and have learned a lot.
Ok so, back to the subject. I want to know what Victoria is using as treats to so effectively traing the dogs on her show. I think it might be chicken. I wonder, if it is chicken, does that mean I have to cook a fresh breast of chicken every 3 days or so? Because I am not fond of cooking & actually never really cook in my house. We rely on a little bit of fast food and mostly take out... It's just me, thats the way it is in our home.
But if I gotta cook a chicken breast then so be it.
Thanks for reading and much love and luck to you and your lovely pets!!
Respectfully,
Jenni
Training Treats
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Training Treats
"Two hands working do more than a thousand clasped in prayer"
You can choose to eat whatever 
, but for the healthiest, happiest and most responsive dog possible, you need to feed decent food.
As you don't like cooking, why not cook up a couple of whole chickens at the same time, then when they have cooled you can strip off all the meat skin and gristle - doggie will love all of it - put it into bags in small portions and freeze it.
If you really want to go for broke, mix oatmeal up in the chicken fat until you have a biscuit-type consistency and bake very slowly for some tasty dog biscuits. You can freeze those as well.
, but for the healthiest, happiest and most responsive dog possible, you need to feed decent food.As you don't like cooking, why not cook up a couple of whole chickens at the same time, then when they have cooled you can strip off all the meat skin and gristle - doggie will love all of it - put it into bags in small portions and freeze it.
If you really want to go for broke, mix oatmeal up in the chicken fat until you have a biscuit-type consistency and bake very slowly for some tasty dog biscuits. You can freeze those as well.
Thanks for the reply... I definitely agree that everyone should feed their pets decent healthy food. I am against table scraps and am shocked when I see on the show what some of those pet owners are feeding their dogs. Right now we are using Nutro Natural Choice Lamb & Rice Puppy. The pet store recommended it. I have also found a couple different all natural and organic treats that he seems to like, though he has a little trouble chewing them up still so I break them into pieces for him. Maybe sometime I'll cook up some chicken, but for now I think the little treats will work just fine.
"Two hands working do more than a thousand clasped in prayer"
It doesnt really matter what Victoria uses as a training treat - you must use the treat your dog loves best!
I suspect she does use chicken, I am sure she will clear that up when she sees this post, roast chicken is good as its got quite a strong smell but is unlikely to upset a dogs tummy - v important if you need to do a lot of training and dont know if the dog is very sensitive to foods or not.
In my bait bag for showing at teh moment, I have a tin that used to contain pro dog liver treats - mostly it now contains dust from the liver treats (really stinky), some Natures Menu meaty treats, and some chopped up lumps of extremely stinky garlic salami.
I dont feed Kel the salami, thats too rich but it does mean everything ELSE pongs of it, so she is uber uber keen to do whatever for me (stand nice, look pretty, dont go in reverse and show the judge your tummy as you do rearing pony impressions...) because it smells very very yummy.
Ill probably change that round in a few weeks and stick some cheese in, some dog kibble (we have lots of dog food samples here, and cat food ones, all nice tiny tidbits for training!), perhaps some fishy skin treats as well.
Keeping a pot of mixed treats is a good idea (as long as they will keep), because then doggy never knows whats going to come out of the pot next. Will it be lovely yummy cheese, or slightly boring pork and rice kibble... is it salami flavoured stuff, or fishy.... oooooh.... *dribbles* (tea time for me i think!)
I suspect she does use chicken, I am sure she will clear that up when she sees this post, roast chicken is good as its got quite a strong smell but is unlikely to upset a dogs tummy - v important if you need to do a lot of training and dont know if the dog is very sensitive to foods or not.
In my bait bag for showing at teh moment, I have a tin that used to contain pro dog liver treats - mostly it now contains dust from the liver treats (really stinky), some Natures Menu meaty treats, and some chopped up lumps of extremely stinky garlic salami.
I dont feed Kel the salami, thats too rich but it does mean everything ELSE pongs of it, so she is uber uber keen to do whatever for me (stand nice, look pretty, dont go in reverse and show the judge your tummy as you do rearing pony impressions...) because it smells very very yummy.
Ill probably change that round in a few weeks and stick some cheese in, some dog kibble (we have lots of dog food samples here, and cat food ones, all nice tiny tidbits for training!), perhaps some fishy skin treats as well.
Keeping a pot of mixed treats is a good idea (as long as they will keep), because then doggy never knows whats going to come out of the pot next. Will it be lovely yummy cheese, or slightly boring pork and rice kibble... is it salami flavoured stuff, or fishy.... oooooh.... *dribbles* (tea time for me i think!)
Chicken
Hi Jenni,
Congradulations on the new pup. The first few months are a little tough, but you get what you put into it.
I replied to your post about Chaos and did not realize this was one of your first posts. I have only made a couple myself. The forum is great.
I had an 11 year old GSD that died last July, and rescued another, (Koa) from a puppy mill. One month later I was thinking I was crazy. He was so much work compaired to Bruin, but he was eight months old, not neutered, had no training and was scared of men. I had my work cut out for me. Now, it has been eight months and he is like a different dog. We have done two obedience classes, the Good Citizens test, and we are going to do agility next week. Don't get me wrong, he is still a LOT of work, but with love and time, he will be great. I guess things happen for a reason. I had to lose the best dog a person could have to safe a life of another. I am sure of it. Although I still miss my Bruin every day.
I think your "Two hands" quote is great.
Take care.
Liz
Congradulations on the new pup. The first few months are a little tough, but you get what you put into it.
I replied to your post about Chaos and did not realize this was one of your first posts. I have only made a couple myself. The forum is great.
I had an 11 year old GSD that died last July, and rescued another, (Koa) from a puppy mill. One month later I was thinking I was crazy. He was so much work compaired to Bruin, but he was eight months old, not neutered, had no training and was scared of men. I had my work cut out for me. Now, it has been eight months and he is like a different dog. We have done two obedience classes, the Good Citizens test, and we are going to do agility next week. Don't get me wrong, he is still a LOT of work, but with love and time, he will be great. I guess things happen for a reason. I had to lose the best dog a person could have to safe a life of another. I am sure of it. Although I still miss my Bruin every day.
I think your "Two hands" quote is great.
Take care.
Liz
Let's try this again
Hi Jenni,
I just submitted a post and the subject was "chicken", and never mentioned it.
I was going to say, I saw IMOTD last week and saw where Victoria used chicken and a whistle to get a dog to come. I do call Koa and he is pretty good about coming back, but not 100%, so after the show I cooked up some boneless chicken breast, cut it up and saved it. The first time I used it I when Koa was in the room, I told him to come, he did, I blew the whistle and gave him a small piece right away. I did not say anything. I did that three times, then sent him on his way, not letting him see where I put the chicken or the whistle. I did the same thing two more time during the week, and yesterday he was in the yard, I blew the whistle and he came running. It worked great. I did give him a litte bit of chicken, also. I don't want to say "come" yet because I don't want him to associate coming with always getting chicken. I have to think about that, how to handle it.
Anyway, longwinded, but my point is the chicken worked great.
Take care
Liz
I just submitted a post and the subject was "chicken", and never mentioned it.
I was going to say, I saw IMOTD last week and saw where Victoria used chicken and a whistle to get a dog to come. I do call Koa and he is pretty good about coming back, but not 100%, so after the show I cooked up some boneless chicken breast, cut it up and saved it. The first time I used it I when Koa was in the room, I told him to come, he did, I blew the whistle and gave him a small piece right away. I did not say anything. I did that three times, then sent him on his way, not letting him see where I put the chicken or the whistle. I did the same thing two more time during the week, and yesterday he was in the yard, I blew the whistle and he came running. It worked great. I did give him a litte bit of chicken, also. I don't want to say "come" yet because I don't want him to associate coming with always getting chicken. I have to think about that, how to handle it.
Anyway, longwinded, but my point is the chicken worked great.
Take care
Liz
Use what your dog LOVES. I know dos who will work for a dog biscuit but I know many dogs get them so frequently that they are not really good motivators. i train my cats with boiled chicken that I sliced up into the perfect size training treats and froze. When it's training time I throw some of the chicken into a cup of really hot water so they defrost (since you are doing it for a dog they might be to big to defrost this way) and they work wonders! easy too. For my Aunt's dog who I train I use lunch meat, ham or roast beef usually, they are her favorites. I also know a lot of people who slice up a hit dog really thin and microwave the slices until they are cooked and use that. Some people can even use toys, it would be useless with Phoebe but some dogs LOVE toys.
I buy ox liver ( big one) put my oven on lowest setting and very lighty spray with oil a few trays, then wipe off with a kitchen roll.
I throw the liver into a pan with water and bring to the boil for a few minutes. Allow to cool and slice thinly. spread on trays and throw into oven till dried out... a while, I never measured the time, just till completely dry and snap crispy. When it is completely dry I break into small pieces and store in a container, lasts for ages. I mean it keeps in a container in the cupboard.
Another doggy favourite is a large pack of chicken wings on special around a kilo. Again low setting, same deal with trays. I microwave the chicken for around 10 minutes then remove the meat from the bones and dry out the same as the liver
If I am feeling lazy I buy a chunk of chicken garlic polony and cut up. I always allow treats as part of the daily diet, not extra and my dogs have to work for all the food they get. I use their regular kibble for training throughout the day too, they never know which tasty treat they may get.
I make dog biscuits but sometimes I burn them
I throw the liver into a pan with water and bring to the boil for a few minutes. Allow to cool and slice thinly. spread on trays and throw into oven till dried out... a while, I never measured the time, just till completely dry and snap crispy. When it is completely dry I break into small pieces and store in a container, lasts for ages. I mean it keeps in a container in the cupboard.
Another doggy favourite is a large pack of chicken wings on special around a kilo. Again low setting, same deal with trays. I microwave the chicken for around 10 minutes then remove the meat from the bones and dry out the same as the liver
If I am feeling lazy I buy a chunk of chicken garlic polony and cut up. I always allow treats as part of the daily diet, not extra and my dogs have to work for all the food they get. I use their regular kibble for training throughout the day too, they never know which tasty treat they may get.
I make dog biscuits but sometimes I burn them
I have "tiers" of treats.
- Their normal kibble (usually for random reinforcement of behaviors that are already solid).
- dime-size old mother hubbard (or similar) biscuits. I keep them small, and these are the next tier because the dogs told me they like OMH better than their kibble. (Show & let them smell two treats, then hold them out and see which one they pick!)
- Soft "sausage roll" dog food cut into tiny bits for training. This is for training class when I need to give them a lot at once, need to have it in small bites, and not crunchy (slows ups down). These are big, solid "rolls" sold in most chain pet stores (in the US). I can't find them online at the moment, but they're great because they're soft, smelly, but have the same nutritional content as kibble, so pups don't get fat!
- boiled chicken. I quarter and de-bone a chicken (or buy boneless), cut in cubes about an inch thick, and boil. It takes very little time to boil through, and I usually cut the pieces a little smaller. This is for training something new and difficult.
- freeze dried liver treats...for teaching "find it!" and for a really really great recall. Basically this is my dog's "jackpot." They have made it very clear to me that it's the best that I've ever offered them.
- Their normal kibble (usually for random reinforcement of behaviors that are already solid).
- dime-size old mother hubbard (or similar) biscuits. I keep them small, and these are the next tier because the dogs told me they like OMH better than their kibble. (Show & let them smell two treats, then hold them out and see which one they pick!)
- Soft "sausage roll" dog food cut into tiny bits for training. This is for training class when I need to give them a lot at once, need to have it in small bites, and not crunchy (slows ups down). These are big, solid "rolls" sold in most chain pet stores (in the US). I can't find them online at the moment, but they're great because they're soft, smelly, but have the same nutritional content as kibble, so pups don't get fat!
- boiled chicken. I quarter and de-bone a chicken (or buy boneless), cut in cubes about an inch thick, and boil. It takes very little time to boil through, and I usually cut the pieces a little smaller. This is for training something new and difficult.
- freeze dried liver treats...for teaching "find it!" and for a really really great recall. Basically this is my dog's "jackpot." They have made it very clear to me that it's the best that I've ever offered them.
Sage is my 3 year old darling American Bulldog (CGC, PH). Lola, another American Bulldog, is 7 months (as of May 2008).
