- “Sit!”
- “Stand”
- “Shake hands”
- “Twirl”
- “Ok, fetch”
Don’t we love it when our dog obeys our instructions? Well, for that to happen, you need to train them correctly. However, training dogs is easier said than done. Most dogs throw tantrums or go into a frenzy when being trained.
But, one easy way to ensure your dog gets trained is by luring them with their favorite or delicious treats. Your dog will pay attention and obey your instructions in the hope of getting to eat the treats.
With so many options available on the market for healthy dog food training treats, how do you determine which one to choose? Do you simply try new treats and see which ones your dog likes? This can turn out to be a lengthy and tiring process.
And even if you find a training treat your dog likes, how do you know it is safe for your dog and will not harm them? To ensure that the training treats are safe for your dog while being tasty and healthy, you must pay attention to certain things while picking the dog training treats.
This blog has discussed six things you must check while choosing dog training treats.
What to Look For in Dog Training Treats?
With the dog training treats market flooded with various products, how do you determine which ones are best and which ones are bad for your dog? Well, here is a checklist that will help you buy the right healthy dog food for training purposes.
It Should Comprise Healthy Dog Food Ingredients
One of the key things to check while buying dog training treats is to check the ingredients. Ensure that the treats can help fulfill your dog’s daily nutritional needs.
For example, the treats should be rich in proteins and carbohydrates to help meet your dog’s energy needs. Similarly, they should have a low-fat content to avoid weight gain in your dog.
The Treats Should Be Bite-Sized
During training sessions, treats are given to your dog at regular intervals when he completes a task successfully. Thus, you must ensure that the treats are bite-sized and can be eaten quickly.
Providing your dog with a long-lasting or large treat can shift their focus from the training session to the dog treat. They will eventually lose interest in the training, which defeats the purpose.
Thus, ensure that the treats are small in size so that your dog can eat and finish them quickly, and then you can proceed to teach them the next trick.
You can feel the dog treat packaging from the outside to check the size of the treats. Alternatively, you can also order a small dog food sample to check the treat size. If you are happy with it, you can order a large pack on your next purchase.
The Dog Food Should Be Safe to Consume
Even if advertised as healthy, most dog foods contain artificial preservatives, flavor, or coloring. This is done to enhance the shelf life, look, and taste of the dog food. However, adding such agents can cause numerous health issues for your dog.
For example, preservatives like BHA and BHT can lead to food allergies and even cancer. Similarly, glutamate in the form of MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG) can lead to brain damage.
Thus, ensure that your pet’s food is free from harmful ingredients to ensure that your pet remains healthy and safe.
It Should Not Contain Any Ingredient Your Dog Is Allergic To
Your dog may be allergic to certain ingredients. Consuming them can impact your dog’s gut health and lead to irritation, itching, sneezing, and scratching. Thus, to avoid such problems, check the dog training treats to see if they contain any ingredients your dog is allergic to.
If you don’t want to go through the hassle, you can opt for dog training treats made from hypoallergenic ingredients. Hypoallergenic dog treats are specifically prepared for dogs with food allergies. They don’t contain any common allergens that can lead to food allergies.
You can choose dog training treats made from crickets, silver carp fish, black soldier flies, or seaweed, as they have been found to have excellent hypoallergenic properties. Moreover, these treats are highly nutritious, enabling you to meet your dog’s daily nutritional requirements.
The Treats Should Be Easy to Carry
The final thing you should check for in dog training treats is the packaging. Ensure that the treats come in easy, resealable, and convenient packaging. This can help you carry them easily to different locations while training your dog. Moreover, it also helps keep the treats safe from dust, moisture, insects, and other factors that can degrade the quality of the treats.
Make Sure That the Treats Are Soft to Chew
Soft treats are ideal if you have puppies at home who have yet to develop their teeth and gums fully. Similarly, if your dog has poor dental health and is unable to chew on hard things, you must provide him with soft treats.
We hope that now you will be able to make better-informed decisions regarding buying dog training treats. But before we bid adieu, here are some dog-treating tips that will help during training sessions.
Dog Treating Tips During Training Sessions
Here are some easy-to-follow tips that will help you during your dog’s training sessions.
Always Have Your Pockets Filled
If you have a dog at home, we advise you to always have your pocket filled with dog training treats. This will help you arrange impromptu mini-training sessions and instantly reward your dog for positive behavior.
Treat the Dog After They Are in a Calm State
One of the key things to remember is to treat your dog only after they obey your order and are in a calm, submissive state. This will help deeply reinforce the behavior you are treating them for.
Don’t Overfeed Them
After your dog obeys your command, you must feed them just one or two treat pieces. If you keep feeding them more, your dog will spend more time eating and might lose focus on the training.
Switch Things Up
Your dog might get bored eating the same treats for a long time. Hence, we recommend you keep switching your dog’s treats to keep them engaged, motivated, and interested in the training sessions.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How Many Treats to Give Dogs During Training?
It is advisable to give your dog just one or a maximum of two treats per executed command.
2. Is Training Your Dog With Treats Bad?
No, using treats is good for dog training and can help speed up the process.
3. When Do I Need to Stop Giving My Dog Training Treats?
Well, you don’t need to stop giving your dog training treats completely. You can reduce the training sessions or shorten the duration to reduce the number of treats your dog gets.
Parting Thoughts
Now that you know everything you need, it’s time to get your healthy dog food training treats and start training your dog. Remember that training a dog requires patience. But, with the proper techniques, skills, and knowledge, you can train them easily.
On that note, we take your leave!