Treats are an essential part of puppy training - they make training all the more fun and it’s an easy way to tell your pup “Hey! You’re doing a great job! I want you to keep doing this!”
So, the kind of treat you give your pup can have a tremendous impact on their health. It’s a part of their diet that even pet parents who are religious about healthy dog food often overlook.
The reality is, you may be feeding your pup healthy dog food 2 or 3x a day but the rest of the time, you’re giving them treats. Think about how many times you give your pup treats - for rewards and reinforcements, training, for some extra love, and sometimes just to get them to eat their food.
When treats are such a big part of your pups’ life and development, they should meet the same parameters as dog food. It doesn’t matter if you buy your pup the highest quality dog food when you feed them unhealthy treats because the damage is already done.
And we get it, with so many options at the local supermarket, it can be hard to narrow down the best treats. That’s why we’ve narrowed it down for you to make your shopping experience easier.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about training treats so that you can pick the best one that will have a positive impact on your pups’ health.
Pick the Treat Based on the Training
You want to have a variety of treats on hand that is tailored to the kind of training you’ll be doing that day.
Bite-Sized Training Treats
When you're teaching your dog commands i.e. sit, stay, come, lay down, etc., you want bite-sized treats that your little one can eat quickly and move along. If it takes a long time for your puppy to chew their treat, then you run into the risk of losing their focus.
Long-Lasting Treats
Sometimes, you need to have treats that are long-lasting - i.e. when your pup is teething, when you are trying to crate train your pup, or training them to be housebroken. These activities require your pups’ focus for a long period of time so you want a treat that will last as long as it takes for you to come back home or until they fall asleep.
This is especially important when your little one is going through teething. It's a natural behavior for your pup to try and bite everything to relieve the pain and discomfort of new teeth coming in. Obviously, you wouldn’t want your little one to bite your furniture or personal belongings that can be harmful to their health. You can correct this behavior by giving your pup a hard dog chew - it will keep them away from hazardous household items and provide a sense of relief for both of you.
Have a Taste Test
This may seem like a wild idea but dogs are sometimes picky eaters. When choosing a training treat, you want to get the one that will motivate your dog to perform the desired behavior over and over again until it becomes a habit. The best way to choose the perfect treat is to have your puppy taste test a bunch of different treats and pick the one that they seem to have a strong liking towards.
Opt for All-Natural Treats
This can’t be stressed enough. The key difference between good dog treats and bad dog treats is the ingredient and how they are made. Here’s a good rule of thumb: go with the treats that are made with ingredients that seem familiar right off the bat.
If a brand advertises 100% natural treats, the ingredient list should seem familiar to you. If you take a look at the ingredient list and can’t figure out what the main ingredients are - they’re most definitely unhealthy and not 100% natural.
Most commercial dry dog treats are heavily processed. What that does is suck all the nutrients away. During the last few steps, the brand goes back in and adds chemicals and/or preservatives to ensure long shelf life, and to make you think that you're getting the best nutrients. Now, these chemicals and preservatives may seem fine at first, however, when they interact with other components, they become toxic and can lead to various health risks including lowering your pups’ life expectancy.
When you get 100% natural treats, you’re avoiding all of this. You’re getting treats that are sourced straight from nature with the ingredients’ natural makeup unaltered. The nutrients are still intact and they work to maintain your pups’ health upon consumption.
Good Training Treats For Puppies
If you’re looking for some fur-baby approved healthy dog training treats for obedience training, try Dogsee Chew treats. These fan favorites are made with 100% natural ingredients without any preservatives. If that’s not enough, they’re also human grade and are grain/gluten-free.
They even have so many varieties for you to choose from - hard bars, soft training treats, and treats made from real fruits and veggies. If you have a dog with gluten intolerance or a sensitive stomach, Dogsees’ single ingredient treats are your savior. These treats come in four different flavors - apple, banana, beetroot, and coconut - so you can opt-out of the ingredients that don’t normally sit well with your pup.
Now that you know how to choose good puppy training treats, let the training begin! And, let us know which treats your pups go bonkers for.
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