Treats We Love & How We Use Them
If you have a pup, you’ve likely bought a variety of treats for them over time. Treats are not only a great way to train and reward your pup, but they’re a great way to manage their health and wellness. As the creators of a treat bag (TreatTeek), we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about types of treats and their purpose… and wanted to share.
Treat usage is, of course, pup specific. We’re not pet nutritionists. Your pup might be allergic to certain things or have a sensitive tummy, so please be mindful what you feed your dog. We recently had to severely restrict Barak’s diet in particular, so unfortunately he doesn’t get to even partake in some of these categories!
Trainer Treats
Our pups are very food motivated, so we use treats whenever we’re training or want them to demonstrate a certain behavior. Small-sized, medium-value, easily breakable treats are great for training sessions or outdoor rewards. Don’t worry about having large treats for training, your pup will understand they’ve done a good job when they receive a reward, regardless of how large the actual treat is. Training treats are also great for use during walks or as stuffing for a kong or puzzle toy.
For easy access, we pack our training treats into a TreatTeek, which we can clip to a belt loop when training indoors or to a leash for easy access during walks. Check out TreatTeek here and get your own!
Here are two of our favorite training treats:
Cloud Star Tricky Trainers - Cloud Star makes a variety of treats, but we think the Tricky Trainer line is the best for training sessions or on a walk. Tricky Trainer treats come in Soft & Chewy or Crunchy varieties, with each option being small and easy to break into halves or fourths. They have a variety of flavors, so you will want to figure out which your pup enjoys most. In our case, Barak seems to like them all while SoomSoom prefers the Salmon or Liver and will turn her nose up at the other flavors.
Merrick Power Bites - Merrick is best known for their dog food line, but we think their Power Bites treats are a great option for training. Each treat is small and easy to break in half with a quick pinch of the fingertips, meaning that you can quickly reward your pup for their good behaviors without having to pause to break up more treats or worrying that your pup will be overfed.
Picture Treats
Love taking pictures of your pup? Perhaps you have particular treats to get them to look at you… or better yet, to get them to make a particular face (whether it’s wide-eyed and happy or toothy or drool-y).
We use a variety of treats to get their attention when we’re outside and trying to take photos, but usually err towards higher value treats like Buckley’s jerky or Spot Farm’s sausage rounds to get and hold their attention. To get the pups to make toothy faces, we go for crunchy treats, whether it’s Buckley’s puffy treats or a Naked Beast chicken heart that requires the pups to put a little teeth into their bite.
Kong Treats
We usually stuff kongs (or other treat dispensing toys) with 1-3 trainer treats (Cloud Star Tricky Trainers & Merrick Power Bites are still great for this) and stop them up with a medium-value treat like Buckley’s jerky or Spot Farm’s sausage rounds. We give each pup a kong when we leave the apartment as a distraction from our departure. They now almost seem to look forward to us leaving because they love their kong time!
Human Nomz Treats
As a general rule, we don’t feed Barak and SoomSoom human food. There are two main reasons for this: 1) we didn’t want them to develop begging habits at meals and 2) we don’t want to mess with their gut health by introducing human foods into their diets. We do make some exceptions, however. We found that the pups love some fruits and vegetables and treat them as high-value rewards. While we’re careful to keep their consumption of these foods to a minimum, we do like to give them the occasional fruit or veggie snecc.
Apples - Apples were the first human foods that Barak and SoomSoom loved. In fact, we taught Barak to give us kisses using tiny bits of apple as a reward. SoomSoom never quite got the hang of it, though, and will attempt to just lick our noses if she sees an apple slice appear. Apples are great treats for dogs, but be careful to use them in moderation since they are high in sugar. A single apple slice yields a lot of tiny apple treat pieces and will probably do the trick for any treating you have planned.
Carrots - Like apples, tiny bits of baby carrots are a favorite of Barak and SoomSoom. Carrots are a healthy, low-calorie treat and there are some indications that they can help decrease your pup’s stress levels. When giving your dog carrots, be sure to cut them into small, bite-sized pieces to prevent choking.
Cheese - We don’t actually use cheese as a treat, but it is a good food to feed pills to our pups with. Be sure to check what types of cheese are okay for dogs to eat - some have ingredients that won’t sit well in your pup’s stomach. Additionally, don’t over treat with cheese since it is high in fat.
Teeth Cleaning Treats
You may be diligent and brush your pup’s teeth every day or week… but I’m guessing you may feel like you’re missing some spots when brushing and probably don’t floss. Chicken feet and duck feet are great at scrubbing off plaque build up and strengthening gums. So while you shouldn’t stop brushing, there’s no reason not to take advantage of nature’s toothbrushes too!
Distraction Treats
One of the greatest challenges we’ve had in training Barak is his behavior when we have guests come over (less relevant during the pandemic, but still noting as we’re hopeful for a future that involves guests again!). He barks, lunges, and is generally not the kindest host. Over time, we mastered sending him to “place” when people come over… but while he’ll rest calmly in his place when we’re home alone, when we have guests he’ll either leave his place after a few moments or continue barking at our guest from his place.
In order to distract him and help him calm down when guests come over, we give the pups super high value, long-lasting chews. Our favorite is the lamb shank from Naked Beasts (but they have a whole page dedicated to long lasting chews here). It’s the longest lasting chew we’ve ever gotten - the pups will chew on the bones well after they’ve chewed off all the meat. Barak’s attention is usually easily diverted from the intruding human to such a chew, allowing us to have guests over without a continuous cacophony of barks and dance to keep him safely away from guests.
Just one note: such treats can be *very* rich, so make sure to give your pup whatever it is in moderation so you don’t have to deal with an upset tummy afterwards.
Gut Cleaner
As we began being more conscious of the treats we fed the pups these past few years, we made a big discovery: they can not only eat fur and feathers, but it’s also good for them! Whether it’s a rabbit foot or a lamb ear or a feathered bird (Naked Beasts has a page for these goodies here), the fur and feathers can be consumed and provides a natural means of cleansing their intestinal walls and colon. By allowing the natural fibers of fur and feathers to sweep your pup’s intestinal walls, they’re able to absorb minerals and nutrients more efficiently.
So while it may not feel pleasant to give your pup a rabbit foot or a whole quail, it’s good to remind yourself that it’s really good for them.
Beautiful Fur Treats
Certain treats can help keep your pup’s fur beautiful, shiny, and soft. Some of our favorites include Naked Beasts oysters and anything with omega-6 (many fish, such as mahi mahi and salmon, are high in omega-6).
Special Occasion Treats
On special occasions, we like to give the pups higher value chews. Some of their favorites include Naked Beast poultry necks and wings. They have the added benefit of helping clean your pup’s teeth - all that chomping helps remove plaque!