All the things I wish I knew before I got my first ever puppy!
This is a list of Cooper’s favourite treats, as recommended by other people who said they were their dog’s favourite treats!
1. CHICKEN
This is a magic word in our house. No matter where Cooper is or what he is doing, if you call this word I guarantee he’ll be at your feet within 10 seconds. It’s what I take with me to puppy training every week, and months on he’s still responding to it as well as he did in the beginning.
Chicken is a good source of protein and easy on their stomachs. We only found out Cooper’s love for chicken when the vet told us to put him on chicken and rice when he was 11 weeks old and had a poorly tummy. Ever since then we’ve used it as treats for him. We usually boil 1-2 chicken breats a week to use as treats, then freeze the water it boiled in to mkae chicken flavoured ice cubes for him.
2. TRUE INSTINCT MEAT BITES
Cooper was given a couple of these in the pet store by one of the staff a couple of months ago. Up until that point we had tried to avoid giving him processed treats as he has a sensitive stomach at the best of times, but these actually, excuse the pun, went down a treat! They are grain free and come in a range of flavours including chicken, beef, lamb and turkey, and they are all 100% meat, no added fillers.
3. SAUSAGES
The cliche, everyone knows that dogs love sausages. The one and only thing that Cooper has ever tried to steal from our kitchen table was a sausage! It was also something that a trainer gave him as her treat of choice when she did a session with him. She just said cheap sausages are the best as you obviously don’t want them to be spiced or have for example, bits of onion in them (onions are poisonous to dogs). When I looked it up online I was surprised to see how many articles there are saying NOT to give your dogs sausage as 1 sausage is supposedly the equivalent of a human eating 3 burgers, but after some more googling it just seems to be one of those things that needs to be done in moderation- as long as you’re not feeding your dog endless sausages every day, it’s not going to do them any harm.
4. LAMB
He doesn’t get this often, only when we’re having roast lamb basically, but he LOVES it. From what I’ve gathered cooked meat is fine your dog as long as isn’t a fatty piece, has no bone in it and isn’t spiced or in any kind of sauce.
5. CHEESE
Up until a few weeks ago I thought that I was the most cheese obsessed person in the house- that was until I gave Cooper a piece. He went CRAZY for it. Cheddar, mozzarella and cottage cheese are all okay for your dogs, but just as it is for humans, it’s very high in fat so moderation is key. Also if you suspect that your dog is lactose intolerant, then I wouldn’t recommend it!
6. PIZZLE/BULLY STICK
I know this is technically a chew, but I’ve found it’s a great thing to use as a reward when he’s been good or showing good behaviour. For example, for the first month or so, when we were eating, Cooper would be jumping up at us non stop trying to get our attention (and probably our food!), when he stopped, or when he chose to sit in his bed instead of pestering us, we would reward him with a pizzle/bully stick as a way of reinforcing the good behaviour and showing him that it was a behaviour that we wanted.
7. PEANUT BUTTER
Or ‘Peamutt butter’ as it’s also called. You can use regular human peanut butter but you need to ensure it does not have an ingredient called Xylitol in it. Personally I just buy ‘Peamutt butter’ from the pet store, that way I don’t need to worry about what is and isn’t in it! Peanut butter goes great with either a lick mat or a kong and is a great way to amuse your dog, tiring them out mentally as well as physically. I use peanut butter daily almost at the moment, while we’re getting Cooper used to been at home alone, I put peanut butter on his lick mat as something to distract him while I leave.
8. SALMON
Admittedly my step dad wasn’t too happy when he found out that some of his salmon dinner had been kept back for the dog, but like chicken and lamb, Cooper goes mad for it. If you have the time and ability to do it, you can also make ‘salmon cake’ for your dog, one of our local trainers absolutely swears by it!
9. BABY CARROTS
Excellent for teething puppies and a great low calorie high fibre/vitamin A treat. We were recommended frozen carrots by a family friend with a teething Labrador and, as we were at our wits end with Cooper teething, tried them with him, they aren’t AS popular as the meat treats, but definitely one up above his kibble.
10. KIBBLE
Bit of a boring one to finish on, but the most sensible on a daily basis. If you feed your dog high value treats all the time, the chances are the value of them will lessen because they know they can always have them and also, you’ll probably end up with a very fat dog! For day to day treats and for treats to use as distractions around the house, use some of your dogs kibble. Save the other treats for specific training exercises or when you’re out and about.
