With two dogs currently (one puppy and one 12 year old senior, both Golden Retrievers) and a few others in my past, I’ve done a LOT of dog treat buying. I’m big on rewarding good behavior to let dogs/puppies know when they’re doing what they should be. Every time we get a new pup, I’m sure to listen (or read) Cesar’s book on how to raise the perfect puppy. It’s filled with great tactics to avoid common ‘bad dog’ behavior, and it’s been the cornerstone to our continued love of family dogs!
But rewarding good behavior comes with its own challenges, mostly in TIMING… you need to have a treat ready the moment the dog (or puppy) does something you want it to do. Wait a moment too long, and you’re just feeding the dog a tasty treat. I’ve always used the 3-second rule for rewarding good behavior; to get the best results, treat the dog within 3 seconds of the behavior you want it to repeat. That means you need to have treats on you – in your pockets or whatever – so you’re not fumbling to grab a treat when the dog does something good.
In my opinion, dog treats need to have 4 qualities in order to fit the bill for good training: Small, convenient, really tasty, and healthy. In my search, lots of treats that are small, convenient and tasty aren’t healthy. And if they are healthy, they typically are lacking in one of the other critical features. The closest I had come for a really long time were freeze-dried liver treats (which I still recommend for treats that need to be given in a specific place every time, such as where you crate your puppy or put their leash on). But they were still a compromise, especially on the convenience front. They aren’t the same size, big chunks need to be broken into small ones, smaller chunks leave a powder-like residue, and they tend to crumble when they are broken up.
My go-to for leash training young puppies is chopped up organic hot dogs, but that’s a planned event and even that has downsides (especially getting “hot dog” fingers that smell like a butcher’s shop even after washing your hands…!). It involves ziploc bags, chopping the treat before hand, mess, etc…
But one day I was suggested to try out Paul Newman’s Dog Treats. It was an inexpensive trial, so I bought a bag and gave it a shot. Long story short, I now buy these by the case – they’re the PERFECT treat for training your puppy or dog!
First, they’re small – the tiny heart-shaped biscuits actually snap in half (they’re even scored in the middle!) and are perfect for a little reward that lasts a long time. Second, they’re convenient – they have a hard, biscuit texture to them so you can easily put a few in your pocket and they won’t crumble into powder and crumbs while walking or even running. Third, they’re tasty. While my dogs are the ultimate test for this, I have actually tasted them (yeah, I’m one of those people…). While I know that’s not the safest thing in the world (there’s like no regulations for pet stuff), they don’t have any ingredients inside of them that a human couldn’t eat. And if it makes me sick, the dogs don’t get it. That leads me to the fourth quality – healthy. They aren’t over-caloric, nor do they have any bizarre chemical ingredients inside of them. They’re made with organic ingredients to boot, so it gets an A+ from me in that department.