Training reward treats

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:42 pm

What does everyone use as training reward treats? I am looking for something that wont mess with a young pups digestive system. I have used small pieces of meat and cheese with my daughters service dog but she was already older. I am afraid of some of the premade treats from the store. Any one make their own? I am wanting something that I can keep in a pouch with me that wont spoil. The pup will be going to work with me everyday so I want to have it on hand.

Thanks in advance

Post by **ezzy333** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:49 pm

I have never used treats for field training but did boil liver till it was real dry and use it in the show ring. It would keep and was easy to handle and use.

Ezzy

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:08 pm

I've never been big on treat's. But recently I read somewhere about turning pheasant into dog treats, I could do that but I'm not crazy about pheasants and so don't target them. But out in the barn I have a freezer with a few very old freezer burned chicken's. I took one out and boiled it down then took piece's and dried them out in a dryer. Dog's like them very well.

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:13 pm

OK, what do you use as positive reinforcement? I have only used a toy or treats.

Higgins · Post by **Higgins** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:17 pm

When I'm training birddogs........I use birds.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:37 pm

I have been training with treats since 1960.

I buy the big box of jerky strips and cut them into squares. I always have some in my shirt pocket, I look for reasons to use them. I trade them for retrieved birds, for a point, for here, for just being near me.

I can tell you for a fact that 2x National Champion Shadow Oak Bo was trained with treats.

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:41 pm

getzapped wrote:What does everyone use as training reward treats? I am looking for something that wont mess with a young pups digestive system. I have used small pieces of meat and cheese with my daughters service dog but she was already older. I am afraid of some of the premade treats from the store. Any one make their own? I am wanting something that I can keep in a pouch with me that wont spoil. The pup will be going to work with me everyday so I want to have it on hand.

Thanks in advance

If it's a dry food kibble you feed the dog , then don't feed it in the bowl once or twice a day , feed it with the same for doing what you want. (If that's the route you want to take)..It wont spoil ! ...unless the dog doesn't do what you want of course , but then , I'm sure they will keep , in your treat bag until tomorrow

Post by **Sharon** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:24 pm

That's what I use- some of their regular kibble.

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:08 pm

Higgins wrote:When I'm training birddogs........I use birds.

I understand that aspect. And thats how I will do it. But it is just not plausible to carry around a pouch of birds at work or in my front room.

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:09 pm

Neil wrote:I have been training with treats since 1960.

I buy the big box of jerky strips and cut them into squares. I always have some in my shirt pocket, I look for reasons to use them. I trade them for retrieved birds, for a point, for here, for just being near me.

I can tell you for a fact that 2x National Champion Shadow Oak Bo was trained with treats.

I like that idea.

deseeker · Post by **deseeker** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:21 pm

If you are going to use treats, a piece of kibble from your regular dog food (if you use dry food) should work.

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:36 pm

I dont pick her up until this sunday. I want to see what the breeder is feeding her. I dont want to buy a different brand and possibly cause an issue off the bat. I am supposed to speak with them Friday to make arrangements for pickup I will ask then.

Scott Linden · Post by **Scott Linden** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:05 pm

Expensive, but handy and healthy: Zuke's. Nice backstory, but they are now owned by one of the big companies (Purina?). Small bits, you can even break them into smaller pieces so they go a long way.

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:26 am

Birds and/or praise. Can be used together or separately - quite versatile lol.

Nutmeg247 · Post by **Nutmeg247** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:50 am

It sounds like, with the dog being with you all day at work, you will be giving the dog food rewards regularly in amounts that add up by day's end. So I'd agree with kibble for that, and simply measuring the kibble given and accounting for it as part of total food intake.

For focused training, simply cooking bacon fairly crisp seems to work well, as do hot dogs cut in bits. I'm sure all the additives are bad if the dog eats a lot of these though.

I've made liver biscuits that worked well. But, they have too much flour imo for them to be good as a staple, so commercial kibble again seems better for everyday use.

RickB · Post by **RickB** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:27 am

I would NOT recommend simply using kibble. It has to be special and fairly rare in order for the dog to work for it. Kibble is the same, day in and day out. As for messing with the digestive system, you simply will not know until you try. Get a variety of treats and switch between them. Things I have used:
raw beef
cooked poultry
cheese
store bought freeze dried liver

In your training, you will constantly be working against self rewarding behaviors and procrastination. Self reinforcing behavior is when the actual behavior feels good or yields good results. Procrastination occurs when the reward is not worth the effort, so the behavior is delayed.

In your living room and back yard, your treats will be the best thing going. but you get to a field and the dog gets away from you a bit, all the wonderful smells are worth way more than your treats. A piece of cheese is not as interesting as every new thing "out there".

So, training a dog while in the field is going to take birds, and a lot of them. Sex is probably the only thing more important than birds to these dogs.

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:38 am

RickB wrote:
In your living room and back yard, your treats will be the best thing going. but you get to a field and the dog gets away from you a bit, all the wonderful smells are worth way more than your treats. A piece of cheese is not as interesting as every new thing "out there".

I know what you mean, when I trained my beagle on rabbits there was absolutely no way to get her off a scent. She would run it until it was dead. Using treats with a beagle was a big mistake on my part, Those little hounds only care about food and rabbits. If you had a treat everything else went out the window.

Basically, I am wanting to use reinforcement for obedience, field training will be a different style. I'm sure there will be mistakes.

Thanks for all the info.

GSP4ME · Post by **GSP4ME** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:35 pm

RickB wrote:I would NOT recommend simply using kibble. It has to be special and fairly rare in order for the dog to work for it. Kibble is the same, day in and day out. As for messing with the digestive system, you simply will not know until you try. Get a variety of treats and switch between them...

So, training a dog while in the field is going to take birds, and a lot of them. Sex is probably the only thing more important than birds to these dogs.

Obviously all dogs are different, but both of mine would knock down walls and steal money from old women to get at their "regular" food. I've had dogs in the past that weren't quite so food driven so I understand the need to use something different for some dogs but if you've got an extremely food driven dog, no reason to worry with special treats.

Post by **Sharon** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:41 pm

GSP4ME wrote:
RickB wrote:I would NOT recommend simply using kibble. It has to be special and fairly rare in order for the dog to work for it. Kibble is the same, day in and day out. As for messing with the digestive system, you simply will not know until you try. Get a variety of treats and switch between them...

So, training a dog while in the field is going to take birds, and a lot of them. Sex is probably the only thing more important than birds to these dogs.

Obviously all dogs are different, but both of mine would knock down walls and steal money from old women to get at their "regular" food. I've had dogs in the past that weren't quite so food driven so I understand the need to use something different for some dogs but if you've got an extremely food driven dog, no reason to worry with special treats.

Exactly what I was thinking concerning my dogs, when I recommended kibble.

RickB · Post by **RickB** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:35 pm

GSP4ME wrote: Obviously all dogs are different, but both of mine would knock down walls and steal money from old women to get at their "regular" food. I've had dogs in the past that weren't quite so food driven so I understand the need to use something different for some dogs but if you've got an extremely food driven dog, no reason to worry with special treats.

Ah...good point! Adding to this...there is an idea from learning theory called the variable schedule. A high-falutin term for changing things up gets more drive. Don't give a treat every time. Don't give the same treat every time. Sometimes, give a huge reward. When I train, I will, in a single session, give commercial treats and cheese. Sometimes I give nothing. Variance builds drive.

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:59 pm

There is a low -falutin term called 'A hungry dog is a dog in need of a treat' .
The value is of no consequence ,just the treat.
What the dog does for this has greater value than the product it receives.

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