# What are your favorite training rewards?



## have2havit (Oct 19, 2011)

Hi - It looks like we are pretty close to getting our dog! The breeder we selected has both puppies and adult dogs available, so we are not yet sure which dog we are going to be matched with. Regardless, it looks like a bit of training is going to be needed whether puppy or adult. The breeder says that training is not something she focused on w/her dogs. So...

I'd like to know what you use as training rewards (aside from lots of praise?) I have been watching some training videos and one trainer uses cheese a lot. What types of training treats do you use? (We will enroll in obedience classes, but this is for help w/our training at home.) - Sharon


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## Lsprick (Jul 8, 2010)

Hi, Sharon, welcome and I'm so excited for you! Nothing like a new puppy, especially a Hav. I do alot of training with my two and use different treats. Low value treats for easy access are Multi-grain Cheerios and Milk Bones (broken into small pieces). I use this to reward recall in the yard and for learning agility hand signals. High value treats are turkey hot dogs (sliced into small discs), homemade salmon treats, chicken breast pieces, Bil-Jac liver treats. If I don't rotate treats when training for agility, my dog gets bored. 

My dogs love cheese, but it tends to get stuck in their teeth and I don't want them distracted from the task at hand. 

Now I'm going to sit back and see what others post, as I'm always looking for good ideas.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I think anyone who does serious training with their dog will tell you pretty much what Lsprik has. You need to have a heirarchy of treats from low to highvalue. Exactly what those are depend somewhat on the dog, the owner and the stage of training.

For Kodi now, my low value treats are either Chrlee Bears or other small, breakable "cracker" type treats. Medium value would be either home made treats or one of the smelly, soft treats like Zuke's Minis or Tricky Trainers. High value treats right now are duck "Thinkers" or freeze dried lamb lung.

The duck Thinkers trump ANYTHING else... I have been able to call him off a dead carcass in the woods by saying, "Want a piece of duck."ound:

The important things are to rotate things so they don't get bored, save your highest value treats for when you really need them, and make sure the treats are something they can chew and swallow quickly without choking. You also want stuff that can be broken into TINY pieces and doled out easily, since you'll be treating A LOT in the beginning.

When the puppy is young, and learning the basics, "wet" treats like hot dogs, chicken breast, deli meat, cheese, rooled dog food, etc. can be really motivating. However, you need to keep these in a bait bag or something, because they disintegrate and make a mess if you keep them in your pocket. Eventually, you'll get to the point where you don't want the food so obvious. You will be rewarding tasks done properly rather than luring behaviors. At that point, you need to keep the food totally hidden in your pocket, and dryier things that hold together better become better choices.


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## Lsprick (Jul 8, 2010)

Ahh-haa! Duck Thinkers? Amazon here I come, lol!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Not sure why the breeder is picking your dog for you but ,I would worry more about overall training. Here is some reading if you are interested. Before You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/before_puppy_sirius.pdf

After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AFTER You Get Your Puppy.pdf


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## Becky Chittenden (Feb 4, 2009)

At home, they ju$t get what i$ handy. I $how in conformation and hold back whatever the dog like$ the be$t. With Oliver it'$ bacon or roa$ted chicken.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lsprick said:


> Ahh-haa! Duck Thinkers? Amazon here I come, lol!


I actually have to be careful with thhem because they are SO high value for him. I only use them when I REALLY think the distractions might be high, or if he seems to be tiring at a long trial.

I made the mistake of using them at one AKC trial, where you can't have food in the ring, the way you can in APDT. I was using them warming him up, and they called me to go into the ring. I still had 2 or 3 pieces in my pocket, and not knowing what to do with them at the last moment, I just took them out and put them on the corner of the steward's table. Well, of course Kodi saw me do it. At the first 3 or 4 signs, he did what he was supposed to, but then SLAMMED me with his feet, like he was saying, "Hey, Mom, you left the Thinkers back on that TABLE, Mom... we gotta go back and GET Them!!!"ound: Fortunately, he settled down after that, and we Q'd with a decent score, but it wasn't our prettiest run!:biggrin1:


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## have2havit (Oct 19, 2011)

davetgabby said:


> Not sure why the breeder is picking your dog for you but ,I would worry more about overall training. Here is some reading if you are interested. Before You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar http://www.siriuspup.com/pdfs/before_puppy_sirius.pdf
> 
> After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar http://www.dogstardaily.com/files/AFTER You Get Your Puppy.pdf


we are actually picking our dog from a variety of different dogs. i meant "matched" in the sense that i don't know which dog will like us as much as we like them. we get to spend time with all of them, which we're excited about doing.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

have2havit said:


> we are actually picking our dog from a variety of different dogs. i meant "matched" in the sense that i don't know which dog will like us as much as we like them. we get to spend time with all of them, which we're excited about doing.


 So long as you're comfortable with her recommedations. I',m just a little leary if she's recommending the best dog for you. When someone admits that they don't "focus" on training, it sort of bothers me. You are the one that has to decide which dog is for you.


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## have2havit (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks for the good ideas. I've been reading a lot of training books and watching videos, and the trainers often talk about low to high value treats but don't actually give too many examples. I'm happy to have some ideas to get started.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

here's another article if you're interested. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/choosing-your-puppy-8-weeks


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## have2havit (Oct 19, 2011)

davetgabby said:


> So long as you're comfortable with her recommedations. I',m just a little leary if she's recommending the best dog for you. When someone admits that they don't "focus" on training, it sort of bothers me. You are the one that has to decide which dog is for you.


Oh yes, absolutely. She's not actually recommending as much as she's letting us have time to sit with and get to know her dogs before choosing. We are the ones choosing. We're not set on a particular color or age, and get to see several generations of the same family when we visit.

I was a little concerned when she admitted that she doesn't always do that good of a job with training. Do you see that as a red flag? I'm not sure how much training a breeder is supposed to do with their dogs. What is your feeling on that? I appreciate your feedback.

One thing that I do wonder is how difficult it is to train an older dog vs a puppy (since we may come home with either a puppy or a juvenile or an adult.) Particularly if the older dog hasn't had a great deal of training already. Of course, I don't really know what "not doing a good job with training" really means. It's hard to tell until we go visit. I'm definitely prepared to put in the work that's required though. (At least, I'm prepared to do my best and get help when needed. )

Overall though, I've been happy with my contact with the breeder so far.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

have2havit said:


> Oh yes, absolutely. She's not actually recommending as much as she's letting us have time to sit with and get to know her dogs before choosing. We are the ones choosing. We're not set on a particular color or age, and get to see several generations of the same family when we visit.
> 
> I was a little concerned when she admitted that she doesn't always do that good of a job with training. Do you see that as a red flag? I'm not sure how much training a breeder is supposed to do with their dogs. What is your feeling on that? I appreciate your feedback.
> 
> ...


 Yeah to me it's a big red flag. The breeder is greatly responsible for starting the puppies off. Please read the articles I mentioned. You do sound eager to learn. But there's lots to look at and those articles talk about it. The last article talks about what to look for. Do you have anyone knowledgable about dogs to go with you to select. That might be a plus. If you decide on a puppy, the earlier you get it the better. Why are older dogs available?


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## LunasMom (Sep 11, 2011)

krandall said:


> I actually have to be careful with thhem because they are SO high value for him. I only use them when I REALLY think the distractions might be high, or if he seems to be tiring at a long trial.
> 
> I made the mistake of using them at one AKC trial, where you can't have food in the ring, the way you can in APDT. I was using them warming him up, and they called me to go into the ring. I still had 2 or 3 pieces in my pocket, and not knowing what to do with them at the last moment, I just took them out and put them on the corner of the steward's table. Well, of course Kodi saw me do it. At the first 3 or 4 signs, he did what he was supposed to, but then SLAMMED me with his feet, like he was saying, "Hey, Mom, you left the Thinkers back on that TABLE, Mom... we gotta go back and GET Them!!!"ound: Fortunately, he settled down after that, and we Q'd with a decent score, but it wasn't our prettiest run!:biggrin1:


Karen, what a funny story. I can just see Kodi slamming. I now realize that "slamming" is what Luna does when she wants my attention--it's with the front feet bouncing off my lower leg, right?


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## Momo means Peach (Jun 7, 2011)

LunasMom said:


> Karen, what a funny story. I can just see Kodi slamming. I now realize that "slamming" is what Luna does when she wants my attention--it's with the front feet bouncing off my lower leg, right?


Lol! I get that when I'm putting her chicken wings into baggies for the freezer. Even if I just fed her some, she wants more and bounces off my legs constantly until I'm done.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

LunasMom said:


> Karen, what a funny story. I can just see Kodi slamming. I now realize that "slamming" is what Luna does when she wants my attention--it's with the front feet bouncing off my lower leg, right?


Yup! That's the move!ound:


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## rlewis (Sep 20, 2011)

Kobe will do anything for a cheerio. That is what the breeder told me to use. Low in calorie, cheap and fairly good ingredients!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

rlewis said:


> Kobe will do anything for a cheerio. That is what the breeder told me to use. Low in calorie, cheap and fairly good ingredients!!


Well, they are fine as long as the dog has no grain allergies. But they are a pretty low value treat. If you are doing serious training with your dog, you find that you need many different kinds of treats, an a hierarchy, from low value to high value.


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## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

Dunbar suggests that liver treats are high value. with a puppy, he suggests using liver treats for housetraining rewards. Dunbar's book on Before and After you get a puppy is excellent. I am learning so much from it as well as the forum. I am waiting for Dunbar's Sirius Training DVD to arrive.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

loriabigail said:


> Dunbar suggests that liver treats are high value. with a puppy, he suggests using liver treats for housetraining rewards. Dunbar's book on Before and After you get a puppy is excellent. I am learning so much from it as well as the forum. I am waiting for Dunbar's Sirius Training DVD to arrive.


Yup, most dogs love freeze-dried liver. And you can get it in a number of varieties. Kodi can't have beef, but we get chicken, turkey and bison liver treats. I also get fresh chicken livers, and make home made baked treats with those.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

loriabigail said:


> Dunbar suggests that liver treats are high value. with a puppy, he suggests using liver treats for housetraining rewards. Dunbar's book on Before and After you get a puppy is excellent. I am learning so much from it as well as the forum. I am waiting for Dunbar's Sirius Training DVD to arrive.


 Check out Dog Star Daily. Best learning site out there. A lot of his articles and videos are free there. Some of the best dog trainers blog there.


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