# Treats



## CharlieBean (Mar 21, 2013)

What types of treats either dog or human does everyone suggest? My little guy will eat anything and everything if I let him. I want to give him something more than just peanut butter. I did try a piece of apple and he loved it!


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## Mika (Dec 12, 2012)

First off what a cutie you have there. As for treats, our little Hav will eat just about anything as well but she does usually turn her nose to biscuit or cookie type treats for some reason? It also took her awhile to warm up to peanut butter but now just a small dab in her kong will get her interest.

Anyways we try to keep the treats healthy and as natural as possible. Also don't forget to factor in their treats as part of their daily food intake to avoid over feeding. Also our Hav will roll over 15 times&#128539; for a crumb so we feed our treats in very small pieces.

Here is our list of treats we try to stick to, we are feeding grain free so we stick to pure ingredient type treats.

Cheese - now she gets this very infrequently but I credit this with our girl potty training on the pad in a matter of days. 
Freeze dried liver - recommended and used by many here on the forum
Boiled/baked/poached chicken - our current like GOLD treat for training 
Other freeze dried treats - we are now huge fans of the Orijen freeze dried line of treats and so is our Hav
Bully sticks - we get some great locally produced apple smoked ones here and this will occupy her for awhile when it has been one of those days and you just need to relax for a bit
Green Beans - we often add a few if these to her food and she will always eats these first
Kibble - if you are feeding kibble you can use it as a treat as well
Carrots - again we sometimes add some steamed carrots to her meals

As you said they will eat just about anything for the most part so I am sure others will chime in with a whole host of options for you as well

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

I home cook for Tillie because of her severe food allergies and very seldom use any 'for dog' type treats.
Tillie's "High Value" treats are dried beef liver, dehydrated salmon and red bell peppers!!
I think we've used cheese too much over the years, she loves it, but doesn't go nuts for it like the other things I listed!
I also purree and freeze sweet potato in little TINY ice cubes trays, pop them out, put them in ziploc baggies and use those for after grooming treats, or after she gets her paws washed...


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Hi, and welcome! I just read your intro post on the Introduce Yourself thread. I have a new little guy, Pepper, who is _almost _3 months old as well! I also have a 2-year-old hav, so this is not all new to me lol.

Charlie is beautiful! What did his breeder classify his coloring as, a gold sable maybe? He looks very similar in coloring to what Ceylon, my older hav, was as a puppy.

Anyway - just my opinion, but at 3 months (and really up until 5-6 months) I definitely try to limit their treats. They should be working more for praise and love at this age, I think - in a couple of months, they will be even more interested in food, but for now, just weaned off of their mother's teat and still not THAT much interested in food except if they're hungry, they should be internalizing the fact that praise is the best reward.

That being said, there are a lot of good treats to give when the time is right. Try to keep the higher-quality treats aside until you need them, i.e., recall training and other such instances where you REALLY want them to be paying attention to you. Cheese and other high-fat foods are great high-quality training treats. You'll want to pace the quality of the treat to the type and importance of training - i.e., you probably won't want to give cheese every time that he sits, whereas a few nibbles during high-stress things like baths or combings can definitely help to teach him that he might actually like those activities, and of course you will want to have the highest quality treats during recall training (the most important of all, IMHO - you ALWAYS want your dog to come back to you) and other really important lessons.

Anyway - more pictures are in order, please!


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

P.S. This is a bit weird, but - there are 3 dogs in my immediate family. One is Ceylon, who had the same coloring as your Charlie when he was a puppy (check my icon picture). The second is Pepper, my new hav puppy who is almost 3 months like your Charlie, so the same age. The third is my brother's dog, a Bernese mountain dog about a year old. Want to guess what his name is???? Yup, it's Charlie.  Weird, right?!


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## CharlieBean (Mar 21, 2013)

Thank you all for the advice! Charlie will definitely be getting some delicious food/treat options! I try to give him the treats when he does something good to hopefully form good habits. So far it has been working!


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## CharlieBean (Mar 21, 2013)

heatherk said:


> P.S. This is a bit weird, but - there are 3 dogs in my immediate family. One is Ceylon, who had the same coloring as your Charlie when he was a puppy (check my icon picture). The second is Pepper, my new hav puppy who is almost 3 months like your Charlie, so the same age. The third is my brother's dog, a Bernese mountain dog about a year old. Want to guess what his name is???? Yup, it's Charlie.  Weird, right?!


Charlie is definitely an excellent name! I had to take a double take because Ceylon has very similar coloring to Charlie. I think the breeder defined his color as sable but they did say he might end up all white. I hope he keeps his current coloring, but even if he did turn out white, he would still be adorable! What color is your older hav? I will be sure to post more pictures!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

CharlieBean said:


> Thank you all for the advice! Charlie will definitely be getting some delicious food/treat options! I try to give him the treats when he does something good to hopefully form good habits. So far it has been working!


All good positive based trainers know that food rewards are a very powerful motivator. We, as people, would love to believe that our dogs love us SO much that they will try hard to learn new things just to earn our praise and affection. It just doesn't work that way. Praise and affection are fine rewards for established behaviors, especially the "easy" around the house ones. But if you want to do any more serious training with your pup, it pays to work with a clicker and highly motivating food rewards. Kodi understood what a clicker meant, and was learning new things on a daily basis by 3 months. (I got him at 11 weeks) But puppies as young as 6 weeks can start to learn through clicker training! Getting it firmly planted in a puppy's mind that training is a fun, rewarding, game from very early will pay big dividends later!!! Some people will say, "Oh, my dog isn't food motivated." But these are the dogs that MOST need to learn to value food rewards. Otherwise, when you ask them to persevere in learning something that is really hard for them, they will simply give up and walk away. Dogs need to perceive value in their work, (getting "paid") just as people do!

Other people have given you a number of good treat options. There is no need to avoid grains if your dog has no food allergies. It is possible for dogs to develop allergies to certain meats too. Kodi can't tolerate beef, so we avoid that, but most dogs handle it just fine!

Another meat that hasn't been mentioned is pork. Pork loin roasts come on sale quite regularly. Roast it just the way you would for your family, then cut it up into tiny pieces. It is good lean meat, not too wet, and holds its shape well. (and the dogs love it!!!)

While kibble can certainly be used as a low-value reward, it is unlikely to be highly motivating. Which would you rather work for? Cheerios or chocolate cake? Still it can certainly be used as a reinforcer for already learned behaviors.

Also, for most training, you want something small and soft, that the dog can swallow quickly and go back to work. Hard treats can either cause the dog to choke if they try to swallow too quickly, or the dog may stand there for a LONG time chewing it up, and then you lose the continuity of the work.

Finally, one thing that hasn't been mentioned at all is that there is no need for "treats" that are not used in training. If you want to supplement meal time with nutritious "people food" like cooked veggies, fruit, eggs or lean meat, by all means do so. Just remember to take the extra calories into consideration. But "free" hand-outs between meals lead to fat dogs and beggars. Save those treats for training! Even if you just ask for a series of "puppy push-ups" (sit, down, sit, down, sit...) before a treat, they are beginning to develop a good work ethic!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

I don't buy bully sticks anymore because of the bacteria in them. I have a treat that mine love called Zukes Very Berry.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

CharlieBean said:


> Charlie is definitely an excellent name! I had to take a double take because Ceylon has very similar coloring to Charlie. I think the breeder defined his color as sable but they did say he might end up all white. I hope he keeps his current coloring, but even if he did turn out white, he would still be adorable! What color is your older hav? I will be sure to post more pictures!


Haha, that IS my older hav - I just haven't updated my profile picture since he was a puppy. He's lightened up quite a bit but is still far from white. Some of his pictures make him look quite blond, but he actually has quite a bit of rich golden color left .


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## CharlieBean (Mar 21, 2013)

So adorable! If Charlie ends up that color, I hope he is as cute as yours!


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## CharlieBean (Mar 21, 2013)

A few more photos :

  


 


 

:dance:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Oh, Man! If he isn't the cutest thing EVER!!!:bounce:


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## wynne (Apr 30, 2011)

Maya is extremely picky when it comes to treats. She does not like crunchy treats. What she likes at the moment, she might not like an hour from now. op2: Always a challenge. 
The only things that I have found that seems to be constant favs are, eggs, cheese and chicken. She is just lucky she is just too darn and cute and loved so much -lol.


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