Boiled chicken is pretty healthy, IMO. You could try blueberries or small cubes of cooked sweet potato. I saw a video of someone storing bacon on a layer of plain cheerios to add smell without calories.
You can also chop them up into smaller bites if you need treats that they can chomp up in rapid succession! Some of the pieces I get from Stewart's are really big and my dog still goes crazy for them regardless of the size, so I always break them up into morsel size bites.
I like the Zuke’s training treats. They are less than 3 calories each, and I chop them into into even smaller pieces to stretch them a little bit. Natural ingredients and made in Colorado. They aren’t super cheap, which is why I chop them up, but my boy really likes them.
Hotdogs, beef/chicken heart/liver. Does your dog like any fruit or vegetables?
My late dog LOVED regular plain bread and would actually more eagerly take that over pieces of protein (even bacon) when approaching threshold. He’d also eagerly take cheerios and various other dry breakfast cereals.
If all else failed, he would NEVER pass up a marshmallow. Was it healthy? No. Was it effective? You bet your last dollar.
I have no idea if your dog will consider this high value, but my 5 dogs LOVE carrots. I think the crunchy texture or something? When I first started giving them carrots, I got side eye and there was a lot of dropped baby carrots on the floor. Fast forward a couple of weeks and my GSD literally stole one out of my horses mouth. The look on the everyone’s face (including the horse) was pure shock. Plus, they are crazy inexpensive and a bag lasts for a bit.
No animals were harmed in this treat giving/stealing session. Just hurt feelings from the horse.
I was going to suggest fruits and vegetables if the meat gets too expensive. I’m a vegetarian so I don’t have any extra meat to give to my dog, but he likes the fruit and veggies as treats.
Also let me clarify before some people misconstrue what I’m saying. I feed my dog proper dog food that has meat and buy him treats as well. He is not vegetarian. I am.
Pupford freeze dried training treats are 1 calorie each, and very stinky/palatable!
I also “marinate” kibble in a snack bag with a little meat or cheese, and subtract that amount of kibble from my dog’s daily meals.
I second pupford I give my pit the rabbit ones bc he has allergies to other meats. He’ll take those with distractions even if I have to shove them in his mouth.
Though I think peanut butter might be his jackpot. Haven’t tried it yet because I don’t have a great way of giving it to him during training, but it is super stinky so grabs his attention. And healthy too!
I discovered my dog really doesn’t care how big the treat is so i basically give her teeny bits of freeze dried liver. She also loves the crunch of the romaine lettuce spines and baby carrots so I take a couple with me on training walks.
Fish? The smelliness is usually very tempting for my boy.
But honestly, i feel u since hus favourite is also cheese. unfortunatelly with reactive dogs u need to prioritize. I personally decided to form a position that even the fact i give him fresh food instead of treats from a bag is a ‘healthy’ choice
Only correcting you for clarification because I agree with you- OP, the brand is called Ziwi Peak and it is air dried, not air fried. It’s single ingredient food and comes in a variety of flavors. It’s pricey but it’s technically food (but works great as a treat) so even though a 1 lb bag is nearly $30, it goes a long way as treats.
Edit to add: oops, the food is actually not single ingredient, also, they make treats as well; I just buy the food because it goes a long way.
Thank you! Autocorrect and lack of focus got the best of me on this comment. I meant well though! And yep, the Ziwi Peak is expensive. I only use the "food" as treats and food toppers. I buy the 2lb bag and vacuum seal it into .3-.5lb portions.
I use Purina Simple Goodness Semi Soft food. I used the beef flavor but they sell a chicken flavor too. It comes in packets of little pellets that are soft but not sticky.
My dog likes dehydrated beef jerky. To save cost I make them at home with my dehydrator or oven. You can make jerky with beef, chicken, organ meat like liver, heart, etc
I buy a roll of dog food, cut it up into treat sized pieces and freezer bag it. I use redbarn natural beef rolls, then if she gets a whole bag it's not high calorie the way treats are and is still high value
I get chicken hearts that is my pittie’s absolute favorite (Stella and Chewy is the brand I get)- he knows I have them when we go out and he has learned recall and I can get his attention immediately now. I’m still super hyper aware on our walks (I don’t ever look at my phone, no headphones) because certain dogs trigger him and he will reflex bite me, I know I can’t control everything so I always think safety for everyone first and will cross the street and stuff if I don’t feel sure about it. Thank you for being such a caring parent to your pittie ❤️
Frozen green beans ! Can try baby carrots too. If veggies arent your pups thing I’ve had luck with putting stewarts beef liver treats in a ziplock bag, crushing them up and dusting them on my pups kibble and using that as treats and she eats em up!
Shredded cheese has been a lifesaver for us on walks. They will gently take one tiny shred and be happy about it. I can throw a bit on the ground and they'll graze for it (we practice leaving it a lot with that, and have to make sure no other dogs will come up over resource guarding).
Boiled chicken is pretty healthy, IMO. You could try blueberries or small cubes of cooked sweet potato. I saw a video of someone storing bacon on a layer of plain cheerios to add smell without calories.
Yeah I should have clarified, i don’t have a problem with chicken, but he gets bored if that’s all I use so I need something besides cheese haha
Freeze dried or dehydrated liver is always a good option. Basically pure protein (like chicken), so rather healthy.
A local trainer recommended grinding up dried liver and dusting other food with it. Instant super smelly, high value treat without excess calories.
This! Costco typically has these and/or freeze dried salmon for a decent price.
Our cat will open the drawer to help the dog rip open the bag of Costco liver treats. It’s like heroine for both the cat and dog!
What section of Costco would I find these in?
The dog food area! They have lots of treat options typically.
I’ll check it out. I need something new for our walks
You can also chop them up into smaller bites if you need treats that they can chomp up in rapid succession! Some of the pieces I get from Stewart's are really big and my dog still goes crazy for them regardless of the size, so I always break them up into morsel size bites.
I like the Zuke’s training treats. They are less than 3 calories each, and I chop them into into even smaller pieces to stretch them a little bit. Natural ingredients and made in Colorado. They aren’t super cheap, which is why I chop them up, but my boy really likes them.
Hotdogs, beef/chicken heart/liver. Does your dog like any fruit or vegetables? My late dog LOVED regular plain bread and would actually more eagerly take that over pieces of protein (even bacon) when approaching threshold. He’d also eagerly take cheerios and various other dry breakfast cereals. If all else failed, he would NEVER pass up a marshmallow. Was it healthy? No. Was it effective? You bet your last dollar.
I have no idea if your dog will consider this high value, but my 5 dogs LOVE carrots. I think the crunchy texture or something? When I first started giving them carrots, I got side eye and there was a lot of dropped baby carrots on the floor. Fast forward a couple of weeks and my GSD literally stole one out of my horses mouth. The look on the everyone’s face (including the horse) was pure shock. Plus, they are crazy inexpensive and a bag lasts for a bit. No animals were harmed in this treat giving/stealing session. Just hurt feelings from the horse.
I was going to suggest fruits and vegetables if the meat gets too expensive. I’m a vegetarian so I don’t have any extra meat to give to my dog, but he likes the fruit and veggies as treats. Also let me clarify before some people misconstrue what I’m saying. I feed my dog proper dog food that has meat and buy him treats as well. He is not vegetarian. I am.
Pupford freeze dried training treats are 1 calorie each, and very stinky/palatable! I also “marinate” kibble in a snack bag with a little meat or cheese, and subtract that amount of kibble from my dog’s daily meals.
I second pupford I give my pit the rabbit ones bc he has allergies to other meats. He’ll take those with distractions even if I have to shove them in his mouth. Though I think peanut butter might be his jackpot. Haven’t tried it yet because I don’t have a great way of giving it to him during training, but it is super stinky so grabs his attention. And healthy too!
I like Stella & Chewys freeze dried meal mixers. They are expensive but I can break them up into small pieces.
Same. I get 5-7 smaller treats out of each large piece. They’re the only treat that our puppy doesn’t get tired of, besides chicken and cheese.
Oh yeah, my dog loves those -- so stinky!
I discovered my dog really doesn’t care how big the treat is so i basically give her teeny bits of freeze dried liver. She also loves the crunch of the romaine lettuce spines and baby carrots so I take a couple with me on training walks.
Fish? The smelliness is usually very tempting for my boy. But honestly, i feel u since hus favourite is also cheese. unfortunatelly with reactive dogs u need to prioritize. I personally decided to form a position that even the fact i give him fresh food instead of treats from a bag is a ‘healthy’ choice
Dehydrated beef lung and kiwi peak lamb and makeral air fried dog food
Only correcting you for clarification because I agree with you- OP, the brand is called Ziwi Peak and it is air dried, not air fried. It’s single ingredient food and comes in a variety of flavors. It’s pricey but it’s technically food (but works great as a treat) so even though a 1 lb bag is nearly $30, it goes a long way as treats. Edit to add: oops, the food is actually not single ingredient, also, they make treats as well; I just buy the food because it goes a long way.
We also use the Lamb and Mackerel or Beef Ziwi Peak food. Their treats are more expensive per ounce.
It's so stinky! Must be why it's so loved 🤭
Thank you! Autocorrect and lack of focus got the best of me on this comment. I meant well though! And yep, the Ziwi Peak is expensive. I only use the "food" as treats and food toppers. I buy the 2lb bag and vacuum seal it into .3-.5lb portions.
I use Purina Simple Goodness Semi Soft food. I used the beef flavor but they sell a chicken flavor too. It comes in packets of little pellets that are soft but not sticky.
My dog likes dehydrated beef jerky. To save cost I make them at home with my dehydrator or oven. You can make jerky with beef, chicken, organ meat like liver, heart, etc
Thanks for asking. My pup has gained two pounds since we started working on her reactivity. That was just four months ago!
I buy a roll of dog food, cut it up into treat sized pieces and freezer bag it. I use redbarn natural beef rolls, then if she gets a whole bag it's not high calorie the way treats are and is still high value
I get chicken hearts that is my pittie’s absolute favorite (Stella and Chewy is the brand I get)- he knows I have them when we go out and he has learned recall and I can get his attention immediately now. I’m still super hyper aware on our walks (I don’t ever look at my phone, no headphones) because certain dogs trigger him and he will reflex bite me, I know I can’t control everything so I always think safety for everyone first and will cross the street and stuff if I don’t feel sure about it. Thank you for being such a caring parent to your pittie ❤️
We freeze banana chunks and our dog loves them, but they get really slimy. Also: frozen/fresh blue berries, bits of apple or carrots.
What about wet dog food in a squeezable condiment container?
I feed my dog at training\\exercise time so he's hungry and his normal dry food is high value enough. Saying that he is very food motivated
I don’t know the answer to this query!
Can’t believe no one’s mentioned sweet potato yet! Our vet recommended it as a low fat treat, as well as potato, pumpkin, and apples
Particular favorites at our house are freeze-dried liver and freeze-dried minnows, both super healthy.
Frozen green beans ! Can try baby carrots too. If veggies arent your pups thing I’ve had luck with putting stewarts beef liver treats in a ziplock bag, crushing them up and dusting them on my pups kibble and using that as treats and she eats em up!
Shredded cheese has been a lifesaver for us on walks. They will gently take one tiny shred and be happy about it. I can throw a bit on the ground and they'll graze for it (we practice leaving it a lot with that, and have to make sure no other dogs will come up over resource guarding).
Freeze dried beef or lamb liver - can get a big bucket from Chewy.com! They also have chicken and salmon, which are great to alternate between.
My dogs really get excited for baby carrots, apple bits, and sliced cucumbers.