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How friendly do you want your dog to be with other dogs and strangers?
A dog training treat can be very useful to teach your dog many commands and tricks, or even to teach him to calm down for a little while. The training treats have importance to teach your dogs to be social and obedient. It is an unavoidable part of the dog training process. The treats can be food items or even non-food ideas. You give a deep scratch behind their ears, and you play with them with a toy, you play hide and seek with them, you groom your dog after accomplishing the job. This motivates your dog, and they feel rewarded, which makes them obey your orders.
However, non-food rewards are subjective. The same reward may be reinforcing to your dog, while for the other dog, it might be punishing or hateful. You need to pick up the right reward to motivate and encourage your dog based on his choice. A treat is not meant as a training reward unless your dog likes it. Commonly, dogs are more excited when treated with a food reward. We need to be careful while rewarding them with food because training treats have a special value than an ordinary treat.
The trick behind training treats is that they should be shown only after the job is done so that they could feel they are rewarded. They should be tamed in such a way that they must think that they are rewarded and loved if the job is well done.
Calories and size matter
When the dogs are treated with food-based treats, care should be taken about the calories and the size of the treat. Most of the trainers mentioned that the size of the treat should be smaller, generally like the size of a pea, so that your dog can be provided with multiple rewards, with low addition in calories.
Generally, I come across the most common query of the 10 percent rule. According to the nutritional experts, anything added to the normal diet of dogs should not exceed 10 percent of the calories. For instance, if the dog is consuming 400 calories in a day, the reward should not exceed 40 calories. Too many calories lead to weight gain and possible health problems. Hence, most of the trainers suggest balancing the calories either by reducing a dog’s regular meal when they are rewarded with treats.
Taste matters
Most of the trainers also advocate varying the taste of the reward. It is always better to provide treatment with different tastes, because your dog may not be excited about getting the same treatment in all the training sessions. Trainers also mention that some of the dogs cannot hold their excitement for the great smelly treat and lose their focus on training. So some trainers advised to use less smelly and lower value treats. On the other hand, during a tough task, such as agility training, some trainers suggest using high value treats to encourage your dog to follow your commands.
Choose the right treat for the best reward
The choice of right treat results in a perfect reward. This may be food-based treats or non-food ideas depending upon what motivates your dog. The best way to find a perfect training treat is to try different ideas for your dog.
Training requires an ongoing effort, but high-calorie treats can lead to weight gain and serious health issues. It is necessary to feed dogs with healthy foods without loads of artificial preservatives to prevent them from possible health conditions and extra weight gain. If you’ve determined your dog’s favorite flavors, you can treat them with everything very easily. Dogs naturally like chewing meat and bones. Biscuits for them are just like chocolate for men, but some of the dogs also like fruits and vegetables. So besides biscuits and other artificial things, you can also reward them with organic foods.
If you are good at the kitchen, then you can make your recipe with your dog’s favorite flavor with a unique touch. Homemade treats and organic foods are healthy as it doesn’t contain extra chemicals and preservatives. This ensures that your dog will be healthy and helps your dog keep away from the risk of certain allergies.