What are your favorite high value treat recipes?

[terrecar]

Hannah loves washed baby carrots.

[Sue R]

A lot of dogs like carrots.

 

Some dogs are real veggie lovers - our Bute loved just about anything out of the garden, like cukes, raw zucchini (a favorite of his), and carrots, raw or cooked. Relatives had a dog that loved raw tomatoes, which always puzzled my dogs.

[GentleLake]

2 of mine like tomatoes and the other will eat them sometimes.

 

Ditto cucumbers.

 

All of them like apples, though Tilly, the one who sometimes eats tomatoes, also only eats them sometimes (she's getting fussy in her old age, ~16 y.o.). Bodhi only likes certain varieties though. The apple guy at the farmers' market was having a lot of fun one day giving him samples of each of the varieties he grows to see which ones he'd eat. He sold some extra apples that day based on which ones Bodhi liked.

 

Tansy's a canine garbage disposal. There's very little she won't eat. So far the only things I've found are fresh parsley, celery leaves (she loves the stalks) and sometimes lettuce. She thinks fresh grapefruit is yummy. And she'll gleefully lick wasabi, hot Chinese mustard and hot salsa from plates. It doesn't matter what's in the treat pouch; it's all high value to her.

[GentleLake]

I find that the dried liver treats I make myself are a big hit.

If, however, you want fishy tasting things, try tuna fudge.

 

 

(2) 6 oz. cans of tuna (do not drain)

(2) eggs

1 to 1.5 cups of flour (I do not use wheat flour...you can use sorghum or oat flour or whatever kind you want)

2-3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

Liquefy ingredients in a blender or food processor.

Mix in the flour a little at a time until it reaches the

consistency of thick cake batter.

Spread into non-stick 9 x 13 cake pan. These will be

about 1/4" thick when done (very little rise.)

Can sprinkle with more parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Edges should pull away from the pan.

Texture will be like stiff putty (easy to cut and break

if needed, but not crumbly.)

Cut into 1/4" pieces and serve! (makes lots!)

Extras (if there are any) can be frozen.

If they get sticky coat them with flour in your training bag.

 

You can also make this using liverwurst, or pureed liver, or pureed salmon, or any other thing you want to try.

 

Try it with sardines . . . usually a big hit and very smelly.

[simba]

My dog will happily eat apples, but carefully spits out the skins. It's amusing to watch.

[Kelleybean]

I ran out of home made treats a couple of weeks ago before an agility session, so I boiled up some penne pasta to use. You would have thought I had filet mignon in my bag!!! My trainer and I were both floored at how much she loved it. So, our go to treat now is plain penne!

[Sue R]

I think competition can be a real motivator. When Bute was still alive, the other dogs would eat certain things (veggies) that they before-Bute and after-Bute will not eat. Or, they will take them and then spit them out. Maybe it's the idea that if someone else likes it a lot, it must be good!

 

A funny treat story - on our way home early today, Ed and stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I got an extra order of bacon for a treat for the dogs and therefore had a large, juicy slice of bacon for each, along with a piece of the last biscuit that we did not eat.

 

Megan eagerly ate her biscuit and bacon, which Ed gave her. I gave Celt his biscuit piece which he gobbled down, and then his bacon slice (usually I break treats like that up into many smaller bits but it was chilly and we were eager to be back on our way). Then I went back to give Dan his treats. I gave him the biscuit piece and watched him work it around in his mouth and then spit it right out! So I gave him his bacon slice which he avidly consumed, and then watched him pick up his biscuit piece and gobble it down, too.

 

Apparently, a simple piece of white-flour biscuit was not worth eating while a piece of bacon might be had - but it was plenty appealing once the bacon was gone!

 

Dogs are not blindly simple creatures...

[nancy]

I just learned that Dixie absolutely loves my little Styrofoam apples (I've had since ~1968) on our Christmas tree. No, I will not give them to her as treats! Although she has eaten two. I moved them up higher. Thought they would be good down low as they aren't breakable when she and Maggie da Cat romp.

 

Anyhow, I buy the cheapest hot dogs. Cut them lengthwise in 4 strips, then across into bits. Then nuke them. They sure work as a high-level treat.

[simba]

0 calorie dog treats. I can see a marketing idea there...

http://www.weightymatters.ca/2010/06/mmmm-chip-flavoured-edible-paper.html

[alligande]

I thought it was cute when I realized I could use the cut offs from zucchini and asparagus as training treats, until I was weeding and heard crunching and it was Rievaulx eating my precious asparagus shoots.

 

Brody would come running in the kitchen when he realized Rievaulx was getting "treats" and offer me tricks, so I would give him a piece of vegetable, he would spit it out and stalk out the kitchen glowering at Rievaulx, he seemed disgusted that his brother would work for such things. It made me giggle everytime.

[sandysfarm]

 

Lucky! I live in the city with a hard-to-focus pup, so I'm looking for the nastiest, stankiest, fish-smellingest treat recipe to compete with the thousand distractions going on when we walk out the door. Right now I'm doing what waffles is doing, and cubing up a lot of chicken and turkey, but treats that Laika will go nuts over inside hardly merit a sniff when we're outside.

 

Thanks everyone so far for the suggestions!

 

 

 

 

This is mine. I mush a can of on-sale human grade tuna and a raw egg on high in the blender till it's a paste. Then I dump it on a large piece of parchment paper on the counter. I put another piece of parchment paper ON TOP OF the tuna and begin to smooth all, somewhat evenly, toward the edges of the paper. Then I take a rolling pin and roll aggressively until it's 1/8" thick. Then I slide the whole onto a cookie sheet and into a 275 oven until it's set up dry right through to the middle. Take it out, lay it flat on the counter and carefully peel off the top parchment sheet. Five minutes later I use my pizza cutter wheel to cut long skinny strips which I nip into teeny bits with my thumbnail as I need to. It's cheap, plentiful, nice and stinky, and uncomplicated ingredient-wise.

[Mdaniels]

Bennie likes little chunks of cheese, but I have to be careful because it will constipate him and it is not low calories--he prefers to be treated, above all, with a game of chuck it

[Gideon's girl]

This is mine. I mush a can of on-sale human grade tuna and a raw egg on high in the blender till it's a paste. Then I dump it on a large piece of parchment paper on the counter. I put another piece of parchment paper ON TOP OF the tuna and begin to smooth all, somewhat evenly, toward the edges of the paper. Then I take a rolling pin and roll aggressively until it's 1/8" thick. Then I slide the whole onto a cookie sheet and into a 275 oven until it's set up dry right through to the middle. Take it out, lay it flat on the counter and carefully peel off the top parchment sheet. Five minutes later I use my pizza cutter wheel to cut long skinny strips which I nip into teeny bits with my thumbnail as I need to. It's cheap, plentiful, nice and stinky, and uncomplicated ingredient-wise.

This is one I can use on my dogs with food intolerances!! WooHoo!!

[hkwm]

Great ideas, thanks everyone! I cooked up some beef liver seasoned with garlic salt (HUGE hit) and I got some cheap tuna to whip up when the liver runs out.

 

Unfortunately, I found 4 kidneys for about a dollar at my supermarket so I baked them with the liver and now our whole house smells like piss haha. She seems to like them though.

[Jescano]

Unfortunately, I found 4 kidneys for about a dollar at my supermarket so I baked them with the liver and now our whole house smells like piss haha. She seems to like them though.

Kidneys, never again. the liver i can stand the smell of dehydrating, but the kidneys made me want to puke. and they're Gigantic(beef liver)

 

Jinx did really like then, though.

[Gideon's girl]

Not treats, but I threw a kidney, some liver, and a heart in a pot of water and cooked them up then put them through the blender to use as toppers on kibble. It smelled awful but the dogs sucked it down fast, so it must have been good.

[GentleLake]

Great ideas, thanks everyone! I cooked up some beef liver seasoned with garlic salt (HUGE hit)

 

Neither the garlic nor the salt is good for your dog . . . and most dogs love liver even without seasoning.

 

If you do feel you need to use garlic, it would be better to use plain garlic powder rather than garlic salt.

[D'Elle]

 

 

Brody would come running in the kitchen when he realized Rievaulx was getting "treats" and offer me tricks, so I would give him a piece of vegetable, he would spit it out and stalk out the kitchen glowering at Rievaulx, he seemed disgusted that his brother would work for such things. It made me giggle everytime.

This made me laugh because Digger (terrier mix) loves apples and all vegetables and I can use just about anything as a treat for him. I have had the border collies react with such amusing disgust when they come running only to find out that what is being given out is apple core pieces. On the other hand, Boo, the little white fluffy dog, started out not wanting anything vegetable or fruit and now loves that stuff. He saw Digger eating it and wanted some. At first it looked to me as though he was just choking it down, and that was hilarious. But apparently he has developed a taste for it.

Digger loves almost all vegetables, and really loves to lick the inside of an avacado skin.

 

I had a foster dog once who would do anything for a piece of lettuce. Love dogs like that......so cheap to train them!

 

I will second what others have said about garlic. I see it as an ingredient in many treat recipes, but my understanding is that it is bad for dogs.........

[rushdoggie]

I find that the dried liver treats I make myself are a big hit.

If, however, you want fishy tasting things, try tuna fudge.

 

 

(2) 6 oz. cans of tuna (do not drain)

(2) eggs

1 to 1.5 cups of flour (I do not use wheat flour...you can use sorghum or oat flour or whatever kind you want)

2-3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

Liquefy ingredients in a blender or food processor.

Mix in the flour a little at a time until it reaches the

consistency of thick cake batter.

Spread into non-stick 9 x 13 cake pan. These will be

about 1/4" thick when done (very little rise.)

Can sprinkle with more parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Edges should pull away from the pan.

Texture will be like stiff putty (easy to cut and break

if needed, but not crumbly.)

Cut into 1/4" pieces and serve! (makes lots!)

Extras (if there are any) can be frozen.

If they get sticky coat them with flour in your training bag.

 

You can also make this using liverwurst, or pureed liver, or pureed salmon, or any other thing you want to try.

 

I have similar recipe, a friend made these and my dogs went BANANAS for them, even the non-foody dog. They were dry and easy to break off small bits.

 

2 cans of drained tuna (6 oz. size)

2 eggs

1 t garlic powder

2-3 T canned pumpkin

1 ½ c flour

 

Mix the first four ingredients together. Then add the flour, and mix until you have formed a big doughy ball. Drizzle olive oil on a cookie sheet, and then pat the mixture onto the cookie sheet, spreading it to a thickness of about ¼ inch.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool and then cut into small cubes (I use kitchen shears for cutting into cubes.) Store in the fridge or freezer.

[sandysfarm]

My golden's favourite is small slices of raw turnip

[Freeman 101]

"What kind of dog likes carrots" my standard poodle loved raw carrots. He was my only dog who loved raw veggies. How cheap was that?

 

I'm currently a volunteer for Pups 4 Parole, and we are so limited for treats. We mostly use the dogs daily kibble for training, with a few extra treats throughout the week. When we do have treats we have to come up with things that don't need refrigeration. I often use some of the soft packaged dog foods as treats. For our next session I'm thinking about asking if the offenders can cook or dehydrate treats, so I would appreciate any ideas for homemade, affordable treats that don't require refrigeration.

 

For the poster who stated they were dehydrating sweet potatoes. Are you doing this with a dehydrating machine, or are you doing this in an oven? Can you tell I'm not much of a cook?

[GentleLake]

Dunno if it was me who mentioned dehydrating sweet potatoes but I just did another batch yesterday.

 

I used a food dehydrator, but you can do them in the oven as well: http://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/diy-eat-sweet-potato-chews/31476

 

Here's another article on making home made treats that might work for your situation:

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_9/features/How-To-Make-Homemade-Dog-Treats_20607-1.html?ET=wholedogjournal:e97225:50072756a:&st=email&s=p_weekendtip080313f&t=t_button

 

ETA: I've found that many dogs don't take to the dehydrated sweet potatoes on the first try, but after offering it several times they find they like them. I had a pretty good sized sample, as I made them for Christmas gifts for our therapy dog group as well as my own. Some dogs liked them right away, some held out for a while, but all were eating them happily in the end.

[D'Elle]

Love the idea of sweet potato cookies! Going to give that a try.

[GentleLake]

The nice thing about them, too -- at least the ones I've made -- is that they're soft enough that you can tear them into smaller pieces for training.

 

ETA: Best to slice them as thinly as practical for dehydrating. The ones I did yesterday I did a little thicker and it took twice as long (6 hours) to dehydrate them!

[Shazmnldb]

My Lilli loves chicken poop . Cannot stop here from eating it she even follows the chooks around in the hope they will drop something for her.

 

Also, anything and everything - watermelon, raw pumpkin, bananas, especially hot dogs and cheese. When she behaving particularly badly as all teenagers do (she's 11 months) the cheese works a treat every time.