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Liver - cow or chicken.


Steak.

 

Chicken.

 

I have been known to forget to bring treats (like an idiot) and pick up a fast food plain burger. Or a bag of precooked fajita steak or chicken strips.

 

Really, as long as it's 'real meat', my dogs are good.

 

HOWEVER, my go to high value 'treat' for Molly is a ball, frisbee, or tug toy.

 

I also might suggest that you get more dynamic/exciting about presenting whatever you're using. If you're just feeding the dog, get excited, have him chase your hand around a little, toss it to him, put it in a pouch he has to retrieve and throw it - something. Just delivering the food to the dog's mouth often gets kind of boring for them, even if they LOVE what the food is.

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I had a border collie who would do anything for a piece of cheese, cheddar was his favorite but any cheese was good. I also used to make him Parmesan crusted chicken pieces, dried liver, hot dogs, meat balls where also popular. Another item I used to used was the end pieces of deli cold cold cuts cut up into tiny cubes, the home baked ham worked really well, I was friends with the deli owner but a number of places will sell their end pieces cheaply. My current dog prefers toys but when we are doing conditioning work or learning a new trick he is happy with a bit of hot dog.

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Tortellini. They are easy to throw and very visible.

 

String cheese

 

Mini Teddy Grahams and Nutter Butter bites (special occasions)

 

A lick from a can of peanut butter (special occasions)

 

One of my (hard to motivate) dogs received pound cake or Krispy crème donut holes after her agility runs

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Homemade liver treats, I'll post the recipe again if anybody wants it. Super easy.

 

Gibbs loves fruit and anything meat based. I generally get a small package of something really stinky and mix it into a larger amount of plain kibble from Costco. The scent 'perfumes' the kibble.

 

Buzz loved cucumber slices, and would have cut off a leg for dried sour cherries.

 

Ruth and Gibbs

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Homemade liver treats, I'll post the recipe again if anybody wants it. Super easy.

 

I do! What I really want is a food dehydrator. Imagine all the inexpensive healthy treats I could make with one of those...

 

I also put smelly treats in a container with kibble to make everything nice and smelly. Natural Balance rolls cut up into pieces and baked were a real hit, and I got a lot of treats out of a $2.50 roll. When I was baking it the kids excitedly asked what I was making. Um... sorry, guys.

 

I'd try steak, but in this house there is no such thing as unclaimed leftover steak. :)

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I do! What I really want is a food dehydrator. Imagine all the inexpensive healthy treats I could make with one of those...

 

I also put smelly treats in a container with kibble to make everything nice and smelly. Natural Balance rolls cut up into pieces and baked were a real hit, and I got a lot of treats out of a $2.50 roll. When I was baking it the kids excitedly asked what I was making. Um... sorry, guys.

 

I'd try steak, but in this house there is no such thing as unclaimed leftover steak. :)

 

Your oven on 200 will work as well as a dehydrator for most meats. I mean, it's not going to give you human quality jerky, but it'll serve well enough for dog treats. I do it with liver constantly.

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^^ Or place a wanted ad on Freecycle. ;)

 

I just went and found our local Freecycle site to check it out. Someone posted a wanted ad for a dehydrator just yesterday. They specified a good one; maybe I could advertise that I'd take a "just ok" one. ;)

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I use FreshPet cat food. My guys love it. :D

http://freshpet.com/products/freshpetselectroastedmealsforcatschicken/

Homemade salmon or liver treats are a big hit, too. Here's the recipe, I just copied and pasted from a FB post, but mine is the same (sub chicken or beef liver for salmon if you like).

Mix 1 drained can of salmon (14.75 oz/418g) with 3 eggs and 1&1/2 cups flour.. Press onto lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan to about 1/4" thickness. Bake at 250F for 20 minutes. Cut into 1/4" cubes; a pizza cutter works great. Refrigerate some and freeze the rest. Dogs love them! Tuna works also.

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TxMom and anyone else who wants this: Liver treats -

 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

 

3 c oatmeal, either quick oats or regular

1lb liver, it doesn't matter which.

1 egg

 

Optional -

2-3 Tbsp water

1/2 c Grated cheese of any kind

1/2 c grated carrot or any vegetable you dog likes

 

Pulverize the liver in a blender or food processor till creamy. It looks and smells pretty gross, but the pups love it.

Pour into a mixing bowl, then add the oatmeal, 1 cup at a time, mixing in until it's all incorporated.

Mix in egg until incorporated.

Add optional stuff if desired.

 

Your mixture will be sticky, somewhere between cookie dough and cake batter, but should spread easily. If it's too sticky, more like biscuits or bread, add a bit of water until it gets easier to stir.

 

Prepare a cookie sheet with sides with cooking spray or a light coating of vegetable oil. You can use a layer of parchment if you like, for ease of removal. Pour batter into cookie sheet, spreading evenly.

 

Put into pre-heated oven. Check in an hour by sticking fork into a few different areas. If the tines don't come out clean, it needs more time. Check again in 15 - 20 minute increments.

 

When done, lift out of cookie sheet and break into 3 or 4 large pieces and cool.

 

When the treats are all cooled, you can either break it all up and package it in a few batches, or you can leave the back-up chunks whole for storage. Store the back-ups in the freezer, where they will keep forever.

 

Keep the amount you're working with in a covered container in your fridge. Return to fridge when not using.

 

I haven't tried this, but it strikes me that if the crumbled bits of treat are put back in the low oven, they might turn crunchy and last a bit longer out of the oven. Might try it next time.

 

Most dogs love these. A friend of mine calls them doggy crack. Enjoy!

 

Ruth and Gibbs

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Anything! I haven't noticed much of a difference in response to certain foods. But that isn't helpful. One reasonably priced and good quality food is the FreshPet brand PSmitty mentioned. Except I buy the 1 lb dog food roll and cut it up into cubes. It comes out to be cheaper for me than basically anything else. It smells awful to me, but when I used it for training, Kieran bounced off the flyball box like a rubber band.

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