[Ellen D]

Hello –

I have a 3 month old labradoodle puppy. He was 20 lbs a week ago, so I’d think he’s between 20 and 25 now. He’ll be about 65 pounds full grown most likely.

I’m currently feeding him Nature’s Variety Instinct Large Puppy kibble, which I’ve now realized is even too high in calcium for him. He gets some Stella & Chewy meal mixer in with breakfast and I always give him either a scrambled egg, cottage cheese, pumpkin, or some plain meat chunks with dinner – lunch is plain kibble, as that’s at the day care most days. He gets a raw chicken wing or thigh as a treat a couple times a week right now.

I’m going to plead ignorance and admit that I thought I was doing a great thing by getting him “fancy” kibble and only realized a week into having him that there’s much, much more to dog food than dry kibble.

So my dilemma:

–I need to provide him with some form of kibble or dry-fed food for various reasons – the day care can’t mix his food, I do travel from time to time on business so he may need to be boarded 3-4 days per month, and I’m afraid if I stop kibble altogether he might refuse it while I’m away and be a very hungry boy when I return. However, this doesn’t have to continue to be a significant portion of his food. I am happy to keep it just to stuff Kongs/food toys so he stays used to it, but I need to have some on hand. I’ve narrowed this down to – Annamaet Salcha, Avoderm Turkey, or Fromm Beef Frittata.

–I am very interested in a raw diet for him, but I can’t decide what to do here. I’d like to have some freeze-dried product on hand (narrowed down to NRG Maxim and THK Love) for convenience. But ultimately, once he’s down to 2 meals per day from 3, I’d like to go as full raw as I can do – whether it be commercial or homemade or a combo. I have found what I am confident is a very good and versatile homemade recipe (from Ottowa Valley Dog Whisperer – are we allowed to post links here?). My one and only issue with this recipe is I need to sit down and do some maths and figure out what to add in terms of calcium – if I need to alter the recommendation in the recipe based on having a largish breed puppy.

–I am also interested in supplementing with raw meaty bones, as my dog really enjoys his chicken wings and chews them very nicely. Is it okay to just use rmbs as a supplement/treat kind of deal? Could/should I give him one daily or just a few times a week or is it better to just replace a whole meal with them? I would vary the meat/bone source often.

I’m trying to do the right and best thing for my puppy, and I’m 100% open to suggestions and criticism about my plans. I welcome any and all advice, as I’m new to this and my head is just spinning. Added to this is that my wife travels 5 days a week, I work full time outside the home, and we have a 4 year old (human) daughter as well as 2 cats and about 200 fish haha! So I’m a single parent 5 days a week. I’m really at the mercy of convenience. However, I can manage an evening cooking session once a week or a couple times a month and can freeze portion sized amounts. It’s just a matter of figuring out that pesky calcium balance. The recipe calls for powdered eggshell or bone meal. OR I can add whole prey meat to the recipe – I assume I would grind this – and omit the eggshell.

If I were to make the homemade diet, I feel like I would probably feed that for 2 meals per day and continue with kibble for 1 meal. And then when pup’s down to 2 meals, perhaps full homemade with kibble in the kong or as hand fed treats so he stays accustomed to it.

Last question – there doesn’t seem to be a lot of question/issue with feeding raw meaty bones or prey model diets to large breed puppies. Does the nature of a raw diet negate the need to watch the calcium levels so closely?

[DogFoodie]

Starting them on the Blue Buffalo (while I would personally never use Blue Buffalo products) actually helped to give you more information. What you need to do is compare the ingredients in all of the foods they’ve eaten and reacted to see what common ingredient they might have. Through trial and error, and many, many different foods, I’ve determined that my dog reacts to all fish (including fish oil), chickpeas, lentils, flax, probably garlic and likely tomato. Keep in mind that what might be a problem for one dog might not be the problem for the other and dogs that have food intolerances frequently have more than one. Randomly choosing a brand’s food labelled ” hypoallergenic,” will do nothing to help your dog if he’s intolerant of the ingredients in it.

I would look for a truly limited ingredient food with a meat protein and a starch that your dogs haven’t eaten before and see how they do on that for a while. Nature’s Variety Instinct LID is one of the foods I’ve found that my dog does very well on. Keep in mind anything you offer them could be a problem; ie: treats and edible chews.

[Sam Koch]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I looked at the stress signals, and one thing she does a LOT when we are out is shake. I picked out some good treats today and will take it slow from now on; I think I thought too much of her otherwise calm behavior. Poor girl, I’ve probably really stressed her out.
There was a small girl today at Walmart that she didn’t worry about at all, so I want to say it was what she was wearing as well. When I take her some where again, I will see if anyone will be willing to work with her a little (probably Petco).

I talked to my trainer and we have 5 private lessons set up for helping her, since my trainer actually has two little ones! She said with the way Honey acted, she doesn’t think it’ll be a problem, it just may prolong her training a bit. Thank you all so much for the help, I really love this site and the ones who help me.

Sam

[Cheryl N]

Seems you did good research on Betsy’s Farms. Thank you for your information. I really care for my girls. And Betsy’s chicken jerky has a lot less ingredients than any other treats.
Cheryl

[DogFoodie]

You might want to check out this thread for some more information regarding Betsy Farms jerky treats. /forums/topic/betsy-farms-jerky/

[LabsRawesome]

Sam, please don’t Alpha roll your dog. That is one of the worst things that you can do to your dog, and is likely to end with you being bitten. This is what I would do. Get a child that your dog knows and likes to help you. Have the child walk past (not toward) your dog and toss high value treats to her (several times) Then have the child walk by your dog with a raincoat (no hood) on and toss treats (several times). Next I would have the child put the hood on and pass by and toss treats (several times). *Don’t let the child confront, or try to touch the dog.* Keep the dog on a leash at all times, during the training session. If you do this it *should* desensitize the dog to children wearing coats with hoods and “strange” things that your dog is not used to seeing. If you do try this and it works well, I would do maybe daily (if you can) or at least weekly training sessions with the child and dog. Also, if possible, get different kids to help with training.

[Gloria K]

Lol I feed Mickey cubes of cheese, the cheddar/bacon is his favorite-mine too. But I also give him string beans, simmered for about six minutes then rolled in a dab of bacon grease in the pan. Store them in a little plastic baggie in the refrigerator and he thinks this is manna from heaven. Same goes for raw carrots or a slice of zucchini. These are great treats so you really don’t have to feed your dog “junk food”

[Emily W]

Mine eat the Wellness Core in the evening. I have 2 dachshunds that are mine and 2 dachshund that are fosters. They eat Wellness Stew in the morning or Stella & Chewy Freeze Dry. They don’t get many treats because I don’t want them eating to much junk food.

[John T]

I am glad you found out before they had Kidney or liver failure/damage!! This is crazy!! I trusted BB with their BULL CRAP and heavy marketing while all along buying sub-standard cheap ingredients to pad their profits on the health of our loved one!! NEVER AGAIN! I will continue to make my little guys food and treats!!

[C4D]

agt, I forgot to mention that my little girl made it all the way through Canine Good Citizen! We’ve had her since she was about 8 months, and had no training except she appeared house broken when we got her. So it’s a happy ending!

Sam, she should be able to work out for you, but your trainer will be the best to judge. Do you always bring really good treats with you? It doesn’t always work because I have a current dog that shuts down completely when extremely stressed, but is not aggressive. He would not respond to treats in a really stressful situation. So, again after working with a trainer I slowly desensitized him by starting below his threshold, always carrying treats and slowly working up. There are still things we need to work on, but we have come a very long way.

When you find your dog in that type of situation, probably the best thing to do is walk her away and focus on something else. Sometimes even throwing a treat to the floor and letting her “find it” can refocus her energy. But again, you might need to work with a trainer who is familiar with reactive dogs. A good thing to do is really focus on her body language. Sometimes it is very subtle and/or very quick. Every dog has different thresholds. I don’t know how familiar you are with stress signals in dogs, but here’s a link:
http://www.liamjperkfoundation.org/stress.html

There are many of these on the internet. You do need to learn to read your dog. Then you will see the triggers more quickly.

[Michael Saull]

Not sure whether to post this under treats or homemade food.

My puppy has started teething and I can’t use edible chews or bully sticks because he gets diarrhea quite easily so he is just getting kibble and pumpkin for his food.

I am planning to fill and freeze his kong to help with his gums and chewing habit but would like some recipes some of you might have tried that are fairly natural and safe for the tummy.

I have tried peanut butter but he doesn’t seem too interested in it when it is frozen. (less aromatic I guess?)

Some people have suggested ground beef and rice? (Should the ground beef be raw or cooked?)

Open to any and all suggestions.

[Gloria K]

I have never tried the WELLNESS CORE protein bars because I make all of Mickey’s treats but I do supplement his homemade dog food with WC grain free reduced fat kibble and he absolutely goes crazy over it. I feed him his homemade food then fill his Kong wobbler with about a quarter cup of kibble and watch the fun begin.

[Emily W]

What do you think about Wellness CORE Grain-Free Protein Bars? My boys love them. Also love Stella & Chewy’s Carnivore Crunch Freeze Dried Beef Recipe Dog Treats.

[crazy4cats]

Ronald-
She sounds wonderful! You two were meant for each other! Yes, labs are notorious for getting chubby. I really have to watch it with one of mine. I think he has my metabolism. Lol! The lighter one I feed at least 100 more calories per day and he still is skinny. I guess he has my husband’s metabolism! I know it’s best for their joints to keep them lean. I’ve not fed mine the Wellness reduced fat, but it has been approved by many on this site. Just remember to carefully measure out the food and count all snacks and treats. Keep us updated!

[Michael Saull]

I totally agree with aquarian that in a high excitement distraction environment likea group training or obedience class kibble probably wont work as well. But if it is just a one on one with your dog it seems to work pretty well for me, and I don’t have to worry about waking up 5 times in the middle of the night with a squirting pooch.

Also you shouldn’t let other people give your dog their sugar and salt loaded treats which can make them focus on getting THAT treat therefore making them picky.

[aquariangt]

Oh my, there are HUNDREDS of treats. I change constantly. That’s to help keep them moving and not get bored. Definitely don’t use the same forever, they’ll certainly not respond as well. I also don’t use kibble to train in any sort of group or public setting, it won’t get you the results you want. Watch out for food intolerances though, if there is anything she doesnt get along with in food, it’ll happen with treats. Rotational diet helps toleration of treat changes as well.

Currently in my bag I have:

Stella and Chewy’s carnivore crunch Salmon and cod (wont use again, too crumbly, my biggest pet peeve with treats)
Ziwipeak Venison Jerky
Sojos Simply Turkey

In my chewy shipment coming:
Vital Essentials Tripe Niblets
Weruva Paw Lickin Chicken

Sojos simply is my favorite, I usually have one of the three flavors on me.

[Michael Saull]

Does she respond to her kibble for training? Maybe try taking a small handful of kibble out of her regular food for the day and use it for training. If you don’t use all of it during the day just add it back to her food for dinner time. Or just keep track of how much kibble you use and adjust the food portions.

My puppy was having diarrhea issues so we had to cut out all treats, chews, and snacks until it settles down. He still responds well to his kibble for training so I use that and it doesn’t upset his tummy.

[Dori]

I highly doubt it’s anything you would feed your dogs Marie. I know I wouldn’t.

http://www.naturaldogfoodcompany.com/adults-c-2/

Whoops! Just took another look to check out the treats that the OP was asking about and realized that the prices indicate it’s a European Company.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Dori.

[Beth F]

I use their senior turkey/light for my 17 yr old miniature jack russell and its done him the world of good. Just browsing their website and came across their treats, wondering if anyone has had these before? They seem to be quite simple looking – I need something that has a lot of taste as he is quite picky with treats. Thanks in advance 🙂

[Dog_Obsessed]

Huh…I’ve never heard anyone recommend not to feed dogs pork kibble. My vet recommended it as a novel protein for my dog’s elimination diet, and so I have been using Acana Singles Pork and Butternut Squash. It is hard to tell if it is working or not, especially since we found out she also has environmental allergies, but she didn’t do badly on it.

As for Pork treats/chews, I have occasionally heard of contamination issues, or dogs having issues with the fat, but I think they are generally fine if from a reputable company, and of course, supervised to make sure the dog doesn’t choke or consume too much in one sitting.

[Anonymous]

Any kibble with chicken (salmonella), or any jerky/treats (China) are suspect, no matter what the brand, imo.

Nutrisca salmon and chickpea dry food is the food that my small breed that has allergies and a sensitive stomach likes. Her specialist/dermatologist agrees it is the right food for her, limited ingredients.

I like Wysong, but she had some GI upset with it, however, my senior small breed does best on Wysong senior.

[Eve D]

This possum meat dog roll was enthusiastically recommended to me by several dog owners and pet store staff. I was hesitant to give it to my dog as I am trying to avoid feeding him junk food. But the ingredients list looked ok and I couldn’t ignore all the recommendations. I mix it with Orijen kibble or use it as treats. There’s no denying my dog LOVES this stuff. But is it healthy for him?
Ingredients listed are:
Contains possum meat, lamb and/or beef, semolina, sucrose, garlic, preservatives, added vitamins & minerals | Pack Size 2kg

[InkedMarie]

there are many many grainfree treats out there to try: The Honest Kitchen and SoJo’s are the ones I use.

[Karen J]

My dog Trixie is on a grain free diet and a few supplements and doing pretty well. But I seem to be running out of good treats for training. I was boiling chicken breasts and cutting them up and she threw it all up tonight from 9 hours ago.

The Good Lovin Brand she was liking and then got bored. I just gave her a Stella & Chewy nugget, she had gotten bored with them but I think she ate, I have to go look. Maybe I have to rotate. This is such an informative group I thought you might have some ideas.

She love the Tri-Pom organic chicken jerky from Maine but it’s not such a great training tool. They’re kind of time consuming for her to chew. Plus it’s expensive.

The dehydrated treats seem to give her diarrhea.

Any suggestions? She’s smart and stubborn so I have to work on stay and come and loose leash walking and all 13lbs get reactive on the leash…so I take a pouch with me and the clicker to try to work on these issues on our walks. But without treats it doesn’t work so well.

Thank you, Karen

[Dori]

The commercial raw foods that I feed are:

Primal Raw Frozen Formulas
Primal Pronto Frozen Formulas
Natural Variety Instinct Frozen Raw Diets
Vital Essentials Frozen Raw Food
OC Raw Frozen Food
Nature’s Logic Frozen Raw Food
Answer’s Detailed Frozen Raw Food

I used to feed Darwin’s but I stopped. They add more fat to the diets now and also lowered the protein level of their diets. And, of course, they raised their prices.

For a dehydrated, once in a while I’ll use The Honest Kitchen Zeal. It’s the only one that I feed.

As treats I only give them small pieces of fruits and veggies. Whatever I happen to have in the refrigerator or counter.

I don’t feed any commercial treats. Too many recalls, too many grains.

Please feel free to ask any other questions.

[Dori]

Please remember that dogs are not born picky. All so called “picky” eaters are made that way by their owners. I will also include human children in my statement. I’m glad you are going to follow Marie’s suggestion.

One more thing. No treats in-between meal treats. You’ll fill your dog up on treats and won’t be hungry for meals. Just until your dog knows that when food is put down (twice a day) it needs to be consumed within 15 – 20 minutes or it’s going to disappear.

[Julie L]

I use chicken. I buy chicken filets frozen from Costco. I take one out boil it and use that just for training treats works great.

[C4D]

Interesting to know C4C. I wonder if it could work for treats? I rotate so much I never pick autoship, but Petflow also offers a lot of Free Shipping days & 30% off. You just have to watch for them, cuz there gone in a day.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by C4D.

[Debra C]

I have a finicky 11 year old mini schnauzer who knows when it is 7:30 every night and goes to wait for her petite senior Greenie. I know they had some issues a few years ago, but apparently took care of them. As much as she loves them, I like that they also help to clean her teeth. She also loves Zuke’s mini natural peanut butter treats. The ingredient list is good and since her kibble is dry (with a mix of beef , chicken, or turkey) I think she enjoys the soft texture of these and a different taste.

[C4D]

I think the previous post might be an ad. These treats appear to be from a website in India.

[Jennifer H]

I would just cut back on the amounts your feeding, and look for the kcals per cup on the back of the bag, and match it to feeding for her ideal weight. For example, lets say she weighs 50lbs, and you want her to weigh 40. Figure out how many kcals a 40lb dog needs per day, and then match that to how many kcal per cup of the food (I think DFA has a calculator floating around here for that) to see what you should be feeding, as each variety of food varies in its kcal amount. Also factor in any treats she may be getting and any table scraps, as they count towards her total caloric intake.

Some dogs need to be fed less than the amounts suggested just because they are so prone to weight gain unfortunately. Just as some dogs need to be fed more if they have difficulty keeping weight on.

[homzie]

I am definately learning a lesson here! I am just so glad that my dog quit eating…honestly! Or she might have had some irreversible damage! I am also reading that there was a recall back in 2010 about very high amounts of Vitamin D in their food.

I am happy to say that Blue Buffalo has responded very quickly after I contacted them. I think they are just thinking that my dog eats whatever she wants and scraps, rawhides, etc…but they will not find that in this case. Our dog eats only grain/wheat free foods and treats and eats healthy….until now! I am curious to see what they will do. I will not be buying their foods ever again and the part that upsets me is the money wasted. The food is NOT cheap…it is double what I was paying.

[Myra S]

I’m having a heck of a time with keeping my 3 dachshunds weight in check. I don’t like feeding a high protien because my male can’t handle it. Don’t like fat over 12% because female has had one pancreatic attack years ago. Keeping that in mind why is it if I’m portion feeding with high quality, low fat and protien and making sure they get exercise they still run a couple of # over. Treats consist of low fat or frozen veggies. How do you decide calories and carbs if you can’t get to DFA while shopping? I do measure each ones food and try to adjust while getting them enough nutrition. Vets are NO help on this matter.

• This topic was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by Myra S.

[Susan]

Hi Sam, join this group on F/B https://www.facebook.com/groups/11164787803 it’s called “Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disorder”
I’m finding a few rescued dogs suffer from IBD due to a poor diet & malnutrition from a pup, when I rescued my boy he was doing the same every 12-15 days, we were back & forth vets he was put on antibiotic (Metronidazole) for 2 weeks & a vet diet then everything went good in the end… I found I had to stick with same diet & not give any treats nothing except his vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal low residue kibble that’s low in fat-10% & low in fiber-1.70% to let his bowel rest & heal…as soon as I’d try & change his diet he went good for 4-6 days then back to real sloppy poos & vomiting, he’d have the rumbling, gurgling bowel noises early hours of the morning then his diarrhea….I finally found out Patch had Food Intolerances & Food Allergies..that was causing his IBD, I have him on a single protein hypoallergenic, gluten free, sugar free & dairy free kibble now…with 10% fat & 4% fiber & a good Dog probiotic….

Find an limited ingredient kibble, less ingredients is the best something like “California Natural” Lamb & Rice has only 4 ingredients http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products
there a few diets you can look at… then just feed the new diet & nothing else for a good 4 months, do the Giardia test also if her foster mum swears she was never sick, what was she feeding her, maybe you’re feeding kibbles that are too high in protein & fat, some dogs cant handle high protein diets…

[Terry G]

One trick that often works well is to warm the food before serving it; it helps engage their sensitive sense of smell. I’ve seen it work best by putting the can of food in a pan on your stove and warming it like you would any food. You can add some of their favorite things, such as green beans or cheese, while it is warming if you want to. My dog loves carrots! Test it with your fingers before setting their bowls down to make sure it is not too hot. An alternative warming method is to put filtered water in your tea pot, heat the water (not to a boil) and pour that over the can or kibble in their bowl. Just stir the water for a bit and, again, check with your finger to make sure it is not too hot. Finally, you can microwave the canned food.

Warm food is very comforting to dogs because, in addition to the fact that fresh kills in the wild would be body temperature not room temperature, the dog’s own body temperature is warmer than ours; typically 101 to 102 degrees.

Just be patient. Some dogs take longer to adjust to changes. If you know you are feeding them healthier food, then don’t worry if they act finicky and don’t feed them extra treats so that they are not hungry. Remember the bit of wisdom that no dog ever starved next to a full food dish!

[pugmomsandy]

I’ve used or still use Ziwipeak air-dried food and Vital Essentials freeze dried niblets as treats. Wellness has several treats to chose from as well and Instinct has biscuits and freeze dried Boost bites.

[aquariangt]

I’ve never looked at BB Jerky treats-as I don’t consider them to be a reputable brand at all.

Are they a chew treat or a training treat? For a jerky “chew” I use The Honest Kitchen Beams or a tendon chew-jerky like (Best Bully Sticks has plenty to choose from) for a jerky treat to break up for training, I use Ziwipeak, Real Meat, or Boulder Dog Food company.

Again, if you let us know what you’re using them for, there may be many more options, I use a variety of chews and the treats I’ve used for training seem endless. Remember a few things-hold your treat company to the same standards as food as far as sourcing, ingredient transparency, etc… and keep treats to under 20% of their weekly caloric intake. I do so much training and they get chews a few times a week, that I have to keep close tabs on this, one of mine especially can get chunky real fast

[InkedMarie]

the only jerky treats I’m comfortable with are from The Honest Kitchen but they’re probably more expensive. I rarely give them (I’m not big on treats here) so the cost isn’t a big deal for me. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

[Henry C]

Hi All,

I’ve been giving my dog Blue Buffalo Wilderness Dog Jerky Treats for a year or so. My dog like this treat a lot but the price seems high for the quantity you get. I paid about $10 a bag for 3.25 oz which doesn’t last long. I’m trying to find an alternative to Blue Buffalo with another reputable brand. Thanks

[Gloria K]

Joyce if you go to my PINTEREST Account at
http://www.pinterest.com/gloriak2393
and scroll down to the board DOG FOOD AND TREATS you’ll find several great recipes for treats of all kinds. If you’re on Pinterest I hope you’ll follow me

[Dog_Obsessed]

Hi Joyce,
There is already a topic about homemade dog treats that can be found here: /forums/topic/has-anyone-made-homemade-dog-treats/

[Joyce C]

I am looking for a recipe for a Homemade dog treat. Must have natural ingredients and easy to make. Roll out and mold before baking. Stored in airtight container. Any suggestions?

• This topic was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Mike Sagman.

[Joyce C]

I am looking for a good homemade dog treat that I can make at home and keep in an airtight container. Any Suggestions

• This topic was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by Mike Sagman. Reason: Fix Duplicate Topic Title

[Anonymous]

She had a 2 for tyrophagus putrescentiae.
http://purelypetcare.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-are-storage-mites.html
Commonly referred to as the mold mite, tyrophagus putrescentiae is a grain storage mite. Increased moisture and humidity are the perfect environment for storage mites to develop. Colonization of the storage mite generally goes unnoticed until your dog or cat develops symptoms. Such mites are often found in dry kibble dog and cat foods as well as boxed pet treats.

[theBCnut]

I also use different treats for different situations. The come-in-from-the-back-yard treat is kibble. The Micah-I-want-you-to-do-the-dogwalk treat is baked liver. Stockwork needs no treat, it is its own reward.

[Naturella]

Weezerweeks, I would probably feed him half a can split in 2 or so. That should be 115 calories so the rest up to 160 will come from the yoghurt, berries, and treats. Just give it a try and see if he loses the weight he needs to. If he loses too much, up the food. You know the drill! 😉

[C4D]

I use a variety of treats when working with my dogs. The first time I brought my lab to a class years ago I had just basic treats. The instructor looked @ me and the fact that my dog wasn’t really that interested in following and said I need to bring the “A” treats. So I brought very small pieces of hot dog and it worked all the way through canine good citizen training.
Now I have fosters that need to learn and respond to me and a reactive dog that I adopted. I do vary the treats within the bag. My favorite is a mix of freeze dried liver and lungs along with all natural human hot dogs and boiled chicken cut in very small pieces. It keeps them alert since the treat will vary each time.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 1 month ago by C4D.

[aquariangt]

Yay it let me log on today!

There is a big difference between treats to use in classes and treats around the house. Kibble can work for certain games around the house. Working for dinner-make it fun! When im teaching group classes though, ESPECIALLY where the dogs are working in close proximity to each other, I need something more hardy to keep their attention. I use a lot of freeze dried meat with my own, the one I do a lot with trains easily and doesn’t need a ton of motivation. The other one with issues I keep it coming, and I keep it varied. My training bag generally has 2-4 types of treats, plus a treat tube of peanut butter. The pouch I wear while im teaching also has 3-4 types of treats in it, I never know what I need to pull out for a certain dog. My agility dog could work for kibble since we only get treats at the end of a run for the most part, but I need other treats when im working certain skills and drills, so I just use the same treats through the whole evening.

[weezerweeks]

I just bought a case of Weruva bed and breakfast food. The 14 oz can has only 230 calories. I usually feed him about 6ozs a day of his other wet food which has around 320 a can. I like for him to get around 160 calories a day. How much of this food should I feed him. To get the calories he needs it will take a lot of the an. Usually I feed 1/4 cup plus 1or 2 tablespoons twice a day. He is a little overweight so I feed him the lower end plus he gets 2 treats a day plus blueberries and yogurt in his food once a day.How much should I feed him?

[Elizabeth P]

Dori, I’m afraid I’d have to disagree with you based on my own experience. If what you do works for you, though, great. I teach an obedience class, and just tonight I gave my spiel on high value treats for training. I said don’t use your dog’s kibble. Go for something that really floats their boat. After all, if someone offered you a rice cake or a birthday cake as a reward for completing a task, which one would YOU choose. 🙂 For some dogs, that birthday cake is string cheese, for others it is green beans. My dogs usually work well for really smelly stuff, or things they rarely get in other contexts. Tonight it was tiny pieces of stew beef.