I love training treats for dogs! I’m a long time user of high-value training treats when teaching my dogs polite behavior and tricks.
From potty training my 8-week-old Boxer mix puppies Missy & Buzz to teaching my 1-year-old Feist mix Wally the “play dead” trick, pet dog training treats have helped me out tremendously.
That’s why today’s post covers the best training treats for dogs. I’m also going to share my favorite diy pet dog training treat recipe. This post is not sponsored, however Raw Paws Pet Food and Campfire treats sent us treats at no cost.
First, the benefits of treats in pet dog training
Let’s start by describing why I use training treats for my dogs in the first place.
Simply put, I use them to make my life easier! I’ve yielded terrific results by using treats in potty training, obedience training as well as trick training.
Generally speaking, I use pet dog training treats in my everyday life to reward my pup when he listens to me and performs certain behaviors I ask of him such as:
Sit
Stay
Come
Down
រលត់
Tricks like shake, wave, play dead, up
Games like “find me” – our version of hide and seek inside the house
After all, who doesn’t want to get rewarded for a job well done?
Training treats make pet dog training fun, much easier and they motivate our dogs to work with us. and mixing up the treats we use makes sure our pups never know which food reward they’ll reap next. This keeps them ready to work!
Features of the best treats for dogs
It’s crucial to understand that not all pet dog treats are created equally and aren’t necessarily good for pet dog training purposes.
For instance, any large treats that are too hard to break apart and can’t easily fit into our pockets or a treat pouch are a big no no for me (for training purposes).
That’s because dogs need to be rewarded swiftly for obeying a command. They also need be to be able to swiftly focus back on you, so they can’t be distracted by a large, chewy treat that takes 10+ seconds to eat.
Besides that, I also like limited- and single-ingredient treats that don’t pack a caloric punch.
In my experience, the best training treats have the following features:
Soft but firm consistency
Small, bite-sized!
Crumble-free
Non-greasy
Somewhat smelly to engage pet dog more
Somewhat smelly training treats can be particularly useful for dogs who may not be very food motivated. I personally don’t have that problem with Wally. He is insanely food motivated!
Treats that fall into the “somewhat smelly” category are green tripe treats and anything fishy.
The six best training treats for dogs
Now without additionally ado, the six treats that made it on my list of best treats for dogs are:
1. crucial essentials Freeze-Dried Beef Tripe pet dog Treats
ORDER here – $8.49 per 2.3-ounce bag
USA-sourced, made, and packaged
Gluten-free and grain-free
No man-made preservatives or colors
No synthetic vitamins or minerals
Somewhat smelly
Single-ingredient treat: beef tripe
2. Campfire pet dog treats Dehydrated Hearty Bites.
ORDER here – $14.98 for a 3.5-ounce container
Available in beef heart, chicken jerky or beef liver bites.
Low calorie treats
USA-sourced & made
Gluten-free and grain-free
Additive-and preservative-free
Single-ingredient treat: beef heart, chicken or beef liver
At our request, Campfire treats sent us treats to try at no cost and they are supplying the treats for our giveaway. read Lindsay’s full review of Campfire natural pet dog treats here.
3. Pupford Freeze-Dried training Treats
ORDER here – $15.99 for a 4-ounce bag
They come in beef liver, chicken or sweet potato.
Less than 2 calories per treat
About 450 treats per bag
USA-made
Limited-ingredients: 95% beef liver or sweet potato and 5% pea protein.
4. Raw Paws Pet Food Dehydrated sweet Potato
ORDER here – $5.99 (sale) per 3-ounce bag
Only 2 calories per treat
Gluten-free and grain-free
Grown, dried, and packaged in the USA
No man-made preservatives or colors.
Single-ingredient treat: sweet potato.
Raw Paws Pet Food also carries large gourmet sweet potato chip pet dog treats that Wally loves as much as the smaller sweet potato treats, but they don’t make good training treats due to their size.
At our request, Raw Paws sent us some treats to try at no cost. They are also supplying treats for our giveaway!
5. Ziwi height Air-Dried good pet dog Rewards
ORDER here – $8.96 per 3-ounce bag
Available in beef, lamb or venison (most expensive).
Low calorie-treats
No antibiotics or growth promotants
No grains, sugars, or glycerins
All meat sources are grass-fed and sourced from ethical and sustainable farms in new Zealand
Ingredients of the beef treats: Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Beef Kidney, Beef Lung, new Zealand green Mussel, Beef Bone, Lecithin, Inulin from Chicory, Dried Kelp, Minerals (Dipotassium Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Selenium Yeast), Salt, Parsley, Preservative (Citric Acid, Mixed Tocopherols), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid).
6. Zuke’s tiny Naturals
ORDER here – $5.99 per 6-ounce bag
Available in chicken, duck, peanut butter & oats, pork, rabbit and salmon.
Less than 3 calories per treat.
No corn, wheat, or soy.
No man-made colors or flavors.
USA-made.
Ingredients in the rabbit recipe: Rabbit, ground rice, ground barley, malted barley, gelatin, vegetable glycerin, tapioca, cherries, natural flavors, sunflower oil, salt, lecithin, phosphoric acid, turmeric, sorbic acid (a preservative), ascorbic acid (vitamin c), vitamin D, zinc proteinate, citric acid, mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract.
Best pet dog treat pouch – Mighty Paw
Along with the best pet dog training treats goes the best pet dog training treat pouch. It’s just so much much easier to carry the treats you’ll be training your pet dog with in a designated pet dog training pouch rather than stuffing them into various pockets.
ORDER HERE
In my opinion, the best pet dog training treat pouch is the one by Mighty Paw. It genuinely is an exceptionally functional and versatile tool that I’ve owned considering that 2017. See for yourself!
Features of the Mighty Paw treat pouch are:
Draw string pouch with 2 cup treat capacity
2 compartments to hold a cell phone and money
1 carabiner clip to hold keys and/or a training clicker
Poop bag holder (the pouch comes with one complimentary roll of poop bags)
High quality, weatherproof material with reflective stitching
Adjustable belt so it can be worn like a fanny pack (adjusts to belt sizes 26″ – 42″)
Get Your Mighty Paw treat pouch here
Bonus: Dehydrated pet dog treat recipe
I normally get my pet dog training treats, but every now and then I like to wear my chef hat and whip up a batch of homemade doggie training treats in my dehydrator.
It’s just a fun diy way of changing things up a bit and not aways having to rely on store gotten treats.
The recipe I invite you to check out is incredibly simple, but you’ll need to set aside 12-24 hours for the meat to dry in the dehydrator.
All you need is your dog’s preferred type of liver or other cuts of meat like gizzards, hearts or breast meat.
I get mine either from a local grocery store or from online raw pet dog food retailers. Dehydrated liver treats are easiest to break apart into small or even tiny training rewards.
Recipe: how to make dehydrated pet dog treats for your pup
Tip: These homemade pet dog training treats make a great, thoughtful gift for pet dog lovers during the holidays or any other occasion you’d like to share some love on! You could gift them in a pretty mason jar or similar glass storage container wrapped up with a festive bow.
What training are you working on with your dog?
Let us know in the comments below!
Barbara Rivers writes frequently for That Mutt. She is certified in raw pet dog food nutrition from Dogs naturally magazine and the author of three ebooks about balanced raw pet dog food. She is a blogger at K9s Over Coffee.