# What do you give as "treats"



## outwest (May 1, 2011)

You can buy one of those precooked chickens from the grocery store or cost co. Cut it in chunks and freeze them. One chicken lasts a long time. ...I do buy milk bones...  But, milk bone now has some natural ones. They cost a little bit more, but not much more. I also buy some good bones with tendons attached that I discovered at my local Zoom Room that are terrific. They only cost 2.99 each and last for days and days. My dogs love those.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I make liver cake and tuna cake - I use liver, egg and rice, but if you want to exclude all grains, liver, mashed sweet potato and an egg would work just as well. I shove about half a pound of liver in a food processor and whizz it, then add the egg and enough rice flour or cooked rice to make it a dropping consistency (as long as you can get it out of the mixer and into the baking tin the dogs are not fussy about how fluffy it is!), put it into a loaf tin and bake it in a medium for half an hour or so, until a knofe prodded into it comes out clean. Once it has cooled, I slice it thinly, cut the slices into strips, and dry them in a very low oven until they are crispy. That way they last for ages without being refrigerated. Tunacake is much the same, but substituting tinned tuna for the liver.

Mine also love any kind of meat, compressed tripe sticks from a local supermareket that are all tripe and not smelly (I am trying to find out whether they come from China...), cheese, cooked green beans, and cooked sprouting broccoli. They won't touch fruit, though!


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I just give mine their normal food as treats, as they love to eat. However, once in a while when I am making dinner I give them some human food and have found that chicken makes their eyes widen and both dogs get really, really focused! So when I am making a chicken or turkey for the family, I freeze some like Outwest said, laid out on a piece of parchment paper or a cookie sheet so it doesn't freeze into a solid lump. They looooooove it.


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## pinkteaji (Dec 7, 2012)

I give mine natural balance sausages (when they're on sale at a local dog store) and sometimes peeled apples and carrots. I also buy Natural Balance grain free biscuits (bison and sweet potato, or some other combination). Those are pretty expensive per small bag but usually my pet store (Pet Supplies Plus) have them on sale (usually to 4 dollars which isn't bad and I like to split each biscuit in half).


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I found this in another forum and Molly really likes them....and it's easy to make!


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## Cailin77 (Jul 21, 2012)

Thanks for all the suggestions! I really like the idea of the rotisserie chicken from the grocery store! I'm a vegetarian, so those aren't the kind of scraps I would have in the house. This is sort of silly, but I sometimes buy little jars of baby food for Brody and my cats! (Only safe flavored of course! Usually chicken with sweet potato.)


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## Cailin77 (Jul 21, 2012)

MollyMuiMa said:


> I found this in another forum and Molly really likes them....and it's easy to make!


I made sweet potato treats like this!  Brody likes them too. Except I made my pieces too small and they shrunk really tiny!


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

Fancy-brand grain-free treats are one item I only order online from Amazon. The savings are quite dramatic compared to our local high-end pet retailer. (I buy everything I can there to support him, but not treats.)


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## MrsKaia (Dec 3, 2011)

ZiwiPeak 'Good Dog' treats (venison), Trader Joe's Beef Liver treats, and I also make my own beef jerky. Both my dogs go nuts for all three. I have a miniature that has yeast overgrowth, so I'm trying to keep anything sugar, or anything that her body converts into sugar (yeast feeds on sugar) out of her diet.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

fjm said:


> I make liver cake and tuna cake - I use liver, egg and rice, but if you want to exclude all grains, liver, mashed sweet potato and an egg would work just as well. I shove about half a pound of liver in a food processor and whizz it, ...


fjm. do you cook the liver first, or is it raw when it goes into the food processor?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Raw, Judy - may be a touch difficult to cope with if you are vegetarian! Tinned tuna works very well, if you can't face the gore.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Thanks! I'll give that a try. (I spent several hours this week cutting up and packaging various animal parts from the slaughterhouse for the dogs--gore is no problem. :biggrin1: )


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## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

I just discovered that Tiki loves dried banana chips. I had put a dish out on the coffee table with other bowl of goodies like nuts and chips. He has never scarfed off of the coffee table, or any other, but about half of them were gone. I put the rest in a baggie for later dog treats and put out new ones for the guests in a different bowl. He had no problems later. So now I am using them, broken in bits, for training treats


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## WhosMyFluffyPuppy (Jan 12, 2013)

How about a tub of chicken livers, boiled with no seasoning? Easy to buy, cook, give, and store!


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

I have bought frozen cooked chicken breasts, i microwave it on defrost for 1.5 minutes but 1 breast it too much for 1 day. Because Lou is so picky I only use the chicken for the "Lou come!" command, if I gave it to her more often she would get used to it and it wouldnt be so effective!! I also give her glucosamine treats daily for hip and joints. Pig ears (the crunchy oily kind). These are all her favorites. I give her bully stick as a reward too.


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## frankgrimes (Nov 28, 2011)

If you're going grain free due to allergies then you may want to omit chicken, it's the second most common trigger. I feed Ralph peanut butter in his kong (all natural), Zukes also have a good selection. I like the little bits, they're really small and good for training. Ralph likes the salmon ones and the peanut butter ones. They're grain free. I pay 4$ for a bag and there are lots and lots in a bag.

P.S the precooked chickens almost always have spice or seasonings on them. Ralph gets the runs from anything like this, every time.


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## My babies (Aug 14, 2012)

My babies loves ducky jerky but with all the recent recalls I've been making my own. I dehydrate it in the oven. I also dehydrate hearts, livers, and kidneys. This is 2 whole ducks plus hearts, livers, and kidneys. Not a whole lot after they are dehydrated. It shrunk so much.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

That was rather the problem I had when I dehydrated chicken, My Babies - 2 ounces of fresh chicken would be a whole meal for one of my toys, but dehydrated it became just a couple of treat sized strips. I had to be very parsimonious with it to avoid over feeding them!


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

yesterday we hit on ham as a "Get the dog's FULL attention NOW" item.... Somehow I thought - "Oh, Ham is seasoned and smoked...." Then I thought about the pig ears, and ham seems like a much more palatable and treatable option....

you can buy it already cubed up in the meat section if you don't want to deal with the overall yuk of cutting it up.... 

We treat to train, generally, so I have to be willing to put it in my mouth, too. cheese of any sort, a strip of steak I can bite or tear small bits off, now ham. (Sorry, I am not putting a commercial treat in my mouth - ever.) We do keep some commercial treats here, and they are reserved really for guests and are kept near the door. When anyone comes in the door, there are treats there for them to give the dog(s). Spike is really good with visitors!


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## faerie (Mar 27, 2010)

I'm making my guys this today:

Puree 1 lb. of beef or chicken liver in a food processor and then mix it with 2 cup of coconut flour, and 2 tbsp. of coconut oil. Spread the batter on a greased cookie sheet and bake it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Once it has cooled, you can tear it into chunks that can be given right to your dog or frozen for later.

Haven't tried it before... I've made liver cookies with rice and oats and eggs which are a huge hit.


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## My babies (Aug 14, 2012)

faerie said:


> I'm making my guys this today:
> 
> Puree 1 lb. of beef or chicken liver in a food processor and then mix it with 2 cup of coconut flour, and 2 tbsp. of coconut oil. Spread the batter on a greased cookie sheet and bake it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Once it has cooled, you can tear it into chunks that can be given right to your dog or frozen for later.
> 
> Haven't tried it before... I've made liver cookies with rice and oats and eggs which are a huge hit.



I was all excited and wanted to try to make this. Went to the grocery store and can't find coconut flour and coconut oil. No coconut anything there. Lol


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

fjm said:


> I make liver cake and tuna cake - I use liver, egg and rice, but if you want to exclude all grains, liver, mashed sweet potato and an egg would work just as well. I shove about half a pound of liver in a food processor and whizz it, then add the egg and enough rice flour or cooked rice to make it a dropping consistency (as long as you can get it out of the mixer and into the baking tin the dogs are not fussy about how fluffy it is!), put it into a loaf tin and bake it in a medium for half an hour or so, until a knofe prodded into it comes out clean. Once it has cooled, I slice it thinly, cut the slices into strips, and dry them in a very low oven until they are crispy. That way they last for ages without being refrigerated. Tunacake is much the same, but substituting tinned tuna for the liver.


This is in the oven as we speak, so to speak, undergoing the final drying. Somehow I got the batter too thin, and it took much longer than 30 minutes to bake solid enough to slice, but I can tell already that it will be a great hit. The dogs got a few crumbs and scraps as I sliced the loaf, and they were under my feet until I turned the light out and left the kitchen.


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## PammiPoodle (Jul 16, 2011)

My girls love dried fruits like cranberries, cherries, apricots, apple rings, and banana chips. They also love walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, and naturally, almond and peanut butter! They like pieces of most fresh fruits, as well. They really love cooked veggies, too. I find a bowl of warm, freshly steamed mixed veggies makes for a very focused training session!! : P For longer lasting "chewy" type treats they eat dehydrated sweet potato (I buy mine, haven't been able to get the right texture myself), and Kongs stuffed with any combo of nut butter, pieces of fruit, applesauce, kibble (which is a treat for them, not their usual fare), their homemade food, and the pulp from my juicer which bulks it up without too much calories. The Kongs and sweet potato are usually frozen to help them last longer. You know, I think my dogs have a more varied diet than I do! : P


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## PoodlePowerBC (Feb 25, 2011)

faerie said:


> I'm making my guys this today:
> 
> Puree 1 lb. of beef or chicken liver in a food processor and then mix it with 2 cup of coconut flour, and 2 tbsp. of coconut oil. Spread the batter on a greased cookie sheet and bake it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Once it has cooled, you can tear it into chunks that can be given right to your dog or frozen for later.
> 
> Haven't tried it before... I've made liver cookies with rice and oats and eggs which are a huge hit.


Russell is reactive to egg ... this looks fabulous! Gonna try this, but I'm gonna use ground oatmeal. Haven't been able to find coconut flour yet. Thanks


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## patcheeze (Aug 22, 2013)

chunks of jerhigh, sometimes small rawhide and some other times... kibbles


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## Jamie Hein (Aug 17, 2013)

Kennedy LOVES blueberries! Also freeze dried chicken breast and Nature's Variety freeze dried treats are favorites.


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## Caniche (Jun 10, 2013)

I'm a big fan of Zukes - they're reasonably priced at places like chewy.com and I think they have good formulas for allergy laden dogs. Freeze dried chicken and beef liver are great options too!


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

MollyMuiMa said:


> I found this in another forum and Molly really likes them....and it's easy to make!


I am going to try these this weekend! Do you leave the skin on the sweet potatoes when you make these or peel them? 
Thanks for posting this recipe.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I scrub them with a scrubby and use them skin on!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

My babies said:


> I was all excited and wanted to try to make this. Went to the grocery store and can't find coconut flour and coconut oil. No coconut anything there. Lol


I have not yet looked for coconut flour - maybe a health food store? I just found and purchased coconut oil at Marshalls.


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## Toy poodlelvr (Mar 24, 2013)

A few weeks ago, I make this peanut butter and oatmeal frozen cookie . It's really easy. You just need peanut butter, oatmeal , milk and honey (optional), freeze it and give it to your dogs!!!


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

I use cut up hot dogs, cut up string cheese sticks, baby carrots, cut up leftover steak, pork chop, chicken breast, etc.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

My guys eat and love everything...raw carrots, tomatoes, caesar salad. But the thing they lose their minds over is cheese. So when training, I have a ziplock bags full of tiny bits of cheese in my pocket.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

I buy chicken gizzards and hearts, cut them into small pieces, and bake them in a slow oven until they're dry. They keep well in the refrigerator. But even better, I feed the hearts raw. The dogs will do anything for raw chicken hearts.


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