# High value reward ideas



## GimliSonOfGloin (Dec 8, 2021)

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some inspiration for high value food rewards for my 6 month old spoo. We have run into some trouble with our recall training as we didn't proof it enough at the start and put mistakenly put him in situations where he was distracted and inevitably ignored our helpless calls to him. SO we are going to start over recall training with a whistle and a more structured programme, hopefully learning from past mistakes. I definitely get the impression that he weighs up his rewards - e.g. we make a command, he determines we only have bog standard dog treats and decides whether or not it's worth it. For while chicken worked really well and he went mad for it, but I think he has gotten bored of it as it seems to have lost it's magic effect. 

Any suggestions for super-high value rewards for us as we start training him that the whistle means amazing things are coming his way? 

Thank you!


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## Minie (Oct 4, 2021)

Boiled chicken breast and liverpaté is very popular with both dogs. They love carrots and cheese aswell


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

In the past I have used string cheese, hot dogs, and bacon. I currently use dried Baltic sprat, freeze dried minnows, and frozen beef steak. Occasionally I also freeze the trimmings from a ham steak. I cook up an inexpensive cut (something like round or flank), slice it into chunks slightly larger than the size of a Tylenol capsule, and freeze them into small plastic salad dressing containers. Then I just pop a container into my pocket when I think I will need to work extra hard to maintain attention. (The container keeps the meat from bleeding into my clothing as it thaws.)

I also make a point of mixing high value and low value treats. Anything turns into a low value treat when the dog gets used to having it every day. Curiosity about what might come out of my pocket next - is this the time when I get a sprat instead of just a piece of dog cookie? - helps motivate. With easy tasks in low distraction situations I offer more low value treats or even kibble; high distraction situations might call for a mix of bacon, minnows, and cheese. I also might go light on breakfast or the previous night's supper if I know I'm going to put the dog into a high distraction situation. I don't want him so hungry as to be irritable and unfocused, but being just a little hungry makes the idea of treats more appealing.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

Small cheese pieces or cut freeze dried little fish.

That's where we go.


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

My dogs become perfect angels of there is string cheese.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Yep cheese, hot dog, bacon, dried sprats and small bits of cooked liver.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Stinky fish. I’ve seen the power of salmon over dogs … one teacher had freeze dried salmon that smelled and all the dogs wanted to be with her.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

For Peggy the highest value is cooked chicken breast. She loves chicken jerky, turkey dog, bits of beef, and string cheese. We’ll even give her the occasional taste of bacon at the vet’s office. But cooked chicken breast makes her go wild. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s personal preference, or maybe it’s linked to a positive experience.

With recall, remember—you don’t want to get into the habit of letting Gimli assess the reward. It should appear as if by magic once he’s come to you.

When an emergency arises, you will be relying on his response to your verbal or visual cue, not a steak being waved in the air.  He will need to trust you have something wonderful, even if you don’t.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Should add that the reward can also be tailored to the moment. Even the most tantalizing treat in the world isn’t going to be all that appealing if Gimli is surrounded by his puppy pals and having the time of his life.

During play dates, we would reward any voluntary check-ins from puppy Peggy with something yummy, and then we’d give her an exciting release to go back to play. Something like, “Okay!!” and then encourage her to chase us or to race back to the group. Every time we did this, it was an opportunity to tell her: _Coming to your humans doesn’t mean the fun stops! In fact, the fun gets even more fun!_

Same goes for calling her in from the yard. Even now, we often race to the cookie jar and then continue a little playtime or training indoors.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

I like to use freeze-dried treats for Simon, since he has the closest thing to a sensitive gut of any dog I've ever owned, and things that my other dogs love give him horrible loose stools. 

As mentioned, though, you need to consider what's going on when you call him. If he's in a state of high arousal, like playing with friends or chasing something, then the best treats in the world won't help without lots of previous conditioning. 

This is a good on-demand video about teaching recalls. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - LS165: How to Train Your Dog to Come: Reliable Recall Training It's under $20 US, and you have access to it for an entire year. She also teaches and entire six-week-long class on recalls that will run in the February 2022 session. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE240: Calling All Dogs Tuition for the class starts at only $65 US.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I'm still trying to find something Freddy really loves. Once his attention is caught he will happily work for almost any food or game, but nothing I have tried yet has proved exciting enough when he is focussed on an interesting sight. Neighbours' Christmas decorations are especially riveting, but leaves, birds, dogs, people, an unusual stick, a torn scrap of paper are all in need of careful investigation during which his ears are switched off. We will get there, but a safe treat that really enthuses him would certainly help. I am rather limited by Poppy's digestive issues - I don't trust myself to be sufficiently organised not to mix their treats up, so everything I use has to be suitable for her too. Even chicken doesn't excite Freddy.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Galen and Ritter both started blowing off recall at around 6 months. They would hear me call, glance over their shoulder at me, and then take off in the opposite direction with a cheeky flip of the head.

With Galen I was able to turn the game around by hiding. I would step behind a tree or a fence and wait for him to notice he had lost me. He usually got quite upset and would run back and forth, retracing his steps to where he had last seen me, and work in a circle until he found me. Ritter doesn't care as much, particularly when he has Galen along.

With both dogs I find that running away from the dog helps motivate them to come after me. Sometimes I pretend to be absolutely fascinated by a random stick or something. When I furtively take the object and carry it behind a bush as though I'm hiding it, the game becomes extra interesting to them.


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## Fluffy Poodle 4 (Nov 29, 2020)

I would like to second what @cowpony said. Mixing it up with what you give is one of the keys to keeping things interesting. Also, you could try playing with a toy if he is in the mood for it. Finally, keep him on a long lead until he is reliable. This will help you maintain control and not put yourself (or Gimli) in a situation to fail. I know Zac George on YouTube does a lot with training recalls (and other dog behaviors).


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

We trained an emergency whistle with a container of little caesar wet food given to us by the trainer in the recall course we were taking. First we just classically conditioned to the whistle at the same time acclimating the dog to it (since it is loud) by blowing it the tiniest amount and feeding just after each tone. This was for an emergency whistle though, not for the every day recall. It would be great if the everyday recall cue were as immediate as the emergency whistle, but I think it's also about the sound of the whistle that cuts through the temporary deafness the dog has when she is very distracted or over threshold. I have used the whistle when I needed to call her with a regular treat and it's been fine - I just make a point to "refresh" it randomly with something awesome when I know she will get it right.

All the other advice is really good. I think my main insight in training recall is that you want to make it positive every time, (and definitely avoid it being punishing at all costs) and maximize the chance of your dog getting it right/avoid challenging them for the sake of it if you know it's going to be very hard for them (like when they are playing). 

A lot of things can work as/in place of recalls that you can build into your dog's repertoire in order to avoid spoiling the cue for when you need it. For example, I use "let's go" or "this way" if I'm on an off leash walk and I want Oona to move with me and away from other dogs/people, but I don't actually need her to come to me. Another good one is "down". If you can get your dog to lie down at a distance and stay there, you can go get them. You can also teach "wait" or "far enough" which works in a similar way to stop the dog without expecting them to come back to you. And "touch" works as a kind of recall, and can be built up as a fun game by adding distance.


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## Bailey_Whiskey (Jan 18, 2021)

With Whiskey, the best reward was my attention (according to the trainer) but a bit of boiled beef/ pork really helped. 
If I’m lazy, I just grab a bag of jerky from our treat pile. But in our house, (baby) cookies work just as well as the meats. Plus human loves them too!


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

When my old girl was thirteen, the only thing that would motivate her to do obedience work was buttered popcorn. fresh from the movie theater. I was very popular with humans, too.


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## Lilli_123 (Aug 31, 2021)

Some ideas on recall in general: our trainer recommended having multiple types of recall commands that you can tailor to the situation. One should mean "always come right now", this is what I understand you want to retrain. Another one would be a more informal "come when you're ready, it's not super important". This may be what you already have, can be used more casually. Then she recommended to have a command that basically means "let's play", which for some dogs will work great as a recall. You would use this every time you start a play session. Another one you can use whenever you give a really special treat and so on...

Edit: Just remembered another that goes something like "bye, leaving right now with or without you". Use while walking away from them and ignoring them completely. This one should put them in a very slight panic so they come after you (obvs don't use bye or any word you use in your everyday language, and practice only in safe environments). The trainer calls these emergency strategies. They are supposed to give you some options for recall that are easy to integrate into everyday life. Of course if you already are a master dog trainer you probably won't need any of these, but most people probably aren't .


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I really like that idea, Lilli - I must work on it with Freddy.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Charmed said:


> When my old girl was thirteen, the only thing that would motivate her to do obedience work was buttered popcorn. fresh from the movie theater. I was very popular with humans, too.


This made me giggle. My old girl Gracie would gently take unbuttered popcorn....and then just as gently spit it out. She, too, preferred the buttered stuff.


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## GimliSonOfGloin (Dec 8, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> Should add that the reward can also be tailored to the moment. Even the most tantalizing treat in the world isn’t going to be all that appealing if Gimli is surrounded by his puppy pals and having the time of his life.
> 
> During play dates, we would reward any voluntary check-ins from puppy Peggy with something yummy, and then we’d give her an exciting release to go back to play. Something like, “Okay!!” and then encourage her to chase us or to race back to the group. Every time we did this, it was an opportunity to tell her: _Coming to your humans doesn’t mean the fun stops! In fact, the fun gets even more fun!_
> 
> Same goes for calling her in from the yard. Even now, we often race to the cookie jar and then continue a little playtime or training indoors.


Thanks for the advice. We've found that when there are other dogs around we completely cease to exist, there are no check-ins at all. We are working on setting boundaries around that - making sure he gives us a sit, or even just eye contact before we allow him to approach. It's taking time but he will get there! We were definitely just too excited to have him play with other dogs from the start and didn't put the boundaries in place. It's our first time having a puppy so you live and learn I guess!


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## GimliSonOfGloin (Dec 8, 2021)

Lilli_123 said:


> Some ideas on recall in general: our trainer recommended having multiple types of recall commands that you can tailor to the situation. One should mean "always come right now", this is what I understand you want to retrain. Another one would be a more informal "come when you're ready, it's not super important". This may be what you already have, can be used more casually. Then she recommended to have a command that basically means "let's play", which for some dogs will work great as a recall. You would use this every time you start a play session. Another one you can use whenever you give a really special treat and so on...
> 
> Edit: Just remembered another that goes something like "bye, leaving right now with or without you". Use while walking away from them and ignoring them completely. This one should put them in a very slight panic so they come after you (obvs don't use bye or any word you use in your everyday language, and practice only in safe environments). The trainer calls these emergency strategies. They are supposed to give you some options for recall that are easy to integrate into everyday life. Of course if you already are a master dog trainer you probably won't need any of these, but most people probably aren't .


Thank you this is helpful! I think we do have some of these different recall cues by accident but that's helpful to think we can build them into deliberate behaviours.


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## GimliSonOfGloin (Dec 8, 2021)

TeamHellhound said:


> I like to use freeze-dried treats for Simon, since he has the closest thing to a sensitive gut of any dog I've ever owned, and things that my other dogs love give him horrible loose stools.
> 
> As mentioned, though, you need to consider what's going on when you call him. If he's in a state of high arousal, like playing with friends or chasing something, then the best treats in the world won't help without lots of previous conditioning.
> 
> This is a good on-demand video about teaching recalls. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - LS165: How to Train Your Dog to Come: Reliable Recall Training It's under $20 US, and you have access to it for an entire year. She also teaches and entire six-week-long class on recalls that will run in the February 2022 session. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE240: Calling All Dogs Tuition for the class starts at only $65 US.


Thanks I will take a look at these. At the moment we are using the book Total Recall by Pippa Mattinson which gives a pretty comprehensive plan for laying down the foundations of the conditioning and building it very gradually, then proofing in lots of different situations. Fingers crossed it goes well. We've definitely learnt now not to rush- better to really take our time and make sure he's succeeding than put him into difficult situations that set us all back. We will get there!


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## MaizieFrosty (Apr 12, 2019)

Maizie - Skinny Pop popcorn (original flavor), vermicelli rice noodles, chicken, steak, salami, cheese

Frosty - Costco chicken jerky (he will take your hand off for these, and he normally is very gentle!), peanut butter training treats, chicken, steak, salami, cheese


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

When Javelin was a puppy I would play with him and then when he was really into the playing I would get up and trot away from him. This formed the basis of a pretty bomb proof recall by making his centripetal attraction to me and being with me about the most valuable thing in the world to him. It also made playing at something together the best reward (even though he has a high drive for food rewards). I use tug and his flirt pole as rewards for recalls along with cheese. Rotating rewards so they are curious to see what is being offered can help keep recalls nice and fresh.


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