Something I get asked time and time again is what treats are best to use for dog training, and honestly there is no set answer. There are a few big ‘no no’s’ though!
The first thing to consider is the quality of that treat. I’m asking clients to do quite a lot of training, and if they’re shovelling additives and sugar into the dog, we may find the dog comes away from a training session more wired than it went into it! For this reason, I tend to advise steering clear of anything you can buy in Tesco, Asda or really any treats that have a shelf life of more than a year!
Have a look at the back of your current ‘training treats’ and find the ingredients section. If you recognise (or can even pronounce) everything listed there, then that’s a great start, but let’s have a closer look. Ingredients are listed in the proportion that they make up the product, so the first ingredient will always have the highest percentage. Often this first ingredient is ‘cereals’, ‘maize’ or ‘rice’. Starchy carb type ingredients are super cheap for manufacturers to buy in, so they tend to bulk up the treat with this first to keep costs low and profits high.
Why are carbs a problem?
The dog’s digestive system wasn’t really built to digest carbohydrates! Dogs are facultative carnivores (Canine Nutrition and Welfare, 2007) which means they prefer an animal-based diet but can survive (not thrive) on other sources of calories for periods of time.
Now humans produce a lovely little enzyme called ‘amylase’ which begins the breakdown of starch in the mouth. Dogs are completely unable to produce this enzyme here, and only secrete a little in the pancreas (Hiatt and Nathan, 1961). In fact, the stomach in dogs produces small amounts of this enzyme as wolves would have to digest small amounts of grass and seeds that are in the stomach of their prey (Bosch et al., 2015). This means that when we feed dogs something that is 60% carb based, we can be putting their digestive system under a lot of strain!
Now this isn’t the end of the world for the odd treat. However, if all your dogs treats and chews are carb based, I’d definitely suggest switching to more natural food- look for things their ancestors were built to digest!
Now another thing we of course have to consider is: what will the dog work hardest for? This essentially translates into, what is the dogs favourite taste. Lots of people answer this with “cheese!” much to my dismay. Yes, dogs love cheese, however most dogs don’t produce much lactase at all and thus are fairly lactose intolerant. When puppies are weaned off their mother’s milk, lactase productivity falls to just 10% of its previous levels meaning that dogs really are not capable of digesting much dairy at all (Verlinden, Hesta, Millet and Janssens, 2006).
So, what else is there? Protein! The healthiest and most natural treat we can give to our dogs is fresh protein. Usually for training sessions I’ll suggest fresh chicken/ turkey as most dogs prefer a moist treat over a dry biscuit. If wet food isn’t available then something super smelly (dried liver, sprats, fish-based dry biscuits) are a great second option. Something I love to use in sessions that I have come across more recently is air-dried proteins! These meet my requirements of being high in protein, whilst also being super convenient to use ‘on the go’. I know for lots of my clients that remembering to keep the fridge stocked with chicken, or asking them to fill treat pouches with wet, slimy food isn’t realistic. Here air-dried treats offer a great alternative. Not only are they more convenient, but they also have a far longer sell by date, and won’t make your pockets moist and smelly! For those concerned with allergens, most of these air dried treats are single protein (no added nasties either) meaning that you can be absolutely sure of what you’re feeding.
Ultimately each dog is different, and with that they carry unique preferences, but these are a few ‘rules of thumb’ that should set you off on the right track when searching for that perfect treat.
About the author:
Annie-Mae Levy
Dog Behaviourist & Trainer
Canine Nutritionist
www.ani-mal.co.uk
References:
Animal Welfare, n.d. Canine Nutrition and Welfare. pp.83-100.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-4362-8_4#citeas
Hiatt, Nathan. "Investigation of the role of the small intestine in the maintenance of the serum amylase level of the dog." Annals of surgery 154.5 (1961): 864.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1465957/pdf/annsurg00859-0128.pdf
Bosch, Guido, Esther A. Hagen-Plantinga, and Wouter H. Hendriks. "Dietary nutrient profiles of wild wolves: insights for optimal dog nutrition?." British Journal of Nutrition 113.S1 (2015): S40-S54.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge- core/content/view/6698A301900EEDF10E49B062A2BD9ED8/S0007114514002311a.pdf/div-class-title-dietary-nutrient-profiles-of-wild- wolves-insights-for-optimal-dog-nutrition-div.pdf
Verlinden, A., Hesta, M., Millet, S. and Janssens, G., 2006. Food Allergy in Dogs and Cats: A Review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 46(3), pp.259-273.