Can you over do it w/ the training treats

[nicasoares]

Greetings, first and foremost thank you for everyones support and advice. My concern is over doing it w/ the training treats.


I am trying to teach my Cheyla ( 13 weeks female) basic commands and walking on the leash. She respondfs well to the treats but I am concerned that too many treats may cause harm to the pup.

I amn feeding her 2x a day Nutro large breed puppy food and am using Notro natural choice training bits (%= 28 protein, 8 fat, 3 fiber, and 25 moisture). Does that sound ok to you folks?

Thanks in Advance

[smileygirl]

I'm not familiar with the food brand, but if you are concerned you can always reduce the amount at meal time. My vet recently suggested raw carrots as a treat. Training is so important(and rewards IMO)at this age. Keep working with her..I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions...Tina

[rencook]

Instead of using Nurto training treats, you can use little pieces of hot dogs, cheerios, goldfish, other "good" things that she might be more motivated by. I have a 12 week old pup that loves to work for carrots!

[aseemom]

Yes, you can overdo it with training treats, as they have calories! I use Asee's dog food as training treats and just subtract that from her breakfast or dinner. We have even had her "work" for her entire dinner during loose leash training. Yes, it really does work. We reserve the "good" stuff for when we do the "unpleasant" stuff, like baths and nail clipping.

Sara

[kayozzy]

Regular food works great for puppies. They seem to think it is just as exciting as treats. But then when she gets bored of it, you can start switching it up. THe other ideas were great, too.

[Baxter's Mom]

I have learned from experience to always do training or trick training before their meals, because this seems to be a excellent motivation because they are hungry and getting "cookies"... I also wean my dogs off of cookies associated with your basic obedience (sit, down, come, stay, heel) once the know and understand the word with the action because I feel and think that that is apart of day to day life and that they don't need to receive a cookie every time they do sometime good or associated with your obedience but that it should be expected as a norm. Instead of "cookies" I will give praise instead. I now only give "cookies" associated with learning new tricks or already doing the same tricks they have already learned. They also have been taught to be calm and take the cookie gently, which comes into play when the dog goes to the vet, petsmart, and grooming salon, etc when people want to give the dogs treats. If your dog knows and understands the commands, maybe do 1 time cookie and 2 time praise for every command you are teaching him.

[nicasoares]

Thanks for the helpful replies. This forum continues to be a life saver thanks to all the kind and caring rottie owners.

Thanks

[LolaLaRue]

I usually cut a hot dog into tiny pieces so she is only getting a nibble and is anxious to work for me, or bacon or cheese, I only train in 5-10 minute intervals twice a day and then her 1 hour class once a week, I always use soft treats too so I dont lose her attention.

[spidey]

Whatever you use for treats (I usually use the pre-made ones sparingly, since they have a lot of crap in them as a general rule, I prefer turkey hotdogs, string cheese, Cheerios and various meats), you need to reduce the regular food to account for the calories from treats. You just need to eyeball it, but you do need to reduce the food - treats are one of the most powerful and useful training aids we have, we just need to remember to try and keep the dog's daily calorie intake approximately the same.