The Best Dog Treats For Training

Treat training is one of the most effective ways to train your new dog. This reward-based system of training allows your dog to associate good behavior and obedience with receiving tasty treats. Unlike traditional treats, dog treats for training are generally much smaller, allowing you to repeatedly give them to your dog while training without overstuffing their tummies. Since you’re going to be giving your dog a ton of these bite-sized treats during your training sessions, you’ll want to make sure they’re healthy and tasty enough to entice your dog into proper behavior. In this piece, we’ve rounded up a couple of the best doggie training treats on the market to help you make an informed decision as a responsible pet owner.

Best Dog Treats For Training to Consider

Now that you’ve decided you want to start the process of treat training with your pup, there are a few essential factors you need to consider before trying your first brand. Firstly, you’ll want to find a brand that uses high-quality ingredients. As we mentioned above, your dog is going to be receiving a boatload full of these treats during your intensive training sessions. The last thing you want is for your dog to be scarfing down unhealthy treats during your training process.

More often than not, top-tier training treat brands utilize high-quality, whole meat and grain ingredients. For your sake and the sake of your dog’s potentially rumbling tummy, it’s best to steer clear of brands that proudly display mysterious, hard-to-pronounce ingredients on their nutritional labels.

To accommodate overly picky dogs, it’s not uncommon for owners to have to try more than a handful of these training treat brands to find one their dog truly loves. Treat training is all about reinforcing good behavior by rewarding your dog with treats they love to eat. If you try one brand that your dog doesn’t seem to enjoy all that much, it decreases the likelihood of your treat training process going smoothly. At the end of the day, as long as you feel comfortable with the ingredients on the label, and your dog seems to love the taste, you can rest assured that you and your pup are on the right track.

Zuke’s Training Treats

Ingredients are the most important thing to consider when seeking out training treats for your furry friend, and Zuke’s Mini Naturals have some of the most high-quality ingredients we’ve come across in our research. These treats are available in a wide variety of mouth-watering flavors, including peanut and oat, salmon, chicken, and beef. What’s more, each bite-sized treat is only three calories, allowing you to feed them to your dog during training sessions with a guilt-free conscience.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Available in a wide variety of size options
• High-quality and unique ingredient blends

Cons:

• They may go stale quicker than some of their competitors
• These are fairly moist dog treats, which increases their potential for spoiling

Crazy Dog Training Treats

There’s nothing more exciting as a dog owner than successfully teaching your dog new tricks and reinforcing good habits and behaviors. With Crazy Dog’s Train-Me! treats, you can work with your dog to achieve a happier and healthier relationship. These exceptional training treats feature a low-fat, low-calorie formula with a meat-forward ingredient list. Unlike other dog treat brands, Crazy Dog thankfully chooses not to include potentially harmful preservatives such as BHA and BHT.

Pros:

• Preserves well
• Available in mini and regular sizes
• Tasty bacon flavor

Cons:

• A bit pricier than some comparable products

Buddy Biscuits Training Bites

To properly engage in a successful treat training regimen with your dog, you’re going to have to purchase a lot of treats. Thankfully, Buddy Biscuits offers a low-cost alternative to pricier brands, allowing you to treat train your dog without breaking the bank. But not only are these treats affordable, but they’re also exceptionally tasty and chock full of healthy ingredients. Buddy Biscuits’ treats utilize a nutritious pork liver ingredient base alongside flavors like chicken and bacon that your dog is certain to go crazy for.

Pros:

• Only 1.5 calories per treat
• Made without corn, soy, or other artificial flavors
• 500 treats per bag

Cons:

• They are a bit drier than some of their competitors, which could be a turn-off for some pooches

Full Moon Organic Training Treats

If you’re the type of person who only buys organic food for yourself, Full Moon’s certified-organic dog training treats might be a match made in heaven for you and your pup. Thanks to a meticulously crafted formula full of whole food ingredients, you can train your dog with a guilt-free conscience with Full Moon’s training treats. These small-batch training treats are cooked with pride, care, and attention from Full Moon.

Pros:

• Zero glycerin, corn, or soy
• No artificial flavoring or preservatives
• USDA-approved organic treats

Cons:

• Due to their high-quality ingredients, these treats might be a bit pricier than some of their competitors
• Their lack of preservatives means they will probably spoil quicker than certain other comparable brands

Blue Buffalo Training Treats

When it comes to high-quality dog treats, Blue Buffalo is a brand that many people highly regard. And this unique training treat blend is an excellent example of why Blue Buffalo is so revered in this market. These treats feature delicious blends of beef and chicken and are fortified with nutritional supplements such as DHA that can help promote your dog’s cognitive development. Unlike other brands that infuse preservatives to make their treats last longer on the shelf, Blue Buffalo’s training treats are proudly free of preservatives and many additives.

Pros:

• Zero wheat and soy ingredients
• Appealing semi-moist formula
• Great for dogs of all sizes

Cons:

• They’re a bit larger than other brands’ training treats

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I give my dog too many training treats in one session?

Ideally, training treats should be used sparingly. These treats should not exceed 10% of your dog’s calorie intake. Otherwise, you might run the risk of ruining your dog’s appetite for its primary food source. Also, with too many training treats, your dog can potentially gain weight and become unhealthy. It’s prudent to use your best judgment when using training treats and only give them to your dog in moderation.

What is the difference between training treats and regular dog treats?

The only true difference between training treats and traditional dog treats is size. Training treats are bite-sized morsels that you can repeatedly award your dog with to reinforce good behavior throughout the day. On the other hand, traditional dog treats are a fair bit larger and are probably too large to use for training purposes.

How will I know what flavor of treats my dog will enjoy?

It’s one of the great tragedies of life on Earth that our dogs cannot talk to us and let us know how they are feeling. Thus, we must utilize a trial-and-error approach when choosing dog treats for them. Treat training is all about positive reinforcement, but if your dog isn’t over the moon about the taste of the treats you just bought, the training process will most likely become arduous and ineffective. For best results, you should continue to try out different blends from various brands in order to find the one that your dog goes crazy for.

What is DHA?

DHA is a common nutritional supplement found in many training treat formulas. Manufacturers claim this supplement can increase your dog’s cognitive development. As an essential omega-3 fatty acid, it also can provide a slew of other health benefits to your adorable furry friend.

About the Author

With extensive experience as a professional dog handler, Nick wants to help owners choose the best possible products for their pooches. Since dogs show their humans such unconditional love, Nick believes it's only fair that we give it right back to them -- and who wouldn't want to? He has had dogs since elementary school himself, so you can trust him to have the best advice on canine care.

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