Dog Treats Make Your Own

Consider making your own Dog Treats to Save Money but also to inspire your Dog to Greatness!

In this article, I want to talk about how to use treats to inspire your dog to work harder and faster; to be more obedient and focused solely on you. You will not only save money but you find there are significant health benefits from making your own dog treats.

One of the most important tools I employ when training my dogs is treats, and not just any treats. To motivate my dogs to perform at their best they have to be special to the dog.

When I say the treats have to be special spending a lot of money on them at the pet store doesn’t make them so and; they’re not special because a celebrity vet says so. The treats have to be extraordinary to your dog and they have to be chosen by your dog not you.

Think about this: how much money would I have to pay you to come and work for me for the day: $50, $200, $1000 a day? How much would I have to pay for you to leap out of bed and rush to work in a flurry of expectation and joy? We are all individuals and the amount would be different for us all. The same applies to your dog.

People often make two mistakes when choosing the treats. They decide what treats they are going to use or they just use the dog’s normal dry kibble.

Your dog is not going to go to great lengths for you if you give her the same dry kibble you feed every day. Why should she? She gets that food for doing nothing so why should she work for it?

Making your own treats is a very healthy alternative. You can make them to whatever size you like and remember: size does matter! Don’t end up with an over weight dog like I did. My Border Collie spends most of his time in training and his weight used to be an issue. You must be very strict and measure out your dog’s food carefully taking out the exact weight in treats (like I do!).

Being able to choose the ingredients is extremely important when you are making your own treats. There are so many chemicals, additives and nasties in store bought dog treats you would be horrified. If you make them yourself, you can do your research and use top quality ingredients. You can you premium meat cuts of beef and chicken but the ‘meat’ content in store bought treats is usually offal or some horrid mix of left over beaks, bones and fat.

The ingredients will only cost you a few dollars; the same amount for a 100g bag of store bought treats and you’ll be able to make lots more. Making your own dog treats is very inexpensive and lots of fun.

Imagine standing next to the stove and for the first time you can legitimately feed your dog straight from the pot and no one will be able to complain! You won’t have to sneak that titbit down to the wet nose by your leg and feel guilty again. Licking the bowl? Not a problem!

The recipes I use are great for sensitive stomachs because chicken is used or you could supplement turkey. There are vegetarian biscuits, cookies to help with bad breath and soft biscuits for puppies and seniors.

Once you get used to making your own dog treats, what dog wouldn’t be hanging out for Peanut Butter Bones, Muttloaf or Yoghurt Drops?

Remember to keep the portions small when training. This will increase their value in the dog’s mind and ensure you get the best out of your dog at all times.

I have written on how to give treats and why they are so important in training so I won’t repeat myself here. You don’t want to end up with a treat junkie: a dog that will only perform when you have a packet of something in your hands. Information about this can be found on my website clilck: Treats

If you would like a copy of Rocky and Stella's favourite treat recipes click below:

Great Dog Treat Recipes