treats

The most important training tool you will use is treats. You’ll need treats every
time you train your dog, and lots of them! The treats should be something
small because you don’t want to have your dog’s hunger run out before you are
finished training. They should also be something that your dog doesn’t need to
chew a lot to swallow, so dog biscuits are usually a poor choice. What food
you use depends on your dog and the situation. The less motivated your dog
is by treats, or the more distracting the situation is, the more attractive or
powerful the treats need to be. What works at home when no one else is
around is not going to work when you are at obedience class with several
other unfamiliar dogs, some of whom are barking.
Here are some typical treats and their power:
Low
• Dog biscuits
• Soft treats from the supermarket (check out the ingredients first!)
• Cheerios
• Pieces of a high quality dry dog food of a brand your dog doesn’t
usually eat
• Pieces of baby carrots
Medium
• Pieces of cheese (string cheese is convenient, or try a hard cheese,
like Swiss)
• Pieces of hot dog (see recipe below to make them easier to handle)
• Pieces of semimoist cat treats
• Better-quality soft dog treats from a pet supply store
High
• Pepperoni
• Liverwurst
• Cooked beef liver
• Pieces of leftover pizza
• Steak or roast beef
• Cubes of hard salami
• Freeze-dried liver