What is a Healthy Dog Treat

You may have found our website by searching for "healthy dog treats".  But what does that phrase even mean?  Im sure a lot of people have a lot of strong opinions on the subject of healthy dog treats.  So, I will just give you my thoughts and what I consider when feeding Dexter The Dog his dog treats.  I wont review any particular dog treats on this page, but you can visit our dog treat reviews, dog chew bone reviews, dog food and dog mix reviews here and even how to stuff a hollow dog chew.

The very first thing I do when choosing a healthy dog treat for Dexter is look at the ingredients.  Yes, the actual ingredient list, not just the photos on the front of the package which can actually be very deceiving.  Even the "flavor" can be deceiving.  You might be surprised to learn that sometimes when a dog treat says "chicken flavor" they truly mean chicken flavor, and not any real chicken!  So that leads to my first No ingredient.





My top 10 ingredients that should NOT be in dog treats:

1. Flavors of any kind, natural or artificial- No artificial or natural "flavors" of any kind.  If it says "flavor" in the ingredient list, back on the shelf it goes.  Its not real food guys.  And if its not a real food ingredient, it  has no place in my dogs treat, or dog food.
2. Added salt, regular or sea salt- Nope, no reason to add salt in my dogs treat.  Every living creature needs sodium in their diet, but too much can cause problems such as seizures, diarrhea & extra water intake.  A lot of foods have natural occurring sodium, so you do not need extra salt added to treats.
3. Sugar or any kind including high corn fructose, corn syrup or cane sugar- I shouldnt need to tell you this.  If we add sugar or high corn fructose we are truly just adding empty calories.  Not only are these ingredients bad for our dogs health, they will also hop them up & they can become hyperactive. 
4. Sorbitol-A sugar commonly found in berries, but prepared synthetically.
5. By-products or digest- Ewww  I want to make sure my dog receives healthy food not what is left on the floor of some meat manufacturing plant.  Or carcasses from veterinarian practices!  Scary, isnt it?  Again, I want to know what is in that bag of treats.
6. Coloring, artificial or natural- Why?  Why would a pet treat manufacturer put dye or coloring in my dogs treat?  To please the consumers eyes of course.  Especially when we are talking about artificial food coloring.  Artificial anything is a chemical process & has a long list of possible side effects.  And dont be fooled by "natural food coloring".  Natural can be made by things like bugs & rocks!
7. Animal fat or anything "animal" "meat"- What kind of animal or meat?  Again, what the heck is in there anyway?  When I read it, I should have a very clear picture of what it is.
8. Chemical Preservatives - Chemical preservatives of any kind should be avoided.  Healthy does not equate to chemicals.  No BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole), Ethoxyquin, TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone), Propyl Gallate, Propylene glycol, Sodium Nitrite.  BHA, BHT & Ethoxyquin  are banned in human foods.
9. Corn, wheat or soy-A lot of our dog friends are allergic or have a low tolerance to these ingredients.  According to PetCareRX, that excessive soy may contain estrogen that might provide some estrogen-like activity in your dog & contribute to slightly lower thyroid hormone levels.
10. Glycerin, vegetable glycerin or glycerole-Glycerin or glycerole can actually be produced as a by-product of diesel fuel!  It will be unlikely you will know the difference from reading the ingredient list (although vegetable glycerin is plant based, not from fuel).  This is an ingredient in dog treats that helps make a treat soft & sugary.  It is not uncommon for dogs to get a big case of diarrhea from eating treats with this product.  Dexter is one of them.

So what does that leave us?  Well, a lot of things really.  When Dexter gets something to eat, whether organic or wild caught in countries or bodies of water that are known to be clean & environmentally friendly.  No China of course.  So that leads to sourcing of the ingredients.  Read the article on Organic Dog Food to understand a bit more about organic & labeling.

its his dog food or dog treats I want it to be real food.  Things that I can find in real life, not something that is synthetically made, or a by-product of something else.  I personally prefer ingredients that are

After I look at the ingredient list of Dexters potential healthy dog treats, the next thing I want to know is where were the INGREDIENTS SOURCED.  "Made in the USA" only means that the treat was put together in The States, not that the ingredients came from the US.  So, sometimes you have to do a little digging to find this out.  Most dog treat manufacturers that use only US or another safe country (there are other countries with better food regulations than us in the US) for their ingredients will proudly state that either on the bag or on their website.  If not, some digging & contacting may be in order.

Once all this checks out, the next thing I have to decide is what is the purpose of the new healthy dog treat.  Meaning, if Im going to do a lot of dog training using the treat, I want it to be pretty much a single source food item (100% cod, beef, etc).  This allows a few things to occur.  One, the treat will likely have a high-value & keep Dexters attention on me around various distractions.  Two, there wont be "extra stuff" in the treat, so I can actually count the treat (remember, its really meat) as part of his daily calories.

If on the other hand Im just going to have these  healthy treats in our treat cupboard for random snacks I do not mind if the treat has other ingredients besides or instead of meat.  As long as they dont need to keep a high-value & they are not getting dished out like I do when Im training a new behavior.  Even though these treats are "healthy" I still consider them like candy bars.  A little goes a long way.

So there you have it.  This is my starting point when determining if a dog treat is truly healthy for Dexter.  I do buy healthy & organic dog treats for Dexter, but I also make homemade dog treats too!   You can download 5 free dog treat recipes here to give it a whirl.  I hope you enjoyed this post & thank you for taking your dogs health seriously.

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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Motivating the Non Treat or Toy Motivated Dog

Today we covered how to motivate your dog in our article "Motivating Your Dog" however we didnt cover just how to motivate that dog, that doesnt like treats or toys. Here I hope to help you with just that.

There are a lot of dogs out there who do not like treats or toys. Ive seen a lot of them. Using clickers and positive reinforcement, you need something that will motivate your dog. Dogs who dont like treats or toys puts a little bit of a damper on training.

First of all, lets start with the non-treat motivated dog. Ask yourself a few questions first to be sure you actually do have a non-food motivated dog.

• Do you free-feed your dog? (Have food down at all times for them?)
• Do you feed your dog, then try training them with more food?
• What type of treats are you using?

If you answer yes to the first 2 questions or either one of them, this could be your problem. Instead of free-feeding or feeding your dog then training, portion out the dogs food and use his food during the training. Make him work for his kibble. It is healthier for him this way too.

If you answered no to either of those, and youve tried portioning out his food and still no results, ask yourself, what type of treats are you using. Try a variety of things! Cheese, hot dogs, chicken, beef, turkey, what ever you can think of! Make sure its not toxic for the dog though, such as Grapes or chocolate. If your dog still is not interested what so ever, then I believe you can accurately say you have a non-treat motivated dog.

Now lets look at the non-toy motivated dog. If your dog is food motivated, but not toy motivated, you can use the food to train your pet to like toys by clicker training. You can also spike interest in toys by getting interactive toys you can put food into. Getting a dog to like toys is all about building the dogs prey drive. A good way to start this is with a simple rag on a rope. Twitch it around, pretend your playing with a cat. This will help spark a lot of dogs interest in toys, building on that prey drive that is already built into the dog. You can use a rag on a rope, or a simple long toy or tug on the end of the rope. I like attaching the rope to a long stick to get more action of the toy at the end.

For an example of what Im talking about, I found this video. You might watch with volume down low as the pups are very excited and barking a lot. They are training these pups for schutzhund work so they are holding them back from the toy to further build their prey drive. You dont have to hold your dog back when doing this.



As you can see, this builds a lot of excitement in most dogs. I have a German Shepherd that has never been interested in toys, yet when I bring out this toy, shes always been nuts about it! Give it a try and see what happens. It might not work for all dogs, but its still worth a try.

So, if you really do have a non-treat and non-toy motivated dog, you have to get creative! What does motivate your dog? What makes your dog happy? Perhaps it is simple praise and petting, perhaps its brushing with their favorite brush, maybe its being allowed up on the couch or bed. Do they like playing with other dogs? Sniffing in the bushes? Going on a walk? You can use all of these as rewards, simply have your dog do what you want first, click or say YES! and let them go do what they want to do, or invite them on the couch (if they are allowed).

A few examples here. Praise and petting is great because you can take that everywhere you go. Brushing, you can have your dog sit, click, and brush for a few seconds, then have your dog do something else to earn more brushing. Have your dog sit or down before you invite them on the couch or bed. Have your dog sit, down or walk on a loose leash before being released to go play with the other dogs, sniffing the bushes or going on a walk. Walks are great because you can use simple movement as the reward to anything you want your dog to do.

So, a non-treat and non-toy motivated dog is not impossible to train using positive reinforcement. Yes it makes it harder and you have to get creative, but it is still doable!

The book Click for Joy! is great for answering questions such as these. Its a whole book based on frequently asked questions by real people all about clicker training. If you have questions, this is the book for you. The author does a wonderful job of answering each question in great detail.

The book Clicking With Your Dog has a list of treat ideas, along with treats not to use because they are toxic. A great list to have. It has great ideas on how to train your dog while going about your daily business, even if you are watching TV or on the computer, it shows you how to train your dog while doing so. This book not only has tricks that are useful such as putting toys away or helping with laundry, but also basic obedience; sit, down, loose leash walking, stay and more. Also has teaching your dog to retrieve using clicker training. A great read and I cant recommend it enough.

I hope I gave you some ideas on how to go about training your hard to motivate dog! Get out there and train your dog!

Check out part 2 on How To Train A Dog That Doesnt Like Food or Treats

Dont forget to check out our Squidoo pages that you can find over on your right!

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Games To Play With Your Dog Game 1 Find The Treat Toy Mommy

Dogs are very playful creatures and continue to enjoy play throughout their lives.  I would imagine that is one of the reasons you brought a dog into your home: to have a companion to spend time with and enjoy. Building a good play relationship with your dog can greatly enhance your relationship and bond.  By becoming a good play partner, you will become more important and valuable to your dog.  In turn, they will prefer to be with you and will listen better. 

Play sessions ideally will be short and sweet and speckled often throughout your day.  By asking your dog to play often, he is less likely to be demanding about getting attention.  Play is a great way to teach your dog emotional control.  During your play sessions, take frequent pauses in order to teach this important life skill to your dog. 

Inappropriate play relationships can have the opposite effect on the relationship.  You will want to teach your dog ways to play with humans.  Those ways are different than the ways two canines play together.  Inappropriate play behaviors between dogs and humans include body slamming, biting, mouthing, jumping, wrestling or teasing.  Playing and spending time with your dog should be the highlight of your day, not a battle. 

Here is one easy game to get you started.  Find The Treat, Toy, or Mommy.  Ok, Daddy would work too.  ;)

Find The Treat-Start by grabbing a handful of healthy, tiny treats, or your dogs food.  Ask him to Sit/Stay and place one treat about 5 from him and say, "Find It!"  Repeat this process, but you can start placing more than one treat around, and in harder to find places.  If your dog does not have a Sit/Stay with distractions, you can start by tossing a few treats in one direction, then placing a few in the opposite direction and tell him to find them.  You can build on this game by tucking the treats in harder to find places.  Just remember, your dog will go to those places, so dont hide them in spots you dont want him investigating.

Find The Toy-Start by playing with one of your dogs favorite toys.  Get a nice game going.  Ask him to Sit/Stay (or hold him back if he does not know it), and place the toy 5 from him and say, "Find It!"  Once he grabs it, start playing again.  Build on this game, putting the toy farther away.

Tip:  If your dog can stay while you leave the room, place the toy in another room as you tell him, "Find It!"  You can encourage him as he looks for the toy.  But dont start out of room finds until your dog know hes suppose to look for a specific toy.

Find You-Ask your dog to Sit/Stay as you leave the room and tuck yourself behind something.  Once you are hidden, quickly say your dogs name in a sing-song voice, then be quiet.  Let him look around for you.  Give him a chance to find you.  If he has a real hard time finding you, make a little noise.  When he finds you, make a big fuss and play.  If he does not have a stay, you can hide when he is not paying attention, or drop a few treats on the floor and run away and hide.

Remember, these are GAMES and are meant to be fun.
You dont have to have strict rules, and you can easily improvise.  Have fun~
Need some healthy treat, or toy ideas?  Click here for some fun!

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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