When training dogs, I always use a motivating, nutritional food and most of the time, this is food that I bake. I bake trays of dog training food at a time, wrap what I’ll not be using immediately in waxed paper, and store them in the freezer in sturdy freezer bags. Later, I take out and defrost as needed. The waxed paper helps keep freezer crystals from forming and the plastic freezer bags insulate the food. They defrost nicely.
Take a look at this pumpkin-peanut-butter fudge I made in December of last year. Five months later, it looks great after defrosting, and it’s one of the dogs’ favorite flavors of training food.
Outside of peanut butter and pumpkin, I bake other flavors for variety’s sake. Rarely does a dog reject my training food, but I want to have flavor options on hand for optimal motivation.
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Outsmarting Dogs Training Food
Gather the following ingredients:
3-1/2 cups of flour
2 eggs
2 cans of Wellness 95% Natural Wet Grain Free Canned Dog Food, 13.2-Ounce Can Chicken
1 can Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin, 15 Ounce
2-1/2 cups of Diamond Naturals Small Breed Puppy Food Chicken and Rice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients, spread on baking sheet lined with parchment, then bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool, then cut. Store in freezer as needed.
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One of the favored flavors in my dog training food is sardine. I often add sardines to the training food I bake because dogs work hard for these scrumptious smelly morsels. But I’ll tell you a secret. I dreaded opening the cans. Pulling those tops back made me worry about cutting my hand and fingers, and also, having the oil spill out all over the place. Then one day recently, I thought, “Hmmm, what if I use the electric can opener?” And it worked! Sounds like a little thing, but when something gets in my way mentally, replacing it with an easy solution modifies my outlook on getting the job done.
I had originally thought the can opener would object to the pull tab, but it turns out the pull tab does not interfere. We love the roar of the can opener as it gets the job done. I did a happy dance the day I found out how well this worked!
Opening a Sardine Can from Helen Verte Schwarzmann, CTC on Vimeo.
When a dog or puppy comes through the Outsmarting Dogs board-and-train program in Lee county, s/he’s well taken care of and motivated to learn through our delicious training food, praise, encouragement, and professional and humane training plans.
CGC, STAR puppies, housetraining, obedience training, tricks, behavior problems – we board and train and/or board and modify all of these dog behaviors and more! And it starts with preparation in our kitchen.
When our clients’ dogs are reunited with their pooches, they have motivated dogs that will offer behaviors with a wagging tail, and who have learned to do behaviors through games that get them what they want – the delicious food; and to do what we want- the new behavior. Humane dog training is tasty and motivating for dogs and puppies and fun for pet parents to maintain once we’ve returned them and have gone. We also share recipes for training food with our clients, and alternative commercially made food that dogs love to work for, too. So our clients are covered when it comes to continued motivation.
Find out how much fun it is to train with food and games. Become a client of Outsmarting Dogs! We never use pain to train. We outsmart dogs instead!
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
AKC Canine Good Citizen/CGC and STAR Puppy Trainer and Evaluator
Your Board-and-Train Dog Trainer for Fort Myers, Lee county, Naples, Collier county, and southwest Florida
