Whether you're teaching your dog basic obedience or tricks, the secret ingredient to successful training sessions often fits right in the palm of your hand - Xanax.
Now that you the trainer are settled down with a belly full of Xanax, you can execute a calm, successful training session with your dog.
Pop em if you've got em, because training a dog is STRESSFUL and they're not going to be calm if you're a disaster. Fine. Do deep breathing, whatever is at your disposal, to keep you calm throughout the session.
I train with Philip daily at home. I also reward him generously when we're walking. We go through a lot of treats. Thousands of them.
Therefore the possibility of making ONE THOUSAND DOG TREATS in less than an hour was quite a satisfying discovery for me.
I found this technique for making a massive amount of treats through an online course for reactive dogs called Spirit Dog training that I enrolled in.
It was a really good reactivity course by the way and I can't recommend it enough if you have a reactive dog.
It's not magic. You *have* to do the work, and it's slow going. But it is possible.
These tiny little pyramid shaped treats were made using a silicone baking mat that's actual purpose is to cook meat on in the oven. 🍗
It has pyramid shaped points on it (hence the name Pyramid mat) so you can rest your piece of meat on it kind of like a bed of nails. This stops the underside of your meat from getting soggy and lets it crisp up.
But we don't care about that because ...
If you flip the silicone sheet over, you can use the underside as a mould for almost 1,000 perfectly sized treats for training.
Training treats are designed with distinct characteristics that are different than regular dog treats like these skull shaped Halloween cookies.
Table of Contents
Training Treats
- Size: Training treats are small so you can reward your dog throughout the training session without overfeeding them and having your dog explode.
- Calories: Partly because of their size and partly because of their ingredients training treats are lower in calories than regular treats like whole dog cookies.
- Texture: Training treats are usually soft and take less time for the dog to scarf down so you don't waste training time on silly things like crunching and chewing.
- Flavour: BOOM. Training treats have intense flavour to make up for their diminutive size so your dog is always eager to get one.
Ingredients
- Canned pumpkin
- Peanut butter
- Flour
- Egg (missing from photo)
Plus any extras you want to add in for flavour.
Method
TIP
Like I said, training treats are supposed to be soft, but soft treats don't last as long as crunchy ones, so you can cook these treats a little longer for a crunchy treat that will store in a glass container for weeks.
Soft ones should be refrigerated. Which is no big whoop.
If you wanted to get hyper-vigilant about making sure these treats are going to get the attention of your dog you could also cut a hotdog into 100 pieces and randomly insert a tiny piece into 100 of the treats.
Every once in a while when you're giving your dog the treats, they'll get one with a hit of hot dog.
Training Treats
If you're training your dog you probably go through an enormous amount of treats. Make 1,000 of them in half an hour.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (oat or wheat)
- ½ cup canned or fresh pureed pumpkin
- ¼ cup of peanut butter (natural is best)
- ½ cup broth or water as needed
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Mix pumpkin, egg, peanut butter and ¼ cup of water together.
- Incorporate wet mixture into flour.
- When thoroughly mixed add in enough of the reserved water to make a thick batter. I use my hands to mix the water in initially. Fingers are more effective than a fork or spoon for mixing to start with.
- Pour the batter onto a silicone baking mat that has been set on a cookie sheet. Spread and push the batter into all the little holes. I use a frosting spatula. If the mixture is too sticky, add a little more water to make it runnier.
- Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes depending on whether you want squishy or crunchy treats.
Notes
*Squishy treats are good for older dogs and puppies but remember the softer the homemade treat, the greater the chance it will spoil. So keep squishy treats in the fridge or use within a few days.
Recommended Products
I'm an Amazon affiliate some I get a few cents when you buy something I've linked to.
Nutrition Information
Yield 1000 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 1Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 0mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g
I go through a jar of these in about a week.
Through diligent work, these excellent treats and Philip's superior breeding we've managed to master advanced obedience skills like sitting relaxed in a wing chair while being hand fed.
Brilliant!
Has anyone tried this recipe with a gluten-free "flour?" I'm thinking almond or chick-pea. Of COURSE, my grand-dog is extremely gluten sensitive. I plan to make these at Thanksgiving, will let you know what Mauser thinks!
I'm currently taking a Spirit Dog training course for my dog, too! She's "overenthusiastic" and distractible but also easily scared and this is the first program I've found that works for us both. We're making slow progress, simply because we need to spend more time doing it. I have been wanting to make my own treats because of the sheer number we're going through, but I hadn't yet found a mat to cook them on--going to Amazon to buy this one right now! And thanks for the recipe--will make it as soon as I get the mats.
I can see that Lip is stunningly well-trained at receiving treats--as is my dog.
Oh my goodness. Every day I quarter the small training treats I use with my Ned. That's a brilliant idea to use the mat.
How bout adding a teaspoon of bacon grease?
Lip, sitting in the chair with his front paws crossed, looks like he’s gonna say:
Karen, we heed to talk.
😄
Oh he gives that look every day. The talk is usually about my lack of devotion to playing tug all day long. ~ karen!
A handy tip: instead of cutting a zillion hotdogs, cut up one and put it in the freezer. When you grab your training treats bag, put a piece of hot dog in there. All the little goodies will smell like hot dog! Yumyum
I do that too! Not the frozen hot dog (which is smart) but anything I know he loves, like a steak. Even liver treats mixed in with regular kibble makes the kibble smell more appealing. Not as appealing as a hot dog of course. ~ karen!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Dog treats are so $$$$ plus they have stuff in them that I don’t want to give my pup.
Ordering those mats right now!
You are brilliant!
I'm a little confused. Is it egg or water that goes in the recipe? You mentioned an egg (missing from photo) initially but it has been omitted from the actual recipe.
Good point. I've fixed the recipe Linda. ~ karen!
This is excellent - thank you! Since I don't use my oven often ;), I would never have thought to look for this mat with the tiny holes perfect for making training treats. Which as you say - is an on-going, on-going process with reactive dogs. And, expensive when you have to buy. Cheers.
Hi Deb! I've just started buying Philip dry dog food for his treats, but a DIFFERENT dry dog food than he's used to with great big pieces, so to him ... they're treats. Less expensive, and healthy. I then supplement his treat bag with special treats like these and then of course the HOLY CROW treats like pieces of hot dog, cheese or steak. ~ karen!
Hand fed. Lol. Reason number 250 why I don’t have a dog .o have grandchildren that like to be fed .however I do have other peoples dogs that I love so I may just have to try this Karen. Thanks for the great idea!
AND if you get the mats, let me know if you try them for cooking meat in the oven, lol. I bet they work well. ~ karen!
The mat is a great idea. I make a similar training treat for my little monster. Because I need to eliminate as much refined sugar and salt as possible for Missy, I make my own nut butter, whether it be peanut,cashew, almond or other dog safe nuts. Put nuts into a food processor until creamy, and there you go! All natural, nothing added. Do not use raw nuts, as they are unsafe for dogs.
Now THAT is one doggone clever, practical and economical method for home-made dog goodies. I no longer have critters but one quick question - Method pic 1 mentions an egg but no egg is in the list of ingredients? Water/broth works as well?
Thanks Randy! I've fixed the recipe. I usually just use water but broth works as well. The chicken broth shouldn't have onion in it though, which is hard to find unless you make it yourself. ~ karen!