It's all up to you. Personally I am not opposed to giving store bought treats that contain "forbidden" ingredients as treats I give are tiny (no bigger than the size of my pinky finger nail) and not a significant amount of the dog's diet. That said, I do try to find the best treats I can when getting store bought treats and I keep a close eye on treat recalls.
There is a way to stay completely raw and not use any cooked or processed treats. A small squeeze tube or bottle can be filled with ground raw meat and stored in the fridge. To reward the dog, simply squeeze the tube and allow the dog to lick up the meat that is squeezed out from the end. One of my favorite things about using squeeze tubes is that your hands stay completely clean! No funky treat smell! By using the tube with raw meat you also have in your hand a very high value treat that will help keep your dog's attention even in the most distracting and demanding environments. They are a great option for staying totally raw but there are some cons. The tubes or bottles may be hard to clean. A small bottle brush should do the trick. They may leak or break so be gentle with them and put them in an open tupperware in the fridge to prepare for potential leakage. They also must be kept refrigerated which eliminates the ability to have treats on hand in key locations for training such as at the front door, back door, and by the dog's crate. These are great for doing regular training sessions of 5-15 minutes long where the tube won't be out of the fridge too long and the dog is being frequently rewarded. Remember you are handling raw meat and while you may not directly come in contact with it, you are still in its presence and should wash your hands after using these. If your dog licks you after taking some meat, he just licked bacteria onto you! [Note: You should also wash your hands after handling store-bought cooked and processed treats too!]
Here are some examples of squeeze tubes; these are from REI but you can find similar products in most any store that has a pharmacy or camping section, or with toiletries and travel sized items.
For me, squeeze tubes are a wonderful idea but are a bit impractical for most situations when I need treats. If they'll work for you then go for it!
Another option is dehydrated or fridge-dried treats. Dehydrators are expensive for my taste and can be difficult to clean but you can make wonderful treats out of liver, other organ, or thinly sliced meat. To make fridge-dried treats, cut the meat or organ into treat-sized pieces or thin slices. Put them in the fridge on a plate, baking sheet, or a tupperware. Do *not* cover them. The bacteria that makes meat gross and rotten is anaerobic, meaning it thrives when no oxygen is present. Keep the air flowing! Nothing bad will happen to it or to your other food. If you live with other people you definitely want to make them aware of your project so they don't accidentally eat it or use it. After 3-5 days the meat or organ should be nice and dry. When it's dry enough to rip apart, it's ready. Keep in mind this is still uncooked meat, so again you should wash your hands after giving these treat.
Here are a couple different kinds of dehydrators.
Cooking the meat is also an option. Most common seem to be liver treats and chicken. For liver treats: Boil water. While it is heating up chop the liver into chunks. Put the liver in the boiling water for about 10-15 minutes until it is no longer pink. Preheat the [toaster] oven to 200* F. Drain the liver, and you can rinse it if you want. Spread the cooked liver on a baking sheet and let them bake in the [toaster] oven for about 20-30+ minutes until they are dried out. You can take them out when they are still "chewy" or leave them until them are crunchy. Then cut them into treat-sized pieces. These should be stored in the fridge. For chicken, simply cube boneless chicken (no bones!!) and boil it or fry it in a pan. You can choose to cut the pieces up further, or simply break them up into smaller pieces as you give them.
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| Liver Treats ehow.com |
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| Cubed Chicken 4littlefergusons.wordpress.com |
I've also used people food. For a long time in agility class with Denali I used cut up hotdogs. They were slimy, smelly, high value treats that she loved working for. Cheese and peanut butter are typically great motivators as well and often used as high value treats. Some dogs work best for carrots or bananas even!
Recently, I most commonly get store bought treats. I avoid corn and byproducts as I am not comfortable feeding those ingredients but it's pretty much impossible to avoid flour. Most treats also have sugar, and many have soy (Vitamin E/mixed tocopherols) as preservatives. So why do am I okay giving these treats, hotdogs, cheese, and peanut butter? These type of treats are definitely not in line with a raw diet. I clearly support a natural diet so why bend the rules so far for treats? Because treats are for training! I want to give something special and high value. As previously noted, they make up a very small part of my dogs' diet. I give tiny pieces of treats, often breaking a dime-sized treat into at least 3 pieces. I'm not concerned about a little flour or sugar or such in treats as long as I'm convinced that treats are of decent quality as a whole.
Please choose treats that you are comfortable feeding, whether they are raw, cooked, "people food," store bought, or whatever else. Below are the treats I currently give, but these are by no means the only treats you can give. I chose these treats because they have acceptable, though not ideal, ingredients for my standards. They have also never caused any tummy upset or loose stools for my dogs. Many lower quality treats will cause these issues.
Currently my favorite choice for treats
From the same company I also buy the regular Pet Botanics Training Reward Chicken Treats which I break into at least 3 pieces, usually 4. I prefer the salmon to these but will get these when salmon isn't in stock. (The beef variety I only bought once as it turned the dogs' poop orange.) Ingredients: pork liver, barley flour, whole grand potatoes, sucrose, chicken, potato starch, glycerine, wheat bran, gelatin, rice flour, flaxseed, salt, natural smoke flavor, garlic powder, phosphoric acid, potassium sorbate, mustard, citric acid and mixed tocopherols
I also have Natural Balance Roll-A-Rounds Crunchy Lamb Formula Treats which are easily smashed and broken into little pieces. Ingredients: Lamb, lamb hearts, lamb kidneys, lamb lungs, whole wheat flour, rice flour, lamb fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and ascorbic acid--source of vitamin C), sucrose, whole ground flaxseed, etc [lots of supplements, vitamins, and minerals].
I often use the Crunchy treats for basic obedience sessions and rewarding daily behaviors, and use the Pet Botanics treats for agility, when teaching new behaviors, and rewarding for outstanding responses to known behaviors.
There you have it. If you feed raw and want to stay raw for treats, you have that option. If you're like me and don't mind bending and breaking "rules" when it comes to treats, that's fine too. I'm of the opinion that when it comes to treats do what works for you and your dog. Treats are not a major part of the diet, so ignoring some of the "rules" of a natural diet for convenient and motivational treats is fine by me.
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