Treats

 If you are training your dog remember that using treats is the easiest and fastest way to teach a dog what you want him to learn. They should never be given away for free; they should be earned. All the dog wants to do is to please you so it is a win win situation. After a while dogs will respond even when they hear the rustle of the bag where threats are kept.

A variety of treats should be used to make it interesting and worthwhile for the dog. Tidbits of food such as chicken, fillet steak, turkey, fish are ideal. The variety makes it interesting and keeps the dog guessing. When teaching a dog something new or training him in the midst of distractions such as other dogs or children playing or cyclists or joggers or birds or horses, I use something special like chicken liver bits and cheese. That’s the gold medal! The object of the exercise is to keep the dog focused on you so that he does not get bored or switch off or gets distracted. Keep the dog guessing.
I always couple treats with a nice encouraging tone of voice. I speak to Ozzy in French and I sometimes call him Belle or “ma chérie or ma Belle” but it does not matter. All Ozzy hears is the pleasing tone.

I wear a jacket which has multiple pockets so that I can dispense treats instantly and easily.
Also treats should be small and soft and easy to chew.  Something the dog cannot spit out.  I think paté would be ideal but that's a bit messy to carry around and how do you give it to the dog?  I'll have to experiment.
Remember dogs are carnivores so no bread, digestive biscuits, Xmas cake.  Chocolate is a definite no no and is dangerous for dogs.  I also do not give porc or lamb which are too fatty.
Yesterday we had chicken for dinner so today’s treats were in the special gold medal box. Tonight we are eating monkfish so tomorrow I shall use a left over portion for our boot camp exercises.




Bacon strips and little dog biscuits for routine work





Chicken: today's gold medal



"Look, I know the command SIT and I do like chicken"