Dog food as treats?

[ilovejoel]

Since we're getting the new puppy soon, we're wonder if instead of treats we get them a really good dog food like a salmon flavor so it'll smell extra good and instead of lots of treats it's just dog food. At first I was thinking it wouldn't be much of a reward for them but then I remembered Joel used to go crazy over Roscos dog food, so wouldn't it be better/healthier with a healthy food? What do you think?

[MauiGirl]

I think that's a good idea, and I do it sometimes. Mine also love frozen green beans and lettuce as treats, so I don't buy separate " treats".

[tokipoki]

I think the smelly/tasty kibble is a good idea for treats! I did that all the time with Toki because I would get so many sample bags for free. Her puppy training class used to be in the evening and we would sometimes just use her dinner kibble with a few higher reward treats thrown in throughout the session.... You could even buy a sample bag of something like Acana Pacifica or Orijen 6 Fish (really "aromatic" fish kibbles )if you want a small amount of kibble different from the main one you feed.

I buy regular treats but I don't really like to get them a lot...we feed so few of them these days that I usually have to toss out some portion of the bag since it gets stale/hard before we use it all (I'm sure the pups wouldn't mind stale treats but I do! lol).

[Deb1]

Dog food is my 3's main treat! They don't get any store bought "treats" as they don't get grains, which most treats have. I do make a treat with Garbanzo Bean-Fava Flour that they really like!

[barneysmommmy]

I had to switch to only dog food as treats because Barney completely quit eating his food waiting on treats. Poor chubby Anna can't afford the wasted calories of treats. So, it's been a great alternative for my house. By the way, the dogs really don't care. Barney just wants to be rewarded for something. Anna just wants food. So it's a win, win.

[ilovejoel]

Ok thanks It sounds like a good idea.

[mimimomo]

My guys don't eat kibble as meals now since we switched over to premade raw & canned food only...but they get it as treats.

[Maximo]

I have always used dog food (kibble) as treats. We use it for rewards and save the "higher value" stuff for when it is needed.

[gracielove]

Very young pups should not have a lot of treats. It is a good idea to use pieces of the pup's food as rewards instead of something that may upset a delicate digestive system. If you have a picky eater then you could have a whole different problem to deal with though.