As a dog trainer, I’ve always advocated smelly training treats. Generally speaking, the stinkier the better….and if they make you actually retch a little when you sniff them, you’re on to a winner.
Why do I recommend a training treat that makes your eyes water and stomach attempt to leap into your throat? Because in my experience, it’s those training treats that reeeeally keep a dog’s focus. And focus is the first step to shaping any behaviour, during a dog training session.
Ever noticed how your adorable little puppy seems to gravitate to the most disgusting thing they can find, when out on a walk?
I’ll never ever forget ‘the week of the dead rat’.....
So, when we decided to expand Rùn’s product range, to include dog training treats, the first thing I did was bring in some samples and test them on the Rùn boys, and on my willing and eager puppy class members.
What happened, still has me completely surprised and confused!
The absolute, far and away favourite treats….smelled…..nice!! Actually pleasant!?! And really, as well as smelling nice, they hardy smelled at all. What magic was this?!?!
The magic was Hand Baked Dog Treats, using minimal ingredients. I don’t mind admitting when I’m wrong, and these nice-smelling, hard, crunchy, centimetre cubed treats are simply amazing.
What do I love about them? Here’s my Top 5 reasons to try hand baked dog treats:
1) Our boys go nuts for them. That’s a pretty good reason itself. Murphy recently had to go to the vet for some really very invasive tests of an embarrassingly personal nature. He doesn’t want to talk about it and would be really quite relieved if it never happens again. I happened to have some left over samples of the Chicken Liver Cronches, so grabbed a few to take in with us, not even realising the extent of the embarrassingly personal tests to come. Well thank goodness I did, because those cronches were just the distraction he needed, allowing our lovely vet to get on with what she needed to do.
2) They’re now my easy go-to ‘bonus treat’ in dog training classes, if an owner hasn’t brought something yummy enough that day. Group dog training classes can be an extremely distracting environment for our dogs. So the treats that you use easily at home may not be enticing enough for a group training situation.
3) Rùn’s Chicken Liver Cronches, and Tuna Treatos make the perfect mid-walkies snacko, because they don’t stink or grease up your pocket.
4) No more retching with smelly treats!
5) A lovely bedtime snack. I don’t know abut you, but here at Rùn HQ we always tuck our boys in to bed with a little snack. It’s a nice way to make bedtime a positive experience, as well as a very good way to keep fuzzy tummies happy until morning. Mr Ripley (Rùn’s Chief Sniff Officer) suffers from ‘the hunger pukes’. If he doesn’t have a bedtime biscuit (or 3), he gets uncomfortable stomach acid, causing an upset tummy by morning, and an upset spaniel. And lets face it, nobody enjoys cleaning up puke, so probably an upset hooman or two as well. But bedtime snacks prevent all this from happening, and we can send him off to bed knowing he’s got a happy tummy.
*Remember these are not for human consumption....
no matter how yummy they smell!