A Guide to Picking Healthy Treats for Puppies

Not getting the results you want from your puppy training sessions? You’re not alone. Successfully training a puppy is far from a walk in the park. But, while it can be time-consuming and draining, it’s not impossible — you just need to tweak your training strategy to incorporate puppy treats.

Treats serve as positive reinforcement, increasing your chances of registering success. They can improve focus and motivation, transforming training sessions from a headache to an exciting bonding opportunity with your puppy.

However, this is contingent on choosing the right puppy treats. Here, we look at what to consider when picking treats, when to use them, and what types of treats to invest in.

Treats serve multiple purposes during training: they act as lures, motivators and rewards. Without having the right kind of treat, puppies can lose interest in their training. With the right type of treats, however, they can be more invested in sessions and be more willing to do what you ask to receive their rewards.

So, how exactly do you choose the best dog treats for your training sessions? Here are some tips:

Your puppy needs to love your chosen treat for it to be an effective motivator or reward. So, pay attention to your pup’s preferences and only use what they respond to. Many trainers recommend cooked, dried or dehydrated meats, as most dogs like these.

Scent-driven options like Swiss cheese are also a good choice, especially for puppies, because they let them know there’s a treat in it for them after completing specific tasks. Plus, they allow them to improve their sense of smell — a win-win.

However, don’t focus so much on taste and smell that you forget about nutritional value. The goal should be to get healthy dog treats, with high-value nutrients as well as enticing tastes and smells to motivate your pups while also supporting their development.

Puppy teething is often uncomfortable and painful. So, choose treats that are easy on your pup’s teeth and gums. Ideally, they should be soft and easy to chew so as not to add to their discomfort.

Your treats should also be easy to break into small pieces so as not to pose a choking hazard. Remember, puppies’ teeth are still in their developmental phase, so they may not be able to cut them themselves.

When making your selection, aim for pencil-eraser-sized treats. Such treats are small enough for young puppies to handle without a problem. They’re also quick to eat and won’t take up too much time during training.

Training treats typically come in small sizes, but if you use food from your house, make sure it breaks up into small pieces. If a treat can’t be broken up or cut to size (like a hard piece of jerky or dog biscuits), then it might not be the right type of treat to use in training.

Choose treats with high-quality, easily digestible ingredients. Some excellent options include:

• Meat proteins like turkey and chicken

• Whole grains like oats

• Sweet potato

• Pumpkin

• Fish

• Blueberries

It’s worth noting, however, that dogs react differently to varying ingredients. So, be on the lookout for potential allergy symptoms and adjust your treat options accordingly. For example, if you note that your puppy has a chicken allergy, you could switch them to turkey-based treats to prevent gastrointestinal (GI) upset.

Training treats are meant to be given out frequently for good behavior and compliance, so you need to make sure that they are low in calories. The general rule for treats is that they should not exceed 10% of the total daily calories. For example, if your puppy eats 300 calories per day, the treats and other extras should not exceed 30 calories in total to prevent overfeeding.

Sticking to this rule with regular treats, however, can be challenging because they typically have high calorie counts. This is why many dog owners use kibble or meal portions from their puppies’ diets as treats.

You can reward your pup with treats any time you train them. This could be in formal training sessions or at any point throughout the day, as long as they complete a desired task or follow your commands.

As for how often to give treats, there’s no standard answer. It all depends on how many times you want to reward your puppy to reinforce their positive behavior. With that said, you shouldn’t go overboard with your treats. Remember the 10% rule so as not to overfeed your puppy.

Also, consider using lower-value treats, like kibble, in high-energy environments instead of standard training treats like cheese. Such treats are less distracting for puppies, so they could make training sessions smoother.

Now that you understand the importance of picking the right dog treats and the best ways to treat your puppy, let’s take a look at some of the treats you can use in your training. Rather than overly processed dog treats, you can use healthy, natural ingredients and food options as treats. Here are some of the best options:

Single-ingredient proteins, like plain boiled chicken or turkey, are excellent options if you’re looking for something that’s already in your kitchen. They’re not only easy to prepare but also easy on puppies’ guts and rich in nutrients, making them a better alternative to store-bought treats. To prepare them, boil them in water without adding any spices or flavoring.

Alternatively, you can opt for The Honest Kitchen’s Beef & Salmon Meaty Littles, Chicken & Salmon Meaty Littles or Lamb & Salmon Puppy Meaty Littles if you don’t have time to prep your own treats. They’re not only low calorie but also packed with high-quality ingredients like docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which has been associated with brain and vision development .

Kibble can be a fantastic training treat, as you already know that it works for your dog’s digestive system and diet. While it might not be the most exciting treat, it works well when you want to give out training treats in bulk but don’t want to overfeed your dog.

To bring some variety into your treats, you can rotate this with The Honest Kitchen’s Puppy Clusters. They’re also low in calories and contain valuable nutrients that can support your puppy’s development.

Fresh, soft fruits and vegetables, such as apple slices, steamed carrots, and plain cooked pumpkin, are nutritious and relatively inexpensive. Carrots contain beta-carotene and soluble fiber, pumpkin has soluble fiber, antioxidants and vitamins, and apples contain fiber and vitamins. This makes them great for frequent training sessions.

You can also use spreads like peanut butter and plain yogurt to bring some excitement to your training sessions. However, use them sparingly, as they can be high in calories.

Also, confirm they’re xylitol-free. While the sweetener is harmless in humans, it can cause sudden drops in blood sugar levels, potentially resulting in seizures and liver failure in dogs.

Puppies are sensitive to whatever they eat. So, be sure to prioritize their safety when choosing treats. Some things to avoid to protect their well-being include:

• Artificial additives , preservatives and fillers : May be hard on their developing systems, potentially resulting in allergy symptoms.

• Too much salt or sugar: May cause dehydration or long-term health issues like obesity.

• Human leftovers: Could be too rich, causing pups to exceed their daily caloric intake.

• Hard or brittle treats like jerky: May affect pups’ oral health.

When buying puppy treats or food in general, opt for age-specific products, as they offer a better nutritional balance and safety for developing systems. Also, assess their ingredient lists and avoid products with vague listings, such as “meat meal” or “animal by-products.”

While food treats are great, they’re not the only tool you can use in dog training and socialization. Puppies can respond to other positive reinforcement tools like:

• Verbal praise

• Gentle rubs

• Clicker sounds

• Freedom, like letting them play outside for some time

• Dog puzzles, soft plushies or squeaky toys

• Games like frisbee tosses

Try out different motivators and mix things up based on what your pup enjoys. This keeps training sessions exciting and gives you plenty of opportunities to strengthen your bond.

The Honest Kitchen offers a variety of puppy treats and food options that would be ideal for your puppy’s training. These include:

• Parmesan Pecks: Available in Chicken & Cranberry and Beef & Blueberry variants, these training treats are low-calorie and easy to break.

• Meaty Littles: Come in Beef & Salmon , Chicken & Salmon and Lamb & Salmon flavors, all of which are low-calorie, soft, high-value and easily digestible.

• Puppy Clusters: Available in Whole Grain and Grain Free variations, these dry food options are excellent kibble alternatives for daily training.

The Honest Kitchen’s products are a top choice for pet parents seeking high-quality treats that help meet their pets’ dietary needs, as they are made with thoughtfully sourced ingredients and are free from artificial preservatives. Our recipes are produced in a human approved facility, following human grade procedures from ingredient sourcing to product distribution.

Training treats are an important part of the puppy training process. Without those treats on hand, your little furry friend might not be as enthusiastic as you’d like.

For successful training and your pup’s digestive health, go for natural, healthy treats that are free of artificial preservatives and other additives. Then, break them down into small pieces to avoid overindulgence.

If you are looking for great pup training treats, The Honest Kitchen has you covered. Our Parmesan Pecks, Meaty Littles and Puppy Clusters are low-calorie, high-value and easy to digest, making them valuable additions to your puppy’s training process.

Browse through our puppy treats today to find the best natural treats for training your puppy.