Pets are considered family, especially if you have grown with them. But, if you have a pet, it’s best that you also know how to train them to have good behavior and avoid accidents. In this sense, treats and rewards are handy to make your dog training successful.
Every dog trainer knows how important treats are. It’s a great way to communicate to them that they are doing a good act or to help build a positive relationship between the dog and the owner. But, if treats and rewards are given without being earned by the pet, it would be hard to establish good training for them.
Thus, knowing how and when is the best time to give your fur babies a well-deserved treat is necessary. In this sense, they would understand that it’s a display of affection and appreciate it more. Not to mention, they understand why they are given the treats in the first place. So, to help you, here is a detailed guide on how and when is the best time to give your dog treats.
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Don’t Neglect The Feeding Guide Recommendations of Each Treat
The feeding recommendations guide is there for a purpose: to give valuable information to pet owners on the right amount of treats you should be giving to your pets. Each calorie count and if you neglect the proper feeding recommendations may also contribute to leading your dog to obesity.
Also, it would be essential to know the healthiest dog treats you could give to help them improve their diet. If you have adult dogs, apples could be a good natural treatment to provide them. Conversely, for fur parents who have puppies, it’s best to provide soft and chewy treats, like Vitapet puppy treats,which you can find at https://vitapet.com/au/products/puppy/all-treats/. These are ideal treats for puppies as they could easily chew them with their baby teeth, which could help their digestion.
Avoid Giving Treats When They’re Having Their Meals
You should know how to differentiate the time of giving your dogs a full meal for nutrition and treats to reward them. If your current training technique is giving them treats after every meal they have, your technique will not work.
If dogs could easily attain treats even though they have been fed already, they would not see the value of earning the treat by themselves and see it as a part of the meal they have every day. Thus, only provide treats as a training tool, not part of the whole meal.
Give Treats When They’re in a Calm State
When you reward your dog with treats for showing good behavior, do it when they are calm and still. If you provide them with treats they have not earned or are in a hyper state, they will think you are reinforcing negative behavior.
Additionally, dogs will immediately turn hyper when they see a treat, as it appeals to their sense of smell. It is natural that if they see it, they want it immediately. In this sense, it would greatly help if you provided your dog with impulse control behavioral training to make a difference.
Thus, once they can handle their impulses better, only give treats when they are calm. In this way, they would understand that you reward them for doing good and keeping calm. In the long run, it will also benefit you as an owner because your dog will be well-behaved.
Limit The Treats You Give
We love our dogs, and we just want to spoil them with every treat that their irresistible puppy eyes are begging for. But while making them happy is a priority, we must also remember that their health and well-being come first. Hence, it’s important we limit the treats our furry friends consume, or else it may lead to too much unhealthy weight gain.
When a dog becomes overweight, it poses some health risks to them. And since overeating may add up to their weight, this will lead to difficulties with moving around. Thus, always limit the treats you give them. As recommended, your dogs should only consume not more than 10% of their caloric intake to prevent obesity in dogs. Additionally, avoid giving sweetened treats as they are typically unhealthy for the body and may also give rise to dental problems.
If you think your dog is currently obese, it’s best to take them to your trusted veterinarian so they can recommend some interventions to help your dog attain a better and healthier lifestyle. Also, choose the treats you give them, and don’t just settle for affordable ones. It all must be healthy and made with quality ingredients.
Provide a Designated Bowl To Feed Them
Treats could also be given by handing them down to your dogs. However, there’s no denying that some dogs, especially those that just started, can be quite excited for their treats—a little too excited, most of the time. So, if you don’t like them getting treats from your hands, see that you provide your pet with a proper feeding bowl. In this way, they would know where they could get their treats and meals.
Also, it prevents them from getting food from places they aren’t allowed to eat, like plates for their owners. Lastly, it’s more hygienic if they have their bowl since eating on the floor tends to be dirty, and it would make it hard for them to get their food.
Final Thoughts
As a pet owner, you must train your dog and establish a good relationship with them. With this, you could live a more harmonious life centered on love, affection, and obedience. Also, giving treats is a great way to show your dog that you love them and they did a good job.
Although spoiling your pets with treats could be tempting, try your best only to provide them with well-earned treats at the right time to encourage more good behavior and fun times! You can also refer to the guidelines above to help you know the basics of giving treats to your fur babies.
