Raw feeding treats?

cefe13

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Those of you who feed raw - what kind of training treats do you use? Castor has become a teenager and seems to have forgotten most commands he knew a few months ago, so we need to find some kind of super treat for outdoor training.

It needs to be relatively dry but still tasty (i.e. easy to take along and easy to give, but that preferably won't make my jacket smell!).
 

2BullyMama

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freeze driend beef liver worked great for banks.... we do not feed raw (did for awhile) but she LOVED those
 

aprilemari

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Lola eats raw and we use cooked/boiled broccoli flourets (with butter and salt - she knows) and homemade sweet potato fries that we bake in the oven on parchment paper after a good toss in coconut oil. Both keep in the fridge for about a week. We rotate them both in often cuz we like to eat them too. We also give her all natural peanut butter.


one thing that also might work (after reading your jacket pocket dilemma) is one string cheese....we used this to potty train Lola, just tear off chunks and not strings, and it will stay in the wrapper in your pocket!
 

RiiSi

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Training treats don't need to be raw. You can use dried liver or meat. Call me paranoid, but I don't give anything commercial to my boys, but instead I make their treats. I cook tongue, heart, gizzard or meat, I don't use liver cause Usko can't eat it. After that I freeze them. Some how freezing makes their texture better for cutting in to small bits. I also have dried treats in cups around the house if I catch them doing something worth rewarding...Those are just same treats, but are dried in the owen after cooking and cutting. They last longer and don't smell.

Also I cut the bottom of a coffee package and put the treats in that, so my jacket pockets stay clean.
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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Thanks for your great suggestions!
[MENTION=3354]RiiSi[/MENTION] Do you dry the treats on a low temperature for just an hour or so, or over night? Will try your coffee package idea - a bit more sturdy than the ordinary plastic bags I have in my pockets!
[MENTION=3225]aprilemari[/MENTION] String cheese isn't available here but it's ordinary cheese, isn't it? I've never given Castor cheese but I'm sure he would love it (well, he would eat anything!).
[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] freeze dried treats sounds good. Will see if I can find them here. We did buy dried cow's lungs once and Castor absolutely loved them but they were really smelly!
 

RiiSi

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My house is actually heated with a huge baking owen, so I usually dry the bits in it, in a low temperature for hours. Before that I used normal owen, 50C temperature and over night. My boys also love cheese, any kind, but I use it carefully cause of the salt content.
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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My house is actually heated with a huge baking owen, so I usually dry the bits in it, in a low temperature for hours. Before that I used normal owen, 50C temperature and over night. My boys also love cheese, any kind, but I use it carefully cause of the salt content.

Oh, lucky you - I will have to go for the 50C over night option! Thanks for your feedback.
 

agentbunny

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Those of you who feed raw - what kind of training treats do you use? Castor has become a teenager and seems to have forgotten most commands he knew a few months ago, so we need to find some kind of super treat for outdoor training.

It needs to be relatively dry but still tasty (i.e. easy to take along and easy to give, but that preferably won't make my jacket smell!).

We feed raw and use freeze dried liver for treats along with fresh blueberries. They love blueberries and they are the perfect training size and are not messy to have in a training pouch
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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We feed raw and use freeze dried liver for treats along with fresh blueberries. They love blueberries and they are the perfect training size and are not messy to have in a training pouch

Thanks! I'm sure Castor would like blueberries too (although Swedish blueberries are smaller than American ones and so they would be a bit messy for training!). I've seen these pouches - they are not uncommon here among people who train working dogs.
 

dieMuttivonBifi

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Bifi is raw fed and I'm also weary of giving him anything commercially made so i make his treats. I cut up peices of hearts, meat, liver and just leave it in the fridge to dry up for a couple of weeks. Once dried it doesn't spoil. I tried freeze drying but it takes longer and doesn't really dry up as well as i want it so we just do fridge dried treats.
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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Bifi is raw fed and I'm also weary of giving him anything commercially made so i make his treats. I cut up peices of hearts, meat, liver and just leave it in the fridge to dry up for a couple of weeks. Once dried it doesn't spoil. I tried freeze drying but it takes longer and doesn't really dry up as well as i want it so we just do fridge dried treats.

Thanks for your suggestion! So it will dry in the fridge without going bad? I thought I had to oven dry it first?
 

dieMuttivonBifi

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[MENTION=9875]cefe13[/MENTION] Yup it'll dry on it's own in the fridge just give it time. The smaller the peices of the meat the faster it'll dry up. If it's small it only takes a week (or more) to dry. First time i made them i cut the meat to fingernail sizes but now i'm making them bigger because once dried they became too small for Bifi ;). And yes once dried it won't go bad. I don't do oven dried treats because we can't afford to do so lol. Here are a couple of examples i made, just taken out of the fridge today.

2014-08-16 13.43.35.jpg Turkey heart
2014-08-16 13.44.18.jpg Beef
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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[MENTION=8944]dieMuttivonBifi[/MENTION] Thanks for sharing pics - the treats look great! But you cook the hearts etc. first, right (i.e. boil them. in water) and then you cut them up and dry them? We've got a small fridge, so we'll go for over night drying in the oven at low temp but great to know that fridge drying is an option too.

Castor would be thrilled to know what is in store for him!
 

dieMuttivonBifi

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@dieMuttivonBifi Thanks for sharing pics - the treats look great! But you cook the hearts etc. first, right (i.e. boil them. in water) and then you cut them up and dry them? We've got a small fridge, so we'll go for over night drying in the oven at low temp but great to know that fridge drying is an option too.

Castor would be thrilled to know what is in store for him!

Nope no cooking. I just slice the meat into small pieces, put in the fridge and wait for about a week or two. Here is a new batch i cut up a few hours ago. It's pork.

I'm sure Castor will love his new treats you're going to make! goodluck!

2014-08-16 23.11.01.jpg
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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Nope no cooking. I just slice the meat into small pieces, put in the fridge and wait for about a week or two. Here is a new batch i cut up a few hours ago. It's pork.

I'm sure Castor will love his new treats you're going to make! goodluck!

View attachment 75666

Oh, that's fascinating. Thanks for sharing! I still feel hesitant to keep raw meat in the fridge for so long, though, as I would be afraid that it could contaminate other things.
 

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