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3 Human Foods Good for Dog Training Treats
September 5, 2018In one previous article, Staying Pawsitive outlined some of the best dog treats, including bully sticks, to use for training. All...
3 Tricks to Get Your Cats and Dogs to Get Along
August 21, 2018
2 Reasons Why Positive Reinforcement is Good for Dogs
July 21, 2018Positive Reinforcement
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2 Reasons Why Positive Reinforcement is Good for Dogs
July 21, 2018Staying Pawsitive is an organization and website that is all about utilizing...
Foods
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3 Human Foods Good for Dog Training Treats
September 5, 2018In one previous article, Staying Pawsitive outlined some of the best dog treats,...
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3 Best Treats for Dog Training, Plus Find Out the Benefit of Buying Bulk Bully Sticks
In our past article, we outlined a couple of benefits in using positive reinforcement when training your dogs. Part of the process of positive reinforcement is the rewards system. The way it is set up is that trainers communicate a behavior. If the dogs do a desirable action, we reward them. In this way, the dog associates a behavior with good things happening to them. They will most likely do those behaviors again.
Until now, we spoke generally about the rewards and treats that the dogs should have. But, what are the best treats to use for dogs? What are the good brands or types of food out there? Let’s take a look at two of the best treats to use for dog training. The items we will present have healthy and quality ingredients that also add benefits to your dog. Let’s start.
Wellness Soft Puppy Bites
As the name suggests, these treats are very nice, soft, and chewy. These are ideal for when you train puppies. The teeth of puppies are not strong enough for really hard foods yet.
The ingredients are great too. These bites are made with lamb and salmon. These ingredients add some DHA in each bite, which contributes greatly to working and developing their brains.
Finally, it is a good choice because it is grain free. A big percentage of dogs are allergic to grains.
Wilderness Blue Buffalo
The Wilderness Blue Buffalo dog treat is an ideal treat for dog training. Its base is chicken. For dogs, chicken is a good source of protein that they will need. Like the Wellness Soft Puppy Bites, it also has good amounts of DHA for their brains.
In addition though, it has fatty acids and Omega 3 and 6 in the ingredients. All of these ingredients will help give your dog what they need for optimal health. Not only that, the fatty acids will help your dog have a nice and shiny coat and healthy skin.
Use these treats if your dog likes to have some crunch in what they eat.
Bully Sticks From Pawstruck
Good news for pet parents who are looking for nutritious, all-natural chew treats for their dogs! Bully sticks from Pawstruck are sought after by many trainers and dog owners for a number of reasons. These yummy treats are thick and long-lasting, perfect for both adult dogs and puppies. Sourced from the finest ingredients, you’re sure to have the safest, most delicious chew treats in the market as they’re low odor. If you’re concerned about the cost, make sure to buy bulk bully sticks to save money.
These are the best dog treat brands ideal for dog training. In the end, Staying Pawsitive believes that it is all up to your dog. Find something that they really like and the works well for their health and for training positively of course.
3 Human Foods Good for Dog Training Treats
In one previous article, Staying Pawsitive outlined some of the best dog treats, including bully sticks, to use for training. All of those items were legitimate dog food brands. Realistically though, dog food is quite expensive. Not everyone can afford purchasing bags of dog food.
However, it is possible to feed your dog human food though. Moreover, it is also possible to feed your dogs these specific human foods when you train them.
Let’s take a look at three human food good for dog training treats.
Carrots
What’s up doc? Bugs and bunnies are not the only ones that can eat carrots for snacks. Dogs can and actually, should eat them too.
When training your dogs, you can use baby carrots as a good treat for positive reinforcement. Baby carrots are perfect for puppies’ teeth. It will help it grow in a healthy way. Apart from that, it is good for the eyesight of dogs.
Carrots have more nutritional value to give dogs too. It is high in vitamin A and fiber, both good for your dog. It is also a low-calorie snack that ensures that your dog won’t get overweight.
Eggs
Eggs are also a good snack for dogs. First of all, they are a convenient snack to have because they can be fed both raw or cooked.
If you decide to feed your dogs raw eggs, ensure that you add a bit of eggshell in it. Doing this will give them a massive protein boost, some riboflavin, and selenium as well.
If you decide to cook the eggs, ensure that you don’t cook it with any salt or seasoning added.
Peanut Butter
Wouldn’t you know? The staple snack of man is also good for their best friends as well. Peanut butter is a great source of protein for your dogs, much like an egg. Apart from that, it is actually good for your dogs because it contains healthy fats that your dogs need. Also included are vitamins like vitamin B, E, and niacin.
One thing you can do is buy a Kong – a sort of chew toy for your dogs – and stuff the peanut butter into it. When you do this, you not only give them a healthy snack, but you also provide them with something that will preoccupy them for hours.
When you decide to feed dogs peanut butter, make sure there is no salt added in it. Salt is bad for dogs. You must also note that there are no artificial sweeteners in the peanut butter, especially xylitol. These are particularly deadly for dogs.
These are only a few human foods you can feed your dogs when training them. If you are planning to feed them anything else, just make you sure check if your dogs can really eat it.
3 Tricks to Get Your Cats and Dogs to Get Along
Cats and dogs. Could there be anything else that embody the idea of two things that are so opposite? Dogs are very energetic, friendly, and loving. Cats, while they are also loving in their own special and limited way, are cool and calm about things.
Moreover, the idea about these two animals is that because they are opposites of one another, they hate each other! We’ve all seen those moments where a dog chases a cat, or a cat hisses at the dog. It is just how they are.
However, did you know that it is possible for these two animals to get along? With training, especially with positive reinforcement bolstering it, it is possible for dogs to become friendly with cats.
Let’s look at three tips to help you train your cats and dogs to get along better.
Train Your Dog
People think that training a dog is just about teaching them tricks. Sit. Stay. Shake hands. This is what people think training is.
The truth is that if you successfully train your dog, it will have benefits across its whole life. One of them is that it disciplines dogs and calms them down. With good training, a dog can learn to stay put and not be skittish when things are happening.
If a pot falls and a loud clang is made, trained dogs stay put. If a piece of a sandwich falls on the ground, they can stay put.
This is particularly important in making dogs and cats get along. A dog that zips around the house when any little thing happens won’t be appealing to a cat. Cats respond to calm too and when things are abuzz, they tend to just head away from the fuss.
Exercise Your Dogs
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. Dogs are just big tanks of energy. This energy is the reason why jump around everywhere.
This is why you have to expend the energy of your dog every day. This can be done by walking them, playing fetch, bringing them on your run, and so many more activities. Remember though that they have a lot of energy. It is ideal that you deplete in one big activity rather than several short ones.
Without it, the dogs might expend their stimulation and energy on chasing the cats.
Introduce Them Through Their Noses
It is a good practice to allow both cats and dogs to get one another’s scent before they meet. You can do this by letting them smell the toys, sleeping areas, and zones where each usually stay.
This allows their curiosities to be sated and they have clear expectations as to what to expect.
The Staying Pawsitive team is positive that peace is possible between cats and dogs. Eventually, it may even turn into a kinship. All you need to do is follow these tips to have cats and dogs get along.
2 Reasons Why Positive Reinforcement is Good for Dogs
Staying Pawsitive is an organization and website that is all about utilizing positive reinforcement when training dogs.
Back in the day, dog trainers thought that positive reinforcement was a form of cheating. It was a way to bribe the dogs. They thought that dogs should just respect their owners and the people around them.
However, there has been a change throughout the years leading to trainers to use positive reinforcement more. Here are two reasons why positive reinforcement is actually the better training tool to use.
Mental Workout
Positive reinforcement forces your dogs to think. It forces their minds to think about the association between a certain desired behavior and the reward and reinforcement they get afterwards. This mental workout is actually beneficial dogs.
First of all, it helps to displace the boredom of dogs. Dogs get bored a lot, and usually to unmanageable effects. They usually get rowdy and people can’t control their behavior after. This could also lead to excessive chewing and digging.
You’ll be surprised how much time positive reinforcement training can take. With only a few sessions a day, you can displace their rowdy and undesired behaviors by depleting their energy.
Clear Communications
Training in this way also helps in communicating with your dog clearly. Through this type of training, you can communicate what exactly what you want your dog to do. They understand our communications via the reward given afterward.
The more we reward them for doing something we want, the more they will be repeating those behaviors in the long run.
Let us look at the opposite way, punishment. With punishment, communications are not so clear. An example is when they poop in the house. If you were to hit them, yes they would try and stop that behavior but maybe for the wrong reasons. They could understand it as they shouldn’t poop whenever you are around.
These are only a couple of benefits of positive reinforcement in training your dogs. We hope these tips help and encourage you to train your dogs with positive reinforcement.