Monday, March 26, 2012

High-Value Treats

I am noticing a range of fascinating behaviors among my two gents when it comes to high-value treats.


These seem to vary in accordance with the level of value. There's your high-value treats like homemade dehydrated steaky-bits. Perfect for training in distracting situations, or for "trading up" in resource guarding training. It's hard to imagine the dog to whom these would not be high-value, and pretty much any dog knows just what to do with them: inhale them. 


Then there's the high-value treat like Greenies. Lamar loves his Greenies and savors them when given the chance. Fozzie, on the other hand, seems to understand their value enough to huddle over his when Lamar comes near, but not enough to actually eat it. 


Then there's the treat whose value is so high it just blows their little minds. Like this huge rawhide bonie that I can't give the guys without close supervision, because of its potential to cause warfare. 


I broke it out the other day during band practice, because I thought it was one thing that might occupy Fozzie and make him stop pestering us for a while. 


He couldn't even handle it. He huddled over it a bit but wouldn't chew it. He just didn't know what to do. I traded up for some steaky bits and put it away, because I felt uneasy with Fozzie huddled over something in the presence of people who don't know him like I do.







Then the other night, after a certain discussion about responsibility with a certain significant other, Fozzie knew I was upset and so was lying in my arms, cuddling as close as was possible. I wanted Lamar to have something rewarding to do too, so I gave him the big bonie.


 

He didn't know what to do with it either. So he walked around with it for a while, until I thought to put some peanut butter on it.



Then he knew just what to do! 


 What do your dogs do with high-value treats?

12 comments:

  1. Very cute! It's funny how they act with different types of food. Scout will usually inhale any food item and prefers them to be small enough and soft enough to require the smallest amount of chewing possible. "Chomp gone". Where as Kobi can take something as simple as a piece of apple and take 10 minutes to eat it. He likes to pick it up and spit it out a few times to decide if he wants it then chews on it carefully.

    http://www.kobipup.blogspot.com

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  2. Now that is definitely a big chew treat! Our girls eat most anything - as matter of fact they always act like they are starved no matter what the treat! LOL

    Nina, Myshka, Sasha, Betsy, Lucy, Phoebe and Lily

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  3. Hi Kirsten: High value treats? We eats them...very quickly.

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  4. That is a big chew. I don't usually give them rawhide because of Delilah's propensity of swallowing very large pieces. I think right now their favorite treat is the stuffed kong, Sampson goes in the bedroom and Delilah goes into the living room.

    Yes, sometimes we have to manage them. :-)

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  5. That is one big rawhide! To our hounds, every treat is a high value treat! LOL!

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  6. Devour them! Oddly enough, the most high value treats to Braylon are yams! They all do great with any treats together but when it comes to bones/rawhide we know Madden needs to be separate, and really it isn't something we give although we have tried Zukes bones since they are grain free.

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  7. I suspect every food is a high value treat for Georgia. She's just as enthusiastic with her bones as with licking off rice grains from the floor. She doesn't hoard, though she's now learning how to hide bits she hasn't finished DARN! I would love for her to savour the flavours a bit more before swallowing!

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  8. that bone is bigger than us!! Mom noticed the same recently. "Real Meat" treats make us behave!
    Benny & Lily

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  9. When Honey gets a high value treat, she runs off with it into another room. Even though she's the only dog in the house. And even if the treat is a piece of apple. :)

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  10. of the four: kiba eats his the fastest, kitsu savors the flavor but finishes his too, buckley gets so excited he paces and doesn't actually eat and tsuki guards hers.

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  11. High value treats get eaten. Infact all treats do. We do still however carefully monitor who has what left to avoid any situations arising from someone wanting what someone else still has!

    Big Nose Pokes
    The Thugletsx

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  12. My first bully stick lasted 3 months! I didn't want it to ever go away BOL! Butt then I realized, there were more where that one came from. They last about 15 minutes now BOL! Great story :D

    Waggin at ya,
    Roo

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