The trainer who taught me and my wife to train our dog recommended sliced pressed chicken luncheon meat, the cheapest store brand. She said the chicken isn’t loaded with nitrites, salt and spices, or other stuff you don’t want your puppy to over-indulge on. She’d take a pair of scissors and cut each slice into about 1/2 inch squares and put them in a little ‘treat bag’ that clipped to her belt. She said after a training session, she’d just put the entire bag in the fridge until next time.
She was also a champion of “clicker training”. It works well and her treats worked for us. That was 8 years ago and, even today, if we click the clicker, our pup’s head goes up and he is expecting a treat.
Incredibly Stinky Dog Treats:
Ingredients:
1 lb liver (any kind - I use chicken livers because they’re cheap)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ (or oatmeal)
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1 egg
1 teaspoon granulated garlic (not garlic salt or fresh garlic)
1/2 cup dried parsley (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350º F.
- Liquefy the liver in a food processor; pour into a separate bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth like brownie batter. Spread out evenly on a greased or parchment paper-lined 9 X 13 jelly roll pan. Dough should be about 1/3” – 1/2" thick.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- When cool, cut into small squares or other preferred shapes. Refrigerate in a ziplock bag.
Note: ingredients are flexible; it’s the liver they love!
Yes! I will be baking some of these shortly. 
Yum. Get the candles lit first. That’s gonna be stinky. Let us know how baby girl likes 'em.
Another vote for hot dogs. I took my dog to a session at the Humane Society for his leash aggression and this is what they told me would guarantee his attention over anything else. Truth.
Get yourself a nice treat bag if you don’t have one already. I have this one and it’s nice for hot dogs because it’s washable. Actually I would just stick it in the fridge with the uneaten hotdog bits for a few days in a row. Never had a problem.
PetSafe Treat Pouch Sport, Black Amazon.com
I trained a 1/2 Labrador 1/2 dingo (yes Mom was a 100% dingo) with very very small pieces of cut up CHEAP hot dogs…
Your dog, no matter how smart you think it is will ever understand a reward if it is not IMMEDIATE…immediately following a good response to a command.
Raven (1/2 Lab 1/2 Dingo) was very food driven. She was also (imho) very smart…she was also food driven.
Tiny, tiny treats satisfied her needs and she learned quickly.
//Raven … RIP