We go through A LOT of training treats.
Seriously….A LOT!
Charlie has come a long way in the past year, but it seems that no matter how much training we complete, there is always more for our sweet little puppy brain to learn! We have resigned ourselves to the fact that if we really want him to break a few of his remaining bad habits (jumping on people and not dropping toys) we must commit to consistent practice and always bring our trusty treat belt (and maybe a clicker) wherever we go.
Cabin Fever
For a period of about 2 weeks, the snow was too deep to run in. That meant that our evening walks were for walking only; no off-leash romps in the athletic field of our local school.
Worst of all? No off-leash romps meant no frisbee throwing!
We have talked about Charlie’s love of frisbee in the past but it can not be overstated. No frisbee time (and the resulting energy burn) leaves us with one very antsy boy!
Down the Drain
Well, the temperature has finally risen, and it seems that it only takes a short period of time for our little man to forget his manners. His biggest behavior issues have come back in full force! It appeared as if our hard work and training had gone right down the sewer with the melting snow!
Reasoning is not a strong suit of puppies and Charlie has decided that there is little else in this world that is as rewarding as holding onto his frisbee; even when what he really wants is to chase after it.
While he could simply release it and let me throw it, alas he does not. I have no interest in trying to tug it out of his mouth or from under his possessive paws!
As you can imagine, this is quite frustrating!
Up!
Lately we have been working on “Up, Up”. A command for letting the frisbee out of his mouth and sitting up. The problem is that we have yet to find a treat that is more rewarding than the frisbee.
Well friends, I am happy to report that I think we have had a breakthrough!
Introducing Primal Chicken Nibs
We first learned about Primal and their raw philosophy at Backer’s Total Pet Expo. As advocates of the BARF dog food diet (Bones and Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food), Primal believes that our pets should be eating a diet that mimics the eating habits of animals in their natural habitat. Simply put, the BARF dog food diet consists of muscle meat, organs, fresh fruit/vegetables and bones. Last month we shared the importance of raw recreational bones and today we are happy to share a little more about Jerky Chicken Nibs; part of Primal Pet’s treat line!
Raw dogs love Raw treats!
According to their website:
The Primal Pet Foods treat line was created for dogs and cats with the goal of providing wholesome, human-grade snacks containing no preservatives, gluten or grain. All Primal Treats are produced using USDA meats, poultry and game raised in the United States and New Zealand without antibiotics or added hormones.
You had us at grain-free!
Chicken Nibs are just one part of Primal’s line of single protein treats produced using low-temperature, slow-cooking techniques such as freeze-drying and slow roasting. The end result? High-density, high protein nutrition in a shelf-stable product.
For our friends with allergies, Primal treats are a great snack option as they are always single protein venison, buffalo, turkey or chicken.
The Single Life
Primal Jerky Chicken Nibs are no different in quality from the rest of their line and make for a delightful, grain-free, gluten-free, USDA Organic training treat for dogs and bite sized treats for cats. Chicken is the only protein you will find in these treats and it is always raised in the USA (without hormones or antibiotics). Though we have found some training treats that are great quality, Primal Chicken Nibs blew us away! There is no baggage with this singleton chicken training treat because its only ingredients are organic chicken, organic honey, and sea salt.
Use Me
These treats contain no preservatives. How often do you see on the label that treats should be stored in the refrigerator upon opening and consumed within 14 days!? Not putting them in the refrigerator? Primal recommends using them up in 3 days in that case!
Our boys say: “3 days….Challenge Accepted!”
Scratch and Sniff
Upon opening the bag you are instantly reminded of the last time you roasted a chicken in your oven (seriously, I wish I could add a scratch and sniff to this post). The odor is strong, but not at all offensive. It smells like the REAL FOOD that it is!
Just what our dogs deserve!
Working 9-5 (and then a little more)
Back to the point, I said that we had made some progress in our training with Charlie. Keep in mind that it is slow, but our little Chuck E. Duck, let his Momma have the frisbee (a couple of times) without being a little stinker about it.
While there is certainly room for improvement, we have finally found a treat that smells and tastes great enough to distract our little guy…if only for a moment. A moment is really all that we need and it is helping to make our romps and frisbee throws way more enjoyable (for me)!
In the coming days, we are going to keep practicing with lower value items indoors (basically anything that is not a frisbee). Our next step will be to train with the frisbee in the house, then finally transition outdoors and “go for the gold”! We will certainly keep you apprised of our successes and setbacks!
A Workout
This is going to be a busy week for our Primal Jerky Nibs as they join us in our adventures in agility class. Our poopy puppy has been having some trouble focusing in class, and I am hoping these Chicken Nibs are just the thing to keep his eyes on me!
Why MyDogLikes Primal Jerky Nibs
I don’t know what we love more…the no-nonsense ingredient list or how much the boys go crazy for these treats! We have found some training treats that we love, and the bar is set high, but we were truly blown away. Great as a training treat for dogs or a perfect bite sized treat for cats, we had unanimous approval throughout the house on their taste. The simple ingredient list consists of USDA Organic Chicken, Honey, and Sea Salt…THATS IT! Very often even high quality training treats require some kind of binder. Because these are more of the style of jerky, they don’t require anything extra, just pure wholesome goodness.
When picking out a treat for training, you want to make sure that it is high value. Very often soft, odorous treats are recommended for this reason. While that is the style that we are used to, these Chicken Nibs contain a slightly lower moisture content while retaining the strong scent that brings dogs barking! These treats would be great for any dog or cat, but especially well suited for dogs in training who need lots of high value rewards throughout the training period. We highly recommend!
Oh, we love everything Primal here at our house! Many of their treats make good training treats and we like that they are super healthy.
Great review!! The girls and kitties really liked these! 😀
It’s all about knowing what motivates your pup(s) 🙂 Very nice review! We are all for single ingredient treats whenever possible ~ I LVOE the fact that no preservatives are used!
Separation anxiety?
Thats so tough! I bet he would like these and they could help!
Barking is something we are working at…Schooner and Skipper bark at the dogs and people walking down the street!
Thats a tough one! They think they are just doing their doggy job!
My CAT and I could work on her attacking her toys instead of me and my work stuff
If you get these treats to help with that, primal should reach saint hood!!! Silly kitty!
It will be hard, but keep her from jumping on people.
Its so hard because everyone they meet has to be willing to cooperate with your training!!
begging!
keeping him from chasing squirrels, hes big so he nearly tears your arm off !
They would help us work on stoping him from jumping up
Learning how to walk properly on a leash and not pull when we are walking.
I just got mu dog this past summer at an animal shelter. He was a stay when they found him. He has trouble when people come over he wants to nip them and I am not having that so i would use it for training him that nipping my guest is not OK.
Good luck working on that. When we adopted Charlie we knew we would have to put in a lot of time and energy to change some of those learned habits!
primal jerky chicken nibs could help my yorkie indie with her bad habit of running away when I try to put her harness on when she needs to go outside
Keeping my dog from jumping up on people when they come over.
I got the dog to stop chasing cars on our walks with treat reinforcement. Call her to my side- make her sit and wait, with the treats. I walk in a VERY rural area, a long gravel road and she is off leash. Not many cars come by- it’s safe now! I still carry treats to always reinforce the come and sit by me behavior now.
Excellent work! That is a tough one to break and takes lots of patience and time!
We are working on the command “quiet” for when they start barking at the doorbell or the fake doorbell in all those obnoxious t.v commercials 🙂 These would be high value for sure!
Good idea! Those darn commercials!
The snacks would be a treat when snoopy goes to the bathroom.
The treats would be good to help teach him to sit still for pictures
What couldn’t help with Brandy? She’s the sweetest dog, a gold Lab, that really loves to chew, dig up the yard, jumps on people, etc. But, you gotta love her. Face of an angel.
haha! They are lucky they are so cute!
It would definitely help with begging.
Actually I would just use it as a treat since Logan, my 13 year old labrador, really doesn’t have any behaviors that need work. He’s just a really good boy.
He sounds like such a good boy! <3
This would help our Bailey with his jumping on people
That is a hard one to break! We are still working on it with Charlie!
My newest dog tends to reactive bark, particularly with new people, so these might help.
Thats a tough one to break but with consistency and the right motivation, I am confident you can!
I have one that forgets what she went outside to do, even though I praise her when she does her business outside. She gets excited about praise, but maybe this would reinforce the good times.
off leash heeling
Well, I have five rescued Treeing Walker Coonhounds who have a lot of energy and minds of their own.They know their basic commands, but one thing I need to work with them on is walking nice on their leashes – without pulling. Small treats I can take with us on walks so I can work with them on this issues.
This would help me to stop my baby to not jump,but to sit and wait.thanks so much for sharing.
I would hope these would help Ranger curb his barking at the mailman.
I have 4 rescued dogs who are great dogs but each have their own issues. Barking, jumping on people ,begging and more. Primal treats would grab their attention and help them focus on their trainer – me!
We are working on barking when people come into the house.
I think these treatswould aid ramos in his heel.
Excessive barking would be a good one to use these treats for.
I could use these treats to work on a variety of behaviors with the shelter dogs that I volunteer with! 🙂
My Duke is a retired Dog Guide. He was very well trained and still is in most ways. BUT after 5 years of being a pet and not working he has developed some bad habits! coming when called is a big problem sometimes.
this sounds like a yummy treat for us to use when training QQ off leash!
Thanks for the review, treats seems yummy and healthy!
sometimes he doesn’t want to get into the car and I need a treat he loves to get him motivated.
This would be good to help train my dog when getting her leash on.
These Primal treats would be an excellent training tool to help stop my new Rescued Greyhound to stop jumping up on people!!
to get her to stop barking at strangers!
To stop jumping up on people!
My dog barks at every animal he sees on the TV. He can spot them from across the room then he goes crazy right up to the TV barking his head off. I can not watch the Animal Planet in my home.
Luke is the same way with his outside toys, ball or frisbee, he does not want to give it back, even though he enjoys chasing them. It’s something we haven’t really worked on a lot yet, but it’s on the list! We’ve tried some of Primal’s freeze dried treats and those are definitely on the high value list….we’d love to try these as well!
Good luck! Why can’t they just let us have it so we can throw it again!?
Leashing to go for a walk.
My 1 year old is pretty reactive. He’s not aggressive, but will bark and spin and lose his head completely when someone comes to the door or one of the neighbors next door comes out of their house. We’re working on it and making progress, but high value treats help a LOT and bet he’d love these. But he’s so small, it’s been hard to find a treat that is high value, soft enough to easily break into pieces small enough for him to chew, something I can safely give him many rewards from without packing on pounds, but still meets my high standards for a good treat. I will definitely have to try these!
we need to work on our puppys barking and biting
Barking is my biggest challenge.
Layla loves them woof yummmm
My dogs are well behaved. A high demand treat helps for photos.
We use training treats with our dog, Mickey, when a stranger comes to our door (like a delivery person). He can get pretty grouchy when that happens so I typically keep treats nearby and just start shoving them into his mouth. He stops growling and ignores the person.
When we go for walks and he sees other dogs. He gets a little excited and we are working on this with him
My little dog likes to take off on me. I need to break him of that.
We’re picking up our new puppy in a few weeks, and they look like they would be great training treats!
i want to use them to teach him to LEAVE IT
These would help on walks to train Ella not to bark and charge at other dogs, people or cars.
Barking like hes gonna bite someone
My dog Bailey likes to bark at everyone I would like him to stop that.
They would help me reinforce calm behavior when my sister comes over. My little gal HATES my sister, and has since I adopted her.
These would be great for off leash training.
These would be used to reinforce the “wait” command.
That is one of the things we are using them for too – and with quite a bit of success finally!