Training bait

So you want to start clicker training and are wondering what kind of bait to use. First and foremost it has to be something that the dog loves. Training bate needs to be a higher value for the dog that his normal food. There are many commercial training baits out there. You can even make your own. When I start looking for a training bait for a new dog I have several criteria in which I begin.

First I want the food to be healthy. If it’s healthy, the dog will probably like it. I like to use bait with a high content of meat protein. I also want it to be soft. If it’s hard you will break your training “stride” while the dog chews the food. If you’re trying to teach healing, for instance, the dog stopping to chomp on a piece of kibble will disrupt your healing routine. If the bait is soft, he can take it and swallow it without having to do extra “work”. I also make sure that it is a size that I want for that training exercise. If I am training heeling, I want a small piece that melts in his mouth. If I am rewarding during agility at a contact, I want a larger piece. If I am in a conformation ring I want something even larger so that I can bait with sight too.

This leads me to my next point. I prefer to use bait that I can cut up into the size I want. When training our puppies to walk on a leash I used boiled chicken. I could take a piece and strip it into small chunks which they would take eagerly. While the boiled chicken is great for training it does not keep as long as some commercial treats. One type of bait I like comes in a large roll, kind of like a sausage roll, but bigger. This I can cut into pieces and store in my plastic containers. I keep containers with different sized pieces cut up in them, so for a quick impromptu training session, I can grab the size  I want. The brand I currently use is “Red Barn”. It comes in a big roll and I can cut it the size I want. It also has a lot of organ meats in it so the dogs love it.

There are also recipes out there on the internet where you can make your own liver treats. That also works very well, and it also lets you know exactly what you are feeding your dog. The key to all this is the dog needs to love it. When we made the liver treats I had one dog that was nuts for them, another that was so-so. Remember it’s not a meal replacement, but it needs to be healthy for them too.