Training your pet with natural treats

Nowadays our pets are part of the family and training is a fundamental part of our relationship with them.

When it comes to training a dog, it is often associated with something negative for the animal. Basically, there are many positive aspects to training and educating a dog if it is done correctly.

Let us distinguish between educating a dog and training it: for a good relationship between owner and dog, canine education is fundamental. It is important for our pets to find emotional balance. In order to support their learning, it is essential that a relationship of trust is established between the two. You have to know how to communicate to it what is allowed and what is not, to understand what it needs in order to be balanced.

In terms of pet training, this involves training the dog to obey basic commands or to behave in specific ways. Training provides tools to control situations on a day-to-day basis, gaining confidence and control. For example: Teach it to come to a call, not to pull on the lead, etc. You will have more confidence to let your dog off-leash and it will enjoy much more freedom.

Therefore, if the aim is to get your furry friend to learn some basic commands and to be able to coexist better with his environment, you must combine training with canine education to achieve the best results. And, above all, to understand that this work is not just the work of an educator, but that you are also a very active part of this process and learn to understand your dog’s language and needs, and that it understands clearly what you expect of it, is basic.

 

Rewards in the training process

That is why awards form such an important part of this process. And if we put education and health in the balance, the best option is natural dog snacks.

Thinking about the type of treats we are giving our pet is not something we usually give much thought to, as we tend to think that the options on the market are good enough to give to our pets. But if we think carefully about the ingredients and preservatives contained in them, we may start to pay more attention to them.

As a general rule, treats for dogs should never represent more than 10% of the daily calorie intake. Whenever possible, we should ensure that the packaging of treats clearly states the calories contained in each portion.

It is also important to pay special attention to the amount of fat in dog treats to prevent your dog from gaining too much weight. Many dog treats have a high fat content to make them attractive.

Currently, dog treats are often not designed to be nutritionally balanced. If we are looking for healthier treats, we should pay attention to the nutritional information on the bags.

As well as taking care to avoid overweight, we must also pay attention to avoid possible allergens and artificial sweeteners such as xylitol in the dog treats we buy.

 

Training our dog with natural treats

Chicken, lungs and bits of liver are tasty and nutritious treats to reinforce the education of our furry friends.

100% natural treats are an interesting (and very nutritious) tool to help in the education of our dog. Natural dried snacks, when used properly, can help us to achieve many goals: to stop our dog from pulling on the lead on walks, to make it come to our call when it is loose, or simply to reinforce good behaviours.

But, which natural and healthy treats are the best and how can we use them to train our dogs?

The first key to using healthy, natural treats in dog training is to find one that is very tasty. The food reward has to be so good for it that it wants to come to our call instead of running away, to not pull on the lead or to want to stay by our side.

Treats should be a reward for the dog, never a bribe. As we have said before, the education of our furry friend depends on it, and to a large extent on us.

But which reward is the most appropriate? With the maxim of looking for healthy, natural and nutritious treats in mind, there are not many options on the market, but the most important thing is to differentiate these treats from the usual food to make it more appealing to it.

 

MAIKAI’s natural snacks

MAIKAI‘s proposals for dog treats or tidbits, most suitable for education, are various: chicken strips, lungs or beef livers bits. These 100% natural snacks are dehydrated, preserving all their properties and nutrients, and contain no colourings or preservatives. They are low in fat and high in protein and collagen. As they come in bits and are easily crumbled, they are ideal for taking them on our walks to reinforce and reward their behaviour.

If you are looking for healthy and fun snacks that will help them to reduce their stress, then don’t miss our post on natural anti-stress snacks.