Five Occasions to Give Your Dog Treats
If you own one or more dogs, it’s a good idea to keep a supply of dog treats on hand. Giving your dog a small treat can be helpful in a number of different situations. Checkout four occasions when giving your dog a treat can benefit both you and your dog.
During Training Lessons
Perhaps you and your dog are enrolled in a training class. You may have a puppy going through a basic obedience course. Or, maybe you have a dog with a specific obedience issue that needs to be addressed via a training class. You can buy dog treats online and take them along with you to serve as incentive for your dog to listen to your commands and obey. Not surprisingly, if the treats are particularly tasty, your dog will focus and strive to please you in order to get another treat!
Unfamiliar Environments and Situations
Your dog may encounter some situations where it feels ill at ease or stressed. For example, maybe you are taking your dog to a new vet’s office after your previous vet retired. Your dog is likely to be anxious at entering an unfamiliar office. Giving your dog a treat or two can be helpful as you speak softly and reassure your pet that it’s safe. Some examples of other stressful situations for dogs include a new doggy daycare, walking through a pet-friendly store or even a long ride in the car.
After a Medical Procedure
If it’s okay with your veterinarian, you can use dog treats to stir your dog’s appetite after a surgery or medical procedure. Your dog may not want to eat an entire bowl of food after surgery or perhaps its usual diet is hard to digest. Giving it a couple of treats that are easy to swallow can serve as nutrition until your dog feels up to eating entire meals again.
Between Meals to Curb Appetite
Some dogs get hungry between meals. Giving your dog an extra meal can cause it to gain excess weight. But, giving your dog a nutritious treat can ease its hunger pangs, so it will be satisfied until its next meal. Plus, the ingredients in a dog treat can benefit the health of your dog’s coat, teeth, gums and eyes.
When Introducing a Dog to a New Member of the Family
Use your dog treats to ease your dog when it’s meeting new member of the family. For instance, bringing home a new baby and introducing him or her to your dog is a little less stressful when you give your pup a couple treats along the way. Or, maybe you want to add a cat or another dog to your household. Reassure your dog that it is still a part of the family be giving it treats as you go introduce the new pet to your home.
Lastly, these are just a few instances where dog treats are helpful to keep with you. Your dog is likely to connect a new experience or a new pet in the family with the experience of getting a delicious treat. This connection can lower the anxiety in any unfamiliar situation.
Aww I wish I had a dog! They are so cute and friendly! And also so funny! we don’t deserve them! I think i’d be giving them treats all the time ahah xx corinne
Treats are always awesome for any animal. I am cat lover and treat my kitty to treats.
I am the worst about just giving them a treat because I love them. Then I usually get talked into more than one treat by their cute puppy eyes. XD
Lol I know nothing about dogs but I deserve every person or thing deserves a treat when theres a good deed accomplished.
This is some great advice. There are so many times people just give pets treats just because. I like them used for special occasions.
It is so easy to over treat your dog, and this is just not good for them. But during training it works really well.