Beggin Strips?

[listeme]

Zelda thinks teeny pieces of hotdog are magnificent treasures. We also have done the slow-oven turkey and chicken bits, although we get them a bit crunchy. She seems fine with crunchy!

I wish there was a good way to do pizza treats without giving her the dough ingredients. She already understands that pizza is an Amazing Basenji Miracle. I'm thinking of doing mozzarella and hot dog experimentation.

[agilebasenji]

I've found most store-bought treats are like junk food - okay in moderation, but you can do better. I usually use meatballs (precooked in the freezer section of the grocery) or some cooked chicken. Make some for dinner, save some for the pups. I've also been known to use waffles.

Here's something easy for chicken:

Slice chicken breast into thin slices
place on a cookie cooling sheet (good idea to use a nonstick spray)
put in a 200-250 F oven for 4 hours or so, turning over 1/2 way through (the thicker the slice, the longer it takes)
mmmmm yummy chicken jerky. I often season with garlic and/or cinnamon - whatever sounds good that day

this is healthy and stays good for a long, long time. I do store it in the refrigerator, but i don't know if you really have to.

Hotdogs - slice long ways into quarters then slice thinly. put in the microwave with cheerio's or kibble. dogs love it and the kibble/cheerio's absorb some of the hotdog juice.

[Andrew]

Mine will do anything ANYTHING for cheese. I buy smoked provolone. As soon as they hear the fridge door open/crinkle of the cheese package, they both run & sit & wait in their crate for me to come give them cheese & lock the door. Since Callie seems to have an allergy (to wheat I think), the cheese works well for both of them.

[Kananga]

I've used freeze-dried beef/liver treats for Kananga. The local pet store I go to carries a lot of high quality brands (not the kind that you will find in Petsmart, Petco, etc), and these came highly recommended. It's just beef and liver for the ingredients and you can break them into smaller pieces for training purposes.

[Basenjimamma]

Otis loves hot dogs, cheese, and regular grainless kibble as treats..he is on the RAW diet so something as easy as kibble is a huge hit in our house. The freeze dried liver is also a good one.

[Kananga]

@Basenjimamma:

Otis loves hot dogs, cheese, and regular grainless kibble as treats..he is on the RAW diet so something as easy as kibble is a huge hit in our house. The freeze dried liver is also a good one.

Don't forget cinnamon rolls.

[Basenjimamma]

Don't forget cinnamon rolls.

…and bacon, smoothie, coffee..but those are stolen treats, not given...in his mind no difference at all, in my mind --huge difference..LOL.

[Shannanigan]

Wow, thanks everyone! I really appreciate it! We don't have a Petco or Petsmart here ( …then again, small, privately owned shops seem to have great stuff anyhow.) Paco doesn't seem to like liver, but I'm going to buy some hot dogs and try that out. I think they will be easier for training anyway, as he can eat them faster and we can move on...I break the beggin strips into little pieces and he still has to take his time to chew through them and get them down, so he forgets what we were doing by they time he's done. :p

Edit: one of my main concerns while experimenting is not to inadvertently give him anything unhealthy. I didn't know that cheese was an ok treat; I think I'm just really hesitant about using "human food" because I know that some foods (chocolate, grapes, etc.) can be dangerous, if not deadly.

[tanza]

Most all human food is fine for dogs, in fact much better then many of the dog foods out there….

[agilebasenji]

@tanza:

Most all human food is fine for dogs, in fact much better then many of the dog foods out there….

I would have said most healthy human food is fine for dogs. Some stuff I eat I wouldn't feed to my dogs. :rolleyes: Just nothing too spicy or sugary. Also stay away from chocolate (also fits the sugary catagory), lots of onions, grapes and raisins. Also, I limit beans and broccoli (the smelly farts aren't worth it!)

[Basenjimamma]

I would agree on what agilebasenji and Tanza said, most healthy human foods…
Moses (the podengo) just stole a pound of grapes out of the grocery bag, most were gone before I even noticed it..and yesterday Otis stole the remainder of the brownies off the stove (back burner)...so yes..not healthy for them but they do anything for it...Otis also loves my green smoothies in the morning, so he gets to taste the last bit of it.
As long as you use good common sense, I think you dog will be fine..

[Andrew]

@Shannanigan:

Paco doesn't seem to like liver, but I'm going to buy some hot dogs and try that out. I think they will be easier for training anyway, as he can eat them faster and we can move on…

Good tip for the hot dog… cut it in half or in quarters lengthwise, then cut those strips into nickel size widths. Then you can throw them in a baggy & freeze them. Take a handful out every other day or so & keep them in the fridge. They make a perfect size little reward if you are working a lot to get something down, but don't want them to get too full. That's another reason I like cheese so much; very easy to make it into small pieces.

[tanza]

@agilebasenji:

I would have said most healthy human food is fine for dogs. Some stuff I eat I wouldn't feed to my dogs. :rolleyes: Just nothing too spicy or sugary. Also stay away from chocolate (also fits the sugary catagory), lots of onions, grapes and raisins. Also, I limit beans and broccoli (the smelly farts aren't worth it!)

LOL… very true... I would never feed my Basenjis 3/4 of the junk I eat...!!!

[nkjvcjs]

@Basenjimamma:

Moses (the podengo) just stole a pound of grapes out of the grocery bag, most were gone before I even noticed it..

This would really scare me. The grape toxicity is so mysterious. We still don't know what compounds in the grapes cause the kidney failure, or why some dogs' kidneys fail after as few as 7 grapes or raisins, while others do not react at all.
It also feels extra insidious to me because it doesn't show up right away.
Chocolate and allium toxicity is easy, you can calculate whether your dog has gotten too much.
Grape and xylitol toxicity scare me.

-Nicole

[Basenjimamma]

I agree..it does scare me too, although my dogs before this set of dogs ate grapes daily, loved'em, westie and dalmation/chow/golden mutt..lived to be 13 and 12..though it seems to hit dogs differently, you just never know how it will affect yours..until it might be potentially too late.
Moses seems fine though, the vet told me to keep an eye on him and see…
I had to make yet another call about Otis..he had gotten ahold of my bread yest while we were baking bread me and the kids...he is also Ok, but under watchful eye...

[Shannanigan]

@Andrew:

Good tip for the hot dog… cut it in half or in quarters lengthwise, then cut those strips into nickel size widths. Then you can throw them in a baggy & freeze them. Take a handful out every other day or so & keep them in the fridge. They make a perfect size little reward if you are working a lot to get something down, but don't want them to get too full. That's another reason I like cheese so much; very easy to make it into small pieces.

Thanks for that; I want to be able to cut up a bunch each week and store them so I don't have an extra chore every day, so freezing will help with that.

Thanks for the dangerous foods list, guys! I looovvee cheese, and always have some around, so he might get treated to that rather often as well!

In case you all didn't know…you all rock

[Nemo]

Sometimes I buy string cheese as you can cut that up just like Carrie said about hot dogs. The individually packaged kind is nice for travelling (and nice for a snack for me too on the road. ;)). Once you figure out what your dog likes, it's good to have a variety around the house…some they REALLY REALLY like and others they like okay. I find it helps with training depending on the situation.

[Andrew]

I just tried the oven made chicken jerky somebody recommended… DISGUSTING! (had to taste one for myself after spending all that time prepping it haha ), but the girls LOVED them!! Did any command I asked instantly!

[agilebasenji]

@Andrew:

I just tried the oven made chicken jerky somebody recommended… DISGUSTING! (had to taste one for myself after spending all that time prepping it haha ), but the girls LOVED them!! Did any command I asked instantly!

Really? I found it kind of bland, but not horrible. Hard and crunchy, not quite the right texture for chicken in my book, but not horrible.

[Andrew]

@agilebasenji:

Really? I found it kind of bland, but not horrible. Hard and crunchy, not quite the right texture for chicken in my book, but not horrible.

I'm not a huge fan of chicken to begin with, so nothing about it appealed to me really. But I was also the kid who had to touch the stovetop even after mom said "Don't touch! You'll hurt yourself!" I've got to prove things to myself….