Training treats are not the same as regular treats. Most dog owners learn this the hard way — buying a bag of something their dog tolerates, using it in a training session, and wondering why their dog keeps getting distracted.
The best training treats have specific characteristics. Here’s what they are, and which ones actually work.
What Makes a Good Training Treat?
Four things matter, in this order:
1. High value to your dog This is the most important one and it’s different for every dog. Some dogs will do anything for chicken breast. Others need something smellier — liver, duck, fish. If your dog isn’t responding in training, the treat might not be compelling enough. Test with a few different proteins.
2. Small Training sessions involve repetitions. You might do 20–50 repetitions in a session, particularly for recall, heel work, or complex commands. If each treat is large, your dog hits caloric saturation before the session ends — and stops caring. The treat should be the size of a pea or smaller.
3. Soft (or easily broken) Crunchy treats make dogs work harder per repetition. They crunch it, you wait, they swallow, the session loses momentum. Soft treats or treats you can break quickly between your fingers keep the session moving.
4. Quick to eat The window between the behaviour and the reward matters. If your dog has to chew for 10 seconds, that connection is weaker. Treats should be consumed in 1–2 seconds.
Treats in this guide
Australian Chicken Breast Crisps
From 19
Australian Beef Liver Snaps
From 9
Single Ingredient vs Multi-Ingredient Training Treats
The market is full of training treat bags with ingredient lists longer than the average meal kit recipe — flavour enhancers, cereal binders, glycerine, “natural flavour” (which means almost nothing).
There’s a practical case for single-ingredient training treats:
- No fillers means more protein per calorie — your dog gets something of actual nutritional value, not mostly wheat starch
- Cleaner for dogs with sensitivities — if your dog reacts to something, you know exactly what it was
- No weird additives affecting behaviour — some dogs get amped up or unsettled by treats with lots of additives
Single-ingredient chicken breast crisps, beef liver snaps, and duck jerky all work well as training treats. They’re high-value, single-protein, and easy to break into small pieces.
Best Cooee K9 Training Treats by Dog Size
Small breeds (under 10kg): - Chicken breast crisps — break into quarters, extremely low calorie, high value - Beef liver snaps — strong smell, high motivation even for picky small dogs
Medium breeds (10–25kg): - Beef liver snaps — strong smell means higher engagement - Duck jerky — slightly larger, can be broken in half, good for dogs that need a more substantial reward
Large breeds and high-energy dogs: - Beef liver snaps — high value across almost all breeds, strong reinforcer - Chicken breast crisps (whole) — works well for large dogs if you’re doing rapid-fire repetitions
Puppies: Liver snaps in tiny pieces are ideal. Soft, smelly, high value, and small enough that a puppy can eat 40 of them in a session without approaching caloric limits. Start with quarter-sized pieces.
Buying in Bulk — Why It Makes Sense for Training
If you’re doing any serious training work, you’ll burn through treats faster than most owners expect. A single 20-minute session might use 40–60 individual pieces. At that rate, a 100g bag is gone in two sessions.
Buying training treats in 1kg packs has two advantages: 1. Cost per gram — typically 30–40% cheaper than buying multiple small packs 2. Consistency — same treat every session means consistent reinforcement value
Store in an airtight container and most air-dried treats keep 6–12 months.
How Many Training Treats Per Day?
The standard guidance is that treats should make up no more than 10% of daily caloric intake. For a medium dog (around 20kg, ~900 calories/day), that’s 90 calories of treats per day.
Chicken breast crisps run around 3–4 calories per gram. At 50 pieces per session and 1g per piece, that’s 150–200 calories — which is likely over the limit if you’re training daily.
The fix: use even smaller pieces and ensure training treats replace some of the daily meal rather than being added on top.
The Bottom Line
The best training treat is the one your dog actually wants badly enough to work for. Start with liver — it’s the highest-value protein for most breeds — and if your dog isn’t engaged, try something smellier or fattier. Keep pieces small, keep the session moving, buy in bulk if you’re training regularly.
Beef liver snaps — high value, strong smell, small enough for rapid training sessions →
