Tails wag for liver treats!
I’m sure that I am not alone in trying all sorts of treats to reward our dogs for good behaviour.
The favourite over the last year or so has most definitely been Thrive Liver Treats – Dougie and Merry will do pretty much anything to get one, including sitting periodically even when not requested, and fluttering eyelashes as a reminder of just how well behaved they are being! “I definitely deserve a treat!”.
So what’s in these liver treats and why are our dogs just so tempted by them? Well, unlike many other dog treats which are made from a combination of a variety of ingredients, Thrive’s liver treats are just that, 100% beef liver, making them a really high value reward and one which many trainers and veterinarians use for positive reinforcement and helping dogs through stressful situations.
Thrive say "We care about every single ingredient that goes into Thrive products, that’s why we have such short ingredient lists!"
Price-wise they could be considered a little toppy, with a 100g pack costing around £4.99. We’ve found the better way to buy is in bulk (I get through lots as a Dog Walker with so many well behaved K9 Clients!) – with a 500g tube costing £29.95 (so £0.06p / g rather than £0.08p / g from a 60g tube). Much better value.
The good news is that the treats are individually really small, so you get a good few per 5g - around 10 – 12 pieces in fact. So they go a long way (my mental arithmetic makes that 2.4 pieces per gram, so around 1,200 pieces in a 500g tube... I may have resorted to a calculator! ;-) ).
Of course, there’s always home-made dog treats – here’s a really easy recipe I've found from Food.com for Beef Liver treats you can make in your own kitchen.
We’ll be trying these out this weekend (without the garlic) and will let you know what they are scored on the Dougie and Merry wagg-ometer!
Click here to link to Food.com's Beef Liver Treat Recipe.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what makes a good dog treat and which brands your K9 companions will do anything for! Please get in touch :)
Emma x
