Treating Trail Mix Recipe

Create a Treating Trail Mix can….

1)      help build your dog’s gut microbiome

2)      support their immune system

3)      have them excited to work for a variety of nutrient dense snacks

4)      help you identify their preferences easily by using a variety of flavors and textures

The perfect Treating Trail Mix includes:

• 1-2 high quality, nutrient dense foods, preferably with different textures and proteins

• 1-4 high incentive single ingredient treats

• Your dog’s main kibble/food

• You should have a mix of 3-6 options of different snack rewards, paying attention to which your dog is eager to work for and which they seem less interested in/ less motivated to work for. Utilize this knowledge to inform your reward systems when training.

Our Treating Trail Mix 

Some of our favorite additions:

·       Open Farm Meal Mixers (Any protein, though we most commonly use Lamb and Beef to avoid allergy/ food sensitivities challenges)

·       Open Farm Lamb Kibble

·       Ziwi Air Dried Lamb

·       Stewart’s freeze dried beef liver**

·       Kingdom Pet’s dehydrated chicken

·       Dehydrated banana chips

·       Vital Essentials beef nibs

·       Vital Essentials chicken hearts**

·       Carna4 Air Dried Kibble  (Any protein, though we most commonly use chicken and goat)

Some things to remember: 

1. It’s important to note that the healthiest treats and food options generally have less ingredients and are minimally processed. (Think dehydrated blueberries, freeze dried lamb hearts, air dried foods, etc.)

   
   

2. Organ meats should only be 5-10% of your dog’s daily caloric intake and should be saved for high incentive rewarding. Too much organ meat can lead to Vitamin A toxicity.

   
   

3. Don’t forget to add new foods/ treats gradually. Any new food/ treat/topper should not be more than 5-10% of their daily caloric intake while their system acclimates.

   
   

4.   Remember to remove some food/calories from meals when doing a lot of training and/or enrichment to avoid overfeeding. We personally believe in aiming to feed 85% of our Engaged Dog’s daily food by hand feeding (when capturing and rewarding good behaviors throughout each day,) and through enrichment activities (like scatter feeds, snuffle mats, lickimats, lickibowls, chews, Kongs, etc.) Our dog’s are genetically inclined to want to work for their food. We can capitalize on this and work ‘smarter, not harder’ by measuring out our dog’s daily food and aiming to feed them the entirety of their meals by bed time through capturing good behaviors and different enrichment activities. This will enable you to train, tire, and feed your dog simultaneously.

What is your dog’s favorite treat to work for?

Have you created a Treating Trail Mix yet?