Some of the below may include affiliate links. All of the below have been extensively tested by Paw In Hand, our dogs, and clients’ dogs.
Treats
Cloud Star Tricky Trainers – we like the chewy best, but the crunchy is also great. Comes in three flavors: liver, peanut butter, and salmon. Grain-free with clean ingredients and a great taste–I have rarely had a dog not want to earn these treats.
Bil-jac Little jacs – these are another great treat option, and the perfect size for lots of dogs, while being easy to break up into smaller bits if needed for the very small dogs. (Remember, you want your training treats to be very small–just a taste, not a meal!) These are good quality chicken liver treats while also being reasonably low cost.
Buddy Budder – these peanut butter based treats are lickable and smearable, and come in a pouch like those applesauce pouches for kids. With a wide array of flavors, your dog won’t get bored! We love lickable treats for portion control, keeping the hands clean, and promotion relaxation (licking vs chewing).
PetSafe Lickety Sticks – come in bacon, peanut butter, or chicken flavor. These are another fantastic lickable treat. This one has a roller ball on top like for deodorant, and the treat inside is broth-based, entirely liquid. So as the dog licks the roller ball, the inside gets coated with more broth as it rolls around to the outside, where the dog can lick more off.
Toys
Remember, for enrichment, dogs need some of each of the following: something soft, something with give (like rubber), something hard, and something that gives them food.
Puzzle Toys
K9 Connectables – all of them, but especially the Kibble Connector (great for feeding whole meals) and the Brain Teaser
Starmark Bob-a-lot and Chew ball (good for feeding whole meals, and both can vary the difficulty level) — but all the Starmark mental stimulation toys are good
Kong toys – especially the Classic Kong (be sure to size appropriately) and the Extreme Kong for serious chewers. Boo’s favorite toy was the Kong Jumping Jack, which is serious fun. For feeding whole meals, especially with dogs new to puzzle toys, we love the ease of use of the Kong Wobbler (but it’s not very difficult).
West Paw Toppl treat toy (good for feeding whole meals)
Nina Ottosson puzzles
Trixie puzzles
Other toys
WestPaw Jive balls – especially great for strong chewers!
Playology toys – these come in a variety of enrichment-oriented products, with smells and textures to keep your dogs’ whole mind happy.
Chewing Treats
Real antlers and real cow femurs (we don’t like rawhide or pigs’ ears)
Yak sticks – made from yak cheese. Just be sure to take it away when it gets too small (can upset the stomach if the dog swallows a large chunk, which is most likely at the end of the stick). These pieces can be microwaved to soften them and then crumbled to make a delicious topping on your dogs’ next meal! These are a bit pricey, but the bags last a good while for us, as our dogs go through phases of chewing like crazy and then chewing lightly. These come in a variety of sizes and number, but are generally far less expensive online than in town. We like EcoKind, as they have a subscription option.
Stuffed Kongs – stuff with peanut butter, treats, and kibble, or freeze with broth, etc, for a pupsicle (pupsicles will be messy so feed outside!)
Toys Overview
| soft (may also be squeaky or destructible) | has give (for chewing) | hard (for chewing) | gives food | can feed whole meals from | Dog seal of approval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K9 Connectables Kibble Connector | not for chewing | not for chewing | not for chewing |  | | Zelda, Carrot |
| K9 Connectables Brain Teaser | No | | | can, if you smear peanut butter in grooves | No | Carrot |
| Starmark Bob-a-lot | not for chewing | not for chewing | not for chewing | | | Boo, Lenny, Carrot |
| Starmark Chew ball | No | | No | | | Zelda |
| Classic Kong or Extreme Kong | No | | No | | No | Zelda, Carrot, Boo, Lenny |
| Kong Jumping Jack | No | | No | can, if you smear peanut butter in grooves | No | Boo, Carrot |
| Kong Wobbler | not for chewing | not for chewing | not for chewing | | | Carrot, Lenny |
| West Paw Toppl treat toy | No | | No | | | Zelda, Carrot |
| Nina Ottosson puzzles | not for chewing | not for chewing | not for chewing | | No | Zelda, Carrot, Boo |
| Trixie puzzles | not for chewing | not for chewing | not for chewing | | No | Zelda, Carrot |
| WestPaw Jive balls | No | | No | No | No | Carrot, Boo |
| Playology toys | Playology plush toys | | No | can, if you smear peanut butter in grooves | No | Carrot |
| Tug Toys | | | not for chewing | No | No | Carrot, Boo |
| Tennis balls | | | not for chewing | No | No | Carrot, Boo |
| Stuffed squeaky toys (like the Loofa) | | Yes for soft chewers (no for hard chewers) | not for chewing | No | No | Carrot, Zelda, Lenny |
| Yak sticks | No | No | | | No | Carrot, Zelda, Boo, Lenny |
| Deer Antlers | No | No | | | No | Carrot |
| Cow femurs | No | No | | | No | Carrot, Zelda, Boo, Lenny |
As you can see, we lean toward tough toys here, because we have a tendency to have serious chewers (Boo and Carrot especially). However, it can be good enrichment to let the dogs tear apart a soft squeaky toy (just make sure they don’t eat it!)
Boo’s favorite toy was the Kong Jumping Jack.
Lenny’s favorite toy was the Loofa squeaky toys.
Zelda’s favorite toy is the Hol-ee Roller toy, but she also likes crinkly soft squeaky toys.
Carrot’s favorite toy is a tie between the Brain Teaser and his rubber, squeaky carrot toy. He also loves the Hol-ee Roller on a sturdy flirt pole to play with the boys with outside. (As you can see, he is a play-oriented boy with tons of toys he enjoys. And when in doubt, if the boys say it’s fun, he believes them.)
Other Supplies
Nature’s Miracle – we always keep a jug of Nature’s Miracle in the house when we have a new pet or a foster pet. Enzymatic cleaners are the best way to get rid of all scent-trace of messes. Doesn’t always get all the stains out, but it definitely helps with keeping the cat or dog from coming back to eliminate in the same place! The spray bottle is great for smaller or occasional messes, and can be refilled from the larger jug if needed.
The leashes that we use during training are from Mad Dog Products. If you love our leashes, you can grab one for yourself! For non-training walks, we also love the Halti multi-way leash for versatility.
We also love martingale collars (with no favorite brand) for dogs who might back out of their collars.
Carrot and Zelda’s collars were custom designed by The Collar Shop. Jacki was great to work with and her minky lining for collars has been wonderful for Carrot’s sensitive skin!