Trim and Train: Your Dog's Go-To for High-Protein, Low-Fat Treats!

Last Wednesday, I was at the local dog park with my 3 dogs. The balls of energy ran around—wagging tails with their best buds and making new friends. But when it was time to say "goodbye", there was no "Mo-o-om, do we have to?" or "Can't we play a little longer," like I would have gotten from my human children when they were younger.

My furry kids know to come when I call because we've worked on essential dog training with the help of the best training treats I've found.

It's not easy to train a dog. But it's much easier than chasing them around the park whenever it's time to go home. A fellow dog mom wasn't having the same success. Her dog bounced around as they had just downed an espresso. As my dogs sat in front of me, each ready to have their leashes attached, she asked, "How are your dogs so well-behaved?"

I shared my secret training tool as I helped her corral her wayward pup. I've been using this training trick for years, and it never fails. Here's what we talked about.

Why Is Training a Dog Important?

Training is about more than teaching a dog fun tricks. It's vital to a dog's sense of well-being. Proper training helps dogs understand how their relationship with you works. Dogs want to please, but they don't always know how. Training helps you establish clear boundaries, making them more confident about what it means to be well-behaved.

With positive reinforcement, you're communicating in a language that dogs understand. It's like their love language.

Training creates a deeper sense of respect but also companionship and trust between you and your dog because they understand what you want from them. A well-trained dog is also less likely to exhibit problematic or destructive behavior like excessive barking, chewing on household items, or jumping on guests.

Taking the time to train just makes life with dogs better, especially in multi-dog homes like ours.

Why Are the Right Training Treats for Dogs Important

By far, the best way to train a dog is with treats as rewards. But a problem exists. You need a lot of treats for dogs to learn, especially early on. The wrong treat could add a lot of extra calories to my dog's diet without much nutrition. This can lead to weight gain and related health problems. I'm not okay with that.

So, it's important to choose the best dog treats. Yes, you can train and trim at the same time.

What Makes a Good Dog Training Treat?

The best treats for dogs are high protein but low fat. They don't contain added sugar, preservatives, unnatural flavorings, or other questionable ingredients. I can't say this about most dog treats. They often have so many ingredients because they're over processed and don't taste good without adding some sugar. There are better options.

The Best Dog Treats for Training

Now, I want to share the dog treats my dogs love—and I can feel good about. They're beef lung treats—single-ingredient, all-natural. They come from grass-fed beef herds born and raised in the USA.

These treats are high in protein and low in fat. I can feel great about giving these to my dogs during training sessions because there's nothing in these things except solid dog nutrition, for trim and fit healthy dogs.

Beef lung treats help my dogs stay on task to learn tricks and good behavior. I just stash them in a little bag in my pocket, and carry a handful during training.

Are Beef Lung Treats Good for Dogs?

Absolutely! This is real organ meat, dried into a tasty treat. It's so nutritious—with lots of minerals, B12, A, E, collagen, and more. Similar to a marrow-filled dog bone, but in a single-serve treat.

Advantages of Beef Lung Dog Treats

• High Protein - Helps build and repair muscle
• Low Fat - Ideal for dogs with weight issues or to prevent future issues
• Easily Digestible - Gentle on sensitive stomachs
• Lots of added nutrition - Real organ meat!
• Easy to portion down - If you have a small dog or puppy, you can easily cut these into half or 1/4 to reinforce the learning more times without overfeeding. Most treats would just crumble if you did this. Sometimes I even do this with my mid-sized terrier just so the bag goes a little further.
• Perfect for Training - Small, quick reward so you can give them multiple during a 30-minute session.

I mean, dog bones are great for a larger reward at the end of a session. Plus, I get marrow-filled bones because they're refillable when the marrow is gone. You can check out my free bone refill recipe guide here.

But with that said, real-time positive reinforcement requires a smaller solution. These lung treats of dogs are perfect!

Disadvantages

• Cost - High-quality, single-ingredient, grass-fed treats can be pricier. But they come in huge bags, so that's a lot of training time.
• Availability - Stores probably carry them. I get them on Amazon from a vendor I trust.

How I Use Beef Lung Dog Treats in Training

My 3 dogs get excited when they hear me pull the 2lb bag of beef lung bites out of their treat cabinet. They're ready to learn new tricks. I love them because they're low-fat, high-protein dog treats, low-fat. They love them for the taste. Win-win!

1. Choose a Command Word - It could be "here" or "come'. You can pair it with a motion, but be consistent. Dogs hear much better than they see.
2. Have the Rewards Ready - The lung treat needs to appear instantly. So have some in your hand to divvy out one at a time when they comply.
3. Start Indoors with No One Else Present - Fewer distractions.
4. Use a Positive Tone in Your Normal Voice - Call your dog's name, followed by the command word.
5. Encourage Movement - Entice your dog to move toward you. Reward attempts at first, even if the request is not fully met. It's often beneficial to encourage dogs to sit or lie before you so you can attach their leash in public. But they may need to progress toward this goal.
6. Reward Immediately - Give them their beef lung treat for dogs immediately.
7. Repeat and Reinforce - Practice multiple times. Reinforce behavior every time at first. Once they have the trick down, reinforce intermittently so they will still perform without a lung treat ready to go.
8. Increase Distance - Give them further to reach you.
9. Increase Distractions - Practice in your backyard and then at the dog park.
10. Maintain Consistency - Practice regularly. Reward occasionally for an established trick and continually when learning something new.

Bonus: I also use beef lung treats as an exchange when I want my dogs to drop their dog bones to save that sweet, nutritious marrow for later. They won't pass up a lung bite.

Trim and Train Success

As I left the dog park that day, my 3 well-behaved pups trotting by my side, I couldn't help but feel proud of the work we'd done together. Training a dog isn't always easy, but with patience—and the right high-protein, low-fat treats—it becomes a rewarding experience for both of you.

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