That moment when you bring your puppy home for the first time is enough to bring tears to any dog lover's eyes. But aside from all the schmooshes and cuddles that your fluffy friend will inevitably receive, you need to think about training. Whether you carry around a bag of nibbles, or prefer to purchase a pouch on the odd occasion, treats are a sure-fire way to increase that special bond with your dog.
Choosing puppy training treats requires more than selecting the right flavour. You need to consider the ingredients, texture and whether they're suitable for puppies, especially for those under 16 weeks old. To help you succeed, we share tips on how to sniff out the best rewards, as well as our ranking of the top 10 tastiest treats for puppy training, available in the UK!
Quick List - Top Puppy Training Treats
Lily's Kitchen
High-Value Treats For Special Occasions
A recommendation service that carefully researches each product and consults with experts across many disciplines. We are constantly creating new content to provide the best shopping experience from choosing ‘cosmetics’ to ‘food and drink’, ‘home appliances’ to ‘kids and baby’ products, reaching users all across the United Kingdom.
Table of Contents
Many dog treats are high in fat, and while these are fine as an occasional reward, they aren't suitable for use during training. These high-fat nibbles are best reserved for specific times when you're extra proud of your pup, or when you feel that they deserve something a little special.
When looking for treats for training you want to make sure that the fat content is low as you may be feeding them to your dog multiple times a day. In general, the lower the better, but as a rule of thumb, training treats should be below 10% fat.
Keep a tight rein with our Best Dog Harnesses!
When it comes to training, especially in the first few weeks of getting your puppy home, treats are the key to success! Positive reinforcement goes a long way in making your dog behave the way you want them to.
That said, as with fat content, a high-calorie intake will most likely result in an overweight puppy. As a general guideline, treats should count towards a maximum of 10% of your puppies daily calories, with the total amount dependable on your dog's size.
For example, if your puppy should be eating 350 calories a day, 35 of that can be with treats. If you're giving your dog 10 treats a day, that means they need to contain a maximum of 3.5 calories each. Remember, you can break treats up into smaller amounts, so be sure to check the calorie count of the bag!
While puppies tend not to discriminate too much when it comes to food, you should try to combine high and low value rewards to help keep things interesting, and keep your puppy guessing! When deciding which ones to incorporate into your training regime, it's important to prioritise whole foods, such as grains, meats and vegetables.
Treats with potent smells and flavours such as liver, fish or whole meat are perfect for high-value rewards. These types of treats are jam-packed full of flavour and are primarily used to introduce new techniques and tricks, or during challenging situations and tasks.
On the other hand, basic kibbles that contain more plant-based ingredients such as vegetables and grains are ideal for low-value rewards. These aren't too potent and are less flavourful, but still enjoyable enough to use as a reward for good behaviour. Use low-value treats for reinforcing training techniques or as a reward for doing something that he already knows.
Recall your distracted dog with our Best Dog Whistles!
The final thing you'll need to check is the age restrictions of the treats you buy. If your puppy is older than 16 weeks, they should be able to handle most foods and treats, but if they're younger than that, you will need to be a little more careful.
Puppies under 16 weeks have very sensitive baby teeth and might not be able to handle hard treats straight away. So it is best to use soft treats, which are better for them while their teeth are still growing. Older puppies, on the other hand, should be fine with crunching harder options.
As for how big they should be, training treats for small dogs should only be about the size of a grain of rice, whereas medium dogs can handle those up to the size of a pea. That said, you will rarely find treats of this size, so you will usually need to rip or cut them up into smaller pieces.
You'll need to be extra careful while shopping for treats if your dog has any allergies or intolerances. If you’ve just got them home, then you might not be aware of any just yet, so keep a watchful eye until you’ve tested everything out.
The most common intolerances and allergies in dogs arise from proteins, especially those from dairy products, meat or eggs, milk, soy or gluten (from wheat). You will need to be extra careful of young puppies who are especially prone to sensitivities, as they have only just been weaned off their mother’s milk and still have very delicate tummies.
Provide enrichment with our Best Interactive Dog Toys!
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lily's Kitchen Dog Puppy Chicken and Salmon Nibbles|Pack of 8 | ![]() | High-Value Treats For Special Occasions | |
2 | Barker & Barker Little Liver Dog Training Treats | ![]() | Tiny Liver Treats Suitable From 8 Weeks | |
3 | Wagg Puppy & Junior Meaty Bites | ![]() | Soft and Tasty Treats for Training Young Puppies | |
4 | Pet Munchies 100% Natural Dog Treats | ![]() | Tasty Duck Treats That are Low in Fat | |
5 | Pooch & Mutt Calm & Relaxed Mini-Bone Dog Treats | ![]() | Calming Treats for Anxious and Overactive Puppies | |
6 | Healthy Hounds Super Premium Grain Free Mini Treats | ![]() | A Fishy Grain-Free Option for Occasional Rewards | |
7 | Pedigree Tasty Minis | ![]() | A Popular Choice for Regular Training | |
8 | Skipper's 80% Fish Training Treats | ![]() | 80% Fish Treats for Introducing New Tricks | |
9 | Wellness Natural Pet Food Crunchy Puppy Bites | ![]() | A Low-Calorie Option Perfect For Obedience Training | |
10 | Bounce and Bella Premium Grain Free Treats for Dogs | ![]() | Grain-Free Treats Containing Only Whole Ingredients |
Our top choice had to be the puppy treats from Lily's Kitchen! Each one is is compared of 86% chicken and salmon, with the remaining 14% of the recipe filled up with all-natural ingredients and no irritating grains!
There's no data available on exactly how many calories there are per treat, but at less than 403 kcal for the full bag, we can't imagine it's too high! But be warned, these are extremely fatty so should only be used if your pup is extra good!
Our runner up is Barker and Barker's Little Liver Training Treats. With over three and a half thousand positive reviews on Amazon, they've definitely got a bit of a cult following! These tiny treats are perfect for training as they are low in calories (0.3 per treat, to be exact), meaning you can use them over and over again throughout the day.
They are also low in fat and have a delicious, smelly pork liver flavour to entice your pup into the best-behaved version of themselves. Suitable for both high and low-value rewards, they can be eaten by puppies as young as 8 weeks old.
What's especially great about the Puppy and Junior meaty bites from Wagg Treats is that they're suitable for puppies as young as 8 weeks old. This makes them a top choice for that crucial first stage of obedience and potty training.
The treats are pretty big, but they're really soft and easy to break off into smaller amounts, so the pack will go a lot further than you might initially think. The calorie and fat content is also fairly low, so you can give them multiple times a day without needing to think twice.
Pet Munchies' Training Treats are a mix of low-fat, high-value morsels. At just 1.5%, they boast an impressively low fat content with a whopping 77% duck, which dogs will simply love!
The remainder of the ingredients list is a mixture of vegetable derived foods providing a balanced diet for your special friend. We especially like that these treats are lovely and soft, making them easy to digest and simple to rip into smaller chunks for use during training.
These treats from Pooch and Mutt have been specially formulated to calm down anxious and overactive puppies. They contain the usual suspects of lamb and chicken gravy, with a blend of chamomile and valerian root to help bring about little moments of peace and calm.
Being relatively mild in flavour and smell, these are excellent low-value rewards. They are also only 3.8 calories a go, so you can dish them out multiple times for reinforcement.
Another Grain-Free option from Healthy Hounds, this bag of puppy treats contains hard, fishy morsels that will be gobbled up easily by puppies over 16 weeks old. Made from a mixture of fish and sweet potato, this is a stinky, tasty high-value reward that would be ideal for training in distracting environments.
Although each treat is small, the high fish content means they are relatively high in calories and fat. So, if you opt for these treats, it's best to just whack them out when needed.
Pedigree is one of the most well-known dog food brands, and their Tasty Minis puppy treats are one of the most popular buys on Amazon. We like that the calorie count is relatively low, and the ingredients list contains only natural whole ingredients.
However, as the flavour and smell aren't that strong, they might not be able to attract your dogs' attention as well as some other options, so are probably best kept for low-value rewards. They are also a little high in fat for regular training sessions, but as they are soft, they can easily be broken into smaller pieces.
Skippers' Training Treats from are comprised of 80% fish and 20% potato, making for an excellent addition to the diet of any growing pup. The high fish content means that they also smell and taste intensely potent, providing a tempting high-value treat for use whilst training.
However, likely due to the fatty oils in the fish, these treats have one of the highest fat percentages on the list. They're also hard, so may not be suitable for younger pups.
Next up, we have the Crunchy Puppy Bites from Wellness Natural Pet Foods. At only 3 calories apiece, this is definitely a low-calorie nibble! That said, they are hard treats, so it's best to wait until your pup is at least 16 weeks old, otherwise their little teethies might not be quite strong enough to handle them.
The recipe is made almost entirely out of natural foods such as meat and veg. Just be aware that they do contain Tocopherols, a natural preservative derived from vitamin E that can be difficult for sensitive tums to digest.
To kick off our countdown, we have these grain-free dog training treats from Bounce and Bella. These are excellent low-calorie treats that contain only a few raw ingredients, making them great for training. There are no hidden additives or preservatives either!
Whether grain-free is better for your pup is up for debate, but if your dog suffers from allergies, these are a suitable choice. The only downside is that the fat content is staggeringly high compared to many others on the market, so they will need to be rationed carefully.
In the initial stages, only give commands once the action has been performed, gently positioning your dog if needed. Eventually, your dog will begin to perform tricks just by hearing the command alone. Once your puppy has learned what each word means, you can then begin to extend their wait period between performing the command and receiving the reward. This will reinforce their learning and obedience even further.
Some dogs don't do well with commands alone, so it can sometimes be helpful to associate specific hand gestures with the trick you'd like them to perform. For example, a swirl of the index finger might communicate 'rollover'.
Most of all, remember to have fun and be patient! Training sessions won't always go your way, but the most important thing is that you are building trust and confidence with your pet. As long as you stay consistent and give them time, your dog will be sitting pretty in no time!
No. 1: Lily's Kitchen|Dog Puppy Chicken and Salmon Nibbles|Pack of 8
No. 2: Barker & Barker|Little Liver Dog Training Treats
No. 3: Wagg|Puppy & Junior Meaty Bites
No. 4: Pet Munchies|100% Natural Dog Treats
No. 5: Pooch & Mutt|Calm & Relaxed Mini-Bone Dog Treats
View Full RankingThe descriptions of each product are referenced from content available on manufacturer, brand, and e-commerce sites.
Automotive
Baby Products
Beauty
Books
Business, Industry & Science
Computers & Accessories
DIY, Garden & Tools
Electronics & Photo
Fashion
Grocery
Health & Personal Care
Home & Kitchen
Large Appliances
Musical Instruments & DJ
PC & Video Games
Pet Supplies
Sports & Outdoors
Stationery & Office Products
Toys & Games