Like their cousin breed Golden Retrievers, Goldendoodles are smart canines. Training them is a worthwhile experience, especially if you have the best training treats for Goldendoodle puppies. As food-driven pups, they simply can’t resist the lure of a tasty snack. Soon enough, you’ll have your Goldendoodle puppy following your commands.
However, it’s not just about the taste of the treats. You have to ensure that your doodle pup gets the best nutrition in every bite. Below, I reviewed 10 of the best training treats to give your puppy a delicious snack and added nutrition in one.
TRAINING TREATS | BRAND | EXPERT RATING | CHECK PRICE |
---|---|---|---|
Our Top Pick! Milk-Bone MaroSnacks Dog Treats | |||
Stewart Freeze Dried Beef Liver Dog Treats | |||
Pet ‘n Shape Beef Lung Dog Treats | |||
Old Mother Hubbard Classic Biscuit Treats | |||
NUTRO Mini Bites Dog Treats | |||
Rachael Ray Nutrish Real Meat Dog Treats | |||
Bil-Jac Original Recipe Dog Treats | |||
Zuke’s Mini Naturals Dog Treats | |||
Whole Life Pet Pure Beef Liver Dog Treats | |||
Canine Carry Outs Beef Flavor Dog Treats |
10 Best Training Treats For Goldendoodle Puppies
OUR #1 CHOICE
OUR TOP PICK: Milk-Bone MaroSnacks Dog Treats
Product Name: Milk-Bone MaroSnacks Dog Treats
Product Description: When it comes to the best training treats for Goldendoodle puppies, I swear by Milk-Bone Marosnacks. It’s an irresistible snack made of real bone marrow packed in a crunchy biscuit. It doesn’t have real bones, so you don’t have to worry about splinters or damaging your pup’s mouth. The Milk-Bone biscuits are rich in calcium that boosts your Goldendoodle’s growth and teeth health. It also has a delicious flavor that your pup can’t get enough of. It’s also made of wheat flour, dried poultry digest, salt, corn starch, and annatto extract. These ingredients are commonly found on dog food products, so it’s guaranteed safe for your pet.
Offer price: $$$
Availability: InStock
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Ingredients
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Smell and Flavor
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Texture
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Price
Overall
Summary
Overall, this has a crunchy outside layer and a meaty filling perfect as training rewards. The size is also perfect for almost every dog breed.
Each piece of this Milk-Bone treat contains 10 calories, 12% protein, and 7% fat. Since it’s quite a caloric treat, you should mind the amount you’re going to give for each training session.
Lastly, you can get the Milk-Bone Marosnacks in beef and bacon flavors to suit your dog’s appetite. It’s also available in sets of 2 to 12 boxes in case you want to stock up.
Pros
Made with real bone marrow
Irresistible delicious flavor
Gentle on a pup’s gums and teeth
Cons
It contains more sugar than other dog treats.
RUNNERS-UP
Stewart Freeze Dried Beef Liver Dog Treats
If your Goldendoodle pup has a sensitive tummy, the Stewart Freeze Dried Beef Liver Dog Treats might be a good choice. It’s made of 100% beef liver without any soy, corn, and wheat.
Each piece is 100% sourced in the United States. It’s also freeze-dried to retain the nutrients while preventing spoilage.
Also, this recipe is USDA-certified to have human-grade beef liver. So if you’re wondering, then yes, it’s safe enough for human consumption. However, it’s raw, so it’s best not to indulge yourself in it.
You can use this as a training treat or as toppers for your finicky dog’s meals. Each tub contains 21 ounces of pure beef liver, so you’ll not run out of yummy treats for your pup.
As for the serving, a 40 lbs. Goldendoodle should only eat up to 2 pieces of this treat. You can dice each piece to bits so that it will last through your training session.
I also like that the beef treats won’t go bad even if you don’t refrigerate them. Just make sure that the cover is well-sealed and that you place the tub in a cool and dry place.
Pet ‘n Shape Beef Lung Dog Treats
One treat that worked wonders for my finicky Goldendoodle is the Pet ‘n Shape Beef Lung Dog Treats. Like the training treat from Stewart, this has one main ingredient only.
It only has beef lung, salt, and rice powder without any nasty colors, additives, or preservatives. It’s also grain-free, so you don’t have to worry about allergic reactions unless your pup is sensitive to beef.
Each treat contains 10 calories, 70% protein, and 3% fat. You can slice each piece into small bits to avoid overfeeding your pup during training. I use a knife to slice this to pieces, so it won’t crumble too much.
I’ve read somewhere that some batches of these treats have been contaminated with plastic. We’ve ordered many times, and we never encountered this issue. But in case you get one with plastic, feel free to contact Pet ‘n Shape for a refund or replacement.
Overall, my Goldendoodles are obsessed with this treat. We also send these treats to a local shelter whenever we can, so the rescue dogs will get a tasty treat from time to time.
Old Mother Hubbard Classic Biscuit Treats
Is your Goldendoodle pup obsessed with biscuits? If so, you should get the Old Mother Hubbard Classic Biscuit Treats. This 20-pound box contains an assortment of mini biscuits perfect for training.
There are four flavors in the box: cheddar, CharTar, chicken, and original. All of it is crunchy and irresistible, though my pup seems to be crazy about the cheddar pieces.
These oven-based dog biscuits are made of whole wheat flour, oatmeal, wheat bran, chicken fat, chicken meat, eggs, apples, carrots, and more. It’s also packed with green tea, rosemary, and spearmint extracts. It’s all-natural and unlikely to trigger irritations on your pup.
Each piece of the crunchy biscuits contains 12% protein, 7% fat, and 5.50% fiber. Some batches are crumblier than others, but my Goldendoodle pup loves it just the same. It’s also easy to eat, which prevents my dog from getting distracted during training.
If your dog has a sensitive stomach, this might be the best treat to purchase. The mini-size pieces are also a great choice to prevent overfeeding your Goldendoodle pup. You can choose from the 3.8 lbs. bag or the 20 lbs. box/bag.
NUTRO Mini Bites Dog Treats
If you’re looking for a low-calorie training treat for your Goldendoodle pup, you’ll never go wrong with the NUTRO Mini Bites. This dog treat is made of chicken as the first ingredient. It’s mixed with brown rice flour and oatmeal, among others.
Each piece of this dog treat only contains 3 calories. It will also give your dog 10% protein, 8% fat, 1% fiber. With this, you can feed your 45 lbs. Goldendoodle up to 40 pieces a day without hurting its diet too much!
Aside from that, this dog treat is made with non-GMO ingredients. It doesn’t have soy protein, corn, wheat, or artificial add-ons.
Another thing I like about the NUTRO Mini Bites is you can choose from peanut, chicken, berry &yogurt, and beef & hickory smoke flavors. You can easily find the right taste even if you have a picky Goldendoodle. The treats are packaged on resealable bags to maintain their freshness.
My only tip is that you should check the expiration dates all the time. I once received an expired bag, but NUTRO was super kind enough to immediately send me a whole new set. Customer service is great, so I still consider this as one of my top picks.
Rachael Ray Nutrish Real Meat Dog Treats
I’ve been purchasing Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food products for quite some time now, and I’m really impressed by the quality. This treat has a grain-free recipe, which is one of the few treats that didn’t irritate my new Goldendoodle’s tummy.
It has turkey as the main ingredient, together with dried potatoes, sugar, salt, and more. Each contains 34 calories, but it’s quite big so that you can split it into tiny pieces for training. Each piece contains 14% protein, 12% fat, and 4% fiber.
Moreover, these are soft treats, so your dog can easily chew and digest them. It doesn’t have grains, artificial additives, and by-products, so rest assured that your pup gets nothing but wholesome nutrition.
I also like that they made this available in a variety of flavors. My Goldendoodle loves hickory smoked turkey bacon, but you can also get this in beef with bison burger, chicken ‘n waffle, chicken, and pepperoni. They also added meatball morsels, meatloaf morsels, sausage bites, and savory roasters on the list.
The only caveat I have for this dog treat is that the pieces are quite brittle. If not handled well during delivery, your bag may arrive with crumbled contents.
Bil-Jac Original Recipe Dog Treats
The Bil-Jac Original Recipe Dog Treats is an excellent choice for Goldendoodle pups who love chicken liver. It’s made of fresh liver, which is an excellent source of protein. This is also a soft treat, which is a topnotch choice for training rewards.
This is made of chicken liver, chicken meat, chicken meal, and wheat flour. Each piece contains 8.3 calories, 25% protein, 10% fat, and 2% fiber.
Since the pieces are small, there’s no need to slice them into bits. It’s ready to feed straight from the bag while training your dog.
However, I don’t recommend leaving the treats in the open since they can dry out fast. If you want to keep it handy during training, I suggest placing the day’s serving on a small ziplock bag. This way, the treats stay fresh without the need to carry the entire bag all the time.
Aside from using this as training treats for my Goldendoodle pup, it’s also a sneaky way to hide pills from my dog. He gobbles down the treat without knowing that there’s medication on it.
Zuke’s Mini Naturals Dog Treats
If you’re on a budget, the Zuke’s Mini Naturals Dog Treats is an excellent choice for training. It might be cheaper than other options, but it’s not short of flavor and nutrition.
This treat has peanut butter, ground barley, ground rice, and ground oats as its main ingredients. It’s also packed with Vitamin C and E for added nutrition.
Each piece of this all-natural and yummy treat contains 3.2 calories, 9% protein, 8% fat, and 2% fiber. You can feed your Goldendoodle a dozen pieces a day without worrying about its diet. It also has good size for treating, so there’s no need to slice or break it into tiny pieces.
I also like how moist these training treats are, just like the one we got from Bil-Jac. If you received a dried-out batch, it means that the product is old or has a packaging leak. It’s best to send it back to Zuke’s to receive a fresh replacement.
So far, this has been perfect for my Golden Retrievers and Goldendoodles. I just have to seal it inside a ziplock once open to prevent the moisture from drying out.
Whole Life Pet Pure Beef Liver Dog Treats
If you’re tired of puppy treats that crumble, you should get the Whole Life Pet Pure Beef Liver Dog Treats. It comes in rectangular cuts that you can easily break into tinier pieces without dealing with crumbs.
This is made of 100% pure beef liver and nothing else. With that, each treat contains 6 calories, 69% protein, 15% fat, and 1% fiber. Aside from Goldendoodles, this treat is also an excellent choice for cats.
Moreover, this treat doesn’t have added artificial flavors, preservatives, or chemicals. It’s freeze-dried to retain all the nutrients on every bite. They also test each batch to ensure that it’s safe for your pet.
Also, each bag arrives full to the brim, which gives the best bang for the buck. My Goldendoodle goes crazy whenever I pop one of the bags open. My dog loves it, and he’s been responding to training very well ever since we switched to this treat.
If you have a finicky puppy who won’t eat biscuit treats, the Whole Life Pet Pure Beef Liver might be the answer you’re looking for. This is also available in other flavors, but I must warn that the chicken version tends to crumble more during delivery.
Canine Carry Outs Beef Flavor Dog Treats
My last pick for this roundup is the Canine Carry Outs Beef Flavor Dog Treats. This has chicken as the main ingredient designed for on-the-go feeding while training. It also has an irresistible aroma and a nice texture that your dog will love.
Each piece of this dog treat contains 23 calories, 12.5% protein, 7% fat, and 3% fiber. You can tear each piece into tiny bits to prevent over-indulging your Goldendoodle during training.
Moreover, each treat is moist, so it doesn’t crumble. However, I suggest transferring the contents of the bag to a container with a tight lid. This is what I always do to prevent the pieces from drying and crumbling.
I also like that this comes in big 50-ounce bags, which saves me a lot of money. This pack of four is already a steal if you’re going to ask me. Just don’t pre-slice a lot of pieces because it tends to dry fast if you do so. Just chop the serving you’re planning to give for a training session.
I just want to mention that this dog treat contains soy flour, which can be an issue for dogs with soy sensitivities. Other than that, this is a great treat for training your Goldendoodle puppy.
How to choose training treats for Goldendoodle puppies
There’s a sea of training treat options in the market that finding the best one can be challenging. If you’re looking for the right treatos for your Goldendoodle pup, you should check the following first:
✔️Treat type
The very first thing you should consider is the type of treat you’re going to buy. Training treats are supposed to be soft and easy to tear into pieces. This way, it would be easy to eat and convenient to give to your dog.
For my Goldendoodles, I swear by these treat types during training:
- Soft chews. Soft chews are moist treats that have a nice smell and flavor. Your dog can chew and swallow this within seconds, making it a distraction-free reward while training. The only downside here is that soft chews are prone to crumbling if you don’t store them well.
- Biscuits. Some Goldendoodles prefer crunchy treats. In this case, I recommend getting biscuit treats instead. These are drier than soft chews, but it remains easy to eat. The only challenge here is keeping the pieces intact since it’s also prone to crumbling.
- Freeze-dried. For finicky Goldendoodles, freeze-dried training treats are often irresistible. However, I recommend slicing them into small bits to make them easy to eat. These treats are delicious, but it tends to have a strong scent as well. Most of the time, freeze-dried treats are made of beef meat or beef organs.
✔️Ingredients
It’s very important that you check what’s on the treat you’re feeding your dog. If your Goldendoodle pup has a sensitive tummy, you should opt for non-GMO and natural ingredients. Also, a limited ingredient is an excellent option if you’re worried that your pup may suffer from irritations.
Freeze-dried treats are popular for training use because it’s usually made of a single meat ingredient. It takes the guesswork and worries out for the pet owners.
You need to avoid synthetic ingredients in the form of artificial preservatives, coloring, and flavors. These add-ons could potentially irritate your dog’s tummy if you’re not careful.
✔️Flavor and smell
When it comes to training rewards, you have to keep them smelly and tasty. This will help attract your dog’s attention, especially in the middle of a distraction. Also, tasty and smelly rewards will encourage your dog to keep following your commands to get more.
Meat-based treats are often the smelliest ones, which is a good choice for picky dogs. However, it also means you have to put up with the reek.
Just make sure that the dog treat doesn’t have artificial additives just to achieve the smell. In the long run, these unnecessary additions will do more harm than help.
✔️Treat size
You have to keep treat servings small during training. The goal here is to reward your dog without distracting it from the goal. Small bits are enough for single rewards. This will also help you stretch the treat serving to last the entire training session. Besides, you wouldn’t want to over-feed your dog, or it will ruin its diet.
If the dog treat of your choice comes in large pieces, you can slice it into smaller bits. I recommend using a sharp knife, especially for treats that tend to crumble easily.
✔️Nutritional value
It’s very important to check the nutritional value of the treats to ensure that it’s beneficial for your Goldendoodle. While training treats aren’t a major part of your dog’s diet, they should still be healthy.
I prefer training treats with excellent protein levels. This supports puppy growth, especially if you have a standard large Goldendoodle.
You should also check the calorie content of each piece. The best option is dog treats with only 3 calories apiece. This means you can feed your dog more than a dozen pieces without hurting its diet. But if the dog treats you got are in the higher calorie range, you simply have to slice it into tiny bits.
✔️Cost
Lastly, consider the cost of the dog treats you’re going to buy. While it’s easier to buy cheap finds, you have to ensure that it’s not just full of fillers. If you have the budget, it’s best to get high-quality training treats with premium and human-grade ingredients. This will keep your Goldendoodle well-nourished, which is worth the splurge.
Tips in giving training treats to your Goldendoodle
Many Goldendoodle owners are guilty of common mistakes when it comes to using treats as a form of reward. To prevent this from happening, you should keep the following points in mind:
✔️Reward in a calm state
Remember that you should only reward your dog once it’s calm. This way, you won’t unintentionally reinforce negative behavior. Once your dog followed the command, call its name and wait until it’s relaxed before handing the treat.
✔️Keep the treat small
Training treats should be given in small bits to lure your dog even more. Over time, your dog will realize that following commands will earn him tasty treats.
Small and easy-to-consume treats will also prevent distraction during training. If it takes your dog more than 5 seconds to chew and swallow the treat, it might be too big or not suitable as a low-value reward.
You’ll never go wrong with soft chews, biscuits, and small meat morsels. Take note that dental chews, bully sticks, and the likes are best reserved after training as a form of high-value reward.
✔️Reserve the reward for good behavior
For the reward system to work, you should only provide the treats when your dog does something positive. For example, you should reward your dog whenever it pays attention to you once you call its name.
This will teach your Goldendoodle that behaving positively is rewarded. Meanwhile, defying your commands will leave him with nothing.
✔️Don’t use it as a bribe
One of the most common mistakes of dog owners is using treats as a form of bribe for their dogs. If you do this, your Goldendoodle will not heed your command unless you have something tasty to offer.
The truth is that you should only use training treats as an initial encouragement for your dog. Over time, you need to fade the lure so you don’t rely on treats too much.
Once your dog is progressing on training, you can replace treats with affection. I suggest pairing the reward system with clicker training. This way, your dog will recognize the click as a reward itself. Just remember to reduce the treats slowly, so your dog won’t feel like it’s being deprived.
✔️Use different treats
Even if your Goldendoodle isn’t a finicky one, it can still get tired of eating the same treat all the time. To keep training interesting, you should cycle 2 or 3 different puppy treats. Your dog will soon learn that there’s something new to look forward to for each training session.
✔️Adjust your pup’s meal size
While treat pieces might be small, their calorie content can add up. It’s important to adjust your pup’s meals to ensure that it’s not eating more than it should per day. Both Goldendoodles’ breeds of origin, Golden Retriever and Poodles, are prone to obesity if not fed properly.
✔️End the training session with high-value treats
After each training session, you should give your dog a high-value treat. These treats are bigger and take time to consume. It’s a good way to end training, so your dog will associate the experience with something positive. It can be a dental chew or a KONG toy filled with peanut butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are training treats good for puppies?
A: Training treats are a good way to encourage your pup to follow commands. It’s a form of positive reinforcement, where you reward positive behavior. This will help teach your Goldendoodle puppy that responding to the training positively earns him a tasty reward.
Q: How many training treats a day should a puppy have?
A: Low-value treats like small biscuits and meat cuts can be given in higher volumes if each piece has less than 5 calories. Meanwhile, high-value treats like dental chews, bully sticks, and other long-lasting snacks should only be given once. Overall, you have to factor in the calorie content of the total treats you’re going to give so that you can adjust your dog’s meals accordingly.
Q: Can I give my puppy too many treats?
A: Yes, puppies can be overfed with treats if you don’t count the amount you’re going to give. Before training, it’s important to set a specific amount of treat you’re going to give. You wouldn’t want your Goldendoodle growing obese because you overindulge him with treats.
Q: Are dental sticks okay for puppies?
A: Dental sticks are often stiff and have a splintery consistency, which isn’t suitable for puppies. While your Goldendoodle is still little, you should opt for softer options like meat cuts, biscuits, and the likes. These are easier to consume even without close supervision.
Q: Can I give my 8-week old puppy Greenies?
A: Greenies dental treats are often rated for puppies that are at least 6 months old. At this age, your Goldendoodle has grown its adult teeth fully. This permanent set of teeth are stronger and can chew Greenies treats without a problem. If your pup is still 8 weeks old, Greenies aren’t the best treat for now.
Final words
The best training treats for Goldendoodle puppies will make the reward system more enjoyable. It will also give your pup an added dose of nutrition while it learns new commands. Just make sure that you choose a treat with premium ingredients, flavor, and smell. Also, remember that treats must be used properly to serve their purpose.
What do you think of these puppy training treats? Share your thoughts below!