Chicken Dogs?

[Writing4Fun]

To all the trainers out there - do any of you use chicken hot dogs as training treats? If so, do you cook them, or feed them raw?

[tenderfoot]

This really opens a can of "chicken".
We do not treat train so I will avoid that topic for now.
We feed raw chicken to our dogs regularly and have not had any problems. We are advocates of raw meat diets for dogs - so I would be inclined to say raw is fine, but if your dog is not used to raw meat than you could be asking for trouble (diarrhea).
Dogs need to be introduced to raw meat slowly. Some people do this by feeding little bits of raw over a period of time until they see no problems. Others move from cooked meats - to partially cooked - to raw over time. Chicken goes bad quickly, so I would hesitiate having raw chicken in a baggy is my pocket for any length of time. You could defrost a single 'hot dog' a day and use it up quickly.
Be sure that you are washing your hands frequently when handling raw chicken - humans have a much longer intestine than dogs and the bacteria can make you sick though it doesn't make your dog sick.
If she does get the runs - solid pack pumpkin works wonders for loose stools or constipation. It is pure fiber and fixes things quickly. Do not feed it exclusively as there isn't much nutrition there.

[GsdDiamond]

While I admit that I dislike using food as bait for training, there are some dogs who are ruled by their stomachs and no amount of praise is better than a bite to eat. My little piggy is one of them. I've been weaning her off the treats, and now she primarily gets them after nail clipping, brushing, and a cookie at bedtime.

Hot dogs are pre-cooked, so I wouldn't worry about using them. Heck, I'll eat them right out of the package myself! Super cold from the fridge is the way to have them. Either that or BBQ'd. Yum!

[Writing4Fun]

LOL GsdDiamond! I loooove BBQ hot dogs! Raw?? Thanks, but I think I'll pass on that one!

And, yeah, Phoebe is basically a stomach with legs. She'll do ANYTHING for food. We treat train when doing something new, but I've been weaning her off the treats a bit at a time as she gets older or as she becomes more adept at a certain command. I don't treat every time when we're at home. Thanks for the info on the chicken dogs, though. I've been using Rollover, but ran out and needed a replacement ASAP.

[GsdDiamond]

Originally Posted by Writing4Fun

LOL GsdDiamond! I loooove BBQ hot dogs! Raw?? Thanks, but I think I'll pass on that one!

LOL!
They're not raw silly! When we cook hotdogs, we're not really "cooking" them per-say, but rather re-heating and making it look more palatable. Eating a non-heated hotdog is kind of like eating a slice of chicken balogna. The all-beef hotdogs are like eating all beef balogna. No difference really.

Oh great....now I'm hungry again, and I ate my Cheerios only an hour and a half ago.

[Writing4Fun]

Thanks, GSD! I never thought of hot dogs that way before.