Dog Health Questions: What tempting treats do you use for dog training?

For training sessions I use freeze dried beef liver, leftover cooked meat (either scraps from dinner or freezer burned leftovers, rinsed off so he doesn't get a seasonings!), or cubed ham (usually freezerburned anyway...). It seems to work well for us - tasty enough treats to keep the dog interested and budget friendly.

It seems that a lot of commercial pet treats are junk food. I know they're just "treats", but anyone who does obedience trainig knows you go through a lot of treats some nights in class, so I don't want junk making up a substantial portion of his diet on those nights. Any other healthy treats you can suggest? Any that are budget friendly?

Some nights we're low on random freezer burned meat, and I would like to keep some treats on hand for such an occasion. I've found some decent brands, but the price is pretty extreme to be tossing down Odie's throat so quickly.

Speaking of budget treats, anyone know any good places to pick up inexpensive non-rawhide chews? My dog loves knuckle bones and bully sticks, I usually find decent deals on amazon or pet mountain.

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Slice up a hot dog how you would eating it in pieces. Then take those tiny pieces and cut them by quarters. If you do this you will got through one hot dog a night and trust me to dogs size doesn't matter. Its the taste they like. All so make sure to cook his treat. The more juicy and fresh the meat is the more hell wanna just LICK IT UP!

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• I don't rely on a piece of food to get my dog to obey. Treats are used sparingly and are weaned out of "training" within a week of introducing a new command. My dog works for my praise, not food. Praise is always readily available and FREE.....
  
  For the brief period we DO use treats, or for when i use treats during our games, i use carrots, hot dog, or chicken. My dog is also partial to Bil-Jac liver treats.


• The people training their dogs to do doggie dances use cut up pieces of hot dogs.
  
  You can get freezer burned meat by joining your local Freecycle.com list and putting out a 'wanted' request. Someone on our list just did that for their dog and got over 20 pounds of meat.


• Feeding him human food can hurt him but doggy treats they have these treats that help clean your dogs teeth or boost his system so try one of those (: i saw some @ wal-mart/target/k-mart but dont feed him human food he can get sick and he may be allergic to one of the scrapes you feed him one time.


• I actually feed my dogs veggies and fruits as treats,I used to give them liver treats(homemade)but they started getting really fat,besides that my dogs actually like the fruits and veggies better than the liver,LOL


• You might want to try some cheese, maybe American cheese or anything else you have. I have used this with my dog and she seems to like it, at first she didn't seem interested but once she had it she begged for it.


• I swear by "Zukes" Mini Naturals. They are pretty healthy, compaired to most commercially sold treats.


• meat left-overs, unsalted popcorn, peas, liver treats.