Multi-Tasking Treats: How Treats With Supplemental Benefits Can Help Your Clients’ Dogs

By: The Cloud Star Staff

We all know that the best way to motivate a dog during training is with an irresistible treat. Once the dog realizes a delicious goodie awaits her, she will quickly learn to respond to the trainer’s commands  and perform desired behaviors.

But what if training treats could do more for your clients’ dogs than simply function as delicious behavior-reinforcing rewards? In recent years, there has been a movement to a whole new category of treats that provide supplemental benefits.

Supplemental Benefits

In addition to serving as delicious training motivators, these multifunctional treats were designed to help pets in a variety of ways — from relieving physical conditions such as dry, itchy skin, to supporting important functions like the immune system, to promoting a dog’s healthy growth and development.  Not only do such treats allow trainers and pet parents to “kill two birds with one stone”  — reinforcing behavior and enhancing health at the same time– they can also help make training go faster and easier by alleviating physical  issues that might be distracting a pup’s attention and by proactively maintaining wellness so the dog can reach his full learning potential.

Many of our own Cloud Star brands such as Tricky Trainers, Pet Botanics and Dogswell include products that are, not only highly effective training rewards, but also offer supplemental benefits in areas such as gut health, joint mobility and puppy cognitive development.

Puppy Development 

A good example are Tricky Trainers’ new training rewards formulated specifically for puppies, Tricky Trainers PUPPY with Lamb.  Made with mouth-watering Lamb as their first ingredient, the new Puppy treats also contain DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which offers the supplemental benefit of promoting cognitive development in puppies.  A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association found that puppies given foods fortified with DHA acid–rich fish oil from 8 to 52 weeks of age showed “improved cognitive, memory, psychomotor, immunologic, and retinal functions” – benefits that, in addition to promoting young dogs’ development, lead to better training outcomes.  Designed for puppies in every aspect,  Tricky Trainers PUPPY treats are only 1.5 calories each with a soft, easy-to-chew texture, making them ideal for tiny mouths and tummies.

Another Cloud Star brand, Pet Botanics, offers a training treat formulated to help support healthy coats and skin — Pet Botanics Soft & Chewy Omega Plus treats. Dogs suffering from dry, itchy skin are often in severe discomfort, which can cause them to become agitated and irritable. They may lick or bite at the affected areas, trying to relieve the  itching, which only leads to further skin irritation. This obviously makes it difficult for the dog to focus on a training lesson. Pet Botanics Soft & Chewy Omega Plus treats are filled with Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids from Salmon Oil and Chia to help soothe and moisturize dry skin and coats, making dogs more comfortable so they will be more receptive to learning. The treats themselves are also a very strong training motivator, made with Salmon as their first ingredient to give them an irresistible aroma and yummy taste.

Functional Ingredients

Dogswell, another Cloud Star brand, offers a diverse portfolio of functional treats that provide solutions for a variety of health and wellness issues.  These include Hip & Joint, Skin & Coat, Gut Health and Immune System formulations. Each formulation is offered in a number of different treat formats — such as Jerky, Soft & Chewy, Grillers, and even Meatballs! – as well as different flavors, to appeal to individual dogs’ preferences. 

In addition to their functionality, all Dogswell treats have a high-quality protein as their first ingredient.   This makes meaty Dogswell treats ideal for trainers and pet parents looking for a high-value reward. Or, as we at Dogswell like to say, we make “treats that taste good and do good!”

Each ingredient in Dogswell treats was carefully selected to serve a purpose. For example, Dogswell Hip & Joint treats are loaded with Glucosamine, found in the connective tissue, and Chondroitin, naturally found in cartilage, both of which support hip and joint health. The number one ingredient in Dogswell Hip & Joint treats is a high-quality protein such as real chicken, duck, beef or pork to maintain muscle mass and deliver the tantalizing meaty flavor dogs love. 

Another Dogswell category, Immune System treats, contain large amounts of Vitamin E, a major source of antioxidants. Antioxidants help boost a dog’s immune system  by neutralizing  free radicals that can accumulate in the cells and cause oxidative stress, making it harder for the cells to perform their functions and repair themselves.  Research published in the Journal of Animal Science indicated  that giving dogs and cats increased dietary concentrations of antioxidants, including Vitamin E, enhanced their immune health, “as observed by reduced cellular breakdown and reduced signs of oxidation.”  Older dogs, especially,  are prone to immune system decline and may be particularly helped by antioxidants like Vitamin E. The American Kennel Club  asserts  that “when combined with behavioral enrichment, antioxidants can improve memory and cognitive function in senior dogs.“

Trainers, therefore, might want to suggest a treat fortified with antioxidants like Dogswell Immune System to their clients who have older dogs.  Even if the dog isn’t showing overt problems, this would be a good proactive step to keep aging dogs healthy now and into the future.

Individualized Treats 

With the wide range of functional products available today, there are many other opportunities for trainers to match clients with a treat that is geared toward their dog’s specific condition and needs.  Whether the dog has a sensitive stomach, mobility issues, or dryness of the skin and coat, why not recommend  a treat that can help address the issue  — in addition to being a scrumptious indulgence in itself.  Or why not give your puppy students a head start in their cognitive development with Tricky Trainers PUPPY with Lamb treats.  You can even suggest reduced-calorie treats to clients whose pets might indulge a bit too often or train frequently – many Cloud Star products are available in a Mini size at half the calories.

The day of the one-size-fits-all treat is over.  By pinpointing treats that are best suited to each individual pup, trainers can help dogs become healthier, make their clients happier — and speed up the training curve in the process.