Salmon Dog Treatby Sniff and Shift
The Sniff and Shift store

Guide

Teaching a first trick with freeze-dried salmon

Updated

Salmon treats for teaching tricks work as a lure first and a reward second: hold a small bit at the dog's nose, move your hand along the path you want the dog to take, then let the dog have the bit. The listing calls the pieces medium sized and says they break into small, quick rewards.

How do you teach a trick with salmon treats?

With your hand and a bit. Luring with a treat is the method where the food leads and the dog's body follows the food; the trick takes shape, the bit is paid, and you do it again. Here is one trick, one rep at a time:

  1. Break a piece into bits and keep them in a pocket or your free hand.
  2. Hold one bit between your fingers at the dog's nose.
  3. Move the bit slowly along the path you want: up and back for sit, in a circle for spin.
  4. The moment the dog lands in the position, say your marker word and give the bit.
  5. Repeat a few times, then stop.
  6. Wash your hands, and put the pouch away. The bag says: "Reseal the pouch once it is open and store it cool and dry."

That is one way to run it, not the only one. Our guide to salmon training treats has the ground rules for any session; this page only adds the trick part.

Which first tricks suit a food lure?

Sit, spin and paw. Each one can be shaped by a hand moving a bit. Jumps and rollovers are not on this page; a trainer who can see your dog is the person to ask about those.

Salmon for sit, spin and paw follows the same hand paths every time. Sit: the bit moves up and slightly back over the dog's head. Spin: the bit draws a slow circle at nose height. Paw: close the bit in a fist near the floor and wait for a paw to touch your hand, then open the fist.

Trick training treats do not have to be salmon at all. Salmon's only credential here is the store's scorecard: 4 of 5 for training value, 3 of 5 for crunch, and the store's own words, high value reward.

When do you stop showing the treat?

After a few reps that went the way you wanted. This is a step, not a theory: make the same hand motion with an empty hand, and when the dog lands in the position, mark it and pay from the other hand or the pocket. The bit still arrives; it just stops leading.

If the dog does not follow the empty hand, go back to a lured rep and try the empty hand again later in the session or the next day. Luring with a treat is one stage and the empty hand is the next. How long each stage takes is your dog's business and a trainer's, and nothing on the bag or the listing has a view on it.

The salmon is freeze-dried raw, and the hand washing line applies whether the hand was full or empty. The bag says: "Wash your hands after handling it." A trick session ends at the sink.

How do trick sessions fit the daily treat budget?

Each rep in the list above ends with a bit, and reps add up. The bag gives no count. What it gives is energy: about 85.6 kcal per ounce in a 1.5 oz pouch. The treat budget calculator on our product page is set to 10 percent of the daily calories you enter as its starting point, and it returns the result as salmon by weight with no piece count attached. The share your dog gets is a question for your veterinarian, who also supplies the daily calorie figure.

Weigh out the session's bits before you start. When they are gone, the session is over for the day, whether the trick is finished or not. The bag says: "Not intended as a complete diet." Tricks run on the treat share and meals stay separate. The rest of our guides are gathered on the guides hub.

Wild-caught salmon, the only ingredient, freeze-dried in small batches by Sniff and Shift in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

$15.00
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  • Pink salmon is the only ingredient
  • Freeze-dried by Sniff and Shift in Malvern, PA
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Questions

Can I teach tricks with crumbs?

Yes. The listing says the pieces break into small, quick rewards, and crumbs are the far end of that. A pinch held between your fingers is still a lure, and a pinch paid from the other hand is still a reward. Crumbs come out of the same allowance as whole bits, weighed the same way.

Should I use salmon for every trick?

That is your choice. One option is to keep salmon for the new trick and use a plainer reward for tricks the dog already knows. Another is salmon for everything. The store's scorecard is a rating, not a rule, and the bag says nothing about which tricks earn which treat.

What does the store's training score mean for tricks?

On the store's scorecard salmon gets 4 of 5 for training value and 3 of 5 for crunch, the middle of that scale. The store scores its own treats against one another; it did not test any dog. For tricks it means the store rates salmon well for training use. What your dog thinks is up to your dog.

Can I use the same pouch for tricks and meals?

Yes. The bag says: "Feed as a treat or meal topper." The listing says to crumble a piece over kibble or a raw meal as a topper, so the same pouch covers a trick session and a mealtime sprinkle. Both uses come out of the one allowance, and the pouch gets resealed between them.

What if my dog snatches the treat?

Snatching is a trainer question, and one session with someone who can watch your hands and your dog will do more than any paragraph here. The bag's line still applies while you sort it out: "Provide fresh water and supervise while feeding." Until then, keep the bits small, and keep the pouch closed and out of reach.