High Value, Low Cost Dog Training Treats
To train a dog, we must motivate the dog. Dogs need to eat, but boring, dry kibble and milk bones are nothing special. To really motivate a dog, we need to bring out the good stuff. Most dogs prefer scrumptious, meaty treats over hard, crunchy, flavorless treats; but highly motivating, prepackaged treats can be quite costly, so here’s a tip: BAKED HOTDOGS! Your dog will do flips for these cheap, scrumptious rewards.
I buy the 5lb Jumbo packs of hot dogs for around $6.
Preheat your oven to 400 Degrees.
Slice the hot dogs length way into fours for small hot dog and 6-9 for jumbo sized. In the Picture below, I used jumbo sized dogs and sliced twice on the first side, turn a quarter turn and slice again, one or two times, making 6-9 slices. It depends on how patient I am feeling, that fourth slice is slightly challenging.
The hot dogs stick to the sides of the knife, so when removing the knife, place your fingers on both sides of the knife, holding the dogs to the cutting board, while lifting the knife to remove.
Once sliced, I chop into approximately 1/4″-1/2″ pieces.
Use a large cooking sheet and spread the hot dogs pieces out to cover the sheet with a thick layer. I place about half the pack on one, large cookie sheet.
Place the sheet of hot dogs into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. I will place two cookie sheets in at one time, but I like to stagger the timing. NOTE: The dogs on the bottom rack will cook more quickly.
Continue chopping the remaining dogs while the first batch is cooking.
When the timer goes off, pull out the sheet of hot dogs and mix, scraping them from the bottom of the sheet until well blended.
Place back in oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and mix well again.
Place back in oven for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how quickly your oven cooks.
They are generally perfect after 45 minutes of baking. They can be placed back in oven for 5-10 minutes at a time until they reach the look.
Let the hot dogs cool for a bit. I generally place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack to speed up the process. Once cooled, divide into baggies or freezer containers. I put a days worth of treats into each baggie so I can simply grab one for the day. If they are still warm, leave baggies open until they cool.
Once the hot dogs are cooled, seal and place into a larger freezer bag to store. Store in the freezer or refrigerator. I keep one or two baggies in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. Each day I grab out a new baggie of scrumptious treats for our training sessions. They do not take long to thaw.
- Preheat oven to 400֯.
- Cut hotdogs into 4 pieces the long way, then slice into ¼” – ½” pieces.
- Spread out in a thick layer across a baking sheet.
- Bake in oven about 45-minutes
- Use a spatula to mix well every 10-15 minutes until done.
- Cook until fairly browned throughout. I prefer a bit crispy.
- Store in baggies or containers in the refrigerator or freezer.
TIP 1: Divide hotdogs into snack packs, place in a quart or gallon size freezer bag and store in the freezer. This makes it very convenient to grab one for day use. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for future use.
TIP 2: We use chicken or beef hotdogs that come in the value pack. Avoid sausage, it is very greasy.
TIP 3: The jumbo-sized hotdogs can be sliced long ways into six or nine pieces, before being chopped.
