I’ve been doing daily care visits for Roxy, the ball of fluff above, a soft-coated wheaten terrier puppy. Today, there were two bags of treats left out, and I decided to try a dog treat taste test to see if I could figure out which she preferred.
Here were the contenders …
Instinct Freeze Dried Raw Boost Mixers, beef flavor
Crazy Dog Train-Me training reward treats, bacon flavor
I sat on the floor with Roxy and put one Instinct treat in one hand and one Crazy Dog treat in the other. I then presented my open hands to her with palms up and then waited to see which she would eat first.
My plan was to put my hands both at equal distance from her, but she somehow got to one side of me. She went to the Train Me treat first and ate that, but it was in the hand nearest her, so I think she was just doing what was most convenient.
Next, I switched treats to opposite hands. Roxy went first to the Instinct treat, but she was, again, to one side of me and chose the hand closest to her. I decided I needed to change my approach.
I put a treat in each hand once more, turned my body towards Roxy and presented two closed fists this time to her face. She sniffed at each hand but paid much more sniffing attention to the hand holding the Instinct treat and ate that one first.
I then switched the two kinds of treats to opposite hands and presented two closed fists to her face once more. Roxy began once more to sniff at and even lick and chew the hand that held the Instinct treat. Perhaps, that treat has a stronger smell, but it looks like we have a winner!
These treats are actually meant to be mixed in with plain Kibble and might entice a picky eater to eat.
Although it seems we have a winner, perhaps more testing is needed and Roxy probably wouldn’t mind that at all. She may have preferences, but she likes both and wouldn’t refuse either if given a chance.