Table of Contents
Ask any dog trainer what their most essential training tool is, and they won't say a clicker or a leash. They'll say treats. The "best dog treats for training Reddit" threads are some of the most active discussions on r/DogTraining and r/puppy101, with thousands of owners arguing over which brand, texture, and ingredient list works best.
I reached out to five professional trainers I work with and cross-referenced their picks against the most-upvoted Reddit recommendations. Here's what we actually use — no sponsorships, no affiliate fluff, just honest answers from people who train dogs for a living.
Soft Training Treats: The Reddit Favorites
Every trainer I asked said the same thing: soft treats win for training. They're easy to break into tiny pieces, they don't crumble in your pocket, and most dogs find them more exciting than dry biscuits. On Reddit, the most recommended soft training treat is Zuke's Mini Naturals. They're small, soft, smell strong enough to keep a dog's attention, and come in single-ingredient protein options.
Other soft treats that consistently show up in Reddit threads include Bil-Jac Little Jacks (tiny liver-flavored morsels that most dogs go crazy for), Cloud Star Chewy Trainers (soft, baked, and made with real chicken), and Fruitables Skinny Minis (lower-calorie option for dogs who need to watch their weight). The common thread: they're all small, soft, and easy to eat in under two seconds so your dog stays focused on the next command instead of chewing.
Trainer tip: If you can't break a training treat into four pieces with your fingers, it's too hard. You want a treat your dog can swallow in one gulp. That split second of chewing is a split second your dog isn't paying attention to you.
High-Value vs Low-Value Treats — What Reddit Gets Right
One of the most useful concepts you'll find on Reddit is the idea of treat tiers. Not all treats are created equal, and using the right tier for the right situation makes a huge difference in training success.
Low-value treats are everyday kibble or basic biscuits. Use these for easy commands your dog already knows well — sit, down, stay in the living room. They're not exciting enough to compete with distractions, but they're fine for proofing behaviors your dog has already mastered.
Mid-value treats are things like soft training bits or cheese cubes. These are your workhorse training treats. Use them for most training sessions — teaching new commands, practicing in the backyard, working on loose-leash walking. They're interesting enough to keep your dog engaged but not so amazing that your dog gets over-aroused.
High-value treats are the big guns. Freeze-dried liver, chicken hearts, string cheese, hot dog slices. You bring these out for difficult situations — training at the dog park, working on a reactive dog's threshold, or teaching a recall that needs to beat every squirrel in the neighborhood. Reddit's r/reactivedogs community swears by these for counter-conditioning work.
Freeze-Dried Treats Trainers Swear By
Freeze-dried treats have exploded in popularity on Reddit over the last few years, and for good reason. They're pure protein — usually a single ingredient like chicken breast, beef liver, or salmon — with nothing added. No fillers, no preservatives, no artificial flavors. For dogs with sensitive stomachs or allergies, they're often the safest bet.
The two brands I see recommended most often on Reddit are PureBites and Vital Essentials. PureBites freeze-dried chicken breast is one ingredient: chicken breast. You can break it into tiny pieces easily, it smells like real meat (because it is), and most dogs will do backflips for it. Vital Essentials makes freeze-dried minnows and beef liver that trainers love for high-value work. The minnows are crunchy but crumble easily, great for a quick treat-and-move-on training style.
The downside? Freeze-dried treats are expensive compared to soft training bits. But since you're using them as high-value treats in small amounts — not daily meals — a bag lasts most owners 4-6 weeks. Worth it for the training power they bring.
Cost-saving Reddit hack: Buy whole freeze-dried chicken breast or liver from the pet store and break it into pieces yourself. You'll pay about half what you'd pay for pre-broken "training size" versions. Store in a zip bag and crumble a handful into your treat pouch each morning.
Size Matters: Choosing the Right Treat Size for Training
This is where most owners get it wrong — and it's one of the most common corrections you'll see on Reddit training threads. Training treats should be the size of your pinky fingernail, not the size of a Milk-Bone. An average training session of 10 minutes might involve 30-50 treats. If each treat is the size of a biscuit, your dog just consumed a meal's worth of calories and now they're either full (and no longer interested) or gaining weight.
A good training treat is about 3-5 calories. That's roughly a pea-sized piece of soft training bite. If you're using kibble as treats, use your dog's regular meal allowance and subtract it from dinner. If you're using higher-value treats like cheese or hot dogs, cut them into pieces no bigger than a blueberry.
For small breeds (Chihuahuas, Yorkies, Papillons), your treats should be no bigger than a grain of rice. For medium breeds (Border Collies, Beagles, Australian Shepherds), pea-sized is perfect. For large breeds (Labradors, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers), you can go up to the size of a small marble — but remember, they're eating more treats per session, so smaller is still better.
Homemade Training Treats Reddit Loves
Some of the most popular "best dog treats for training Reddit" threads aren't about store-bought treats at all — they're about homemade options. Homemade treats give you total control over ingredients, which matters if your dog has allergies or you just don't love the preservatives in commercial options.
Plain boiled chicken breast is the number one homemade training treat on Reddit. Boil a chicken breast, shred it or cube it into tiny pieces, and you've got a high-value treat that's healthy, affordable, and irresistible to most dogs. Store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it in portions.
Baked sweet potato slices are another Reddit favorite. Slice a sweet potato into thin rounds, bake at 250°F for about 3 hours until chewy but not crispy, and you've got a single-ingredient, vitamin-rich training treat. They're softer than commercial treats, easy to break into smaller pieces, and most dogs love the natural sweetness.
Cheese cubes — just plain cheddar or mozzarella cut into tiny cubes — are cheap, easy, and high-value. No cooking required. The downside is they can be messy and don't travel well in a treat pouch on a hot day. Use them for home training sessions or short trips to the park.
Top Dog Treat Brands Recommended on Reddit
After combing through dozens of Reddit threads and checking with trainers, here are the brands that come up most often and actually deliver on quality and training value.
Zuke's Mini Naturals
The most-recommended training treat on Reddit. Soft, 3 calories each, made with real chicken or salmon. Great all-purpose training treat.
PureBites Freeze-Dried
Single-ingredient chicken breast or beef liver. Crumbles easily, high-value, perfect for reactive dog training and recall practice.
String Cheese (Store Brand)
Not a brand but a trainer staple. Pull apart into thin strips, cut into tiny pieces. High-value, cheap, and dogs go crazy for it.
Blue Buffalo Bits
Soft-moist training treats with real meat as the first ingredient. Available in beef, chicken, and salmon. A solid mid-value option.
Treats for Puppies vs Senior Dogs
Your dog's age changes what kind of treat works best. Puppies have different nutritional needs and softer teeth. Senior dogs may have dental issues, reduced appetite, or health conditions that limit treat options.
For puppies, soft treats are strongly preferred. Their baby teeth can't handle hard biscuits, and they need smaller pieces anyway because their stomachs are tiny. On Reddit's puppy101 sub, the most recommended training treats for puppies are Zuke's Mini Naturals (already small and soft) and plain boiled chicken shredded into tiny bits. Avoid anything with rawhide or hard dental chews as training treats for puppies. Also avoid treats with more than 10% protein content for very young puppies — their kidneys are still developing.
For senior dogs, treat choice depends on dental health. A senior with good teeth can handle most treats, but many older dogs have missing teeth, gum disease, or sensitive mouths. Soft treats that dissolve easily are best — Bil-Jac, soft training bites, or canned food squeezed from a tube are all senior-friendly options. Reddit's r/OldManDog community recommends PureBites as a senior-safe high-value treat because it crumbles easily and doesn't require heavy chewing. Watch calorie content too — senior dogs are less active and gain weight faster.
Quick rule of thumb: Treats should make up no more than 10% of your dog's daily calorie intake. For a 50-pound dog getting 1,000 calories per day, that's 100 calories of treats max. A single training session might need 30 treats at 3 calories each — that's 90 calories right there. Plan accordingly.
Your move now: pick up a bag of soft training treats (Zuke's is the safest first bet), cut them smaller than you think you need to, and run a 5-minute training session tonight. Your dog will thank you, and you'll see why the right treat makes everything easier.
