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Choosing a good training treat as a reward can go a long way towards a successful training session. Training treats help retain the dog’s attention and rewards good behavior.

However, it can take quite a few treats over an extended period of time for a dog to consistently grasp the appropriate response. This means a good training treat should be low in calories, especially for small dogs, as their calorie intake can often be only a few hundred calories per day. Some dog treats can have 10-25 or more calories per treat which makes them not practical for consistent rewarding while training.

A good dog training treat should have 1-3 calories, or can be easily broken down into bites which don’t surpass that.

A good training treat is also easy for you to dispense and quick for the dog to consume–nothing that requires them to become distracted gnawing or tearing it apart.

Lastly, the right training treat should be motivating for the dog. If they lose interest in the treat, then the session is over before it has even begun. This was my experience with “lickable treat sticks” such as Lickety Stik and Leanlix. Both were great ideas, and I think they are fun, but my dogs lost interest quickly when they realized they couldn’t take the whole dispenser and could only lick it. Others have had different experiences with them.

Here are some training treats that are 3 calories or less per treat, and that are easy to dispense and consume. Your dog is likely to enjoy at least one of these enough to continue to stay interested in practice.

Fruitable

One of my favorites are these from Fruitable, Skinny Minis. They are under 3 calories per treat and come in several fun flavors including Pumpkin Blueberry, Watermelon, and Grilled Bison.

Wag

Wag, Amazon’s brand of dog supplies, has training treats at 3 calories per treat. These treats do not have no added corn, soy, wheat, colors, or artificial flavors. They also come in several flavors.

Mother Hubbarb

These from Mother Hubbarb, a brand we love at Bloom, has a variety pack to keep things interesting–and only 2 calories per treat.

Full Moon

Full Moon– Noob is obsessed with them–has training treats in duck and chicken. The chicken treats are 2.5 calories per treat.

Cloud Star

We haven’t tried these from Cloud Star yet, but the reviews on them look great. And they’re only 2 calories per treat.

Buddy Bites

We haven’t tried these from Buddy Bites, either, but the reviews are overall positive as well. Plus, at 1.5 calories per treat, they’re some of the lowest calorie treats available.

Nulo

Of course, Nulo doesn’t let us down with these bite-sized training treats at 2 calories each. They come in several meat flavors, all of which include a boost of honey, cherries, and blueberries as well.