Puppy holding out for high value treats instead of kibble
Puppies can lose interest in regular meals by spitting out their kibble and waiting until they are absolutely hungry to get high-value training treats like chicken. This forces owners into a trap where weaning the dog off treats ruins critical commands like recall. At the same time, trying to substitute kibble as a training motivation fails because the dogs simply refuse to work for it.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Puppy holding out for high value treats instead of kibble
- 1Reserving chicken only for rare, highly difficult occasions or essential situationsDid this help you?
- 2Using regular kibble for easy, everyday training tasksDid this help you?
- 3Finding mid-value treats for moderately challenging situationsDid this help you?
- 4Soaking kibble in water with crushed freeze-dried chicken to make it smell betterDid this help you?
- 5Putting the food bowl down for exactly 15 minutes, then removing it until the next meal with no snacks in between.Did this help you?
- 6Making a 'puppy trail mix' by storing kibble in the same bag as cut-up hot dogs or cheese so the kibble absorbs the smell.Did this help you?
- 7Using soaked and frozen kibble inside Kongs and puzzle toys instead of using extra treats.Did this help you?
- 8Fading treats for already-mastered commands and only giving a treat every single time for brand new skills.Did this help you?
- 9Using a squeeze tube filled with blended wet dog food as a training reward to maintain a balanced diet.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“When I first brought her home she LOVED her kibble, but now she is barely interested in it at meal time!”source ↗
“Ive read alot on here about using kibble as motivation for training but I've tried that and she just doesn't work for it.”source ↗
“My dogs also weren’t super food motivated at that age when they came home, but as they adjusted they ate more at meals and were more eager to train for treats.”source ↗
“I think he is starting to hold out on the kibble for chicken. He eats a few pieces and spits and waits until he gets absolutely hungry to eat kibble.”source ↗
“I’m torn between using chicken to get him to do good things in house vs weaning him out at the cost of him ignoring us even for recall. Recall is mostly chicken :(.”source ↗