As a dog guardian who believes in positive reinforcement training (which, I can safely assume you are if you are reading this article) you likely have an entire cabinet dedicated to your dog's treats, ranging from high value to low value. Whether you use a meticulously designed treat pouch, or a zip lock baggie in your pocket, you bring treats with you on every walk. Forgetting your treat pouch can be as devastating as the nightmare-level second poop when you only brought one bag. Especially if you have a dog with any type of reactivity or anxiety (as many of us city dwellers do) your treats are absolutely essential to your dog’s daily walks.

So what happens when winter hits and suddenly it’s too cold to reach into your treat pouch with your bare hands? I can confirm, mittens are not compatible with freeze-dried meat. As a frequenter of dog-training TikTok I’ve been seeing lots of videos of people discovering the solution we’ve known about for years: liquid treats in a tube. It’s cleaner, just as high value as your freeze-dried meat, and best of all, it can be delivered without exposing your skin to the harsh weather. You can DIY this by using a travel shampoo bottle, a salad dressing container, or even our Liquid Treat Dispenser.

But what do you put in a liquid treat dispenser? Is peanut butter the only answer? Peanut butter (as long as it’s free of xylitol) is a wonderful training tool, but it’s also very high in calories, and doesn’t have that much health benefit for your dog. Plus, who doesn’t love a little variety in their life?

Here are FIVE liquid treat ideas to use with your own liquid treat dispenser this winter:

The vast majority of commercial brand baby foods contain wonderful ingredients that are incredibly healthy for your dog. As always, avoid grapes, onions, chocolate, and too much salt or garlic, but baby foods with simple ingredients like “organic spinach, pear, and green beans” or “strawberry, banana, and oats” make for the perfect liquid treat! Some modern baby food brands even come in a tube already, so no need for a messy transfer of mush into a tube.

2. Wet Dog Food

You can use canned pureed dog food, or commercial raw food found in the freezer section of your local pet store. This is incredibly high value, and the perfect texture to add to a liquid treat dispenser! Now, I’ll admit, the clean up on this is a little less fun, so I recommend using a container that is dishwasher safe. (Pro tip: Canned cat food is even more high value, and totally safe for your dog).

3. Rehydrated dog food!

You can rehydrate all sorts of food for your dog to use in your liquid treat dispenser. Hydrate your dogs kibble and mash it up (this is a great option for those pups that need to lose a few pounds this winter), get some shelf stable freeze-dried meat and rehydrate it, or even look into dehydrated dog foods–there’s plenty out there. You can hydrate it with all sorts of things: tap water, dog safe bone broth (NO onions people!), decaffeinated green tea, or even goat's milk for some added probiotics!

4. Make your own concoction!

You can use greek yogurt, kefir, bone broth, fruits and veggies, cottage cheese, meat, or whatever other dog safe ingredients you have laying around and make your dog their dream smoothie. (psst... I'm working on another blog post with some recipes for you all, keep an eye out!)

5. Bark Pouches

Finally, if you want the easiest possible solution, you can get your dog the School For The Dogs favorite, Bark Pouches. These treats are designed specifically for easy dispensing, and they are incredibly popular amongst our staff and clientele. The most popular flavors are their Beef and Liverwurst, and their Sardines and Cream Cheese.

Stay warm, and keep spoiling your dog this winter!