This post is sponsored by The J.M. Smucker Company. All opinions are my own.
Recently, we had a big change happen within our household. A few weeks ago we came across a little surprise in our neighbor’s yard…. a very teeny, tiny flea-ridden gray kitten all alone and hiding near the trashcans scared to death! We were alerted of his presence by both of our dogs, Radar and Zoey who were losing their minds barking at the poor little guy. I think they thought that maybe it was some other outdoor critter.
After asking the neighbor if it was his and discovering it was a stray kitten, we brought it in so it wouldn’t get hurt. We immediately tried to show the dogs that it was indeed just a tiny cat, but their curiosity was over the top and they were quite forceful in sniffing him so we knew that we had quite the task ahead of trying to get them acclimated. For all they knew, we just brought in the outdoor critter they had found.
One way we knew to help them learn to love their new little kitty brother was to train them around the kitten. We do have 3 other cats that they like to chase and for the most part, the cats don’t mind, but this one is just too little and risks getting hurt if he tries to play with them.
We headed to Walmart and picked up a few things we needed for the kitten and then headed to the dog snack aisle to grab some reward treats to use while training the dogs. We decided on Pup-Peroni® Jerky Bites because we already know how much they love the original Pup-Peroni treats. We picked up both the beef and the pork flavored treats. Both are made with real beef and real pork and are free of grain, meat by-products, artificial flavors, and fillers. That’s really important since we are trying to be better dog parents by watching what they ingest.
The treats themselves look like little bits of beef jerky, as you can see but unlike real beef jerky which can be tough, these treats are soft and easier for them to chew. You can even tear them into smaller bits if you have smaller dogs, or just want to give them smaller portions. Radar and Zoey absolutely love the meaty smell and taste.
So now when we want to get them adapted to the kitten, we use the Pup-Peroni Jerky Bites to reward their good behavior. So far it is working on Radar, he knows he is getting a treat so he is very gentle with the kitten and not being overly curious. Zoey not so much. She wants the treats but she also wants to “play” with the kitten which is not an option at this point since he is still so very little.
It works better on Zoey when she is outside doing things they aren’t supposed to be doing like digging in the garden or jumping the fence. You can definitely use it in any capacity, as long as they know that they get something yummy for good behavior, they will mostly opt for the good and not continue the bad behavior.
Dianna Ranere