Treats to use?

    I think that your pet decides what is a high value and what is a low value treat - and remember this can change due to venue or your pet's mood for the day.  I also think that just about 99% of all dog treats you can buy are too big for training.  I might use a Pupperoni stick, for example, however, I will cut one stick into 25-30 pieces.  I train a mastiff and I still use pieces about the size of my little fingernail as treats.  If I am training at home, however, I might just use my pet's regular food as the treat, or cheerios.  When I go to training class, where there are lots of distractions, I may up the ante with a little chicken breast or meatball (cut into very small pieces).  We call string cheese sliced into thin rounds and then cut in 1/2, "puppy crack" as it has very high value in my house.  Whatever you pet really enjoys and won't cause stomach upset is fair game.  As other people have posted, sometimes it is a favorite toy, or a tennis ball that is the top reward.  It all depends on your pet.

Usually when we refer to low-or high-value treats, we differentiate between which ones produce a response under "normal" conditions and ones that may help override some extra distractions. A low value treat would be something like a dry, crunchy, bland Milk Bone-type treat. The next level might  be individual pieces of your dog's regular food (i.e. dry kibble fed by hand for performing behaviors.) A high value treat is something stronger tasting and usually squishy, like bagged liver treats and the like. You can put chicken or duck jerky in this category, too. A super-high value treat would be small pieces of hot dog, small tastes of cheese, shredded chicken, etc. You can see how the spectrum continues to increase as the food gets stronger tasting. Adjust your dog's regular diet according to the amount of treats given. Once the training really starts to take hold and you can slowly fade out most treats, you'll be able to ramp the regular food back up.

Happy training!