Save your hands! - Train with Tubies

Welcome to a new way of reinforcing your dog! 

....Kind of! 

Tubies are easy and adaptable to use in your training routine and since many of you are new to them, we thought we would give a simple overview of their uses, and how to work with them below! 

What are Tubies? 

Tubies are exactly what they sound like - Tubes of food that can be delivered to the dog via mouth to reinforce any number of behaviours. 

We use small silicone travel tubes; these can be purchased at any drug store, dollarama or online. We typically purchase them in sets of 3-4 and we rinse them out to ensure they are clean and good to go! 

From there, we stuff them, pop them in the fridge and bring them out as needed for our training sessions. 

How do they work? 

They work similarly to feeding your dog a treat except for the fact that we squeeze a bit of the food inside so our dogs can lick the food! 

They work wonderfully for dogs who are....

• picky eaters or on special diets
• mouthy or harsh with hands and taking food - this is great alternative as they learn better skills
• struggle with lower value food in distracting environments; you can play around with higher value items with the tubes!
• on a diet or restricting calories via your vets recommendation 

They also add variety to your training treats or general reinforcement techniques so we highly recommend trying them! It also saves your hands turning slimy with hot dog juice during regular training sessions (a smell which haunts us all day....trust us!) 

What can you stuff them with? 

There are so many options! As always, we recommend clearing any new dietary adventures with your vet before trying them out on your dog but we have tried....

• Plain Yogurt
• Canned Dog Food OR Cat Food (works for both species!)
• Canned Pumpkin (plain pumpkin or squash)
• Sweet Potato (add liquid to it to mush it up a bit!)
• Liver Pate 
• Cheese Wiz
• Peanut Butter
• Tuna (we know, we know, not our first choice but it works!) 
• Salmon with liquid to mash it up! 

Are you ready to try them? 

If so, there may be some training involved before you do! Check out our videos to work on 2 simple drills to ensure your dog is comfortable eating from a tube and also knows how to eat from it! 

From there, they are super easy to pack in to your treat pouch or pocket when you head out on your adventures! 

Be sure to clean them regularly - they are simple to take apart and rinse out to avoid bacteria or funky smells! 

Like our first little blog post? Be sure to like, share and tag us in any training videos or content you use with the tubes! We would love to see you work! 

- Sophia & Alison