Just because you live in the fast pace environs of Los Angeles (or anywhere else in America for that matter), doesn’t mean that you have to feed your dog fast food, or bad dog treats.

When you put in Los Angeles dog parks into Google, only three come up on the google map. This doesn’t mean that there are a lot more, or that people aren’t just going to use their local parks. But it does call into question how easy it will be for most people in a large city to get to an off lead area they feel safe in, and can potentially train a dog in.

Initially you are likely to do training in a class or in your backyard, but eventually you are going to want to see how that training goes out in the real world, with real world distractions like other dogs.

And like most people you are going to want to use a healthy fast, cheap dog treat for training.

Best dog treats = 100% meat dog treats = beef liver

Because of the nature of the beast (ie dogs being carnivores) and because most dogs eat up to 80% grain in their diet via manufactured dog food, it is always a great idea to give your dog something different and something they will really value and savor as a dog treat reward while training.

The fact that beef liver is typically one of the widest used dog treats so every brand stocks it, means that it is a commodity and you can get it fairly cheaply. Though quality and size of the pieces vary considerably and you will have to work out what works best for you.

There are all other kind of animal liver out there such as chicken, buffalo etc .. and if your dog loves it, and you can afford it, why not treat them considering that you are not going to feed them a huge amount each day of it.

The only restrictions seem to be that liver can be quite a ‘strong’ (nutrient dense) dog treat. If you look up cooked beef liver data nutrition tables you will see that it is about 58% protein (great) and only 8% fat.

Best dog treats like beef liver can have limitations

Mineral wise for an adult human 100g of cooked liver has 714% Copper of the daily requirement and 50% of the Phosphorus and Selenium needs. It is said that “Copper is necessary for a number of body processes including the formation of collagen, bone and connective tissue. The absorption of iron, the development and maturation of red blood cells, the function as an antioxidant, and the development of pigment in hair”.

Excess copper causing toxicity in dogs is rare: but the most susceptible breeds are : Bedlington Terriers and West Highland White Terriers and Doberman Pinschers that can develop hepatitis in extreme doses and cases.

While Copper is obviously available in large doses on beef liver dog treats, it is actually the Vitamin A level that is probably of more concern, as discussed in the next article.