2nd Annual Treat Palatability Research Study

I know that you have been anxiously awaiting the results of my treat research study. You wouldn't want your people to waste their money on treats that don't taste good and of course you don't want to have to eat them. In the name of science and for the good of my fellow canines I have undertaken this arduous but important experiment.

Barbara brought a huge bagful of treats for me to investigate. You can see what a difficult task I had in front of me. I tested some of these treats last year but wanted to see if they stood up against the new treats.



The first step in the experiment was for me to sniff a treat in her hand.



Then she would put it on a plate, let me sniff another treat and put that one on different plate.



I had to do a sit stay and look at the plates.



When she said OK I went to the most delicious treat first and she wrote it down for me.



We did many repetitions of the experiment. She would switch the treats to different plates, switch the order etc. to account for any right/left bias. We compared dry treats and then soft treats. The winner in each set of trials was compared to the winner from another set of trials until we reached the best treat of all.

Last year I did a four paw rating system. I've done it again so you can see which ones you should get your people to buy for you.

4 PAWS: Scrumptious - will eat them even when I see squirrels
Buddy Biscuit Roast Chicken Madness, Grilled Beef Madness

3 PAWS Delicious - will eat them most of the time
Buddy Biscuit Peanut Butter Madness, Bacon & Cheese Madness

2 PAWS Tasty - will eat them when there are no distractions
Cloud Star Tricky Trainers, Train-me, Pet Botanics Reward

1 PAW slightly better than cardboard
Bennies Bullies, Charlee Bear Cheese and egg

However the very best, most delicious treats were so yummy that I did not have enough paws to rate them!

They are the Merrick Gourmet Sausage Treats and they are the best treat I have ever had! There are several flavors. I liked them all but the best (according to my research) was the French Country Cafe flavor.



Tell your people to get this treat for you!!! I have no idea how much it costs but whatever it costs, it is worth it.

You may ask where Ambrose was through all this experimentation. In his crate! Barbara thought that he should get to try the test. I knew it would be a disaster. Ambrose does not have a discriminating palate and has even been known to eat glass.

Barbara tried really hard to get him to work with her. Even when she would point to the plate, he couldn't seem to figure out that the treat was on the plate and not in her hand.



Look at his goofy expression. I fear that he has no future as a scientific researcher.



Finally he figured out that the treats were on the plates and ate them.



I hope this helps you and your people when selecting treats.

Tomorrow I am going to be in a real scientific experiment at the Duke University Canine Cognition Center. I am not sure what I will have to do in the experiment but I understand that involves foraging. I am sure that I can do that. I will let you know how it goes.