It’s always a good idea to carry treats with you, but putting meaty morsels in your pocket is not a good idea. For one thing, if you forget that your jeans pockets contain treats, and you are too tired or absent-minded to put your clothes away correctly, you’ll find the pockets of those jeans emptied the only way a four-footed pickpocket knows how to do it: by shredding the fabric to retrieve the treats.
This is how I recently parted ways with a favorite, perfectly-fitting pair of Diesel denims: not only did the youngest member of my pack destroy the pockets – hey, if one pocket contains treats, the other one might also! - she figured she might as well go all the way and re-tailor the pants by adding long rips to the legs.
But more than encouraging the destruction of your wardrobe, stashing treats in your pockets also encourages crotch-sniffing – yours and other people’s, points out dog trainer Sarah Hodgson, author of Miss Sarah’s Guide to Etiquette for Dogs and their People. Once accustomed to the scent of venison on your person, your dog will figure that every passersby’s pocket contains something special just for him. It goes without saying that shamelessly approaching a stranger’s crotch is hardly exemplary canine etiquette, and should be discouraged.
So, it’s a good idea to carry treats with you but a bad idea to put them in your pocket. What’s the solution? Wearing a fanny pack or clip-on pouch designated for treats. Clip it to your belt, or belt loop, and go – just don’t forget to hang it high out of reach when you return home, so it doesn’t suffer the same fate as my Diesel jeans.
You may even consider designating a separate treat pouch that you keep in the refrigerator. It will help keep the treats fresh – especially important if you happen to be using homemade motivational morsels such as sliced hot dogs or freshly roasted chicken.These obviously smell extra-enticing and will impart their irresistible scent to the pouch, so keep it in the fridge even when it’s empty and it won’t be shredded by treat-seeking hounds (unless, that is, they know how to open the refrigerator door).
