We use special treats to convince our dogs to come to us during Recall training. When we tell our dogs, Come! we really want our dogs to WANT TO COME! So we use our best treats, not the treats we use every day for Sit and Down and Wait, etc. This article is a description of what we use, how we prepare it, and what to look for in your grocery store so you can produce these treats we affectionately call, Puppy Crack. So here we go! You want to buy Jenny-O Jumbo Turkey Franks. [See image at right.] These are the best. We have tried beef and chicken and other products and, quite frankly, they do not hold up and have a variety of drawbacks. Turkey franks are the best for this purpose. There are two sizes of Jenny-O turkey franks: regular and jumbo. You are much better off using the jumbo version. Jumbos work the best and we will explain why a little later on. We cut up five hot dogs at a time. It seems like that's the magic number for getting good dehydration accomplished in a microwave. To each hot dog, start by placing it on a cutting board, and cut it in half the long way -- cut with your knife parallel to the length of the hot dog [see photo].
Next, rotate the whole hot dog (even though it is now cut long-wise) 90 degrees like you're rolling the hot dog on the cutting board surface. Then cut the hot dog in half again, the long way. Now you should have 4 long, thin strips of hot dog [see photo].
Next, chop the hot dog strips into pieces about 1/4" wide by cutting across the hot dog the short way. That is, turn your knife so it is chopping the hot dog the shortest way and making little 1/4" wide pieces. I have chopped a lot of Jenny-O Jumbo Turkey Franks in my day and I consistently get 11 or 12 cross cuts in the length of a Jenny-O Jumbo Turkey Frank. The jumbo version of these franks yields a nice size piece of puppy crack while the regular size yields pieces so tiny, they are easy to burn and aren't nearly as good. Trust us: jumbo is best! When you finish chopping one hot dog, start on the next hot dog. When you've done five full hot dogs, you're ready to move on to the next step.
Take a couple of cheap paper plates and overlap them so you make an oval shape. Then place two layers of paper towel on the paper plates. Spread all those little pieces of hot dog out on the paper towel and arrange them in a single layer, not a pile. They will microwave more evenly in a single layer. [Note: In the photos for demonstration purposes, I am only working with one hot dog so you won't see two paper plates, etc.]
Our microwave is 1500 Watts. Yours may be different. In our microwave, we cook five chopped hot dogs on HIGH power in four intervals: 8 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 2 minutes, then 1 minute. And that's when they're just about perfect. After each cooking interval, I drag the paper plates from one side of the turntable/carousel to the opposite side. Doing that simple thing helps keep the heat spread out and prevents burn spots in the pieces of hot dog. Try it and see if your microwave is like ours. But be sure to avoid overcooking the hot dogs. Keep an eye on them in the later stages of cooking.
Between each cooking interval it is a good idea to see if the pieces of hot dog are sticking together. If they are, just break them up a bit, get them spread out again, then continue. If at any point they seem like they re getting too dark in color or are about to smoke, STOP! That s too much! They WILL burn! The intent is to dehydrate the hot dog pieces. Watch closely in the later stages of cooking for the hot dog pieces to plump up real big like 3 times their original size. That s what you re looking for. The plumping is caused by the last bit of moisture turning into steam which expands the hot dog meat. When that happens, you re there! Stop! After a few times, you'll have this process perfected. The hot dogs in the above photo are not quite done. You may not be able to see in the photo but some of the pieces have not dried out enough. I make sure they are not stuck together and I cook them some more but in shorter intervals as I near the end of the process. Stay close and monitor the progress to avoid overcooking them. I've mentioned avoiding over cooking the hot dogs several times already. That's because the objective is to dehydrate them and when they are fully dried out, the next thing they do is burn. And burnt hot dog stink is really bad! I want to help you avoid that as much as possible.
Here are some finished treats. Note the difference in the look. These are dry, dehydrated, nearly crunchy, very smelly, and super attractive to dogs! Remember: The below photo only depicts one hot dog cut up and fully dehydrated. If you do 5 hot dogs at a time, there will be a lot more than what you see in this photo. You can keep any unused hot dog treats in the refrigerator and they will stay good for a week or two. Since they are dehydrated, there is little danger of spoilage and they last a good long time! And since you didn't buy them at a pet store, you didn't pay $20 for them either! We love that part! Use these treats for only special training, not every day stuff. You want these to remain very special to your pup! Well, there you have it. Good luck. I'm sure you'll do just fine.