We’ve got through a lot of Arden Grange tasty liver treat paste tubes over the years, and have almost always got one in the fridge. The tube of smelly, palatable liver paste is a big hit for both our dogs, who are always keen to lick the nozzle clean.
Being completely irresistible, it makes it an amazing training tool* that can be used in so many different ways, from rewards, to covert medication administration.
*read: bribe.
The pate is a complementary food that does not contain any artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, made with 35 per cent pork liver, with rapeseed oil, pork fat, dried mixed vegetables, gelatine and parsley.
The feeding guidelines for this treat are generous, with medium dogs allowed up to a quarter of a tube per day. I’d recommend speaking to your vet or a pet nutritionist about the best quantity for your dog, and any adjustments that would need to be made to their diet. We use a very small amount as each reward, but for example a LickiMat would use closer to the daily allowance.
After opening, the tube – which costs around £2.66 depending on where you pick it up – should be kept refrigerated and used within 28 days. But as the metal tube is quite sturdy, I do recommend getting a tube rolling key to push out all the product.
Here are six ways we use the Arden Grange tasty liver treat paste with our dogs:
Distraction
I’ve mentioned a few times that Phoebe was severely reactive to other dogs on walks, but through positive reinforcement she’s come on leaps and bounds and no longer lunges or instantly barks at dogs that walk past her in the street.
We’ve recently been using the Arden Grange liver paste as her distraction reward, and it’s worked amazingly. Each time we saw a trigger, we offered Phoebe a lick of the nozzle until the trigger has passed. Eventually, she would spot a trigger and instinctively check in with us for a reward when she didn’t bark.
LickiMats
LickiMats are one of our favourite enrichment tools, and can be used with all sorts of tasty treats from peanut butter to yoghurt and banana.
You can squeeze out the recommended guideline amount of the Arden Grange liver paste for the size of your dog onto the mat and spread it out, topping it with healthy treats like chopped apple or grated carrot.
For extra lick time, you can even freeze it – which is also a great way to cool a dog down in the summer months.
Medication
If like Frank your dog can spot a needle in a haystack – or a tablet in their kibble – then the Arden Grange liver paste is a great way to disguise medication.
When refrigerated, the pate goes quite solid and mouldable, so you can encase a pill in it and roll it into a little ball and feed it as a treat! You could even make little paste balls and store them in a bag in the fridge to use as a reward, too.
Dinner
If you have a fussy pup who won’t eat their dinner, or just want to offer them something new, dissolve a teaspoon or so (dog size dependent) of the Arden Grange liver paste into a mug of hot water before stirring and pouring over kibble. Be sure to let it cool enough before you feed it to your pet, though.
They’ll go barking mad for the smell, and the hot water will release the scent of the kibble too, tempting even the most reluctant of eaters to scoff their breakfast.
Decorating pupcakes
Keen bakers can make their dogs some tasty biscuits or pupcakes and decorate them with some Arden Grange liver paste icing! Just use the back of a teaspoon to spread it on after your bakes have cooled, and you’ve got a yummy treat your dog will love.
Trick training
Training sessions to learn tricks require a high value reward for the best results, and the Arden Grange liver paste is a great option. Using the pate means your dog could learn to ‘tell me a secret‘ or ‘smile‘ when they know they’ll get to lick the liver pate nozzle afterwards.
This is also a really good tool to use for recall training in freedom fields like Paddocks for Paws.
