Best training treats for Shih Tzu tiny mouths

A Shih Tzu's tiny mouth is a real training obstacle — standard treats take too long to chew and break their focus completely. The best training treats are pea-sized or smaller, soft enough to swallow in one go, smelly enough to outcompete distractions, and high in protein so they feel like a proper reward rather than just a snack. What are you working on with your pup — basic obedience, recall, something specific? And any allergies or ingredients you're avoiding?

Sensitive stomach is important to know — you'll want something with a short, simple ingredient list and a single protein source so it's easy to identify if anything causes a reaction. For loose lead walking especially you'll be going through a lot of treats in one session, so the size and digestibility both really matter. How many training sessions are you doing per week, and roughly how long are they?

Short, frequent sessions are exactly right for a Shih Tzu at this age — good instinct. The high treat volume per day makes a simple ingredient list even more important for her stomach. Here's my recommendation: Zuke's Mini Naturals Chicken Recipe. They're genuinely tiny — about 3 to 4mm — so no breaking required, they're soft enough to swallow immediately, and chicken is the first ingredient with no artificial preservatives. The smell is strong enough to hold attention outdoors, which matters for loose lead work. They're also low calorie per treat, so even at high volume across three daily sessions you're not overloading her diet. Available on Amazon UK, and one bag lasts a good while given the size. Start with just a few the first day to check her stomach tolerates them before committing to full training sessions.

Yes — they're semi-moist and compress easily, so there's no hard or crumbly edge that could catch. She should be able to take one, swallow it in under a second, and lock back onto you. That's exactly what you need for stay and heel work where the reward has to be instant and seamless. If you ever find even those are slightly too big for her particular mouth, you can pinch them in half before the session, but most Shih Tzu owners find the standard size works fine.

Good luck with the loose lead training — that one takes the most patience but short sessions with high-value rewards is exactly the right approach. She'll get there.