Yup! I cant stress how helpful it’s been to include my dog in my vehicle prep too. An extra leash, collar, water bowl, jug of water, bag of biscuits, and dog jacket can be a saver if you forget something or find a loose dog (safety first, beware of unknown dogs and all that).
Carrying an extra flea/tick prescription in my BOB that I rotate out has been a good wake up for just in case. This is also a good time to refresh any stored pet food. I use freeze dried meats and rotate the bin out when I change the flea/tick medicine out (every 6months). My dog loves the freeze dried treats and in an emergency freeze dried meats are good, lightweight protein calories for animals.
Biggest, laziest tip: When you get new shots from the vet, ask them to email you a copy of your pets entire vaccine records and print a copy. Stash those wherever you like and the email copy is easy to retrieve electronically. This saved me recently when my dog’s daycare lost her vaccine records.
You can purchase freeze dried liver through Amazon or petco. Amazon is cheaper. It comes in a tub and it's what Athenas trainer uses. I make the dehydrated chicken using chicken breast slices in my dehydrator. I like both of these treats the most because I know there aren't any funky ingredients and because Athena isn't treat motivated by most of the stuff in stores. I've had previous dogs before and they were not this picky. Not sure if this is a German shepherd thing or if it's because Athena is a butt. The dehydrated chicken is tasty to me and the cats too. I've never tried her liver treats though. this is the brand I buy
Athena is like your dog, a bit more toy driven than food driven but it's easier to bring treats in public for us.
ACDs will explore their new home in depth whether you like it or not. I’m sure anyone on here can agree that if you follow your dog around saying “NO” to every single thing, you will wind up frustrated and he will chew increasingly valuable things with a grin on his face. Let him get his excitement out and save the commands for the crucial stuff. And get yourself one of these : Stewart Freeze Dried Dog Treats Made in USA [Single Ingredient, Puppy and Dog Training Treats - Grain Free, Natural Dog Treats], Resealable Tub to Preserve Freshness https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DGRSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_S46YTXB60PZ395RPK4EN?_
Honestly I find the easiest and healthiest is the freezer dried treats
Stewart Freeze Dried Treats 21 oz. Beef Liver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DGRSY/ref=cm_sw_r_taa_0dLMxbX22RRZN
You can get them at PetSmart or Target, but I think they're cheaper for the large one on Amazon - or at least they were whenever I last did the math. They're easy to chip up if the little blocks are too big, but there's little bits at the bottom that I'll use for the walking treats, and then I'll use the bigger ones for Kong stuffing or my larger dogs.
At my puppy's first trip to the vet, the Dr gave him some freeze dried liver treats and he LOVED them. I bought a tub of the treats from Amazon. They're a little pricey but that tub will last forever, especially because you can (and should) break the cubes into smaller pieces for training. Stewart Freeze Dried Liver Treats
I think it's a roll of the dice. Our Kees really freaks out when she hears something out of the norm but the rest of the time she's relatively quiet and chill.
And it helps that when she would go overboard as a puppy we would tell her to stop, "come here" and give her one of these when she quieted down. She goes MENTAL for those. They are amazing training treat (to use sparingly - I don't think too many are good for them).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DGRSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_0QT3HQPWQ199TC4G9STT
These have a really great smell (for dogs) i cut mine down to a dime size, all the dogs i work with go nuts
I just sprang for this big ol tub of freeze dried beef liver. Much cheaper than usual, and a good quality single ingredient treat that the pup loves. It also looks like Chewy is price matching some deals, for those who don't want to shop Amazon.
Cheese
Hot dog
Dehydrated beef
Dehydrated chicken
Freeze dried liver like this:
Stewart Freeze Dried Treats 21 oz. Beef Liver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DGRSY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_n8LtAbC0GCA5Z