Okay, here's a quick question for anyone that may have the knowledge to answer it. My new GSD has NO food drive, if he is distracted or upset he will not eat any treats whatsoever. Well, there is one exception to this rule. He adores candy corn! I tossed one in his crate when he didn't raise hell over the cat walking by and he ate it up. He refused to eat the t-bone treats that I bought him, distracted or no. Here is the list of ingredients, aside from being bad for his teeth and too much sugar, are there any negatives to giving him candy corn as a reward?

Contains: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Confectioner's Glaze, Salt, Egg White, Honey, Glycerine, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Mineral Oil, Coconut Oil, Arificial Colors Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Carnauba Wax

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Okay, here's a quick question for anyone that may have the knowledge to answer it. My new GSD has NO food drive, if he is distracted or upset he will not eat any treats whatsoever. Well, there is one exception to this rule. He adores candy corn! I tossed one in his crate when he didn't raise hell over the cat walking by and he ate it up. He refused to eat the t-bone treats that I bought him, distracted or no. Here is the list of ingredients, aside from being bad for his teeth and too much sugar, are there any negatives to giving him candy corn as a reward?

Contains: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Confectioner's Glaze, Salt, Egg White, Honey, Glycerine, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Mineral Oil, Coconut Oil, Arificial Colors Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Carnauba Wax

Yes. Refined sugar is not good as a regular treat for many reasons. In the realm of refined sugar, dogs have the same reasons we have for not indulging, including organ derangement, glycemic response, empty calories pushing real food aside, dental disease (and those are sticky, BTW), etc. The list is long.

I would choose his favorite meat and cook some, using tiny pieces as training treats......... or all-meat no-nitrite/nitrate hot dogs, or dehydrated liver......

There's a big choice.

I'd even rather give small pieces of cooked sweet potato, which at least is sugar in a nutritious form.

Yes, dogs have sweet teeth too. It's probably best not to encourage it. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

P.S. If they are the T-Bone treats I think, thet're mainly flour. I don't blame him. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

P.P.S. I like candy corn too. Why'd you have to remind me? <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Well, that kind of sugar is not good for anyone. No wonder humans are so full of cancer!

Are there no other treats he likes that are healthy? If he likes sweet things, how about bananas or apples or blueberries? Are you sure he's hungry enough? Have you tried various meats? I'm not sure if you tried various means of getting healthy treats in his body, but what about cooking bits of ground beef or similar, or baking/boiling some liver treats from real chicken liver, anything like that? There's got to be something better. What about toys, does he like toys? When do you train him in relation to feeding him? He probably isn't very hungry and just liked to have the candy corn dessert. If it absolutely, positively MUST be candy corn, chop it up into eensy weensy pieces to minimize the negative effects, for example the white top, chop up the middle layer in half, the bottom in thirds or fourths, etc.

Just some thoughts on the matter, it helps to know more about him and his eating habits.

I would really avoid the Candy Corn and any other type of junk food and keep trying different "dog" treats to see what your dog likes. I went through 40 (it seemed like) different treats and foods before I found the magic one. Natures Balance Lamb and Brown Rice is what works for the Bloodhound and I also make a rice, green bean, boiled chicken combo fir the others that I place in ice cube trays and freeze. I can make a ton of that and I do go through it quickly.
Sometimes I also cook beef liver and cut it into bite size pieces although that is a very rare treat as I do not like to feed alot of liver.
This is just my opinion but if you just keep trying, there is bound to be a treat that is good for your dog out there. I try to stick to the "If it is Bad for me then the Dogs can't have it but the Husband can" <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> (just kidding about the husband)

My Bernese Mountain Dog's focus is on a higher plane when I'm holding dried beef, compared with any other treat! I slice a slab of lean beef thinly, put it in the dehydrator overnight and cut it into small pieces. It's easy to carry around because it's not moist like hot dogs. I tried drying chicken breast but that went very hard and he prefers the beef. I also like knowing that he's eating nothing other than meat, rather than all the additives in commercial treats.

Have you tried carrots? They are sweet and if you cook them more easily digested. My dog loves them.

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Well, that kind of sugar is not good for anyone. No wonder humans are so full of cancer!

Are there no other treats he likes that are healthy? If he likes sweet things, how about bananas or apples or blueberries? Are you sure he's hungry enough? Have you tried various meats? I'm not sure if you tried various means of getting healthy treats in his body, but what about cooking bits of ground beef or similar, or baking/boiling some liver treats from real chicken liver, anything like that? There's got to be something better. What about toys, does he like toys? When do you train him in relation to feeding him? He probably isn't very hungry and just liked to have the candy corn dessert. If it absolutely, positively MUST be candy corn, chop it up into eensy weensy pieces to minimize the negative effects, for example the white top, chop up the middle layer in half, the bottom in thirds or fourths, etc.

Just some thoughts on the matter, it helps to know more about him and his eating habits.

Diana, sorry to thread jack but some places list blueberries as a no no. Is it just in large quantities or is it like human food where they change their minds every few days on what is good for us and what will kill us? lol

I do the same thing. I buy stew meat from Costco, $2.99 lb. I use meat shears to cut into dime size pieces, put them in the dehydrator for about 5-6 hours and whala <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> enough treats for about a week. I fit about 2lb in the dehydrator at a time.

It is the only treat that is good for the dogs and doesn't raise havoc with my dobies digestive system.

Both dogs LOVE the dried beef. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Overall I think its cheaper than commercial treats as an added benefit.

Thats it....Dehydrator for me. That is a great idea and I really never thought about it, I am sure my dogs will go for that, THANKS you guys.....
ding ding ding (the light finally comes on) <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Once I gave my pup 3 tiny pieces of a donut (I don't like them that much so once every few months I'll try one) and the first thing he did was go outside and throw it up, immediately. He's only ever had raw food, so it was pretty clear what his system thought of those tiny pieces of sweet donut. I threw my donut away.

I had some left over Milk Bones from my last GSD, which she never liked (don't blame her), offered a small piece to my pup who eats ANYTHING (pieces of tomato, parsley, carrot, kale, dirt, etc) and although he ate it, there was absolutely no real interest or joy involved for him. He ate it slowly (he wolfs anything else down).

What he really loves and will do literally anything for is Liver Biscotti - crunchy tiny liver biscuits. Leerburg sells it and you can get the smallest size bag to try for your dog.

I like Mary Pope's idea of cooked carrots as a treat, sounds good.