Hello Fellow GSP Owners,

I have read several posts on here about what owner's feed their dogs and favorite dog food brands.  I was just wondering about treats.  What should I be looking for in terms of ingredients and amount of protein, fat, fiber, etc.? What's your (or rather your dog's) favorite?

Ally loves rawhide chews and goes through about one a week. She typically plays with it a few days (i.e., hides all over the house including under my pillow) and then eventually begins to chew it.  I switch between beef and pork as well as switch up the size and form (rolled, knottted, braided, etc.). 

As for treats, I used to buy her Greenies but they have gotten incredibly expensive.  I have switched to a dental treat made by Iams.  It also is in the form of a toothbrush.  I also sometimes buy the liver treats made for her kong.  As for dog biscuits, I have been giving her ones made by ProPlan or when I can't find them, the similar version made by Purina One. 

Just wondering what everyone else was giving.

Thanks for sharing and take care,

AllysOwner

 We use to give our dogs the rawhide bones but they would chew and eat a large size bone in a matter of a couple of hours and then the next day or later that night would get diarrhea from ingesting so much rawhide. We now give them the Dentley's Beef femur bones which they absolutely love and they last for days with no ill affects. As for other treats we use freeze dried liver treats for training. Also they love bananas which we use when we have to give any oral tablets which sure beats pill pockets. 

this was on my mind too. where do you draw the line on treats? yesterday the grocery store had some on sale for $1. I picked them up and they just didnt give me a good feeling, something about them being made in thailand made me think they weren't good for my dog and may even be dangerous. what are the top things i should look for in dog treats?

location, ingredients, size?

We have a local jerky company that sells dog treats. I think it is the same as we are buying for ourselves. Every time we get to their area we stop and buy treats for Tater as well as for us. Other than taht its a pretty wide variety from Petsmart.

Mine get bones (which Belle and Ringo love, Halo is ok with bones).  For Belle who is allergic to beef the bones have to be the bleached ones and I stuff them with cheese or peanut butter.  I also just recently bought large deer antlers to try.  The dogs have gone nuts over them.  They are also much tougher than bones and don't splinter.  When the dogs chew on them they just grind down very slowly.  The only thing I have to watch out for is Ringo carrying his antler around the house and goring someone.

For training I make my own chicken liver (I think the recipe uses beef, but the chicken IMO works better) treats and freeze them.  Here is the recipe:

www.mydogtrainer.com/freedogtrainingtips/dog-treat-recipe.htm

I modify this allot by adding things like molasses, ground carrots, yams, peanut butter, and most recently really ripe bananas.  The bananas are the favorite. I also use whole grain flour and olive oil.  My dogs go nuts over these liver treats, they are all human grade food, very easy and quick to make, they make allot and they are cheaper than you can buy in the store.  When I need some I just get some out of the freezer, pop them in the microwave for 40 seconds and I have treats.

By the way, all the dogs and cats come running when I take these out of the oven.  Apparently, dogs and cars like warm cookies too.

I got the antlers at PetExpertise (www.petexpertise.com/chew-toys.html)

I bought the large and so far my three haven't really made a dent in them.  Ringo and Belle are my chewers and have gone at the antler pretty good.The antlers are kind of pricey, but so far seem to be worth it. 

I was at Wal-mart a few weeks ago and I came across the best dog cookies. They were made with human grade ingredients and were basically vanilla sandwich cookies. They are the best dog cookies I've ever tasted and the dogs liked them too!  They were also good at satisfying Michigan's sweet tooth.

I actually found one that does ship to Canada... http://www.asankadogs.com/Antlerz.html

Gail, if you know anyone looking to get rid of some, I would be happy to take a couple off your hands .