Making dog treats at home is easy and inexpensive! However, there are some key tips you need to look at before making your own treats.
Ingredients: Always read ingredient labels of any items you might use to prepare your dog treats and avoid ingredients that are toxic to dogs like grapes or raisins, chocolate products, onions, garlic, milk products, xylitol (and other fake sugars or sweeteners, best to avoid sugar as a whole), avocado, macadamia nuts, and high levels of salt, to name a few.
- Look for ingredients that will be beneficial to your dog like: blueberries, sliced apple, or bananas; oats, pasta, or rice; sweet potatoes or pumpkin; boiled chicken or beef (fat trimmed off); or fresh veggies like carrots, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, or cucumber.
- Also, avoid adding seasoning to your pet’s treats as many seasonings could upset their stomachs.
Recipes: Baby food can make a fun frozen treat for you pup! Simply pick out a flavor or two that has safe ingredients, swirl together in a freezer-safe container, and when you’re ready to give it to your dog, pop it out of the container and serve! My favorite combo (or my dog’s favorite) is swirling strained sweet potato with banana.
Pro Tip – this will be messy, so might be a good treat for outside. Make several at a time and store for several weeks. You can also mix in a few bits of kibble, small treats, or bits of raw fruits or veggies before freezing for a fun surprise.
For a savory treat:
- Mix together all of the ingredients: 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup rice flour, 2 TBS flax meal, ¼ cup chicken or beef broth (low sodium), 2 oz shredded, boiled chicken (no seasoning), and 2 eggs
- Scoop spoonful’s onto a baking sheet (parchment paper or silicone baking mats on top are best!)
- If you use a non-stick cooking spray, make sure it’s also pet safe (olive oil or canola spray is okay)
- Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes and let cool before serving! These should keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week
Tips: Making biscuits like the second recipe allows you to break pieces off to use for training treats or for fun games like hide and seek or treat puzzles. If you replace the savory ingredients in the second recipe (the chicken and chicken broth) with ¼ cup applesauce, 2 TBS water, and 2 oz of shredded fruits or veggies, you’ll have a sweeter version too!
If your dog loves peanut butter, you can’t go wrong with this simple recipe:
- Mix all ingredients together: flour, peanut butter, eggs and water (add enough water to make dough)
- Roll it out and use cookie cutter shapes for a little professional pizzazz
- Place onto a baking sheet (parchment paper or silicone baking mats on top are best!)
- If you use a non-stick cooking spray, make sure it’s also pet safe (olive oil or canola spray is okay)
- Bake for 20 minutes. These taste as good as they smell!
The best part about making homemade dog treats is that dogs don’t care what the end result looks like – so they’ll even eat the ugly or slightly burned versions!