Some Easy Recipes to Make For Your Dog

Last week we wrote about people food your dog can eat; thanks for making it our most viewed and shared blog post yet! This week I thought we would take it a step further and talk about two recipes for snacks and treats you can make for your dog!

I’m going to be mainly focusing on treats and snacks, but if you want to make your dog’s food from scratch, you certainly can. A veterinary nutritionist will be happy to help you determine your dog’s exact needs and come up with a recipe. A dog eating a home-made meal should also get a daily supplement. We love NuVet, which we carry here at Delightful Dog. Several of our staff members use it for their own dogs too.

What got me thinking about this was the sulfite-free dried mango. It’s actually pretty hard to find. Sulfites are a type of salt that preserve dried fruit. Fortunately, dried mango is super easy to make and will make your house smell like a tropical vacation.  You can follow the same steps for any fruit or veggie you want to dry. 

1. Preheat the oven to 175, or whatever the lowest setting your oven has. Anything under 200 will work fine. 

2. Slice your fruit about ¼ inch thick (Noticing a trend? Preheat the oven to "about" this temperature; slice the fruit "about" this thick? The good news is, dogs aren’t exactly food critics. They’re going to like whatever you make for them, so experiment and have fun! These are just some guidelines)

3. If you have a roasting pan with vents in the bottom, that’s ideal for drying fruit. Arrange your fruit so it’s close together but not quite touching. No roasting pan? No problem! You can also use a cookie sheet. Crinkle up some foil then partially smooth it out and use this on top of the cookie sheet. If you put your mango on a totally flat surface, it will stick, and air being able to get under it will make it dry quicker. So you just want some ridges in your foil.

4. Put the mango in the oven. It will take about 3 hours, then need turning over, then about 2 more hours on the other side. If you feel like it’s starting to cook instead of dehydrating, you can keep the oven door cracked.Different ovens dry at different speeds; I recommend checking it hourly. When it’s done, it will feel leathery.

You can dry lots of things: sweet potatoes, bananas, berries, or pumpkin.

The second recipe is for more of a traditional biscuit type treat.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (If your dog is sensitive to wheat, oat flour is even better!)

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 large egg

3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (you don’t have to use chicken broth! The purpose of this ingredient is to add moisture and flavor. If you boil some veggies or pasta for your human family to eat, you can save the water and use it here. I especially recommend carrot-water)

3 tablespoons oil - the very best is virgin coconut oil, but olive is great for dogs too

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Combine peanut butter, egg, broth and oil in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula until a rough dough forms. Knead the dough in the bowl 5-6 times until it comes together.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to a 1/4-inch thickness. With a 3-inch dog bone shaped cookie cutter, cut out treats and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Press all the scraps together, kneading once or twice, then roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out more treats; repeat if necessary. (Note: I’m a super lazy chef and Scooter is easy to please; don’t worry too much about the shape of the treats. Your dog will like blob-shapes just as much as bone-shapes)

4. Bake treats until lightly browned, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely; biscuits will harden as they cool. Store in an airtight container. They last a week or so at room temperature and 2 - 3 weeks in the fridge.

There are some good opportunities to get creative here; I like to add a mashed carrot or mashed banana. You can add a bunch of chopped parsley to help with stinky breath.

For additional recipes, Pinterest is a wealth of information. My only words of caution are to avoid sugar and salt as much as possible, and when you can limit wheat.

Of course the easiest recipe of all is buying treats that somebody else made! We carry an assortment of healthy treats here at Delightful Dog, and our friends over at Dog City Bakery make healthy bakery-style treats in house and we highly recommend them.

Safe and Yummy People Food

In the past, we’ve shared what human foods to avoid with dogs. But what do we eat that’s great for them? Although most dogs eat the same food every day for their meals, just like people they appreciate variety, so try mixing it up with these yummy “people foods” as treats.

In the nursery, puppies experience new tastes and sensations by getting to try blueberries, peas, and apples, frozen in a little bit of water. Arthur, pictured, loves playing with his ice cubes and then eating the fruit inside.

Veggies!

Veggies are great for dogs for the same reasons they are great for people - they are full of vitamins and antioxidants and relatively low in calories.

• Peas - peas are starchy and have a sweet taste that dogs enjoy. Especially frozen, they make a great treat. Try them in a puzzle toy for extra fun.
• Carrots - my own dog, Scooter, actually goes to the freezer to request the frozen peas and carrots medley we all remember from childhood. Some dogs also like raw carrots or boiled mashed carrots stuffed in a Kong. For teething puppies, you can freeze a whole full size carrot and let them chew it like a chew-bone. It tastes great and feels soothing on their gums.
• Pumpkin - pumpkin is a wonderful food for dogs. It will get things moving for a constipated dog, and help firm things up for a dog with soft stool. Try mixing with their kibble and then freezing in a Kong.
• Green beans - although not his favorite, Scooter likes green beans pretty well, and they are low calorie and filling - a good snack for those days when your dog has had all their food for the day but swears up and down that they are starving.
• Greens - Kale, cabbage, and broccoli are all popular with some dogs. Be careful with these though - just like in humans, too much will cause gas - ick!

Dairy

• Speaking of gas, yogurt is great for a dog’s digestion. Scooter is partial to unflavored low fat yogurt. Greek yogurt is too tart for his liking. You can try different kinds until you find one your dog loves, just be cautious of too much sugar and avoid any artificial sweeteners. About a spoonful with a meal is the right amount. You don’t want to go overboard with dairy.
• Cheese - Lowfat cheese makes a great training treat! Too much can upset the tummy, but in moderation, it’s delicious and healthy. Lowfat cottage cheese or ricotta freezes really well in a Kong.

Grain - strictly speaking, dogs don’t “need” grain in their diets, which is why grain-free dog food is so popular, but grain does have some vitamins in it that are great for their kidneys and coats, so a little bit here and there is a good, safe treat. We are especially fond of:

• Oatmeal! Scooter goes absolutely bonkers when we make oatmeal, especially with bananas.
• White rice - this seems counterintuitive, since brown rice is healthier for humans, but with their shorter digestive tracts, dogs digest white rice much more easily. White rice makes an awesome treat or it can help settle an upset tummy.
• Quinoa - be careful with this one though, because the itty bitty grains go everywhere so you will probably have to sweep or vacuum when your dog is done. Perhaps a good outside treat.

Fruit - It bears repeating, never ever feed grapes or raisins to a dog or cat. However:

• Mango is perfectly safe and very popular with dogs. Dried mango makes a great training treat. Look for dried mango without sulfites or feed very sparingly, or try making your own in the oven or food dehydrator.
• Bananas - Scooter is bananas for bananas. Mashed bananas, frozen whole bananas as chew-bones, banana chips - you name it, he loves it.
• Berries - just the right size to be a fun training treat, fresh or frozen.
• Apples - Dried apple especially is a good treat because it can be easily carried in a treat pouch or pocket. If you decide to give fresh apples, make sure your dog doesn’t eat the seeds or core.

In short, be safe but have fun! Like humans, different dogs have different tastes - Scooter thinks cucumber is for the birds, but your dog may love it. Try different things, and if you’re ever in doubt about the safety of a food, a staff member at Delightful Dog would be happy to assist you.

For further reading:

http://pets.webmd.com/ss/slideshow-people-foods-your-dog-can-eat

http://www.petmd.com/dog/nutrition/evr_multi_healthy_snacks