If you followed my Instagram stories earlier this week (@educaninedogtraining), you saw me go on a tear making different treats for my dogs. That is because I got some great stuff for Christmas that I couldn’t wait to use. Today I am going to share the different recipes, tools, and techniques I use to make a wide array from treats for me dogs!
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Dehydrated Treats
Let’s start with the easiest task, the dehydrator! I received a Presto Dehydro food dehydrator. This thing has been so wonderful already! I’ve used it to make sweet potato chews, which I already knew my dogs would love because I’ve spent quite a bit on bags of the same thing at the pet store.
I used some leftover sweet potatoes in my pantry and sliced them about 1/8 in thick. I did wash them ahead of time but did not remove the skin because you don’t need to! After I sliced them all I positioned them in the Dehydro, plugged it in and checked on them three hours later. Easy peasy! My first batch was fine, though not as crispy. The second batch I left in for four hours instead and they were much crunchier.
After two successful sweet potato attempts, I decided up my game and bought a pack chicken tenderloins. This was much tougher because you need to cut the pieces down to about ¼ in. It also took much longer. I kept them in the dehydrator for about 9 hours. Next time I will plan to put them in for 10 instead. But there were no complaints whatsoever from the pups! They went bonkers for these, so it was time well spent!
The Presto Dehydro definitely gets a 10/10 from me and the pups!
Stuffed Kongs
The next task, while not always easy, is always necessary and that’s prepping our stuffed food toys for the week. I vowed recently to try to add healthier food and more variety to my dog’s diet via their food stuffed toys. These include Kongs, West Paw Toppls, Tux and Qwizls and Lickimats! Here’s what I’ve been doing lately.
I brown ground turkey and mix it into Koha’s Omega Mix supplement, which I use bone broth into to rehydrate. In addition, I add pumpkin, coconut oil, and “Cannagurt” made by Enhance. It is goat’s milk yogurt with CBD mixed in. After mixing all of that up, I get to work with filling those items. It’s a messy job but someone has to do it!
I also spread different types of food onto our Lickimats. The sky is the limit here too! I use pumpkin, coconut oil, cream cheese, Super Snouts Chill Out peanut butter (also with CBD), yogurt and/or canned dog food.
If you’ve been stuffing your toys with kibble and peanut butter, like I used to, plan to spend a few more minutes creating something more healthy and exciting for your dog!
Training Treats
Then I got busy working on our training treats. There’s an easy way to do this and a hard way. But dog’s go crazy for both.
My training treat of choice is Happy Howie’s Lamb Meat Rolls. They are healthier than the average treat, soft and smelly, which is perfect for training. But cutting them is a bit of a time suck. So, I purchased a Vidalia Chop Wizard on Amazon to do most of the cutting for me!
I start by cutting what I need. I leave the casing on whatever I am saving so it doesn’t dry out until the next time I want to cut it. I use a reusable silicone can lid to cover the end and refrigerate what I don’t need at that moment. I slice the roll into about half inch pieces. Then I use the Chop Wizard to chop the roll into tiny pieces. This model comes with two sizes so I can make slightly bigger pieces for my larger dogs.
I used about half of the roll for the amount of treats you see here. My guess is that there are 100-200 treats here, all perfectly sized! They make Lamb, Turkey and Beef varieties as well. You can purchase smaller rolls online or at some locally owned pet stores.
Lastly, I baked my own training treats. I previously purchased a Pyramid silicone baking mat, which is used to cool pans. But, if you flip it over, it has triangle shaped wells that are perfect for making small treats! I also received a set of baking mold with small dot shapes, so I had to give them both a try.
I used a recipe from a Facebook group called “Pyramid Dog Treats.” This community of people share tips and recipes about how to make treats with these molds. Since my dogs eat a chicken-based kibble, I made a chicken recipe. You can also make salmon, tuna, or peanut butter varieties.
Here is the recipe:
Simple Baked Chicken Treats
Ingredients:
1 10-oz can chicken including liquid
2 eggs
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tablespoon oil
Directions:
1. Blend the chicken, its liquid, and 2 eggs in a food processor.
2. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the flours and oil. The batter should be a little thicker than pancake batter but still pourable.
3. Put the mold on a cookie sheet. Spread half the batter onto the silicone mold. Take the time to get the batter into the holes. Scrape it off the dividers.
4. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees F.
5. Remove from the oven.
6. When the silicone sheet is cool enough to handle, turn it over and dump the treats out.
7. Bag them up and refrigerate or freeze.
Now, I did not have an easy time getting these out of the molds. Some suggestions say putting them into the freezer for a few minutes, then try to pop them all out. And I will tell you that the recipe is correct. You should take the time to fill the holes properly and scrape the excess off of the mold.
Frozen Dog Treats
The last thing I did was make some frozen dog treats. This was more of a use what you had recipes. I used 1/2c of plain greek yogurt, 2 tbsp of peanut butter and 2 tbsp of canned pumpkin. I whipped it all up in my Nutribullet and then poured it into these cute molds by Messy Mutts. Just pop them in the freezer and you are all done!
All of these recipes can certainly be a lot of work but if you are an avid baker or are interested in supplementing your dog’s diet with more homemade treats for training or every day, then I would recommend trying some of these suggestions!
“Bone” Appetit and Happy Training!