Recipes for Dog Treats

How much do we Americans enjoy food and eating? I don't know about the rest of you, but I absolutely LOVE food. I guarantee our pets feel the same way - haven't you seen how fast they are able to eat? I know we all want to give our animals the best (and most healthy) treats, and making your own dog treats at home is a great way to do that! Today, I would like to share with you a few recipes, and it is my hope that you submit your own - either as a comment or send me an email (dsheffler@petstrong.com). I would love to post your recipe on my blog!

• Seed-filled Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup soy flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds; (or pumpkin seeds)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil or melted butter
1/4 cup unsulfered molasses
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk

Instructions:

Preheat Oven: 350 degrees
Grease or spray cookie sheets Mix dry ingredients and seeds together.
Combine milk and egg and mix.

Add oil, molasses, and all but 1 tablespoon of egg/milk mixture. Add more milk if needed to make firm dough. Knead a few minutes, let dough rest 1/2 hour or more.

Roll out to 1/2 inch. Cut into shapes and brush with the rest of the egg/milk mixture.

Bake on cookie sheets for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. To make biscuits harder, leave them in the oven with the heat turned off for an hour or more.

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• Chicken flavored Dog Treats:

Ingredients:

2 cups Flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons fresh, chopped parsley
1 cup cooked chicken livers, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine flour and cornmeal in a bowl. In a large bowl add the egg, oil and broth and mix. Add the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time and mix well between additions. Add chopped chicken livers until well incorporated into a stiff dough. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and kneed for about 1 minute. Roll out to a thickness of about 1/2″. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter dipped in flour. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake treats for about 15 minutes or until firm.

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• Wild, Wild, West Dog Treats
  

Ingredients:

1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups warm beef broth
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup honey
1 egg - beaten
1/4 cup bacon grease or margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour (white, oat, or rye)
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup wheat germ
2 cups cracked wheat
3/4 cup wheat bran
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
3 cups whole wheat flour - (approximately)

Topping:

1 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons oil
Instructions:

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine beef broth, milk, honey, egg, bacon grease or margarine, and salt.

Add yeast/water mixture and mix well. Stir in flour, corn meal, wheat germ, cracked wheat, wheat bran, oatmeal, and cheese. Add whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Knead in the final amounts of flour by hand to make a stiff dough.

Continue to knead for 4 to 5 minutes. Pat or roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into bone shapes and place on a greased baking sheet.

Cover lightly and let set (rise) for 30 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom.

Prepare topping during last few minutes. Turn off oven heat.

Remove biscuits from oven. Immediately dip biscuits in topping. Return them to oven and leave biscuits in oven for several hours or overnight.

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• Yummy Peanut Butter Dog Treats:
  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cups safflower oil
2 medium eggs
3 tablespoons peanut butter (sugar free, creamy)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cups rolled oats

Additional flour for rolling

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix water, oil, eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla with a wire whisk. Add flours, cornmeal, and oats. Combine with a mixer.

Take one-third of the dough and place on a floured surface. Flour top of dough. Gently knead, adding more flour as necessary to form a pliable dough (This will require
a substantial amount of flour). Roll out to 1/2 - 3/4 inch thickness and cut shapes using cookie cutters. Repeat until all dough is used.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 400 F, 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness of biscuits . Leave in oven 20 minutes after turning oven off to crisp. Store in an airtight container.

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Storing your dog biscuits:

In general you should store dog treats the same way you would homemade people cookies. That being said, there are two main variables that determine storage time - the amount and type of fat in the recipe and your local weather conditions. If your recipe uses fats such as butter, or meat bits or juices then it will be more prone to rancidity than a recipe that uses some vegetable oil or shortening. Your treats may mold or spoil much faster in humid or very hot climates.

Refrigeration and Freezing- Refrigeration will prolong the life of more fragile dog treats. Make sure to store in a tightly sealed container or zip lock bag. You can also freeze most treats in zip lock freezer bags. Allow to thaw completely before use.

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A huge craze in the human diet is eating organically, and it only makes sense that your pets would benefit from eating food that has been processed as little as possible. It should make you feel great as a pet owner to know every ingredient that you are feeding your dog is natural, and you aren't adding a bunch of chemicals or preservatives. The chemicals and preservatives they add to pet food can be very dangerous and can cause all types of digestive problems.

I would like to note that the above recipes were found on www.gourmetsleuth.com, and I am hoping that you will try them out - you will have to let me know what you think!