Homemade Dog Treats!

Weird huh?  I bet you were thinking I was posting the usual human yumminess, but I decided to do something a little different.

See I love my pugs and I think that they deserve good stuff to eat too.  Usually I would buy them dog treats, you know those baggie ones full of stuff that you can't pronounce and additives and other nasty stuff.  I did it because.....well because my dogs love treats and because it had never crossed my mind that I could make them myself at home.

So for the longest time they had the packaged ones.  Then in January my youngest pug had a seizure, and then two weeks ago, she had another.  And it's opened my eyes and it's made me realize that while I may not be able to control the seizures, I CAN and WILL ensure that my pets are getting healthy food in their system.

I set out to find homemade dog treats and boy was I surprised at the amount of recipes out there, everything from very simple to elaborate, from peanut butter to gourmet ground beef and sesame seeds.

Yep, I'm off on a new adventure, one that will consist of me baking a ton of treats every Sunday for their jar.

I honestly feel SO much better knowing that I'm going to give them homemade instead of store bought.

This afternoon I baked two different recipes which yielded quite a bit of treats and a very full jar.  They are so excited and happy, they immediately munched down and even begged for more.

Crunchy Beefy Dog Treats

Source

Crunchy Beefy Dog Treats are a recommended recipe from the Humane Society for homemade treats

½ cup cornmeal
2 cups whole wheat flour
6 tbsp oil
⅔ cup beef broth


Add the two dry ingredient to the mixer stand bowl and then combine on low for about 15 seconds.
Continue by adding the wet ingredients to the mixer stand bowl. Once these are added mix on medium for about a minute or until there is pretty much a dough ball sitting in your bowl.

Start preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Take the dough out and using a rolling pin spread it out until it is about ¼ inch thick. Use your cookie cutter to make the treats and set them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat this with the remaining dough by making a new ball and spreading out a gain until it has all been used.

Bake treats for 40 minutes turning at 20. This makes the treats nice and crunchy like dogs like them. Let the treats cool and test. This recipe will make about 2 dozen treats (depending on your cookie cutter shape).

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Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Source

(makes about 3 dozen)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup smooth natural or organic peanut butter
1 cup hot water or 1 cup skim milk
1 egg (it’s awesome for a shiny coat)


1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Mix together the flour and baking powder in a big bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the peanut butter and hot water until smooth. Slowly add the dry mixture and mix well. Add a little more water or milk if the dough is too dry, or flour if it’s too wet.

4. Place onto your counter and roll to 1/4″ thickness.

5. Cut with a cookie cutter and place on a cookie sheet. (I can not for the life of my find my dog bone cookie cutters, so I went with just simple shapes)

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool, and then let the begging begin!