Dog Treats - Homemade? [General]
2012 Dec 6
I have a friend who makes beautiful thin, healthy biscuits for her dogs in a dehydrator. She likes doing it because she can control the ingredients, not necessarily because it is more cost effective.
I make biscuits to give to my doggie friends every Christmas, and here's the recipe I use:
2 cups flour
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup de-shelled sunflower seeds
2 tbsp safflower oil or creamy peanut butter
¼ cup molasses
2 eggs mixed with ¼ cup milk
1. Mix dry ingredients and seeds together
2. Add oil (or peanut butter), molasses and milk/egg mixture and stir. Dough will be sticky.
3. Knead dough a few minutes on a flour covered surface
4. Roll out dough approximately ½ inch thick and cut into squares or shapes
5. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes
To make the biscuits harder, leave them in an unheated oven overnight.
I usually cut them into interesting or festive shapes (I have dreidel cookie cutters for dogs that celebrate Chanukah). I reroll the scraps and cut them into small tidbit sized pieces that are good as training aids.
I make biscuits to give to my doggie friends every Christmas, and here's the recipe I use:
2 cups flour
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup de-shelled sunflower seeds
2 tbsp safflower oil or creamy peanut butter
¼ cup molasses
2 eggs mixed with ¼ cup milk
1. Mix dry ingredients and seeds together
2. Add oil (or peanut butter), molasses and milk/egg mixture and stir. Dough will be sticky.
3. Knead dough a few minutes on a flour covered surface
4. Roll out dough approximately ½ inch thick and cut into squares or shapes
5. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes
To make the biscuits harder, leave them in an unheated oven overnight.
I usually cut them into interesting or festive shapes (I have dreidel cookie cutters for dogs that celebrate Chanukah). I reroll the scraps and cut them into small tidbit sized pieces that are good as training aids.
2012 Dec 6
Johnny English, I made up a basket of homemade christmas goodies for a friend once, including those dog biscuits. Everything was clearly labelled in English, but teenagers were francophone. They ate the dog biscuits and complained to their mom that they weren't very tasty and were really hard.
2012 Dec 6
@ Zymurgist - Thanks Z., I am waiting to hear back from a friend of mine about the spent brewing grains.
@ AD_2 - Good point about the sugar, I totally agree. I didn't think cornmeal would be hard on dogs, I'll have to look into that. I know corn is used often as a 'filler'. I was also looking to add some pumpkin (turns out my dog loves pumpkin!)
@ AD_2 - Good point about the sugar, I totally agree. I didn't think cornmeal would be hard on dogs, I'll have to look into that. I know corn is used often as a 'filler'. I was also looking to add some pumpkin (turns out my dog loves pumpkin!)
2012 Dec 6
TMac here are 2 recipes I've used:
BOW WOW BISCUITS
For the dog who has everything, here are some gourmet biscuits that will have Fido barking for more. Dog bone-shaped cookie cutters are available at most kitchen and baking supply stores. Garlic powder and brewer's yeast help prevent fleas, so we've added them to this healthful mix. You'll find brewer's yeast at bulk and health food stores.
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick, instant, or old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup whole, skim or non-fat dry powdered milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brewer's yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 325F.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, wheat germ, dry milk, garlic powder, brewer's yeast & salt. In medium bowl, whisk together egg, oil, peanut butter & water. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix to form a ball (add an extra spoonful or two of water if mixture is too dry to hold together). Knead for 2 or 3 min. or until smooth & well-combined. Roll out to a 1-in. thickness. Cut biscuits and arrange on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 35 min or until golden brown, turning biscuits once, halfway through cooking. Transfer to baking rack & allow to cool thoroughly before storing. Best Before Date: Consume within 1 month. Makes 30 medium-sized dog biscuits.
Andy’s notes: made 20 3/4" to 1" thick medium-sized dog bone cookie cutter biscuits. The dough is easy to work with and doesn’t stick to the counter so it didn’t need any flouring.
***
From MacPherson’s K-9 Cookbook (it came with the dog bone cookie cutters I use)
Fido’s Low Fat Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (stone ground, if possible)
1/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup skim milk powder
2 Tbs cold water
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, rolled oats and garlic powder.
In a small bowl, whisk oil, egg whites, molasses, milk and water.
Make a well in the flour mixture and gradually stir in egg mixture until well blended.
Divide dough into 2 balls.
Knead each ball on a well floured surface, about 2 minutes.
With a rolling pin, roll dough to 1/2" thickness.
Cut with a K-9 biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.
Bake 30 minutes at 350 deg F. Turn oven off and leave biscuits to harden for 1 hour.
Cool on rack and store in a container with a loose-fitting lid.
BOW WOW BISCUITS
For the dog who has everything, here are some gourmet biscuits that will have Fido barking for more. Dog bone-shaped cookie cutters are available at most kitchen and baking supply stores. Garlic powder and brewer's yeast help prevent fleas, so we've added them to this healthful mix. You'll find brewer's yeast at bulk and health food stores.
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup quick, instant, or old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup whole, skim or non-fat dry powdered milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brewer's yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 325F.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, wheat germ, dry milk, garlic powder, brewer's yeast & salt. In medium bowl, whisk together egg, oil, peanut butter & water. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix to form a ball (add an extra spoonful or two of water if mixture is too dry to hold together). Knead for 2 or 3 min. or until smooth & well-combined. Roll out to a 1-in. thickness. Cut biscuits and arrange on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 35 min or until golden brown, turning biscuits once, halfway through cooking. Transfer to baking rack & allow to cool thoroughly before storing. Best Before Date: Consume within 1 month. Makes 30 medium-sized dog biscuits.
Andy’s notes: made 20 3/4" to 1" thick medium-sized dog bone cookie cutter biscuits. The dough is easy to work with and doesn’t stick to the counter so it didn’t need any flouring.
***
From MacPherson’s K-9 Cookbook (it came with the dog bone cookie cutters I use)
Fido’s Low Fat Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (stone ground, if possible)
1/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup skim milk powder
2 Tbs cold water
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, rolled oats and garlic powder.
In a small bowl, whisk oil, egg whites, molasses, milk and water.
Make a well in the flour mixture and gradually stir in egg mixture until well blended.
Divide dough into 2 balls.
Knead each ball on a well floured surface, about 2 minutes.
With a rolling pin, roll dough to 1/2" thickness.
Cut with a K-9 biscuit cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.
Bake 30 minutes at 350 deg F. Turn oven off and leave biscuits to harden for 1 hour.
Cool on rack and store in a container with a loose-fitting lid.
2012 Dec 7
I've only baked these recipes. I've never thought of a reason for dehydrating them rather than baking them - what are your thoughts Tara? Mind you I'd still have to use my oven for dehydrating - it does have a dehydrating setting that will allow me to set the temp. as low as 100F with the fan running. It's mostly peppers that I dehydrate - never thought to dehydrate dog biscuits.
2012 Dec 7
My dog loves the dehydrated sweet potato chews that you can buy at Homesense. President's choice also makes them now. I don't have a dehydrator machine so I've never tried to make them, but I imagine they would be quite easy. They are just sliced sweet potatoes, no fillers or other ingredients required.
2012 Dec 7
@ LovetoEat - Hmmm.... sweet potato chews eh? Interesting idea. I will look into that.
@ Andy - Hey Andy, I got an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator this summer. It was a big purchase for me so I tried to get the most out of it during the harvest season. We didn't have time for canning everything and we always loose a lot of veg every year because we just can't get through it all. I managed to dehydrate LOADS of veg and they seem to cook up just fine although I'm still getting used to it. As for the dog biscuits, I get really busy so I like to do bulk cooking. I figured that dehydrating the dog biscuits would make them last a lot longer and preserve more of the vitamins etc because it uses a lower heat. After a trial run, I could do a massive batch to use for Christmas goody bags and for Clark (my dog). The reality is that - unless it's time efficient and I set it up to be as easy as possible - I probably won't do it. The dehydrator is super easy to use, easy to clean, I can just set the temp and walk away. Heck, I could make a few hundred dog biscuits in a day with the dehydrator and just turn a movie on while I cut out the biscuits. If I'm lucky, I can get a friend to come and make them with me. Anyway - that's the plan :)
@ Andy - Hey Andy, I got an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator this summer. It was a big purchase for me so I tried to get the most out of it during the harvest season. We didn't have time for canning everything and we always loose a lot of veg every year because we just can't get through it all. I managed to dehydrate LOADS of veg and they seem to cook up just fine although I'm still getting used to it. As for the dog biscuits, I get really busy so I like to do bulk cooking. I figured that dehydrating the dog biscuits would make them last a lot longer and preserve more of the vitamins etc because it uses a lower heat. After a trial run, I could do a massive batch to use for Christmas goody bags and for Clark (my dog). The reality is that - unless it's time efficient and I set it up to be as easy as possible - I probably won't do it. The dehydrator is super easy to use, easy to clean, I can just set the temp and walk away. Heck, I could make a few hundred dog biscuits in a day with the dehydrator and just turn a movie on while I cut out the biscuits. If I'm lucky, I can get a friend to come and make them with me. Anyway - that's the plan :)
2012 Dec 7
Hey Andy - Yup, that's most of what was dehydrated this summer. Was madness, the dehydrator was going non-stop for more than a month. Clark likes chunks of raw carrots and goes nuts over pureed pumpkin (I threw some in his dry food). I don't think the biscuits would be that much different - probably just harder which would be a good thing since Clark is 8 1/2 now and we need to be careful with his teeth (small dogs are prone to tooth problems...) I want to pick up a dog bone cookie cutter before I start making them and I need to get some things organized so I'll probably start making them in about 1.5 - 2 weeks. I'll be sure to take pics and post an update.
TMac
Just wondering if any of you have tried making your own dog biscuits. My little Clark (the pup) and I are on a big budget but we hate to cut back on food. We also move around and travel to other countries a lot - so I think learning how to make our own dog treats will come in quite useful (you can't always find them easily!) I also recently got an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator which I think would be fabulous for making a big bulk batch of dog biscuits.
My questions are:
1) Is it cost effective to DIY dog treats as opposed to buying a bulk box of Milk Bone?
2) Do you have any reviews or stories from people who make their own dog treats?
3) Do you have any tried and true recipes to share?
Thanks a bunch!
Tara