Two Great Homemade Dog Treat Recipes to Make

For this recipe I have added the good old trusty, peanut butter for extra flavour and of course nutrients. I never like to stick to an exact recipe. I like to experiment a little, but you have to know for sure what is right and what is not right for your dog. Your dog may react to some ingredients and then you have to eliminate them one by one.

There are certain things that you just can’t give them, like onions. This is not going to go down well. If you are going to experiment then just get to know the basics in order to get the consistency right and then you can add the flavourings and extra ingredients.

Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog treats

•  3 cups raw oatmeal
• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1½ cups cold water
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp organic peanut butter

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Mix everything together until your get a dough-like consistency.
• Get a greased baking tray ready
• Roll pieces of the dough into equal sized pieces in the size of a teaspoon or you can just spoon them directly on to the baking tray
• Place them in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes.

credit: flickr.com/kimberlygauthier

A word about freezing

Freezing will make you your life a lot easier when it comes to making your dog treats so make sure you make use of this. It doesn’t take long to thaw them out. Obviously you are not going to put them in the microwave. Once they have thawed out then you will discover that they will last as long as if you hadn’t frozen them. So they may last two weeks.

That is why it is a good idea to make a couple of batches, freeze them and then take out a batch at a time, depending on how many dogs you have and how much you give them. Freezing can last up to 6 months if you put the treats in a air tight freezer bag which you should do.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe

Peanut Butter is always a winner when it comes to dog treats. Dogs love it. Just get your basic ingredients and scoop in a spoonful of peanut and your dog will be licking his lips. Here, I have come up with a recipe which is going to get tails wails, which also includes pumpkin.

The two go together really well, but our main aim of the exercise is not to find the perfect flavour combinations, although that does help to an extent, but we are looking at nutrients first and foremost. This is the reason we go to the extra effort of making the treats ourselves.

I actually found a pumpkin dog treats recipe and decided to adapt it a little by throwing in some peanut butter because not only is this flavorsome, but the nutrients are all there. Pumpkin contains large doses of vitamin A and carotene. Vitamin C, K and E as well as minerals like magnesium, potassium and iron can be found in this vegetable. 

Good things like protein, fibre and various minerals can be found in the peanut butter, but make sure you find something without a lot of fat and oil. If it is refined then it is going to be perfect. The object is to stay away from fatty foods so using a cheap, oily peanut butter would defeat the purpose.

You only need a tiny scoop of this so it is not going to break the budget. Whenever you are making dog treats try and stick to low-fat ingredients, whole wheat flours instead of white or use olive oil and things that you know are generally better overall. This is especially great after Haloween  or Thanksgiving when there is an abundance of pumpkin left over, but we all love a good old pumpkin so it can’t set you back. 

 

credit:flickr.com/wirelizard

Let's get down to the basics

Homemade dog treats with peanut butter and pumpkin

•  2 cups whole wheat flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
•  2 eggs
• ¾ cup fresh pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons organic peanut butter
• Pinch salt
• ¼ cup water
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 You can make a couple of these batches and freeze them so you would just need to double up the ingredients. Don’t make a massive amount of dough at once, rather limit it to a double quantity and then repeat the processs otherwise it can be difficult to mix up.

• Mix everything together in a bowl or you can use a electric mixer. All of the ingredients should be mixed in properly until you get a smooth consistency and it forms a dough.
• Now you need to sprinkle a little flour on your work surface so nothing sticks.
• Roll this out into a thickness of 1” and then cut them equally with a knife or a cookie cutter. They should be about 1”.
• Leave them to bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes and let them cool down.