# Dog treat's. homemade vs store bought.



## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

I make at least 75% of Finn's treats. Peanut butter treats, pumpkin treats, cheese bone biscuits are all favorites. The only down side is they all must be refrigerated, and I sometimes forget to put them back after a training session. There are some commercial treats that have great ingredients, no questionable stuff, so I do buy some of those.


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## Darcy (May 7, 2009)

My golden's fav is milk bone, Not the brand name. These treats are hard and crunchy n don't need refrigerated. But then again with three golden's they don't last long.


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## hmsalazar (Feb 19, 2009)

I made peanut butter treats and i dont refrigerate them, i do refrigerate the bananas+oat and the new favorite pizza treats. I give lucky a diferent dry food brand to training prize, like a more expesive premium food that smells very well or a free sample.


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## cinnamonteal (May 16, 2008)

I like to make biscuits with leftover barley from home brewing. You take the steeped flavor grains, add flour, peanut butter and an egg. Bake for about 30 min at 350 and then for several hours at 200 to get rid of all the moisture. If you want to make these, but don't make your own beer, I'm sure you can sub regular old barley or even oatmeal. Caleb absolutely loves these things.

I do buy some treats too, but I stay away from ones with artificial ingredients and generally choose things like duck jerky.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

Mine get store-bought treats (I know... "bad mom!" lol) but we stick with the Old Mother Hubbard brand. They're the maker of the Wellness food, so I feel pretty good about their ingredients.

The mailman tried to give Riley a BilJac biscuit the other day when we were out on our walk. I cringed a little, but figured one wouldn't hurt. Luckily, he wouldn't take it anyway. I laughed later, thinking that it was probably beneath his standards. :


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

My two normal dogs get a wide variety of store bought treats, it makes up less than 5% of their calories in a day so I don't stress over it. I do steer clear of the ones with tons of artificial coloring, but other than that, no worries. They go out in the yard and eat all sorts of gross stuff, I should worry about a little bit of dog treats, LOL?? They also get dehydrated sweet potatoes, which I make myself.
My IBD dog gets dehydrated rabbit and dehyrated sweet potatoes.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

I have started to make my own as well. With the uncertainty of treats and what they contain and when issues will pop up as well as the $$$ saved by doing so. When Kali was pregnant I read the back of some treats I had - Avoid feeding to puppies and preganat/lactating bitches. Those flew to trash in a few seconds. I make a few diffrent kinds of cookies. Peanut butter, molases and ginger, white chocolate chip, cheese with garlic, pizza etc. and mine love them as well. If you have a little bit of time on a saturday its well worth it.


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## Golden Miles' Dad (Dec 21, 2007)

Would anyone care to share their Recipes?


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

My guys usually get leftover meat from our menu for training treats, and at the moment there's more than enough food hitting the floor around the highchair to keep them happy. They might start to complain when the baby starts getting a lot better at eating, but for now it's six times a day for 'raining food'...

Lana


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

Golden Miles' Dad said:


> Would anyone care to share their Recipes?


I was going to ask the same question. 
Maybe we need a 'sticky' thread just for treat recipes?


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## Darcy (May 7, 2009)

LifeOfRiley said:


> I was going to ask the same question.
> Maybe we need a 'sticky' thread just for treat recipes?


Here is my milk bone recipe

3/4 cup hot water
1/3 cup of margarine
1/2 cup powered milk
1 pinch salt (optional) 
1 egg beaten
3 cups flour + 1/2 if dough is to sticky

In a large bowl pour hot water over margarine. Stir in powerded milk, salt and egg. add flour 1/2 cup at a time. Kneed to forum a stiff dough.

Roll to 1/2in thick, cut into shapes.

Bake at 325 for 50 min then let cool. They will dry quite hard.


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## LifeOfRiley (Nov 2, 2007)

Darcy said:


> Here is my milk bone recipe
> 
> 3/4 cup hot water
> 1/3 cup of margarine
> ...


Thank you! I'll have to give those a try.


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## jnmarr (Mar 7, 2008)

Golden Miles' Dad said:


> Would anyone care to share their Recipes?


I prefere home made treats for them. I like knowing what the ingredients 
are and it is also cheaper. 

For high value treats I will poach meat.. no seasonings till done, then freeze or refrigerate. Sometimes we also use string cheese. 

As for the cookie treats. I pulverize a box of quick oats in the food processor until it is a powder. Put aside. If oats are a problem for your dog you can find rice flour at the health food store. 

Decide what flavor you are making.. Choose 1: 
1 # of meat ( pulverized to a mush in the processor ), 1 can solid packed pumpkin, 1 can of mackerel, 2 cans of tuna or 1/2 a jar of peanut butter. 

Put the meat in a bowl, add 2 eggs and most of the oat flour. You can add grated carrots or apples to add interest, too. It will be a very stiff dough. 

Press the mixture into a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake 25 minutes @ 325 degrees. Use a pizza cutter and cut into small squares, and using a spatula flip them all over and bake for about 30 more minutes. Cool. Remember to keep in the fridge or freezer, as there are no preservatives used. 



OR 

Beefy Grain-Free Treats 
You can make these large or small and even feed them in place of a meal. 

1/2 pound ground beef—uncooked 
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth 
1/3 cup black beans, cooked—mashed 
1/3 cup cottage cheese 

Mix ground meat and chicken broth in a bowl. Add the black beans and cottage cheese. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly. Shape the mixture into bones or squares and place on a cookie sheet. You can make them big or little. Bake for 45 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Let cool.


OR 
Oatmeal/ Apple Bites



4 cups whole wheat flour ( if your dog is wheat intolerant you can zap extra oatmeal in the food processor till it becomes oat flour )
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup minced apple
3 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp veg oil
2 Tbsp honey
1 tbsp ground cloves.
Heat oven to 325 degrees F. mix all ingredients until combined well and forms a dough.
Roll out dough to about 1/4 " thick. Using a cookie cutter cut into shapes. I love bone and cat, lol. 
Place on ungreased parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. makes 5 to 6 dozen cookies.
Remember you didn't use a preservative so store in the fridge or freezer.


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## Darcy (May 7, 2009)

We also use a food dehydrator for beef and chicken jerky treat's.


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