DIY dog treats

I promised my clients recipes for the treats I served during our obedience class graduation party yesterday. The first five freeze well; just be sure to cool them completely before you bag them up to prevent freezer burn.

Chicken & Gravy Training Treats
Ingredients:
2-oz. jar of chicken and gravy baby food
1/2 c. flour

Knead ingredients together to make a stiff dough. Tear the dough into small chunks and roll them between your palms to form ropes about 1/2 inch in diameter. Use scissors to cut each rope into kibble-sized pieces and either bake or air-fry at 400 degrees until the treats are crunchy and slightly browned — usually about 15 minutes in my oven, but your mileage may vary, especially if you’re closer to sea level. (Tucumcari’s elevation is about 4,000 feet, which slows our cooking times a bit.)

Chicken & Applesauce Treats
Ingredients:
4-oz. container of chicken and applesauce baby food
1 c. flour

Follow the steps from the previous recipe. If you’re not using your treats for training, you can make them a little bigger; for my most recent batch, I rolled the dough into small balls and then pressed down the centers to make tiny thumbprint cookies.

Pumpkin-Oat Treats
1/2 c. plain canned pumpkin (DO NOT use preseasoned pumpkin-pie filling, as some of the ingredients may not be safe for dogs)
1 c. rolled oats

Place oats in a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse flour. Mix in the pumpkin, knead, and form into balls no bigger than 1/2 teaspoon. Flatten each ball with a fork and bake at 400 degrees until the outside is dry and firm. (You can bake them longer if you want, but I like to leave mine a little chewy to give the dogs some variety.)

Variation: Add 2 heaping tablespoons PB2, PB Fit, or similar defatted peanut powder to give these a little more flavor.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 c. PB2, PB Fit, or similar defatted peanut powder
1/4 c. peanut butter (read your label to make sure it doesn’t contain xylitol, which can kill a dog)
2 tablespoons pumpkin (optional)

Mix all ingredients to form a stiff dough, form into balls about the size of a peanut M&M, and flatten with a fork or the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake at 400 until they start to smell good. These burn quickly, so don’t leave them in the oven too long; mine were done in about 10 minutes.

Sweet-Potato Chews
Large sweet potato

Using a mandoline slicer, carefully cut the sweet potato into strips about 1/8 inch thick. Place in a dehydrator and process for several hours until strips are mostly dry but slightly flexible. Cool and store in an airtight freezer bag.

Variation: Core an apple and slice it instead. You’ll have to adjust your time — apples usually dry faster than sweet potatoes — but dried apples make a nice treat for humans, too.

This next recipe is cute and easy to make and always gets a lot of smiles during class. It doesn’t keep well, though, and it will separate if you try to freeze it, so make a small batch and be sure to use it within a day or two. If you don’t have candy molds, you can just pour the hot gelatin into a pan lined with waxed paper and then cut it into squares once it sets up.

Bone-Broth Gummy Bears
3 packets unflavored Knox gelatin
1 cup unsalted bone broth, divided

Stir gelatin into 1/2 c. of the broth, adding no more than half a packet at a time and stirring after each addition. Let it rest a few minutes so it can “bloom” while you boil the other 1/2 c. of broth in the microwave. Gradually stir the boiling broth into the gelatin. Pour into small silicone candy molds and refrigerate until solid. Pop finished gummies out of molds, layer in a paper bag with paper towels, and refrigerate immediately. Use within two days to avoid mold or spoilage.

It’s probably overkill to make so many different treats, but clients get a kick out of the variety, and it’s fun to offer dogs a variety of textures and flavors and see which ones they’ll like best.

All of these recipes are safe for humans to eat, but most of them aren’t likely to taste very good. If your dog has a wheat allergy, you can grind oats in a food processor and swap them for the flour in any of these recipes, and all of the recipes involving baby food will work just as well with other dog-safe flavors; I usually just get whatever meat is available.