Healthy puppy treats - homemade?

Are homemade dog treats healthier than store bought ones? I thought it made sense, but then someone told me that they are not any healthier. I have seen some recipies online and they have basic ingredients (including wheat flour, cream of wheat, baby food, etc) so I assumed they would be healthier. Also, do you think Cheerios are a healthy treat for a dog? Just one or two, not a whole bowl hahaha! Thanks

 

Whats nice about homemade treats is that you have control over the quality and type of ingredients used. I picked up a dog treat recipe book from my vets office and I have no idea what I did with it but the ingredients that the treats called for seemed like good ones if I remember correctly.
I give my dogs cheerios as treats once in a while.

 

I have seen alot of different ones posted here and some sound tasty for humans too! Like a yogurt and peanut butter one or something? Hopefully someone will post them again or at least post a link to it!

 

Home made are much healthier than store bought. Many products are fried instead of baked, or smoked.
THey also contain MSG and other "preservatives" which are very unhealthy to your dog or cat, or whatever animal.

I use this one and my dogs are CRAZY about it...

PUPSICLES

What you'll need:

A clean empty ice tray
six to twelve natural smoked rawhide sticks
one cup of chicken broth or chicken stock
one cup of water
1/4 cup of shreded (thinly and small peices) of chicken

Mix chicken broth, water, and chicken peices. Poor into individual ice cube in tray. Place a rawhide stick in the middle of each cube. You can cut holes in a piece of cardboard the size and place of the tray to hold the rawhide sticks in place.

Freeze until completely frozen. Pull Pupsickles out of tray by rawhide stick and serve! You may need to twist the tray a bit to release the cubes.

 

I got this from a Natural Health dog and cat book:

Dog Biscuits
2c. whole wheat flour
1/4c. cornmeal
1/2c. soy flour
1tsp. bone meal
1tsp. sea salt
1/4c. sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds(shelled)
2tbs. oil, melted butter or fat
1/4c. unsulfered molasses
2 eggs mixed with 1/4c. milk

Mix dry ingredients and seeds together. Add oil, molasses, and all but 1tbs of the egg/milk mixture. Add more milk if needed to make firm dough. Knead a few minutes, let dough rest 30 mins. or more. Roll out to 1/2 in. Cut into shapes and brush with the rest of the egg/milk mix. Bake on cookie sheets at 350F for 30mins or until lightly toasted. To make biscuits harder, leave them in the oven with the heat turned off for an hour or more.


My shepard really enjoys the Bark Bars made with garlic. Just a suggestion and the ingredients look good to me....nothing really extraordinary or hard to pronouce in those

 

Some dogs like my HJ have corn allergies etc... So that's something to look at... She couldn't eat many of those on a regular basis without breaking out...poor girl...my poor wallet too...LOL

 

Home made dog treats:
http://www.georgetownanimalclinic.com/352005.html

 

Thanks! :y_the_best:

 

Also keep in mind that any sort of grain is not a natural food for a dog.

 

Can you give examples of what contains grain? Thanks

 

Anything with wheat. Corn is generally not so good, either. If treats are used sparingly, of course, it's okay to have some not-so-healthy things in them, as long as the dog is not allergic to it. Dogs can't process fruits or veggies well, either, but they won't hurt the dog. Just don't count on them for nutrients.

 

Are cats allergic to wheat too? I posted cat treats in the cat forum and I want to try the sardine recipe with wheat germ in it. I don't want to end up with allergic cats. :mrgreen:

 

It's not necessarily that they are allergic, but their bodies don't process it well. Cats are obligate carnivores. Their bodies do not get much nutrition from grains because they don't have the enzymes to digest it. But if you are feeding kibble, they are getting grains anyway.

 

go to www.yummiesfordogs.org they have some great recipes on there. I like to freeze peanut butter in ice cube trays and give it to Harley. She loves that!!

 

Read the Whole Dog Journal article on peanut butter, bullylove.

 

Link to a bunch of recipes for doggie treats:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/1011/dog.htm#FidoTreat