Spoil your dog: How to make health dog treats at home

Cairns Pets have growing problems with obesity, and a common cause is unhealthy snacks.  Cairns Vet Clinic sells a range of healthy snacks and dog foods, or you can make your own dog snacks from a quality dry or tinned food such as Hills Science diet.  If your pet has weight issues, check out our Pet Fit weight loss program.  Not sure?  Learn how to tell if your pet is overweight.

 

Dallas McMillan
Cairns Vet Clinic 
Read the best Cairns Vet advice and Cairns Pet news on the web.

Homemade Treat Recipe

Yield: approx. two dozen treats

Using canned food:

1. Open the can and shake the loaf of food out of the can.
2. Cut the loaf into 1/4" thick slices, and then cut the slices into bite-sized pieces.
3. Bake the treats in a microwave oven on high for approximately 2 ½ to 3 minutes.
4. Store baked treats in the refrigerator and discard leftovers after 5-7 days.
5. Homemade treats should not exceed 10% of your pet's total daily intake because heat alters the nutritional characteristics of the food.
6. Do not freeze homemade treats.

For a conventional oven, follow the instructions above and place the bite-sized pieces on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until crispy.

Using Dry Food:

1. In a blender, add 2 cups of dry food and grind into a powder.
2. Pour powder into a mixing bowl and gradually add about 1 to 1 ¼ cups of water, stirring until it forms a dough consistency.
3. Shape into individual "treats" or "cookies" and flatten the dough using the back of a spoon (the cookies will not flatten like standard "people cookies" do.)
4. Place treats on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until crispy.
5. Store baked treats in the refrigerator and discard leftovers after 5-7 days.
6. Homemade treats should not exceed 10% of your pet's total daily intake because heat alters the nutritional characteristics of the food.
7. Do not freeze homemade treats.

To enhance flavor, sprinkle oregano powder over the dry food treats. However, do not add oregano to homemade treats when Prescription Diet® z/d® or d/d® foods are used. Cookie cutters make treats fun to make and serve. Only Prescription Diet® a/d® Canine/Feline food, Prescription Diet® n/d® Canine and Prescription Diet® s/d® Canine foods cannot be made into homemade treats using the above recipe. However, you can use the following recipe for homemade treats for these foods:

• Roll the canned food into little balls and place in the freezer to serve later as a frozen treat. Since it is not possible to bake n/d® Canine into treats, this is a great alternative. Also, this is refreshing to pets during the hot summer.