Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Homemade dog treats

I've discussed in the past how there are pets in your commercial pet food. In other words, dead animals (cats and dogs alike) get recycled into that kibble. Here's a little clip from my previous post:
Most commercial pet food ingredients all start at the rendering plant, where carcasses of various dead animals are rendered into a by-product that is used primarily for animal and pet feed. What goes into this mix? Well, downed farm animals, dead laboratory animals, what's left over after slaughter of meat and hide animals (such as heads, hoofs, bowels, diseased parts, tumors, bones, contaminated meat and the like), road kill, euthanized or dead companion animals (aka pets), restaurant grease and garbage, and pastries and meat past their pull date from grocery stores.

So, even though I don't currently have any pets, I'm always on the lookout for good homemade pet food recipes. Well, I ran across one yesterday that I think y'all might be interested in. It's a post written by one of the moms at my kid's school and she runs the 4H Club there. The other day the 4H group made homemade dog treats to sell at the annual craft fair to make money for the club.

If you are interested in the recipe, as well as cute pictures of kids making pet treats for their 4H Club, go check out the post! I can't attest to how tasty they are, but the recipe certainly sounds good! The nice thing about these dog treats is that they freeze really well, so you can make a bunch and store them for special occasions like doggie birthdays, holidays and anniversaries.

Have you tried making your own pet food or snacks or do you try to buy more natural pet food products?

Photo courtesy of Skruben

8 comments:

ASBloom said...

They actually DO taste OK...just need a little salt.

Robj98168 said...

Romeo will be the judge on taste, He told me so! He loves the homeade frosty paws I made him

Adrienne said...

I just have to post my generic warning whenever I see anything about making homemade pet food... Cat owners, if you decide to undertake making your cats food, you MUST do your research. Dogs are omnivores and can pretty much eat anything, though some diets are obviously better than others. Cats are obligate carnivores. They need specific nutrients, especially taurine, which they will not get if you feed them cooked meat or whatever. Lack of taurine will eventually be fatal. And taurine isn't the only thing to think about. There's a great site to start with here http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php and more links from there.

Julie said...

Years ago (the seventies) I had two dogs... one just a puppy. I made their food.It was made of 1/3 ground meat (cheap cuts and organ meats) 1/3 ground grains (wheat corn) and 1/3 chopped raw vegetable bits and pieces saved from the weekly meals. I would gently fry the meat in a large pot add the vegetable and then the grain and top the whole thing up with water or stock if I had extra. It was simmered until cooked through. Packaged in yogurt containers and frozen until needed. I added an egg and brewers yeast to their dinner once or twice a week. When the puppy was six months old she came into heat, escaped from the yard for an afternoon and came back pregnant. She had eight of the most enormous lab cross puppies you have ever seen. I think that food was nutritious enough.

Farmer's Daughter said...

Our dogs eat people food. Any and all of the food we eat, if they like it. Including chocolate. They've never had a bad reaction to it, but they're giant dogs (over 100 lbs) an old english sheep dog and a golden. They've both been run over a few times, too, and they're fine.

Anyway, I think people freak about what they feed their dogs too much. You can never convince me that a healthy omnivorous diet is not as good as (or way better than) packaged processed dog food.

And I'm pretty tired of the lectures about what dogs can't eat. My dad always says "So, what will they live to 11 instead of 12?" Not really, since Eddie's 13.

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

My dog used to scratch bald spots in his fur. It turned out that he was allergic to corn and wheat - two fillers that are common in dog food and treats. when I started researched what was in dog food my head spun - it isn't regulated at all and many companies (not all) use spoiled human food ingredients to make dog food. No wonder my dog was having allergy problems. I found a wonderful company that makes dog food from human grade USA sourced ingredients (California Natural if you're interested) because of that, I didn't have any issue with the dog food recalls - thank goodness! Given my dog's food allergies it's still hard to find him treats he can eat, even high end treats sometimes use corn or wheat flour. In that case, I make treats for him http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2008/08/allergy-free-apple-and-banana-dog.html.

Unknown said...

I make my own dog treats with a recipe that is oats, PB, wheat germ, garlic powder, milk, water, and wheat flour. Our dog loves them and they save us money on dog treats! We are looking to diversify his treat selection so I will check out this recipe as well. Thanks!

Trish said...

Gosh, it's amazing that the pet industry isn't more regulated than that. I can't wait to experiment with making my own dog food and treats. Thanks for the info!