HOW ABOUT A TRICK FOR A TREAT?

Many of us try to feed the best dog food that we can afford. I try to feed my dogs natural or holistic types of foods. I was in the supermarket yesterday doing my grocery shopping and I always see what coupons (I’m a coupon Queen) I have for my dog’s snacks. Let me tell you, I must have read practically every ingredient label on the boxes of dog biscuits or treats they had on the shelves. Most all of them list wheat as the first ingredient, and then you’ll see the other unsavory ingredients like corn, by products, soy, etc. listed next. So here I am writing about the benefits of feeding natural ingredients in our dog’s food and I’m looking for dog treats in the grocery aisle of the supermarket!

Two days ago I got an e-mail sent to me from the Director of Brand Marketing for the dog food that I recently reviewed called Organix. He sent me an article that his company Castor and Pollux who produces this food was just honored by Dog Fancy magazine as the top new product for dogs. This product is called “Good Buddy Mac and cheese” dog biscuits. I admit that I've never used it for my dogs yet. Part of the sales of this dog treat goes to feed shelter animals. This company donated meals for 750,000 shelter animals last year!

Buying treats in the pet stores can be very expensive and it’s rare to have a coupon to buy them with. One of my dog’s favorite dog biscuits from these types of stores is the Canidae dog biscuits. These are the ones that snap in half so you can divide them among two dogs. They go nuts for these cookies. But they’re not cheap.

Some people give their dogs fruits and vegetables. I read that some breeders give their dog’s sweet potato’s which is a healthy alternative for snacking. If my dog’s are in the mood and nothing else is being offered to them on that day, they’ll eat carrots. My dogs are excellent eaters so they’ll eat most anything that’s offered to them, but carrots they can take or leave.

Even if you buy your dog’s treats in a pet store, always read the label. It doesn’t mean because it’s more expensive that it’s any better for them. They can still be selling the same ingredients in their biscuits as you would find in the grocery store only with a fancier label.

I’m not a baker. I like to cook, but I won’t win any awards for my baking expertise. There are recipes for dog biscuits that some people will bake for their canine friends. This way you know what’s in his cookie and you don’t need to use any preservatives. This is probably a whole lot cheaper to do than to buy the commercial brand of treats and a heck of a lot healthier. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of doing this myself if I can find an easy recipe to follow. I’d probably save myself a whole lot of money! Does anyone have any great recipes for dog cookies or treats? Here are a couple of recipes that I found on the internet you may want to try.

PUMPKIN WAFERS DOG TREATS
• One 15 oz. can mashed pure pumpkin (NOT the spiced pie filling)
• 3/4 cup cream of wheat (or rice cereal if wheat-sensitive) you can mix this dry--no need to cook it first
• 1/2 cup dry powdered milk
Directions: Preheat oven to 300 F.
Mix all ingredients together. Drop small spoonfuls (about half of a tablespoon) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

FROZEN DOG TREATS (You can make these in ice cub trays)
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 ripe banana --
• 16 ounces plain yogurt
Mix the peanut butter, honey, and fruit together until well blended—mash with a fork or use the blender. Add the fruit mixture to the yogurt and mix well. Freeze in ice cube trays. Crack trays and release treats as needed!
Mix all ingredients together. Drop small spoonfuls (I use about half of a tablespoon) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

For any treats that you make (besides the frozen ones), you can store them in an air-tight container or put in the refrigerator.

I’m sure your dog/dogs will love most any treat that you give them. For my readers who are pet owners, please never give your dogs CHOCOLATE anything and no grapes or raisins either. Someone told me recently that they give grapes to their dogs and they’re little tiny toy dogs. I told her not to feed them grapes anymore especially the size of these little guys. They can be toxic! If you are unsure of what to avoid when feeding your dog, just do a search on the internet and it will list all of the foods to avoid giving to your dog.

Watch out for the trick or treaters tomorrow night. Make sure your dog doesn’t get into the kids candies and tell the children to leave the treating of the dogs to the adults.

I think giving dog’s snacks as a reward or training incentive is good for them. Or you can do what I do, give it to them just because I like to spoil them.

My rating: healthy, natural dog snacks: (4), supermarket brand snacks: (1 -2), homemade dog treats: (4)