GREAT BALLS OF SPINACH

This is another great recipe I found in Everyday Magazine by Rachael Ray!

This makes 18 treats or more, if you want to make them smaller for a little dog.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup quick-cooking oats

2 Tbsp. grated cheese (any kind)

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed by not drained

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients. 

Using your hands or a small ice cream scoop, 

shape the mixture into golf-ball size treats (or smaller). 

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake the spinach balls for 30 minutes. 

Let cool, then refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 6 months.

Note: Every pet is different, 

so check with your vet to see if this recipe is suitable for your dog.

5 Surprising and Healthy Dog Treats Hiding at Home

There has to be an alternative to store-bought organic dog treats.

This was exactly what I was thinking when I was buying another bag of organic treats for my dog. After my fifth bag, I was starting to feel the strain that these expensive treats were putting on my budget. But I wasn’t about to switch over to cheaper, junk food equivalents of dog treats. Driven by both my budget limit and my unwavering commitment to give my dog-only healthy food, I did my research and found out that there are lots of dog-tasty and human-budget friendly treats right in my own home. Here are five of these natural and homemade dog treats that my baby absolutely loves!

Apples and Bananas 
A weird combination but for some reason, some dogs just love apples and bananas! For smaller breeds, it is better to slice the bananas and cut the apples into small cubes for them to be able to chew them properly. Larger breeds might find it more fun to eat whole apples or bananas on their own. However, apple seeds contain cyanide and can spell trouble for your dog over time. So make sure to remove the core of apples before feeding them to your dog.

Most fruits are enjoyed by dogs. However, there are some fruits that they should stay away from. These are avocados (which cause vomiting and diarrhea), persimmons (can be responsible for intestinal obstruction and enteritis) and grapes, raisins, and currants (all of which have an unknown toxin that can be harmful to the kidneys). If you let your large breeds eat fruit whole, take care that they don’t get access to the large pits which can cause intestinal blockage. Some fruits with large pits are peaches, mangoes, and plums.

Carrots
Dogs love fresh carrots! It isn’t known if it’s the natural sweetness of the vegetable or that delightful crunch, but a dog with fresh carrot is a happy canine. For smaller breeds, you can feed them baby carrots or slice a larger carrot into smaller, bite-size pieces. Another plus about carrots is that they serve as natural and healthy teeth cleaners!

Other vegetables you can give them are pumpkins (good source of fiber and beta carotene), sweet potatoes (for fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, beta carotene and manganese), and green beans (fiber, vitamin K, vitamin C, and manganese; these are also great to fill your dog up when he’s on a diet).

Oatmeal treats
Oatmeal is a great source of soluble fiber for both humans and dogs. While it is best for older dogs that may already be having problems with their digestion, when made into homemade treats these oatmeal concoctions are enjoyed by dogs of all ages and breeds. Remember to never make these homemade treats with sugar or artificial flavoring and to always cook oatmeal before feeding it to your dog.

Yogurt

Great for calcium and protein, yogurt is a canine favorite. Even better is that these can be combined with other foods good for dogs to make a tasty treat! One great way to do this is to blend together a mashed banana, some honey, and some peanut butter then freeze in an ice cube tray. Give these little popsicles to your dog on a particularly hot day. Remember to choose natural yogurt or non-fat yogurt without any artificial sweeteners or fat substitutes.

Cheese
Milk and dairy products in large amounts are definitely bad for dogs. However, dogs do love cheese! So on a day when they are being particularly good, sweet, or if you just want to spoil them, slice up some cheese in tiny cubes and shower them with love by giving them a couple.

Other natural foods that are good for your dog’s health can be found in this article by Modern Dog. Stay away from the foods in this list by Pet Education that have been proven to be harmful and even fatal for your dog. Now that you’re armed with this valuable, healthful food list for your canine family member, after a long session of training, give your dog some tender loving care complete with praises, a rub down, and one of these healthy treats he or she will definitely love.

Try Egg Paint as a Healthy Dog Treat Icing

An egg paint is a healthy alternative to traditional icing. There is no added sugar, and the yolk has vitamins A, D, E and K. The recipe is also very easy with just a few ingredients. You can easily whip up a batch whenever the artful mood strikes you.

The edible egg yolk paint is a type of dog treat icing that will dry hard and glossy.
Important Note: You can use this type of icing only if you apply it before you bake your dog cookies.
Ingredients:

• one egg (yolk and white separated)
• 1/4 tsp. water (approx. 10 drops of water)
• food coloring (liquid or paste)

1. Separate egg yolk from the white.
2. Pour the yolk into a bowl.
3. Add the water.
4. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.
5. Add desired amount of food coloring.

Tips & Techniques

• Separating an Egg - This can easily be done by cracking the egg around the middle of the shell. Then carefully, and over a bowl, transfer the yolk from one shell to the other while the white drops into the bowl. Do this transfer method until all you have left in the egg shell is the yolk.
• Food Coloring - You can use liquid or paste food coloring for your egg paint icing. The liquid is typically easier to find in grocery stores and will cost less initially. You can find the paste in craft stores with a baking section or specialty kitchen/baking stores. You may pay a little extra, but the paste lasts considerably longer. There are also many premixed colors to choose from. It really comes down to how often you intend to decorate your dog treat recipes. If you're an occasional decorator, the liquid food coloring should do nicely. You'll need to mix up your own colors, but to me that's part of the fun!
• There are several ways of creating more colors by using the recipe above. You can use an empty Styrofoam egg carton and divide the whipped yolk into individual cups and then add the food coloring. Actually any small plastic or glass container can be used to divide the yolk before coloring. I tend to save the little plastic baby food cups and use those for a variety of applications.
• Mixing Food Coloring - You will want to use patience when trying to achieve the colors you want. Keep in mind that you are starting with a yellow base, the egg yolk. You can easily use 7 or more drops of liquid to attain vibrant colors. After determining how many drops to get the colors you want, why not write your "formula" on a sticky note and keep it in the food coloring box. Next time you decorate you won't waste time getting the colors just right.
• Sizing - You can easily double, or even triple, this recipe for more colors and to cover a lot of dog biscuits. Remember, the egg paint is more of a glaze than a dog treat frosting or icing, so it will be thin.
• Application - You can use a basic water color paint brush set to apply the egg paint. For detailed work you may want to use toothpicks. If you want full coverage, or the dog cookie is large, you can use a pastry brush or other medium sized brush to apply one layer.
• The mixture may dry some during the painting, you can cover with plastic wrap to help prevent this. You can also add a couple drops of water to get things moving again. As with all dog treat recipes, the process should be fun, so relax and be creative.
• Baking - As mentioned above, you use this dog treat frosting before you bake the cookies. Unlike human cookies, dog treats don't use leavening, baking powder or baking soda, and so they rarely expand during the baking process. So the glaze should stay in the same place and look the same before and after baking.

There is no need for a dog on a restricted diet to go without decorated dog cookies. That's why this egg paint is so fantastic. It is simple to make, there is no added sugar and it's oh so much fun to apply! And, since they dry hard during baking, your artful creations can be stacked, refrigerated or frozen for future enjoyment, gifts or special occasions.

Carob Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/8 cup peanut oil
1/8 cup corn oil margarine
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 oz carob chips, melted (NEVER CHOCOLATE)
1 cup water
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup dry almond or rice milk

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended. Dough will be stiff. Chill. Roll dough on a greased cookie pan and  cut into shapes 1/2 inch thick. Bake at 300 for 1 hour. Makes 2 to 3 dozen.

Beef and Cheese Biscuit

1 cup rolled oats 1/3 cup margarine 1 cup boiling water 3/4 cup cornmeal 2 teaspoons white sugar

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules 1/2 cup milk 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1 egg, beaten 3 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Grease cookie sheets. Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, Cheddar cheese, and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff dough has formed. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter (I prefer bone shaped), and place 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container.

Chicken or Beef Biscuits

2 c. unbleached flour

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 c. cornmeal

½ c. Wheat germ

1 ½ tsp SAF-instant yeast

¼ tsp garlic powder

3 cubes chicken or beef bouillon
2 c. warm chicken or beef broth
2 eggs
½ c broth for basting

Preheat your oven to 375 and grease your baking sheet. In boiling water, dissolve the beef bouillon cubes. In a lg. mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, yeast and garlic powder.  Mix in the eggs.  Mix in the “bouillon water”, a little at a time.  Mix until it forms stiff dough. Lightly flour a place to roll out the dough.  You want to roll it out to approximately a ¼” thickness.  Cut into shapes. Place your raw dog treats on a cookie sheet, leaving them about an inch apart. Bake for 90 min.  When the time is up, turn off the oven and let the treats cool there. By leaving them in the cooled oven for anywhere from 3 hrs. to overnight, they’ll be able to get nice and hard and crispy.

Canine Carrot Cookies

2 cups carrots -- boiled and pureed

2 eggs

2 tablespoons garlic -- minced

2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup wheat germ *or rice flour or rye flour

Combine carrots, eggs and garlic. Mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients. Roll out on heavily floured surface and cut into bars or desired shapes. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or to desired crunchiness. The centers will continue to harden as they cool. Brush with egg white before baking for a glossy finish.

Low Fat Carrot Dog Treats

Low Fat Carrot Dog Treats

1 med. banana (ripe, please)
1 c. shredded carrots*
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 c. water (maybe more, as needed)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (keep some handy for rolling)
1 c. rolled oats

Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees, lightly spraying a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkling a little flour onto the surface you’re planning to use to roll out the dough.

In a medium bowl, mash up the banana and mix in the shredded carrots. To the carrot and banana, add the water and applesauce. Stir. Next, add the Flour and Oats. Stir all of the ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined. Using your hands, knead the mixture until a dough forms. Dump the dough onto the lightly floured surface that you prepared earlier. Roll it out until it’s about a half inch thick. Using a cookie cutter (bone shapes are fun!) or the rim of a small glass, cut into 3″ pieces. Place the pieces onto your lightly sprayed baking sheet. Bake the dog treats for 25 minutes.

Before “serving”, let them cool completely. Here’s a tip that you may find useful: If your dog likes a little more crunch to his treats, then turn off the oven and let the treats cool there overnight. This recipe makes about 24 low fat, healthy dog treats.

Liver Treats

1 lb. beef liver

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

12 – 14 cloves garlic

2 eggs

Puree liver and garlic in food processor. Add eggs, whole wheat flour and cornmeal. Grease cookie sheet and pour mixture onto cookie sheet. Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through baking. Cut into desired sized squares. I usually place 1/2 of this recipe in a tupperware and keep in the fridge. The other half I freeze…….these freeze well.

BACON BISCUITS

5 c Whole wheat flour
1 c Milk
2 Eggs
10 TBS Vegetable oil or bacon fat
1 pinch of garlic powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 c Cold water

Mix all ingredients well. Pinch off pieces of the dough and roll them into two-inch balls. Put them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Let them cool, then store in an airtight container.

No Melt Suet

Even the wild critters need help foreging for food sometimes. Here is a Suet recipe that will help the little birdies get thruogh winter.

Wild Critter Food

No Melt Suet

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup suet or lard
2 cups "quick cook" oats, (I'm sure any will do)
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup white flour

Melt lard and peanut butter.  Stir in other ingredients. If it seems runny, add more flour.
Fill small plastic margarine containers about 1/2 full, then freeze.  Remove from container; wrap, keep in freezer.

Cheese Bone Dog Cookies

2 cups Unsifted all-purpose flour1 1/4 cups Shredded cheddar cheese2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped1/2 cup Vegetable oil4 1/2 tbsp Water (up to 5 tbsp.)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F2. Make a cardboard pattern of a dog bone, 4 inches long or use a dog-bone cookie cutter.3. Combine flour, cheese, garlic and vegetable oil in container of food processor. Cover, whirl until mixture is consistency of coarse meal. With machine running, slowly add water until mixture forms a ball.4. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece to 1/2" thickness. Cut out bones. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheet. 5. Bake in preheated hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until bottom of cookies are lightly browned. Carefully transfer bones to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate in airtight container.

Chicken Jerky Dog Treats

If your dog loves the taste of chicken, he will do back flips for chicken jerky dog treats. When you make a dog jerky recipe you'll be the most popular person on your block (at least with your four legged neighbors).

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast Fillets

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200° F
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
3. Rinse off chicken breast and remove any fat.
4. Slice the chicken with the grain. This will help make the jerky even chewier for your dog. The slices should be very thin, about 1/8" to 1/4" thickness.
5. Place the strips on the baking sheet.
6. Bake for approximately 2 hours (see note below).
7. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack until completely cool.
8. Cut strips into bite sized pieces.

Storing: These homemade dog treats may not last long enough to be stored because they are so good. But, just in case they do, store them in the refrigerator for 3 weeks. Freeze any remainder for up to 8 months. Be sure to read our tips on storing homemade dog treats for more information.

Tips & Techniques

• Checking - The baking times will vary due to difference in ovens, temperatures and meat size. Your jerky treats should be firm and dry, not at all soft or spongy. It is safer to go a little extra dry and firm than for the meat to be underdone.
  
• Cutting - Once the treats are cool, it's easier to cut them with kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter, than a regular knife.

There is so much flexibility when making your own chicken jerky dog treats. One of the best options is that you do not need to be restricted to only using chicken. So let's preheat the oven and go for low and slow for these tasty jerky treats.

Sweet Potato Dog Biscuits

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter-flavored Crisco
1/2 cup sweet potato, canned or 1 large sweet potato, cooked and ,mashed
1 whole egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and cut in shortening. Beat egg with milk and sweet potato and combine with flour, mixing well. Stir until soft dough forms. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool and serve.

Natural, organic and other treats

Many people love to lavish food treats on their dogs: bacon and cheese snacks, pig ears, and an endless stream of table scraps. But all those indulgences come at a hefty price. Before Fido turns fat, it may be time to consider healthy dog treats.

In other words, skip the cheesy chews and bring on the baby carrots. Baby carrots? Yes. Dogs like the crunch.

Heavy dogs face heightened heart disease and cancer risks. About 44% of dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. But you can take action. When you look at obesity-related disorders they are typically chronic, incurable, expensive, but generally preventable.

Are treats making dogs fat? Treats have a place in a dog’s diet, veterinarians say. Besides spicing up a dog’s day, treats -- such as small liver treats or salmon flakes -- are an excellent way to motivate and reward puppies. One example might be during house-training.

But today, too many commercial dog treats are loaded with fat and sugar. This makes these treats almost irresistible. This is why your dog will dance and howl and yip and run and do amazing things just to get one of these goodies. Paws-itive Experience call them, “calorie grenades.”

Even a single, high-calorie treat -- such as packaged beef, bacon, or cheese snacks -- can fill as much as one-fourth to one-fifth of a small dog’s daily calorie needs. “It’s really dangerous because pet owners are in the habit of giving two or three treats at a time. Voila -- obesity. Too many owners forget to factor treats into a pet’s overall caloric intake.

“A general recommendation is that treats should not make up more than 15% to 20% of the pet’s total diet,” says Sarah Abood, DVM, PhD. That rule holds for commercial treats or people food, says Abood, who is an assistant professor of small animal clinical sciences at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Certain store-bought treats, such as dried chicken strips, are a better, low-fat choice than some of the heavily processed, high-fat snacks, says Mark Nunez, DVM, a veterinarian in Van Nuys, Calif. and president of the California Veterinary Medical Association from July 2009-June 2010. “I usually tell my clients [that] if it sounds like junk food, it probably is junk food,” he says.

For owners interested in homemade or organic dog treats, Ward says, “It’s still better to give natural, whole foods. I look for crunchy vegetables.”

He suggests offering small portions of snacks such as green beans, celery, or cooked yams, including canned ones. “You have to experiment with your own dog,” he says.

But avoid onions, garlic, grapes, and raisins, which are toxic to dogs.

Some owners have told Ward that their dogs refuse veggies. But he encourages them to keep putting healthy choices before them, as parents would do with children.

In the summertime, Ward freezes small chunks of apples, kiwi, and watermelon into ice cubes for his dog to lick outdoors. “They’re great for a hot day. Those are simple things that people can do,” he says.

Nunez says chicken hot dogs or tofu hot dogs -- the ones for human consumption -- can also be cut into pieces for dog treats.

It’s also easy to concoct delicious, natural dog treats at home. Here’s one of Paws-itive Experience’s recipes:

Lickety Split

1 frozen banana
1 cup rice milk or nonfat yogurt
Place ingredients in blender. Mix until creamy. Serve chilled.
Each 4 oz. serving has about 65 calories. To reduce calories, substitute 2/3 cups strawberries instead of using a banana.
Table scraps and bones What about feeding a dog from the dinner table? Nunez discourages the habit because it trains a pet to become a mealtime mooch. “You don’t want to get the dog used to begging at the dinner table,” he says.

In contrast, Ward says it’s unrealistic to expect dog owners to avoid table feeding. But that doesn’t mean that owners should slip their dogs greasy chicken skins or scraps of fat.

It boils down to having good choices. If you’re going to feed from the table, make it vegetable choices. Contrary to popular belief, dogs should not chew on bones, from either the pet store, butcher’s counter, or leftovers from owners’ meals. It’s a common thought that dogs have been eating bones since the dawn of time. But bones can cause a lot of problems. Dogs can fracture a back molar when they crunch down on a bone, or they may swallow bone splinters and suffer gastrointestinal irritation. “As a general rule of thumb, I tell people to avoid bones,” Nunez says. “I don’t see any need from a nutritional standpoint, and it runs an inherent risk.”

Compressed rawhide bones, horse hooves, and pig ears can also irritate or obstruct the intestinal tract, experts say.

So what’s a bored dog to do? Instead of giving a dog a bone to gnaw, place a few healthy treats inside a rubber Kong dog toy, which makes the pet work harder to dislodge snacks with its tongue. That occupies a lot of time.

Pumpkin Puppers

4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup water
2 cups wheat germ
4 TBS vegetable
1 can pumpkin or 16 oz Fresh Mashed Pumpkin
2 TBS Honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients ini a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine. Roll out dough on floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Combine scraps and continue to roll out and cut into shapes. Until all dough is used. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes. Keep in an airtight container.