Dog Treats » Big Dog Blog

Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years Day are coming and that means more holiday treats! And we can’t leave the dogs out in the cold so we’ve got some recipes for holiday treats especially made for the puppies. From cake and ice cream to brownies and cookies, your dogs will be celebrating the years end with a big belly.

Snickerpoodles

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 3 ¾ cups white flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix up the oil, shortening, honey and eggs. Beat well. Add flour, soda and cream of tartar. Knead dough until mixed well. Shape dough by rounded teaspoons into balls. Mix the cornmeal and cinnamon together in a bowl and roll balls in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet . Press the balls down with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 400F. Cool on a rack. Feed to the dogs. Store in airtight container. Feed some more. Dogs love this!

Photo Courtsey of www.waggytailtreats.com

Peanut Butter Dog Cookies

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
• 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375′F. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Bake for 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool on a rack, feed to Rex and other puppies, then store in an airtight container. Feed some more.

Liver Brownies

• 3 to 3 1/2 lbs of liver, beef or chicken
• 1 C whole wheat flour
• 2 C white flour
• 1/2 C corn meal
• 1 med shaker of grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover cookie sheet with foil, coat with cooking spray, sprinkle lightly with corn meal and set aside. Process liver in food processor or blender until it looks like milk chocolate. Pour into large mixing bowl and blend in the rest of the ingredients. Spread evenly onto cookie sheet (the mixture will be thick) and sprinkle lightly with corn meal. Bake until no pink is left. I usually bake them for about 30 min for one pan and then turn the oven off but leave the brownies inside until they are cool. Cut in pieces and be ready to be loved by your dogs. This one you might enjoy with your dog mmmm. mmmm… liver!!

Panda’s Party Cake

• 2/3 cup ripe mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried fruit bits

In mixing bowl, beat together mashed banana and butter until creamy. Add eggs and water. Beat well. Stir in dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Add nuts and fruit. Spoon batter evenly into oiled and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes, remove from pan, replace on rack and cool. Frosting is next.

Of course you’re going to need some frosting for that cake!

Puppy Frosting

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/4 c dry cat or dog food
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1-2 T milk or water
• 1 T flour if needed for thickening

Put everything in a food processor and mix well until desired thickness. Spread on pet’s favorite cake or cookies. This is for occassion treating only. Feed. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Feed.

Ice Cream Dog Treat!

Homemade FrostyPaws

• 1 Quart plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1 banana or 1 lrg jar banana baby food
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp carob powder (optional)

If using regular banana mash well….mix all ingredients until well blended ( you could use a food processor or blender) Place into ice cube trays or small bathroom sized cups and freeze. Once frozen you can store in freezer in plastic bag. The great thing is you can play with recipe and add stuff that your dog likes. Don’t forget to Feed feed feed. Dogs love to eat eat eat!

Ok, another plug for my employer Jakks Pacific Inc. and it’s pet line JPI™. There’s a give away at the bottom! As many of you know, Bear, our Newfoundland, is a pretty spoiled guy and with most treats that we give him, unless it’s human food, he’ll blow off like it’s cat food. (He does however like the Scooby Snacks still.) I want you to know going into this, you do have Bear’s stamp of approval - he loves this treat! And it’s a great alternative to a past favorite of his.

From White-Bites.com

White Bites™ treats are safe and digestible, extremely tasty, baking soda infused oral care dog treats that your dog will treasure as they clean teeth and freshen breath.

White Bites™ treats are especially formulated for dissolvability. A recent study conducted at the University of Illinois shows that the unique White Bites™ treat formulation and manufacturing process achieves superior dissolvability. After a two stage gastric-intestinal digestibility assay, White Bites™ treats achieved a 94.3% disappearance versus 30.7% disappearance of the leading brand. For the full press release, click here (Word Document).

Jeremy Padawer, the VP of brand development here had this to say of his own dog Bigs, who strangely doesn’t like me: “My very bizarre dog has very bad breath because he’s a street dog. He’s like a vacuum cleaner, so when I walk him around, he sucks up just about everything he can get his mouth around.” Consequently, Bigs’ gets a fair share of White Bites™.
My own experience is positive as well. Bear has good hygiene so he doesn’t have a lot of plaque build up, but his breath does smell minty-fresh after his chew! And my nephew, (who happens to be a mini Yorkie), chewed the treat for about 15 min, but only on the right side of his mouth. The difference from side to side was more than I would have imagined; perhaps a year or two of build-up, gone, on one side.

So, I want you to try them! Rather, your dog.

So, does your dog have bad breath? Tell us about it! The 5 or 10 dogs with the worst breath, as posted here will receive a 8 oz bag of White-Bites™ treats. Just tell me what bone size your dog would prefer, small/medium/large, and I’ll email you for your address and send them off to you. When you get the chance, let us know how your experience went!

As dogs become more of a family member than a pet, it seems as though the luxuries of human life have found their way into that of your four legged friends. Sure dogs get comfortable beds, better food, spend time in a doggy day care when their parents are away but included on a regular basis for pets today is a real birthday party. This is not a little cake either. Now companies like www.gooddogexpress.com, are helping pet parents to come up with full-blown themed parties for both your friends and your pooch’s pals.

Doggy Stats:

In the U.S. alone last year, almost 1 million animals had a huge birthday celebration.

Wonder why people would go to such great lengths for their pooch? Well, when asked that very question, Tyler Hurst had this to say, “I don’t have a child yet. My family pretty much consists of Tiny Toons (the dog) and me…I didn’t want to miss out on all the fun stuff so I decided to have a birthday party for him.”

Whether you are new to this trend or an old regular, here are some party throwing tips:

1. Pick the right spot to host the event.
2. Invite the right people and pets.
3. Decide on a set start and end time.
4. Send your guests home with yummy treats and gifts.

It’s time to throw a Party!

This Fortune Cookie for Dogs snack has got me thinking. I certainly think these treats are cool, but for some reason have some reservation about this. Not because it’s not a healthy alternative from an actual fortune cookie, and not because my dog wouldn’t enjoy it, but rather the fact that every treat made always has to be either his or mine, a special canine formula or just actual, tasty food (albeit unhealthy).

If I didn’t know any better, I would dig into this biscotti myself! Unfortunately, I know it’s made for dogs. See other fancy treats for dogs at Bone Appi Treat!

See… A lot of what makes a great moment is being able to share your treat with your dog. Having to pull out two different types of jerky, giving Fido his, while you eat yours, really kind of spoils the moment as you know he wants your jerky, and neither of you want his jerky.

We need to make a treat that is equally satisfying for both dogs and humans, just for the purpose of sharing! It can even be labeled specially for dogs, but at least it’s something that they can share with us. God knows they owe us!