Your pet-friendly apartment is a haven for your dog, and you can make it even better with homemade treats! Do-it-yourself recipes not only help you create healthy snacks for your pet, they also save you money. Here are a few recipe ideas to get you started:
Leftover Doggie Trail Mix
Turn last night’s dinner into today’s pet snack with these DIY dog treats. What you make will be different every time, depending on the leftovers you have. In general, you’ll want meat (remove any sauces or seasoning, as it isn’t good for your pet), potatoes, veggies and fruit. Do not use onions, grapes or raisins because they are harmful for dogs. Furthermore, the leftover meat you use should be skin-free and contain very little or no fat.
Chop all the ingredients into small chunks (1/2-inch thick) and run them through a food dehydrator. If you don’t have one of these gadgets, simply serve as is.
Doggie Pops
Give your dog some protein and healthy fat by combining peanut butter and vanilla yogurt. Choose peanut butter that has no added sugars. Your best option is a brand that contains only peanuts in the ingredients list. Once the yogurt and peanut butter are combined, you can either stick them in a mold (try a cupcake pan) and pop them in the freezer, or add some fruit to the mix before freezing. This recipe idea is great for a hot day, as it will help your pooch stay cool.
Cheddar-Apple Biscuits
There are tons of biscuit recipe ideas out there, and your dog is sure to love all of them. For starters, gather oatmeal, barley flour, cheddar and parmesan cheese, olive oil and applesauce. The cheese should be shredded. Combine all the ingredients, then bake it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Let the DIY dog treats cool before you feed them to Fido. They can last up to two weeks when stored in an airtight container.
[Create a Pet Space in Your Apartment]
Pretzel Candles
If you’re like most pet owners, you probably love celebrating your puppy’s birthday. You can even light b-day candles with these edible versions. Start by breaking apart a rope toy into smaller strands, which you’ll wrap in pretzel dough. The dough contains brown sugar, whole wheat flour, dry milk, dry active yeast, salt, an egg, water and oil. Bake the dough (with the rope inside). Light the rope when the time comes and your dog will have a tasty treat. You may have to help it blow out the flames, though.
