RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Discussion dedicated to promoting the well-being of your dog through diet, exercise and general health tips.

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Wicket
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by Wicket »

Emmabeth,
How long do you microwave the items suggested so the cheese melts? I know not all microwaves are the same but a ball-park figure would be nice. :)
Wicket
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by Wicket »

Basing on what I read here, I put 1/4 mashed banana, 1/16 blueberry yogurt, 1/8 apple and grated it, and then put roughly chopped baby carrots in...and it's now freezing. Both girls were very interested. I let them have the left over banana mash and grated apple and then split 1/4 of the apple between the two of them. My Poodle wasn't interested in the raw apple at all but ate the the banana/apple mash; My orally fixated chi-poo ate everything. I'll tell you how fruit/veg Kong pops go tomorrow..:D
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by emmabeth »

If you use grated cheese you probably dont need to microwave for more than 30 seconds - experiment and see though, if you use cubes of cheese then probably a little longer. I would mix the grated cheese through the filling before stuffing it into the Kong so its evenly spread and really glues it all together well if your dog is good at Kongs.
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DogzRule1996
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by DogzRule1996 »

This isn't a recipe but sometimes I cut up an apple or two and divide it up between my two dogs. I hear that apples can help clean a dog's teeth but I forgot where I heard this and if it's true, but they sure love a delicious juicy apple :D
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maximoo
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by maximoo »

I made a pupsickle for Max with low sodium broth, water & treats. I used a 1/2 cup size container. Well he worked on it for 10 mts then abandoned it. I think his tongue & teeth were just about frozen! lol... So I put it back in freezer & gave it to him last night. He tok it but then abandoned it again. I re-offered it to him hten he licked/ate it.
So I just made some more but with a 1/4 cup container. The 1/2 cup was just too much for one sitting.
MPbandmom
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by MPbandmom »

I recently tried making homemade training treats for the dogs out of hamburger. Sirius loves the puparoni's but as they seem to contain mystery meat (on the front they say beef, but on the back it just says meat?) I decided to cut them out of her diet as she gets treated frequently due to working on fear issues. I use roast beef cut into small pieces and frozen as training treats for Sky at agility class as she is highly distractable, and doesn't generally take food outside of the house. Beef roast is kind of expensive though and I was looking through a camping supply cataloge one day and saw a jerkey press which seemed like the ideal solution to the price of beef roast, and the discontinuance of puparoni. Shopping for the best price on a jerkey press, I came across a web site of dog snacks (sorry I don't remember the site) that said jerkey press treats don't hold up very well and they had come up with an alternative. Their recipe didn't quite work for me in the way they had described, so I ended up making little, flatish, patties of hamburger with my hands and then dehydrating those. I started it off at high heat and then read that it should be dried at low heat so turned it back down. It dehydrated well, came off of the trays fairly easily without tearing. From a pound of hamburger, I got about 3/4 of a quart size bag worth of end product. The first day I opened the bag out in the yard to give Sirius a treat (teaching her to stay near me), Sky dropped the ball in her mouth and immediately sat. (Sky is pretty ball obsessed and not generally big on treats so this is a major doggie vote for these treats. :lol: ) They fit into a treat bag and seem to hold up well and tear easily into smaller pieces. Remember to use lean ground beef with a dehydrater.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
pam
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by pam »

I have to thank Dogzrule as I tried the simple biscuit recipe and Charlie loved it :D
It's great that I know what is going in his food, and I'll be making them again soon.
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Post by FairyAngel »

Fundog wrote:Another good kibble topping (or treat) is meatloaf. If you have a good meatloaf recipe that you and your family like, you can use that, or you can make one especially for your dogs. This is the one I came up with:

2 lbs. ground turkey
3 eggs
1 eight oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
garlic, thyme, celery seed, oregano

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, eggs, tomato sauce, and spices. Add in the oats and the vegetables, mixing well.

Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into 16 squares, cool, then wrap and freeze.

To use, thaw out a square and crumble it over kibble. Add some warm water, and mix well.

You can also use the crumbled bits for training, or you can stuff it into a Kong.

My girls sampled the meatloaf in their breakfast this morning, and thought it was fabulous!
i want to try this BUT heres the thing i put stuff on her food before and i'll mix it in with the kibble so its in every mouth full, well she will nose the kibble around to get to the "good stuff". any ideas? plz
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***Melissa***
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by ***Melissa*** »

Soak the kibble in water until it's mushy, then mix it with the topping :wink:
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~Ben Williams
LisaCNH
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by LisaCNH »

I make my own dog treats. They are so expensive in the stores, and often contain things I don't want my dogs to eat like sugar, corn, or processed flours.

Liver Dog Treats
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Use flat baking sheet lined with silicone baking sheets
aproximately 1 lb chicken liver (you can use beef but you must cut off the tough parts as they can burn the motor of your blender :shock: )
1 egg
1 cup flour (I use organic whole wheat)
1/2 cup oat flour (or use more whole wheat)
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon brewyer's yeast

Blend the chicken livers in your blender or food processor.
(add some water if your liver was not stored in liquid, just enough to blend easily)
Once blended, add the remaining ingredients.
Place your silicone baking sheet ontop of your metal baking sheet (you may want 2, depending on desired thickness)
Pour the mixture onto the silicone sheet and put into oven.
Set timer for 20 minutes, and check as oven cooking times vary.
They may bake for 30 minutes or longer, depending on if you want them crispy or tender.

I have tried making these on foil, parchment paper, and non-stick baking sheets, and with oil. They stick to the pan, the foil, the parchment paper and create a huge mess! The silicone baking sheets were an experiment that worked fantastically. I use a pizza slicer to cut these treats into 1/2 squares. I store them in the freezer in ziplock bags. I take a handful out when needed. They thaw quickly, and in the summer dogs love them frozen.

These treats were all the rage at our puppy class, so the trainer asked me to handout the recipe! Dogs do love them. I found this recipe online and made some changes. It called for corn flour, which many dogs can't tolerate.

In addition to these treats, I also give my dogs cut up cooked beets, cooked potatoes, slices of apple. If I hand them the treat, they get it by sitting pretty; otherwise it goes in their dog dishes.
DenHund
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by DenHund »

If your dog is not an experienced stuffed-toy connoisseur, you may have to take some baby steps first to get them used to the idea. Try starting with something high value and smelly in the toy, such as a piece of canned salmon, hot dog, or cooked chicken. Once that is exciting, you can put just one piece at the bottom, and fill the rest with their kibble. Then give the toy to your dog at mealtime when they are good and hungry. Once they’ve figured out that the toy is a source of treats, the next step might be putting a layer of peanut butter or cream cheese over the large opening so they get into the habit of licking and working harder for what’s inside. Then you can make the move to frozen stuffed toys.

You can fill stuffable toys with anything your dog likes: the same kibble you feed your dog regularly, a different kibble, canned food, treats, peanut butter, cream cheese, yogurt, canned pumpkin (mmmm frozen pumpkin popsicle!), bananas, apples, carrots, broth, or any combination. You can freeze them or not freeze them. You can use it as a substitute for your dog’s bowl and feed your dog their breakfast, lunch, and dinner out of the toy (useful for slowing down those dogs who seem to inhale their food in a matter of seconds).

Our long term care dog gets one frozen toy when his people leave for the day as entertainment. Initially, he was a little anxious when his people would leave. Now, he says “Hey, are you guys leaving yet, I’m ready for my frozen goodie!”

For pictures to help out, I've posted the same info as above on my website, but with photos of how we make frozen stuffed toys at our house!
http://denhund.com/2010/11/how-we-make- ... our-house/
misskris
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by misskris »

another great "glue" for the kong is microwaved banana (around 15 seconds is enough for a 2 inch piece of banana - I freeze my bananas when they get overripe and use them from the freezer for this purpose!) mashed up and mixed with a small amount of peanut butter. Then, I put my dogs kibble in the kong and seal it with this "glue" and freeze! I also always shove a piece of dehydrated liver up into the small hole and she loves gnawing and licking until that thing dislodges. Sometimes, it doesn't even come out so I have to get it out for her! haha...

thanks for all the ideas! I'll try some tonight! =D
ClareMarsh
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by ClareMarsh »

Sorry if this is already on here but dried liver treats are super easy to make and have no nasties (very important to me as a Raw Meaty Bones feeder). It seems to work with any liver, I do a big batch and freeze them, putting a few days worth in the fridge at a time to defrost (but then I have a chi so all food lasts ages :D ).

Pre heat oven to 100 degrees
Boil the liver for half an hour
Once cool enough to chop cut into treat sized pieces
Spread on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for 1 to 2 hours until dry (depending on size of treats)

For small dogs you might want to cut into about 1 cm cubes and break pieces off this as you're training, it stops the treat going too hard and helps you keep track of how much you've fed (important to start with as dogs can get upset tummies from too much liver).

I've not met a dog yet who doesn't love these, when we meet dogs when out they're often more interested in my pocket than my dog!

Clare xxx
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WufWuf
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by WufWuf »

Oh it's like you read my mind I was going to post and ask if anyone knew how to make dried liver treats!

Thanks for that. :D

P.s my name is clare too but spelled claire!
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minkee
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Re: RECIPES: For Kongs, Meals, Treats, Snacks, and Food Toppings

Post by minkee »

Whenever I make these they turn out quite rock solid! Should I dry them for less time do you think, or is that how they're meant to be?

Also, I've only used lamb's liver so far, but is pig's liver okay too?
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