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Hi,

I bought some dog bone cookie cutters to make dog biscuits for the furry nephews. I can only imagine those of us who carefully consider all our food choices have extended this to our furry friends. I just have a gut feeling there is someone out there with a dog biscuit recipe to be shared.

My sister who owns these dogs does not bake for them. She and her boyfriend responding to my query didn't offer any direction. They obliquely suggested I shouild not pursue this since the dogs probably won't notice.

I do have dog jerky from Costco, which the dogs do seem to notice is quality stuff. I just want to extend the range just a bit further with dog biscuits.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

The following is a recipe from my friend MJ. She makes these for all sorts of dog rescue fund raisers. My dog goes nuts for them. They are very rich though, and also need to be refrigerated or frozen (if not to be used within a week or two). They are very rich so one cut into a cookie size should probably be broken into parts. Maybe not exactly what you are looking for but I thought I would share.

Her write up:

Liver Brownies 325 oven 20-25 minutes baking time

1 pound of chicken livers pureed
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
a shake of garlic powder
a pinch of salt

Using a food processor puree the chicken livers. Add the rest of the
ingredients and process. It will be the consistency of cookie dough.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread out the mixture.
Bake at 325 for 20 to 25 minutes. Place on a rack and cool. Cut up
with a pizza cutter and pack up in snack bags and freeze. Keep frozen
until needed.

Variations:
Can use beef liver, but then you have to cut it up in pieces before
processing.

Instead of using liver you can use canned salmon, tuna or sardines. My
dogs like the salmon the best.

Venison liver works also, but I worry about CWD.

A friend with a much larger dog bakes her dough in muffin tins. She
found that a 1/2 muffin works best with her dog.

You could spread the mixture over a well greased cookie sheet, but
clean up will be ugly. Parchment paper is so much easier.

You can use fresh garlic, but then you will have to open every window
in your house because you will gas yourself out of your house.



Also, the following site has a lot of options:

http://www.all-natural-dog-treat.com/ho ... cipes.html

Brandon,

Thanks, this is the kind of information I was hoping for. I want something the dogs will go nuts over, which your recipe and experience affirms.

The stuff on the dog bone cookie cutter tin just didn't strike me as very special: whole wheat flour, dried milk, an egg, then flavored with dried liver flavoring (where would you find that!) or dried soup or dried. I may as well buy a bag of dog treats.

Again, thanks!

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Glad I could help. Let us know how it goes.

Hi Cathy,

Here's a pumpkin biscotti recipe I developed for Karli. She loved them - as did all of our dog friends. Originally I was trying to make lower fat, lower sugar biscotti for my mom. I tried a few recipes and I thought, "These are as dry as sticks." And who likes chewing on sticks? Dogs! Though people do like them too. I usually double or quadruple the recipe, because as you know, once you've started baking, you might as well make more.

KARLI’S BISCOTTI DI ZUCCA PER I CANI

Yield:
24 small biscotti

Temp:
350F/300F

Ingredients:
DRY
263 grams (2 ¼ cups) whole wheat flour plus additional for kneading
4.6 grams (1 tsp) baking powder
2.3 grams (1 tsp) grated cinnamon
1.5 grams (¼ tsp) fine salt
1.15 grams (¼ tsp) baking soda
0.55 grams (¼ tsp) grated nutmeg

WET
2 large eggs
241.5 grams (¾ cup) maple syrup
122.5 grams (½ cup) puréed pumpkin
3 grams (1 ½ tsp) grated ginger
1 vanilla bean

1. Sift together dry ingredients
2. Whisk together wet ingredients
3. Mix wet to dry
4. Knead to hold
5. Form 2 flat rectangular loaves about ½ inch high
6. Bake on parchment-lined pan at 350F for 15-20 minutes until center is firm
7. Cool to touch then slice about 1 inch wide
8. Bake at 300F for 10-15 minutes until crisp
9. Cool – dry as desired

Cookies are easy, as most cookie ingredients aren't bad for dogs - except chocolate. Burnt and dried out/hard seem to be a plus - thus, our dogs are the happy garbage cans for all our cookie mistakes. They particularly seemed to enjoy the pepperkar-style cookies I made for the exchange.

I'd just make a few of whatever you're making for people in the bone shapes.

_________________
No guts, no glory.
http://www.chicagonow.com/quips-travails-braised-oxtails
http://quipstravailsandbraisedoxtails.blogspot.com/

Hi,

I have made variations of Brandon's liver brownies since Christmas. My first foray was on an evening when going out to shop ingredients didn't make sense. I rummaged around the cupboard to find a 12 ounce can of lamb tongues and 4 ounces of pregnant anchovies purchased in Chinatown some years ago. I ground them up using them instead of liver/tuna/salmon. The dogs loved them, though I told my sister that would be their first and last opportunity for that rarified combination.

Another time I used a can of mackeral purchased for $1. at Big Lots. I have also made these with chicken livers purchased for $1.29 at Garden Fresh. I now make double batches, because this really takes no effort to make.

The absolute paws down favorite is another onesy recipe: I had a bag of a cheesey mixture that was supposed to be mixed with sausage and baked. I had lost interest in making these, but still had the mixture. When I read it had no leavening, then it was substituted 1:1 for flour in a dog biscuit recipe from the bone cookie cutter tin. My sister reported her dogs would not leave the house to run around her farmette. They kept returning speculatively to the kitchen hoping for more.

My next four legged culinary effort will be treats for her two horses and goat. I have an article she gave me, but of course if someone has experience and a reliable recipe, then please do tell.

Fortunately my cat hasn't caught wind of my feeding the enemy.

Thanks again for the dog treat recipes. It has made me quite popular with the guys.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

_________________
LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

Cathy - I will have to let MJ know about your adventures in dog treat making, she would be impressed. I'm glad the basics of the recipe has allowed you to try so many things.

I would think that these treats would be just fine for your cat if you wanted to let her try some.

Your sisters animals are very lucky to have you baking for them.

Cathy:

I have a recipe for peanut butter treats I cut out of a newspaper some time ago. Very easy and well received by the pooches! I haven't made them in some time since we lost our dog a year ago. I'll dig it up and post here.

Dee

I must confess to eating Milkbone dog biscuits as a toddler (when my parents where silly enough to store dogbones at toddler-child level). Does that kill my credibility as both a foodie and a dog foodie?

No you were just testing for quality.

I was in line at Petsmart once and the lady in front of me reached into the "Free Treat Bowl" grabbed one and took a bite out of it. She chewed it for awhile, looked at her friend and said "Too much corn in these" and tossed the rest of it. Her dog looked slightly confused at this whole process.

Hi,

Dee - Sorry about the dog.

***

I sampled once the dried cat food. It tasted like minerals rather than meaty, corny or anything else familiar. I later read cats have dry mouths, which may mean these mineral tastes I detected may not dissolved (like in my salvia) and tasted.

My cat's preference is for her canned wet food. I haven't tasted it yet, but she really goes to town snarfing it down.

***

Here is a link to a guy who tastes cat food for a living.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Thanks Cathy....she lived a good, long life (17+ year old Aussie/Chow mix).

I've looked everywhere for that darned recipe and I can't find it!

Here are some links I've found that have similar ingredients. Please note I have not tried any of these recipes (yet):

http://www.lucysdoghouse.net/a852.html

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art3721.asp

I found the recipe. I've had this for a really long time. It was (neatly) clipped out of a paper but I don't have the source information or the author's name. It is really simple and I've not met a dog who didn't like these.....I have to make some for the neighbor's dogs now!

2 cups whole wheat flour (plus extra for dusting your board)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted, natural peanut butter
1 cup skim milk

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or cooking spray (I use silicone mats).

Stir flour and baking powder together in a bowl; set aside.

Add peanut butter and milk to the large bowl of an electric mixer and stir on low speed until combined. Stir in flour mixture. Increase speed to medium and mix until combined.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from sheets and let cool on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Remove treats as needed and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

HI,

The holidays are right around the corner. All these dog biscuits are going to be cooked, packed up and wrapped in pretty paper. KNowing my sister, she will let the dogs rip open the packages.

Thanks!

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

I made Brandon's liver treats and my puppy (and all the others in the hood) loved them. I'm too lazy to roll anything out so I just spread the dough onto a slab of parchment and then cut them into hunks when they were cooked.

The house smelled awful however. LOL

I made brandon_w's treats this weekend also, and my dog loves them. What's not to love, really?

I also like that this is a good template to make treats out of any protein. I think I'll try fish next.

Anyone have a good recipe for a crunchy treat, more like a cookie that is somewhat healthy? We have a box of Monzie's cookies that the puppy likes, but these are way too expensive (i.e. more expensive relative to the otherwise generally expensive norm).

I agree with your thoughts. I have used beef heart, mackeral, lamb tongue and hard boiled eggs in this recipe. If something was especially dry, I might add additional egg(s) or oil.

My sister does not like the liver treats because of smell. Her dogs love them for probably the very same reason. I have five pounds of beef liver, which I hope she will allow me to finish up.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

I thought of two funny (sort of) asides from my treat-making expedition:

First, I went to Paulina Meat Market to buy the livers. Paulina is a relatively expensive butcher, but chicken liver can't be that expensive. Plus, they make homemade dog food from ground livers and other things, and I wanted to buy some to supplement my puppy's kibble. Well, they had duck liver, turkey liver, beef liver, and I think veal liver. But no chicken livers. The guy even asked around and they couldn't find any. I asked if they normally carry it and he said he wasn't sure how often they had it. So I went to the nearby Whole Foods and picked up a pound for about $2.

Second, I happen to be at Dirk's fish market earlier in the day buying a fish for my own dinner. I asked if they had any scraps that I could buy for the dog. The guy said they had a lot of bones and carcasses. I said I really just wanted plain meat. He said that the only meat was the fillets in the case, and I said these were a bit too expensive to feed a dog.

I didn't think the smell was that bad. The house had a noticeable, but not strong, smell. It went away pretty quickly. Once the treats were frozen, they don't smell.

I thought about using sardines. Do you think it is important to get all of the little bones out (of any fish), or will these be fine once they are ground and cooked? (I know anchovy bones basically melt away when cooked.)

They have five dogs. I have the impression they don't freeze the treats.


Whenever I am in Big Lots, I check their cheap canned fish. Last year, they had fairly large canned salmon around $2. The salmon had its skin and bones, which were very soft from the canning process. These I ground up enough that the bones were itty bitty fragments.

If you are referring to bones in sardines from a can, I wouldn't worry about them. I eat them on sandwiches as-is without any ill effect.

As for the fish frames available at Dirks, I might let them do double duty for you. Fish stock is less than an hour effort. Afterwards I would pick off the meat, skin, fish cheeks, eyeballs and all for pulverizing into dog food. Those bones I would toss.

I buy my chicken livers at Farm Fresh for around $1.30 per pound. I love the idea of your attempting to buy chicken livers at Paulina for the dog. I know your dog is getting premium class treatment.

Regards,

_________________
Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

The funny thing is, he also eats dirt, leaves, and anything else he finds directly under his nose. I'm not sure if he appreciates how rare it is for a dog to get homemade liver treats made with Whole Foods livers, King Arthur flour, corn meal from Three Sisters Garden (by far the biggest extravagance in the treat), and a farmer's market egg. At least the salt was plain old Diamond. We also have some frozen lamb hearts in the freezer from Mint Creek Farm that we're saving for ourselves, but I could easily see the pup getting some of these eventually.

Here's another dog food related question: We bought some 3-4" femur bones from Heartland Meat at the farmers market to roast and eat the marrow ourselves. I'm a little unclear about whether one can give the leftover cooked bone (i.e. after we eat the marrow) to the dog. I know that cooked bones have the potential to splinter, especially smaller bones. I'm curious what raw bones people give to their dogs, and what (if any) cooked bones they give.

Generally raw chicken wings and necks are good raw starter bones for dogs - but if your dog is not used to eating bones, be careful - start with a small amount and see how they do. I don't give cooked bones at all anymore - one too many coughing/choking incidents and digestion issues.

Cathy's seen some of the wide variety of raw deer bones our dog has found in our woods - from coyote kills. Kiba's most recent grisly discoveries have included nearly whole spines. Earlier this year in the winter she found an entire hind leg - hip socket intact but stripped - all the way down to the hoof. She wasn't interested in chewing them - just brought them back as trophies.

Thanks Louisa. Do you mean that you just give a full chicken wing (bones plus raw meat) and let them eat the meat and chew the bone? I generally don't let him eat anything unsupervised since he is only three months old.

Ours eats bully sticks and knaws on one of those sterilized, clean bones. He's never had a bone with meat on it.

I also see femur bones in the frozen, raw food section of the pet store. These look exactly like the bones we bought for ourselves at the farmer's market. I had assumed that a bone full of marrow would be too rich and fatty - and not have much nutritional value - for a dog.

Darren - whole, raw chicken wings/necks - meat on bone. But yes, 3 months is young - keep on eye on him.

We've been feeding raw bones to Clarence since we brought him home. The "raw" or "barf" diet people tell us that chicken wings are THE best combination of bone skin and meat ratio out there. Of course these are the most expensive chicken parts to buy separately. Sometimes he'll eat backs as well.

As for the other stuff, we mostly feed him necks. Beef necks, pork necks, lamb stew with the bone, he loves beef ribs and small-ish marrow bones also. My dog definitely eats better than my children...but he's just as picky as they are LOL. It's just all relative.

At what point do you take the chicken/neck/etc bone away from the dog? When all of the meat is gone?

They eat the whole thing - bones and all.

Ah, I see. I know this may be a dumb question, but are they supposed to chew up the bone the same way that a dog chews up a bully stick or rawhide - sort of gnawing on it little by little? Or do they crush it and eat it quickly, like kibble?

Do you do anything to the chicken wing before giving it to him, like break it at all?

If your pup is very young and/or a small breed, you can smack it a couple of times with a meat mallet or hammer, but it likely won't be necessary. I used to toss a couple of chicken quarters in the back yard and let 'em have at it at mealtime. I had a pug and a boston/pug mix. They will eat everything. I didn't feed turkey wings or pork neck bones. Too sharp and too hard/too much gas production, respectively. If you want more info on raw feeding, the Barf Chicago group on Yahoo is an excellent resource and they used to coordinate bulk orders from some purveyors. Haven't been on there in a long time, so not sure if they still do.