Making sure your dog eats well is just as important as making sure you eat well – and the good news is that it’s really easy and straightforward to make homemade treats that are good for your faithful friend, without the additives that shop-bought treats contain.
Equipment you’ll need
Not only is making your own dog treats very easy, you only need very basic kitchen items to get started. Many of these things will already be in your kitchen, and if you don’t have one or two things, don’t worry about it.
- A mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon, spatula, a knife or biscuit cutter
- An electric mixer or food processor
- A muffin or fairy cake tin, baking sheet
- Oven or microwave
- Freezer bags or food-grade plastic tubs for storage
A note about ingredients
Most of the ingredients you need to make delicious and healthy treats for your dog are readily available in your local shops or supermarket – liver, peanut butter, cheese, fish will all go towards creating treats that your dog will love. There are, however, some foods which you should not feed your dog. Chocolate, grapes, coffee, potatoes, garlic and onions should all be avoided when creating treats for your dogs.
Liver treats
Dogs love liver – even if you don’t fancy cooking it. Use chicken liver for a tasty titbit that you can give your dog as a treat or reward.
Ingredients
500g chicken liver
130g digestive biscuits
3 tbsp runny honey
A handful of parsley, chopped
You will also need: a food processor, microwaveable dish approximately 8 inches square (or equivalent round), foil, baking sheet, skewer or knife, cooling rack
Method
Turn the oven on to 200C (180C fan)
Place all ingredients into the bowl of your food processor and whizz up together until you have a smooth mixture.
Scrape the mixture into your microwaveable bowl, then microwave on high for around 7 minutes – or until a skewer or the blade of a knife poked into the centre of the mixture comes out clean.
Turn the microwaved mixture on to a cooling rack and leave it ‘bottom side up’ to get rid of any condensation.
Once the mixture is dry, cut into small squares of around an inch, then spread the squares on a foil-covered baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 1.5 hours.
Allow the treats to cool, keep some in the fridge for immediate use, and freeze the rest for another day.
