Looking for great-tasting raw DOG TREAT recipes

[RawVee]

also wanted to mention...we give her brewers yeast pills and they make her coat all shiny and healthy

And they're a natural tick and flea repellent!!

She's ADORABLE, Tori. :)

[Zella Juice]

i did not know that...bonus!!

[maraw]

Would nutritional yeast work? I have a little left over here.

Tori333: She's beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[Nix]

Growing up, I had a yellow lab for 17 years. One of her favorite things to do was to wait until my mom's back was turned, then stalk up to the garden and pull carrots up out of the ground. She's tear across the yard with a huge carrot in her mouth, the green tops trailing out, like some furry Groucho Marx. My mom always knew she was doing it, but we thought it was hilarious that she loved carrots so much. :)

We feed our dogs (mut german shepard mix and a 6mnth choco lab puppy) exclusively Nature's Variety Raw Instinct kibble and the raw medalians that company makes. Fabulous food, great for raw and raw transition. For treats my dogs adore carrots, apples, pineapple, celery, lentil sprouts and tomatoes tomato bits. Some sources say stay away from grapes and onions.

Nix

[lafsalot]

If your dog presently has some skin problems, you might want to stay away from and/or at least limit the grains since they are the number one cause of allergies in dogs. Same goes for the nutritional or brewer's yeast, at least until his skin problems resolve.

Try dehydrating some sweet yams ( my dogs love them). I imagine you could also whip up something with rolled oats, peanut butter, applesauce, honey, flax meal, eggs, etc. You could also make bread or cracker recipes using any number of things (eg dried kelp, ground pumpkin or sunflower seeds, shredded carots, and so on...) - the possiblities are endless.

Here is a list of foods to avoid:
http://diamondpaws.com/health/barfveg.htm

ACV is not only good for us, but for our pets as well - not only a great antibacterial and anti-fungal, but gives the immune system a good boost. Also helps to normalize the blood akaline balance.

In lieu of the brewer's yeast as a bug repellent, you could also use neem oil spray. My dogs have yet to be infested with fleas or ticks.

With your "uncooking" skills, I am sure you will have no problem coming up with something palatable for your furbabies. Give both of yours a big hug from me ~ Cathy

[maraw]

Thanks Cathy - I'll look at that web site right away!

I do like to make things myself, but sometimes run short on time. I like to have something premade handy on those occassions. I found organic dog food at the Petco close by, but nothing raw. I'll keep looking. In the meatime, I just finished making some treats, or sorts for him and my big girl (hope she likes them too). I just let him taste each ingredient to see if it was something he would like. I put in almond pulp, carrots, spinach, flax seeds, tomato, molasses, nutritional yeast (not too much), and a bit of this lamb liver stuff my new friend at Petco gave me to try with him for training - the idea of it kind of grosses me out to tell the truth, but he seems to just love the stuff. I added some water to move it around and spread it into 120 little bites on dehydrator sheets. He just loves it!

I let him taste just a tiny bit of garlic (mixed in a spoonful of the mixture) and he wouldn't touch it. I also tried honey with the same results - which is really good to know because a lot of natural dog treats have both of those ingredients.

I'll let you know how they turn out tomorrow... so far so good. Now on to dinner!

[maraw]

After reading that site I think next time I'll replace the spinach with zucchini or yellow squash, add an apple, and cut back on the carrots a bit.

We'll see. Thanks for your help, really!

[lafsalot]

Cosco also sells bags of dried 100% human grade chicken strips (jerky?).

[Kitty]

even tho many sites suggest giving a bit of garlic to your dogs I have heard that garlic is just as bad for them as onions! Also grapes and raisins are not good for dogs either. I have fed both my dogs on raw foods for a while now and they LOVE it. They love carrots and corn on the cob! Even celery! But there favorite is pineapple and olives for some reason LOL. But I only give it to them as treats. They mostly eat raw meat.

[Bingo24]

At a Raw Food class, someone mentioned they dehyrdate Sweet Potatoes for dog treats - and another lady who only goes to a natural vet said dogs love them. Worth a try.:)

[maraw]

At a Raw Food class, someone mentioned they dehyrdate Sweet Potatoes for dog treats - and another lady who only goes to a natural vet said dogs love them. Worth a try.:)

I've got one sitting on the kitchen counter as we speak. I'll throw it in with the little treats I made earlier. Sounds great! And very simple, which I love!!

Thanks!

[sweetpea76]

My dog loves, no really really loves dates- lol

also, i out some of my green smoothie in her kibble and she usually drinks it right up

[sweetpea76]

o and btw.. wow, so much good info on this thread! I can't wait to start incorporatig more raw into Mia's ( my doggie) diet. I guess it will counteract all of the McDonalds and burger grease that her dad gives her lol.

[puffysmom]

If anyone comes up with a recipe please let me know. My dog came from a home that had all dogs running together. I knew when i bought my puppy that it could show up with some kind of problem due to inbreeding and he did. Hip displasure, skin problem off and on and now he is way to fat. I take him for runs but he cannot go for long and he has a problem with breathing which i think is from being so fat.
He loves my dip made with raw cashews but want to make him some chips. I think i might just do some soaking and see what i can come up with. I do have my own chips that he might like.
Raw meat gives him the trots so everytime he goes I have to stand and wipe his butt and we all know dog poo is smelly. I had to give that up cause i could not stand the smell anymore and if i didnt wipe he would get a sore butt.

[lafsalot]

Puffysmom - Wow, I am really surprised that raw meat gave your dog the trots. Dogs that are fed barf have firmer, less foul smelling stools that literally turn to white dust within a few days. They also have fewer movements ( a big plus in the yard clean-up department).

There are some dogs that do experience diarrhea when first transitioning over to raw, but is usually due to detox. BTW, raw pumpkin is great for firming stools up. ~ Cathy