Homemade Dog Treats for Higgins

The blog cooking love has been enjoyed by Dan and I, but Higgy hasn’t had a chance to join in the fun. I started doing some dog treat research online a few weeks ago. I wanted something simple and I wanted to make sure it didn’t use any ingredients that would be harmful to our little guy.  I found several lists of “off limits” ingredients and will include a link at the bottom of this post.

I’ve received lost of emails, tweets and facebook messages from people asking how Higgins is doing. I used to talk about him a lot on the old blog. For those new to this blog, our miniature schnauzer Higgins had an FCE (Fibrocartilaginous Embolism) – also know as a spinal stroke. This happened in February 2010. He suffered paralysis from mid back down. Both back legs and his tail were completely paralyzed. He spent a week in the ICU at U.C. Davis Vet Hospital. The stay included an MRI, Heart Ultrasound, Spinal Tap, I.V. catheters, and many other tests. We took him home on the 8th day and our lives really changed.

Higgins was a pretty self sufficient dog before the stroke. He had a dog door, played for hours with his toys and was just a happy-go-lucky dog.  The first few days at home were rough. We provided round the clock care for him. He had a back leg sling so we could assist him with walking wheelbarrow style. We purchased a new crate with all kinds of padding to prevent bed sores, etc. Months and months of care, walking therapy and rest worked wonders. He slowly regained movement in his right leg and tail. He is doing much better now. He still has some paralysis in his left leg and he’s lost the majority of muscle in his hind quarters, but he’s able to walk and run with the use of a boot to help protect his skin from dragging his lame leg/foot. His balance has improved and he’s back to using his dog door with the assistance of a ramp built by Dan. It’s amazing how he has adapted to his new “normal” – I find myself looking at him in complete awe. I won’t lie, there have been many tearful times, it hasn’t all been joyful, but for the most part, I’m just amazed.  He’s just such a little fighter, I’m so proud of our boy!

I wanted to make sure to get his boot in a photo. This is his 6th boot. The rough outdoor surfaces keep wearing them out. Dan did some customization on this boot. He actually broke out scissors and a needle and thread to shorten it a bit. Go Martha/Dan go! Duct tape has also been a key factor in helping with daily wear and tear.

Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes, virtual hugs and love his way. It has been so appreciated.

Now let’s get to the cooking part…

The Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Teaspoon Peanut Butter
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Cup Oats
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

I made sure to check the boxes of dog biscuit mix I already owned – the dry ingredients were very similar. I printed out 4-5 recipes and created something I thought would be good based on some of the feedback from dog owners and dog bakeries I found online.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the honey and the peanut butter and heat in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Give it a good stir.

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. The mixture turned out to be pretty greasy, I was a little worried that I had used too much oil. Next time I will cut down the oil a bit. Once everything was mixed together, I grabbed some dough, rolled it into a ball and pressed it down on my mat to use a cookie cutter. I didn’t need to flour the surface, the oil helped things not stick. You could also just drop dough balls onto the baking sheet – you don’t need to go crazy with cutters.

Is it wrong that I was going to be feeding Higgy cookies in the shape of himself? Hah! I actually thought it was hysterical. I did also make some round button treats.

The dough was enough to make 1 dozen dog shaped treats. I placed the baking sheet into the oven and baked them for 10 minutes. I kept checking to make sure that they didn’t burn on the bottoms.

They puffed up quite a bit. Higgy’s normal turkey jerky treats are super tiny. This was going to be like a 4 course meal for him. I let them cool for a good 30-45 minutes… then I tasted one. Yep, I ate a miniature Higgy treat. I definitely could taste the oat flavor, but for the most part, it was pretty bland. I didn’t really taste the peanut butter or honey because the wheat and oat flavors overpowered.

The next step was to try them out on Higgy. I held one up and he spun around like a top. He was super excited. Kind of hard to juggle the camera, but you get the idea.

Om Nom Nom! – He grabbed the treat and broke it into a million pieces on the carpet. Then he spent the next 10 minutes hoovering it up. Licking the carpet, licking his paws – yikes, maybe the tile would have been a better option.

He loved them! He danced around in a circle waiting for treat number 2. There was no way he was getting another giant cookie treat before dinner.

Pouty McPouty Face sure does melt my heart. I was strong, I stood my ground – didn’t want to spoil his dinner.

Today is a new day – I see a lunch time treat in his future.

You always want to be careful when feeding your pets new foods – I definitely made sure that Higgy had previously had the majority of the ingredients I’d given him by checking the list of ingredients in his daily dog food, other treats, etc. You could also consult with your vet as a precaution if you are concerned.

ASPCA Website – People foods to avoid feeding your pets

Make sure you store the treats in an airtight container.