Dog Biscuit Recipe

Selecting Ingredients

• The ingredients you use for making dog biscuits should be as natural, fresh and healthy as the ingredients you use in your own food. Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are as essential to dogs as they are to people.

  Do use:
  Proteins, like chicken, lamb, beef, salmon, mild sausage and cooked eggs
  Whole grains, like whole wheat flour, oatmeal, barley, cooked brown rice and wheat germ
  Vegetables, like carrots, mashed potatoes, jicama, squash, pumpkin and cooked spinach
  Fruits, like apples, bananas, pears and peaches
  Honey and molasses for sweetening instead of sugar
  Spices, like ginger, cinnamon, garlic, oregano, basil, Chinese 5-spice and ground sage
  Vegetable oils, like canola oil or olive oil (instead of butter or margarine)
  Chicken, beef or vegetable broth instead of milk or cream

  Do not use:
  Chocolate, coffee, tea or anything else that contains caffeine
  Onions, since they can cause anemia in dogs
  Citrus fruits
  Raisins or grapes, since some dogs have had adverse reactions
  Butter or margarine
  Salt
  Liver in large amounts
  Mushrooms
  Pits from stone fruit or olives
  Milk

Preparation

• For meat-based biscuits, dice the meat of your choice and fry in canola or olive oil until barely pink in the middle. Combining the meat with broth in a blender will make the liquid portion of your biscuits. For sweet biscuits, substitute peanut butter, pumpkin or applesauce for the meat. Be sure to dice or puree any fruits or vegetables you add to the mixture.

  Add dry ingredients (like whole-wheat flour, oats, or wheat germ) and additional broth or water if needed, until you have a stiff dough you can roll out to about one-quarter inch thick. Use a cookie cutter or slice into strips. If your dog biscuits have no leavening (baking powder or baking soda), place the biscuits close together on the cookie sheet. If you prefer your dog biscuits to rise a little (your dog won't care), use about 1/2 tsp. of baking powder or baking soda for each cup of flour (never use yeast for dogs), and place the biscuits a few inches apart on the cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F until done, then let sit in a cold oven overnight to dry.

  Store baked and dried dog biscuits in airtight containers, like empty butter tubs or zipped plastic bags for up to two months---if your tasty dog biscuits last that long.

Recipes

• Look for dog biscuit recipes on websites like twodogpress.com, all-natural-dog-treat.com, and dogtreatrecipesonline.com, as well as video tutorials on YouTube. Cookbooks designed specifically for making dog treats include "The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs" by Donna Roberts, "The Three Dog Bakery Cookbook" from Quadrillion Press, and the "You Bake'em Dog Biscuits Cookbook" by Janine Adams.

  Better yet, come up with your own creations by following the dos and don'ts of pup-appropriate ingredients and baking tips, based on your dog's likes and dislikes.