Healthy Doggie Treats

As most of you know, my fur babies are my children.  I have two cats, Otis and Nicodemus, and two Saint Bernards, Lucie and Vinnie.  I don’t dare cook for my cats since that is more a of pain in the neck and a giant nuisance than it is worth.  But I do cook for my dogs all the time.  They are not picky eaters, and can eat most everything we can, so it is much easier to cook for them, and they actually appreciate what I make for them too.  I actually make their wet food about once a week.  But every now and then, I also make them treats as well.  After all, I want them to eat healthy treats too.  I have had both dogs and cats all my life, and they have all have lived long, healthy lives.  One of  the best things to help give them a long, healthy life is to feed them human quality foods, and when making their food, I make it out of the exact same ingredients I would use for my husband and myself.  Dogs in general need a lot of lean proteins and very little fats.  Lucie is on a diet, and needs even less fat.  She weighs about 150 lbs.  She is a very curvy girl with big hips.  Vinnie is all lean muscle, but he still weighs about 140 lbs.  Because big dogs are prone to hip dysplasia, we have to really watch their weight.  We want them healthy, and to have some meat on their bones, but we do not want them fat or over weight.  Sometimes, it is a fine line, but we try our best.  It was a very good day for baking today, since the weather was very cool and overcast.  I do not need any more sweets or treats in the house at the moment, so I baked doggie treats instead.  Mommy and her special assistant Fritzie, made the kids some yummy, healthy peanut butter and banana treats today.   They gobbled them up, so I am going to take that as a good sign that they were delicious; although sometimes that is not the best way of determining if something is good or not, since they have been known to eat poo too.  We made enough treats for Lucie and Vinnie to share with some of their doggie friends too.

 

Fritzie guarding her treats.

Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Treats

2 bananas, peeled and mashed

2 cups oat flour

1 1/3 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup dried parsley

1/4 cup dried mint (optional.  You can use only parsley if you wish, just make it 1 full cup)

6 heaping TBSP peanut butter, either creamy or chunky

2 eggs

 

Preheat the oven to 300* F

Line your baking pans with parchment paper.

 

Mix all the ingredients together.  Then let rest for about 5 minutes.  Once everything is mixed well and has sat, make 2×2″ balls then press them down to about 1/4″ in thickness, and cut into your desired shapes.  I used a dog bone cookie cutter dipped in flour.   Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake for about 55 minutes or until dried and hard.  You want them crunchy.

If your dogs can handle crunchy foods, it is better for their teeth.  It also helps to clean their teeth too.  Before giving them to your dogs, make sure they cool completely.  My dog Lucie cannot handle things when they are still warm.  It upsets her tummy something terrible.  Both the parsley and the mint are breath fresheners, both for humans and for dogs, but all of us who are dog lovers know that our dogs don’t always have the freshest breath, so every little bit helps.  Depending on the size of the treats, on average, each treat is about 45 calories.

 

This is all it takes to make these healthy doggie treats.  Your dogs will absolutely love them.  Lucie and Vinnie sure did.

Mash the bananas with a potato masher until they almost become a liquid.

After the bananas are mashed, add the rest of the ingredients and mix together well.  The dough will be a stiff dough.

The dough is easy to handle and to work with.  Grab a chunk and press it down to about 1/4″ in thickness then cut into your desired shape.  I used a dog bone cookie cutter dipped in flour before each cut.  My dough made enough for about 50 cookies that were about 2-2 1/2″ long.

Bake the cookies at 300*F for about 55 minutes, or until they are crunchy.

Lucie and Vinnie eagerly awaiting to sample the goods.

They ate their treats so fast that I could not get a picture of them eating them.  So instead, i got pictures of them with dinner, made with lean ground beef, carrots, potatoes, peas and yogurt.  We mix it in with their dry food every night.

I think they liked it.  Lucie is saying “more please”.