by Texas Homesteader ~
I made training treats for our ranch dog using wholesome ingredients I already had in the house. She LOVES them! Check out my simple yet healthy recipe.
Well as you all know, we adopted a furry bundle of joy that we’ve named Bailey. She’s a miniature Schnauzer and we adopted her from a local no-kill shelter.
There were lots of adorable faces & wagging tails there. So if you’re looking to add a four-legged member to your family I encourage you to check out your local shelter.
In our case, love was just around the corner right here in our own town. I’ve included a list of articles I’ve written about our life with Bailey at the end of this post.
Things such as a homemade carpet cleaner for pet stains and homemade dog shampoo recipes. I encourage you to check them out.
Acclimating A New Dog To The Ranch
We’re working to acclimate her to her new surroundings and routines. It doesn’t appear she’s ever been around cattle before & I doubt she’s ever lived in the country.
She was still bound to a leash any time she’s outside with RancherMan & me. But we wanted to train her so she’d be able to romp free with us while we’re out checking the cattle, the goats or the chickens.
So I looked up a recipe for dog treats and we used them to train her.
Delicious Pet Training Treats
The verdict? She absolutely LOVED them! Since Bailey’s a Miniature Schnauzer and prone to bladder stones I’m monitoring her oxalate intake.
But her vet says it’s perfectly fine to offer her this homemade treat in moderation since carrots are only a moderately oxalate veggie.
Plus I love that I know all the healthy ingredients that’s included in these pet training treats.
I initially found some pet training recipes online but I didn’t like some of the ingredients in some of those recipes. Some contained onions & garlic, I know they can be toxic for dogs in the right quantities. So I didn’t see the need to add them at all.
And I don’t want to buy a specialty ingredient like wheat germ (a high oxalate ingredient) so I eliminated that as well.
Know what – she loves them and her training went well.
Here’s how I made them: First I pulled out the wholesome ingredients – carrots, eggs, flour and oats.
No artificial or hard-to-pronounce ingredients here!
Mixing Up The Treats
First I cooked what I estimated would be about 2 cups of pureed carrots. We had extra carrots in the fridge needing to be used anyway so that worked out very well.
Then I put them in my mixer and gave them a whirr along with a couple of eggs.
I was afraid the carrots would be too much for the stick-blender’s motor so I didn’t get the carrots fully pureed on the first batch. The second batch went a little better since I pureed them more completely.
Anyway after the carrots & eggs were mixed I added a cup of quick-cooking oats and 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour. The dough was pretty sticky.
Baking The Treats
After it was all incorporated I floured my 12×16 baking sheet and plopped the dough on it. I sifted some flour on top of the dough and used a roller to smooth it evenly over the surface of the pan.
It rolled out to about 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick.
I used a crinkle cutter to make the treats about Cheez-It sized and placed them in an oven that was preheated to 300.
I baked them for about 45 minutes. Then I turned the oven off and allowed the residual heat to further harden the treats.
(They harden on their own as they cool but I was concerned that they were not fully dried and didn’t want them to mold in storage)
I love that I was able to make training treats that she loves with wholesome ingredients I already had in my home. I know exactly what’s in these treats and I know they’re safe for her.
And as an added bonus they cost only pennies to make and added no landfill trash.
We Love, Love, LOVE these pet training treats! Hey, give ’em a try with your pooch.
With all the fears over contaminated pet food these days, there’s no reason not to try this easy recipe with your furbaby.
Homemade Dog Treat Recipe
These homemade dog treats were simple to make. And include wholesome ingredients such as pureed carrots, oats & eggs. Our mini-schnauzer loved them. #TexasHomtesteader
Ingredients
- 2 cups boiled and pureed carrots
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
Instructions
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Combine pureed carrots & eggs, mixing until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly - dough will be sticky.
-
Place dough on floured 12x16 cookie sheet. Sprinkle dough lightly with flour & roll out, adding a sprinkling of flour if it gets too sticky. (dough will be about 1/8" to 1/4" thick)
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Cut into desired treat sizes.
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Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or to desired crunchiness. (They continue to harden as they cool)
Recipe Notes
As with any shelf-stable dehydrating, make sure these treats are completely dry before storing or they will mold.
~TxH~
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I have a friend that has 3 miniature schnauzers.
I am also a dog owner. I have 5 dogs, 3 chihuahuas, 1 Black Lab, 1 German Shepherd mix.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I know there’s quite a concern lately with the origin of some of the commercially-sold dog treats Carmen, so these should fit the bill nicely. ~TxH~
These look simple and fairly healthy! I don’t know if I could make enough to keep up with my two big brutes (they’d need a handful at a time!), but if I still had a small/medium dog these would be great! Thanks for sharing at Simple Lives Thursday! 🙂
Kara, although we use these strictly for training treats, I made them for Bailey when we adopted her the first week of April and we still have plenty. We train her every day. She’s small unlike your larger dogs, but the treats have lasted us quite some time. I cut them pretty small so that although we’re training her daily & giving her several of these treats daily it doesn’t interfere with her feeding. She sure loves them. ~TxH~
Our lab, Bradie would love these treats. When we trained her, we often used carrot slices as a reward. To this day she thinks they are a wonderful treat. Thanks for sharing your link at Green Thumb Thursday. In addition to visiting your blog and leaving a comment, I will also be sharing your post on my social media pages (Facebook, Google+, Twitter) and pinned it to our Green Thumb Thursday Pinterest Board. Thanks again and I hope to see you this Thursday.
G’day! Thanks for sharing via our #SayGdayParty!
Please make sure to come back, leaving comments on some people who also attended the party and of course we hope you are following us on Pinterest!
Cheers! Joanne
I love this! We adopted a puppy in May and she is full of energy! In addition to training the puppy, I am training my 4 year old daughter on how to interact with the puppy…not sure which is more difficult. I’ve found that the puppy actually just loves to eat regular baby carrots, so I’m sure she will love this recipe. I can’t wait to try it out!
We adopted too about the same time ago as you. Bailey really loves these treats and using them we’ve been able to train her around our animals, not to dash out the door when it’s opened, to come/sit/stay, etc. Her transformation has been nothing short of amazing. ~TxH~
What a fun idea for pet lovers! I’m glad you swung by The Yuck Stops Here recipe link party to share this animal treat with us! It will surely have the dogs in the family saying YUM! I hope you’ll stop by again the next time you have a recipe to share. I have pinned and tweeted. HUGS
Thanks for this recipe. Always looking for healthier treats to give my pup. Pinned this one 🙂
I just stopped by from the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop. These look easy, and what a fun treat! Our dog is getting up in years, and she loves carrots so I know she will love these.
I baked ours to be pretty crunchy Susan, hoping to help keep Bailey’s teeth clean. For an older dog you might want to roll them a little thinner so they won’t be as hard on her teeth. Let me know how she likes them! ~TxH~
We don’t have dogs, but my friends and neighbors do and I am sure they would love for me to make these.
I like this! We need something to motivate our Doberman! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy
We just started making our own dog treats. Will give this a try. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Happiness is Homemade blog link up.
Thanks for this recipe. Our lab as getting a little overweight so we had to stop giving her treats – but these might be a good alternative. Have a great day 🙂
For us it was helpful to make the treats very small so we could offer them as a reward when training even if we were rewarding often. She loves them! ~TxH~
I like this ,we have 2 spoiled shitzhus I try to feed them healthier treats to,am just wondering ,how long will they keep and how do you store them?
We’ve only had Bailey for about 3-4 weeks and so far they’ve certainly lasted that long. If you make sure the treats are completely dry when you bake them not only will they be nice & crunchy for your pet but they’ll store better as well. I have the treats in a large lidded glass jar – easy to reach in & grab a few & stuff them into my pockets so I’ll have them when we’re out in the pasture training her around the cows, chickens & goats. ~TxH~
Thanks for treat recipe !!
Dog trainer here 🙂
Those do look delicious, but there are a lot of easier treats you can use. Leftover meat cut into teeny weeny pieces (or you can cook her her own steak or chicken breast 😉 ), tiny bites of cheese, cut up apples or carrots, ect. Many dogs will work (in the house) for their regular dog food. If you have a cat you can use cat food as treats too.
Just remember, if they’re working for it, it’s a reward, if you’re giving it to them directly from the table you’ll encourage begging, and when you’re outside you need something AMAZING to keep their attention. 🙂
Happy puppy training, she’s adorable!
Thanks for the advice Becky. I have been cautioned against too much meat protein for her due to her bladder stone issues but I know there are many low oxalate foods that I can reward her with. Too funny you mentioned working for their regular food, I’ve seen her work for her regular dog food as treats – she’s more about pleasing us than anything, which as you know is leaps & bounds as far as their training. Thanks so much for your help! ~TxH~