Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Easy Dehydrator Treats



Nova and Kerri have been eating a lot of treats lately- Kerri for agility and trick training and Nova because.... well not every post can be about Nova, feel free to read the rest of the blog for her story.  I have been looking for a variety of high value treats that are small enough for a chihuahua.  The problem with nearly all commercial treats is that besides being full of not so healthy stuff they are huge for chihuahuas.  When you weigh 6 lbs every bit of food you eat counts!  I pulled out the dehydrator and whipped these guys up in only a few hours.  Just one warning though- even though these are healthy treats- everything should be done in moderation.  I account for the treats my dogs eat by reducing the veggie portion of their dinner- and also by giving a variety of different treats.  Too many of these and your dog might get a little stopped up in the poop department.  They are made out of pumpkin after all.

First I took all my ingredients- 2 cans of pumpkin, a dash of tumerick and a few tablespoons of coconut oil- and I mixed them up in a bowl.

I spooned the mixture into a bag (you could use a pastry bag but I couldn't find mine so I used a sandwich bag) then piped it onto the dehydrator trays.




I dehydrated for about 2 and a half hours at 135 degrees.  Then I broke them up into tiny pieces like this-


They ended up just like I hoped they would- semi soft and tiny.  The dogs LOVED them- which is good because I was looking for a higher value treat.  Here is Copley politely sitting for a treat and ever bolder Nova being totally impolite.  It is something we are working on.

Have a great day everybody!

6 comments:

  1. Having bigger dogs we never thought it must be difficult to find small treats for small dogs. We think you have found a great solution there. They are sure loving them. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A good size for Kerri would be a zukes mini (the little round ones) broken into 4 pieces! And once they have been open a while there are no training treats that stay easy to break apart! I've broken nails pulling treats apart!

      Delete
  2. I so need to get a dehydrator!
    Nola's Mom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will never regret purchasing a dehydrator. I recommend once you get one you befriend someone with a grove of apricots.

      Delete
  3. Wow--what a great idea! I can't believe they are so high value, but my dogs don't get pumpkin often and come to think of it, they do seem to enjoy it.

    Yah, I got my dehydrator when I lived in Santa Fe and there were scads of apricots in June ...:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete