Dog Biscuits

A couple of weeks ago, my husband listened to a very compelling speech about what’s in dog food. The speech was one of the many speeches we enjoyed during the 4H County Demonstration Day and again at Districts. The young lady who presented the information really did her research and made my husband think about what we were feeding our dog which sent us on a quest of reading dog food labels and looking into homemade options.

Whenever I’m on a quest for information I hit the internet like everyone else. However, I also hit the library. I requested six doggie cookbooks and that was just from the first page of results. There were dozens of cookbooks just for dogs! Who knew?!

Most of the dog food recipes were about the same: some kind of meat, mixed with rice, potatoes or oatmeal, and cooked vegetables. Most of the authors stuck to beef, chicken or turkey. Surprisingly, very few recipes involved pork. I also found a lot of recipes and information about a raw diet for dogs.

We haven’t completely decided on what we are going to do about a healthy diet for our Shadow Dog, but we did purchase a better dog food and have been making at least one meal a day for her from regular food. It’s interesting to see all of these recipes that involve people food when we’ve had it drilled into our heads for years not to give our dogs people food. However, as my husband very correctly pointed out, “Who told us not to feed our dogs regular food? Pet food companies.”

The first thing we did switch permanently is dog biscuits. I have made dog biscuits before, but not on a regular basis. The first recipe I used was a bit involved so I didn’t make them often. The second recipe I tried had to be refrigerated to keep from spoiling. I know us. Put the treats in the refrigerator, and the dog will never get any! In one of the cookbooks from the library, every single treat had to be stored in the refrigerator. That book went back first. I’m so glad I found a few other recipes that are quick and easy and can be stored on the counter in an airtight container.

Our Shadow Dog really does love these biscuits a lot more than she ever liked the store-bought biscuits. Whenever one of us is out of the house for a couple of hours, the dog gets a biscuit when we come home. When we had store-bought biscuits, the dog would be a little pesty, but if we forgot to give her one, she let it go. With her new biscuits, she’s relentless!


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Easy Dog Biscuits

2 cubes beef, chicken or vegetable bouillon

1 stick butter

1 cup boiling water

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup nonfat dried milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix bouillon, butter and hot water until dissolved. Add flour, cornmeal and nonfat dried milk. Mix well. Add egg and parsley, and mix. Dough should be thick but not dry. Add extra flour or water as needed and knead with your hands.

Roll dough out on floured surface to about 1/4" thick.

Cut with a cookie cutter or cut into squares with a pizza cutter or pastry roller.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for one hour or until the bottom is browned or until biscuit is hard. Since the recipe does not include any baking powder or baking soda or any other ingredient that would make it raise or expand during baking, the biscuits can be placed very close to each other on the cookie sheet, just don't let them touch each other. Remove and cool. Store in an airtight container.

Chicken, beef or vegetable broth can be used in place of the water and bouillon.

I hope your puppies like these as much as our Shadow Dog does!

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