In every issue of Modern Dog you’ll find a DIY recipe to make your own delectable eats for your dog(s). In the upcoming Winter edition, we included the Grain-Free Goodbites from MyDogsBreakfast (one of my favourite dog blogs). Being that Cash is now on a low-carb diet, I’ve cut out any treats that aren’t grain-free and good for him, so this simple recipe seemed like a perfect fit. Now I changed it up a bit to include some of my dogs’ fave ingredients, as well as some cancer fighting boosters, so here’s my version of a grain-free treat.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Unsweetened applesauce, 1 can of sardines, 1 tsp tumeric, pinch of rosemary, 3/4 cup of instant mashed potatoes, water.

I never measure things, so these are just estimates based on the original recipe. I simply mixed all of the ingredients together, slowly adding some water until I got a wet dough. Then I spread it out on a cookie sheet and stuck it in the oven (pre-heated to 400 degrees) for 40 minutes.

A couple of things to note here, the edges burnt because they were thinner than the middle. Also, all of the cookies got stuck to the parchment paper, I think next time I’ll try baking them directly on the cookie sheet for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Either way, the grain-free goodbites were a hit with the dogs!

This recipe for healthy, grain-free treats was so easy that I decided to try making up my own, but this time I would use my new dehydrator instead of the oven! I call these Mama’s Sweet Tuna Balls.

Ingredients:

1 can of drained tuna, 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, fresh spinach, 1/2 banana.

Simply mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, roll into balls varying in size depending on your breed, and pop into your dehydrator for 4 hours. You could also put these in the oven, I would guess 350 degrees for 35-40 mins, however I prefer the dehydrator since the outside gets crunchy while the inside stays soft. And voila!

The dogs went absolutely bananas for my Sweet Tuna Balls, in fact even Blackie Chan was following me around begging for a piece! The great thing about these is that they’re healthy, full of nutrients, and so cheap and easy to make! I keep them in a Ziplock baggie in our fridge, and guess that they would keep for about a week, but they never last that long in our house! 

Now that I know making treats is so easy, I’ll definitely be experimenting more with ingredients so stay tuned for my next concoction!