My Kitchen Goes to the Dogs

I took Sadie for a walk today, and before heading out I noticed that I was getting low on dog bones.  Uh-oh! This is bad news.  “Cookies” are my numero uno method of bribing my pooches to behave.

I had enough for today’s walk.  Among other things,  I use them when another dog is approaching.  Sadie is friendly, but when she sees another dog coming at her she jumps up and down and barks loudly.  She pulls really hard at the leash which doesn’t do my arm any favors.  So to prevent this, when I see a stranger pooch, I dig into my fanny pack, pull out a cookie, and tell Sadie to sit.  I hold the cookie in front of her nose until the other dog passes by.  She loves her snacks so much that she absolutely fixates on the treat until I decide the “danger” is passed and let her eat the treat.

I usually buy Milk Bones or a generic equivalent.  My favorite, because they’re cheap, are the Ol’ Roy dog bones at Wal Mart.  I am convinced that they are merely Milk Bones in disguise.  They look exactly the same, plus they have the same ingredients.

But still, I always like to try to be as cheap as I possibly can, especially when I am dealing with regular purchases.  And of course, I don’t like to run out to the store just for one thing. So I decided to make my own.

I have done this before, but not on any sort of regular basis.  This is mainly because Ol’ Roys are so cheap, and because I am lazy. But this year I really want to try to lessen my reliance on “convenience” foods.  I think dog bones qualify.

Since I am lazy, I have to find the easiest way of doing things.  I call this “being efficient”.  One thing that made making homemade dog bones a drag was that I would painstakingly cut the dough with a dog-boned shaped cookie cutter.  That is very cute, but takes a long time.  Plus it’s crazy because my dogs could care less about the cuteness-quotient of their cookies.

So today I decided to use my pizza cutter instead.  Oh, what a relief! Much easier and faster. I cut them across, then the long way, to make about 1 inch squares.

I use this recipe from bullwrinkle.com (heads up all you English Bull Dog fans.  Cute, cute, cute).  I like this recipe because it is easy and calls for ingredients I have on hand.  Some recipes are a bit too exotic (and expensive) for my needs.

This recipe says it is .30 per pound.  If true (I’m too lazy to work it out myself), that is an incredible deal.  I typically buy 5 pounds at a time for about $4.40. However, my version is even cheaper because I use half all-purpose flour and half whole-wheat (instead of all whole-wheat).

The cookies are baking right now, and they smell really good.  I’m sure my pooches will love them.

Oops! I see that the link to the recipe is not working.  So here it is:

Homemade Dog Treat Recipe

3/4 cup hot water

1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour

Variation: increase margarine to 1/2 cup and add 2 teaspoons sugar
In large bowl pour hot water over the margarine. Stir in powdered milk, salt, and egg. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Knead for a few minutes to form stiff dough. Pat or roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into bone shapes. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Cool. They will dry out quite hard. Makes about 1 1/4 pounds of biscuits. Costs around 30 cents per pound.

Update: My pooches love them!