A DIY Way to Spoil Your Dog

When I started Limelight Musings, my target was to show people how easy it is to help the enviroment. We've covered homemade laundry detergent, all natural cleaning supplies, green cookouts, but there is one aspect that I've left out so far: animals. Being a DINK (Double Income, No Kids), our cat Cricket & dog Katsumi mean the world to us.

So needless to say... they are a little spoiled.

Cricket Lazing About & Katsumi Enjoying A New Rawhide

With that being said, we are always looking for new ways to spoil them even more. So, the other day, I found a lovely little cook book for dog biscuits! Even better, it's organic and promotes ingredients that are friendly on my dog's tummy.

A Match Made In Heaven

Upon first reading the book, I was shocked to see my vendetta against big name pet food companies is well deserved. Years ago, I started to give my pets food that did not have corn, wheat & soy. That decision was based on learning those ingredients are only used as to fill up your pet, especially corn. It's hard for dogs (and cats) to digest, and they normally get no nutrition from it. But now, several sources are claiming corn, wheat & soy are behind the majority of food allergies in dogs. So lesson to be learned when it comes to your best animal friend, avoid food that has corn, wheat, soy, or any kind of by-product listed (at least) among the first five ingredients. Pet food companies lists the main ingredients first. In case you're wondering, Katusmi eats Blue Buffalo and Cricket devours Newman's Own.

I'll get off my soap box, and back to the biscuits. I couldn't stop reading! I wanted to see all the different biscuits I could make for my favorite dog and how the different ingredients benefit my dog's tummy. It wasn't until Monday that I finally got around to deciding on which recipe I wanted to try first and start baking.

I chose the Snickerdoodle-poodle-poos. It's more of a dessert treat, and is an easy recipe for beginners. But still had a few difficulties. First off, my local grocery store does not sell the two main ingredients (oat flour & brown rice flour). They are also essential to make the majority of the treats in the book. You obviously need a kind of flour, but wheat based flour goes back to the issue of not being puppy-tummy-friendly. Thankfully, I decided to try a small, local organic store; and sure enough, they sold what I needed!

Lined Up All the Ingredients for Sinckerdoodle-poodle-poos

I'm not sure how much I can legally go into a company's recipe but it was pretty easy to follow the directions. Get all the ingredients, then mix.

Looks Like Regular Cookie Batter!

If anything, the biggest problem I had was dispensing the dough onto the cookie sheet. Thankfully, this kind of flour does not expand, so I could line the biscuits close together. But for decorative sake, I was supposed to use a fork to "press down on the biscuits, flattening them and adding decorative lines on the tops." Yeah... that didn't go very well as you can see. It wasn't until after the biscuits were done that I realize... they appear to be made of dog sick rather than what my dog is supposed to eat.

Not the Best Looking of Dog Biscuits...

But they still went into the oven, and my home was filled with the wonderful aroma of baking! And as if she knew, our dog waited in anticipation.

"Wha- Whatcha' Making?"

I couldn't wait to see what Katsumi thought of my creation; and without fail, she thoroughly enjoyed it.

What's Better Than a Katsumi Collage? Nothing, that's what.

And since my husband tried out the squirrel repellent, he was up for trying the biscuits too! 

Yummy

After a point of time, I took a nibble myself. It was good, add some sugar, and it would be a delicious snickerdoodle on human terms. But this dog doesn't need any sugar!

I'm so happy with how the biscuits turned out (minus their shape) and can't wait to see what my fellow canine friends think! I might even try out a few more recipes. If you are interested in making your own dog biscuits, I have now posted a series of links, including green dog treat recipes.