Make this Christmas extra special for your furry best friend with a homemade Christmas dog treat especially designed for it.
We have rounded up a list of 5 popular Christmas dog treat recipes dogs simply adore.
They mainly contain healthy dog-friendly ingredients, but as with every new food, talk with your vet to see whether these treats are safe for your pet and its particular health issues.
Homemade Dog Treats 101
When making dog treats for Fido at home you don’t have to raid the spice rack or use a laundry list of ingredients. The simpler, the better. Dogs don’t need elaborate flavors and smells to truly enjoy a snack.
Before eating something, a dog sniffs the food for quality control. But since an average dog’s nose has more than 300 million olfactory receptors (we have just 6 million, by the way), making its food or treats extra flavorful could easily be overkill.
This is why most commercial dog food is quite bland by human standards. But during the holiday season we can treat our furry friends with something extra special but healthy.
Best Ingredients in a🎄Christmas Dog Treat
Beside keeping everything simple when cropping up a treat for your furry friend, try to use only healthy and dog-friendly ingredients.
For instance, chocolate is a big no no for dogs, garlic in large quantities can turn toxic, while liver may cause diarrhea in some dogs.
Our recipes below contain dog-friendly ingredients such as
- Pumpkin is not only a great source of fiber, but it can also help your mut do its business regularly or help fix its diarrhea; pumpkin also helps lower the pH levels in your pet’s gut promoting the growth of healthy gut bacteria, which is a boon for its intestinal health in the long run.
- Blackstrap molasses is a great substitute for sugar in your pooch diet (sugar and dogs just don’t mix) as it is less sweet and more natural than white sugar; dark molasses is also rich in iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and other nutrients your pup badly needs.
- Whole wheat flour and oatmeal are healthier alternatives to all-purpose flour; they are recommended for pups with a mild sensitivity to grains; oats also help with digestion as they are a rich source of fiber.
- Cinnamon, turmeric, and ginger are powerful anti-inflammatories, so they are the perfect superfoods for dogs prone to arthritis or other types of chronic inflammation; ginger is also great at propping the immune system up and staving off colds
- Cranberries are packed with large doses of vitamin C and anti-inflammatory compounds; they are also believed to help prevent UITIs or speed up the healing process in both humans and pets.
Ingredients that are not safe for dogs include
🙁 Chocolate/ Caffeine (may cause vomiting and diarrhea, seizures, and even death)
🙁 Grapes/ Raisins (may cause kidney failure)
🙁 Macadamia nuts or black walnuts (may cause depression, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea)
🙁 Salt (may cause sodium ion toxicity in large amounts)
🙁 Onions (may lead to anemia in large amounts)
Gingerbread Dog Treats
Ingredients
🦴 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
🦴 1/4 tsp ground ginger
🦴 3 tablespoons coconut oil
🦴 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
🦴 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
🦴 1/4 cup water
🐾 Instructions
Mix together the flour and spices add the water, blackstrap molasses, and coconut oil.
Let the mix sit at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes. Shape into a ball and roll it out into a 1/4-inch thick circle.
Cut out the dog treats with a ginger man or bone-shaped cookie cutter.
Put the treats onto a greased cookie sheet.
Add the sheet to the preheated oven to 325 degrees and bake for 10 -12 minutes or until they become firm.
Festive Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats
Ingredients
🦴 8 oz pumpkin puree (with no added syrup)
🦴 1 egg
🦴 6.3 oz all-purpose flour
🦴 1/2 cup peanut butter
🦴 1 tbsp coconut oil
🦴 Cinnamon and turmeric (for a festive touch)
🐾 Instructions
Mix well the pumpkin puree with the rest of the ingredients. Add the batter to a pyramid or dot pan and bake for around 12 – 15 minutes in the preheated oven (350 degrees)
💡 Cooking tip
🍳 If your dog is allergic to eggs, you can swap them for a mixture of coarsely ground chia seeds. For each egg use 1 tbsp of chia seeds and 3 tbsp water (mix together and wait until the ingredients turn into gel before adding the egg substitute to the recipe).
Peanut Butter & Blueberry Dog Treat
Ingredients
🦴 6 tbsp peanut butter
🦴 ½ cup blueberries.
🦴 ½ banana
🦴 1 large egg
🦴 2 tbsp coconut oil
🦴 Tapioca flour
🐾 Instructions
Toss all the ingredients in a food processor (use as much tapioca flour to make a firm batter). Put the batter into a dot mold and bake in the preheated oven (350 F) for 5 – 7 minutes.
Turkey and Apple Sauce Leftover Treat
Ingredients
🦴 1 pound ground turkey
🦴 1 cup of coarse oats
🦴 ½ cup apple sauce
🦴 Herb-based poultry or fish seasoning
🐾 Instructions
Mix everything together. Add to a pyramid or dot mold and bake for 12- 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Scrumptious Dog Treat with Cranberries
Ingredients
🦴 1 cup cranberries
🦴 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
🦴 2 tbsp + 2 tsp plain oatmeal
🦴 2 tbsp milk
🦴 1 tsp cinnamon
🦴 ¼ stick of butter
🐾 Instructions
Mash the cranberries to desired consistency in a large bowl. Add the rest of ingredients. Mix everything well. Cut out dog treats from the 1.4-inch-thick dough on a floured surface. Put the treats on a lined sheet or silicone mold. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookie rim is brown.
Commercial Alternatives
If you’re not in the mood of making the treats yourself, you can buy your pup something extra special like these festive three flavor rawhide treats.
Good ‘N’ Fun Triple Flavor Twist Chews for Dogs
Milk Bone Holiday Biscuits (Limited Edition)
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