The Easy Way to Make Dog Treats at Home

Before you roll up your sleeves and make a big batch of homemade dog treats, it’s important to assess your dog’s personal health and food needs. If your dog is having any stomach upset, it is not a good time to introduce a new treat, Dr. Anna Kaufman, a veterinarian at Bond Vet, tells CR. “If your dog is on a special diet prescribed by your veterinarian, ask your dog’s doctor before introducing a new treat or chew to make sure it is a good idea,” Kaufman says. 

The texture of your dog treats also matters; being mindful of our pet’s dental care is important to their overall health. “Your dog should not eat anything that is very hard as they could fracture a tooth or swallow a piece, which is a choking hazard,” Kaufman says. “I typically tell my clients to only give their dogs something soft enough that they could dent with their thumbnail.”

Finally, even if you worked really hard making those treats and they look as pretty as a picture, Kaufman advises not continuing to give them to your dog if your pup shows signs of stomach upset after sampling the new treat. Don’t worry: They will still appreciate your effort and love you for it.

You can make dog treats in your oven, but if you’re on the fence about getting a food dehydrator because you’re curious about the many other foods it can dry that can save you money (like fruit leather, beef jerky, granola, yogurt, and dried herbs), I highly recommend it. An oven takes two to three times longer to dry foods than a dehydrator. It’s so much less stressful to place your dog treat dough into a dehydrator, set it at the recommended temperature and time, leave it alone, and actually go about your day doing other things. There’s no need to constantly check on the dough to ensure it isn’t burning, a dehydrator uses less energy than an oven, and, unlike an oven, it doesn’t add heat to your kitchen in the dead of summer.

I used the Magic Mill Food Dehydrator Machine, which we tried in a recent test. This dehydrator’s interface is simple to operate, it comes with 10 trays, and it utilizes horizontal airflow, which is considered more desirable than vertical airflow. After spacing out my dog treats on three trays (more specifics on that in a minute), I pushed three buttons—one to set the timer for eight hours, another to set the temperature to 145°F, and a third to start it—and then I forgot about the treats until it was time to flip them over halfway through. In the meantime, I got some reading done, folded laundry, went for a run, showered, and started dinner. Food dehydrators are a liberating appliance.

The internet is a wild place where you’ll find a considerable number of dog treat recipes, but not all of them will necessarily be safe. One of the first recipes I came across sounded great for Blake (though I can’t say I was over the moon about having to cook boiled chicken liver—the things we do for our pups). But one of the ingredients listed was garlic powder, which is a no-no according to Animal Poison Control. Other foods that your dog should avoid include:

• Alcohol/yeast dough
• Chocolate, coffee, and caffeine
• Avocado
• Citrus fruit
• Grapes and raisins
• Onion and chives
• Milk/dairy
• Nuts/fatty foods like coconut
• Raw, undercooked meats, eggs, and bones
• Xylitol sweetener
• Excessively salty foods

Brew yourself a cup of coffee and don’t make plans for 30 minutes (let’s be real: more like 45 minutes after you’re finished cleaning up). It’s less stressful to commit to the task of making homemade dog treats when you aren’t rushing things or trying to squeeze it into an already chore-packed day. 

On a bright Sunday morning, with a home-brewed latte by my side, I added to a large mixing bowl four eggs, one mashed overripened banana, and ¼ cup of bacon grease that I retrieved after frying up a few strips of bacon while Blake smelled the aroma and salivated. The recipe also mentions that you can use coconut oil as a substitute, but I avoided it based on Animal Poison Control’s recommendations. I then added 1.5 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 cup of cornmeal (the recipe recommends almond flour, but I couldn’t find this at my local grocery store), 1 cup of old-fashioned oats, and 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, for which you can substitute almond butter to keep the treats peanut-free. The combined ingredients seemed a little thick to attempt to mix by hand, so I opted to use my electric mixer. A few minutes later, the dough was perfect. 

I am not known for my dough-wielding skills, so I’m not pulling your leg when I tell you it was easy-peasy to spread parchment paper on my kitchen table, throw a little flour down to keep the dough from sticking, and spread the dough out with my hands—no rolling pin necessary.

I scored these adorable dog treat cookie cutters and used them to turn the dough into the shapes of dogs, bones, and dog houses. I was able to make 54 dog treats (admittedly, it would have been more had I used the rolling pin to thin out the dough). My final step was lightly spraying cooking spray on Magic Mill dehydrator racks, spacing the dog treats out on the racks, and sliding the racks into the dehydrator. I added Magic Mill’s crumb tray to the bottom of the dehydrator to pick up any dough debris that might fall through the racks.

These dog treats were a hit with Blake, and I feel great knowing that each ingredient in them is healthy, safe, and something I would feed myself and my family.

According to the recipe, the treats can last three months at room temperature if stored in an airtight container. They can be frozen for an additional three months.