20 Homemade Dog Snacks: Turn Kitchen Scraps into Easy, Healthy Dog Treats

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20 Homemade Dog Snacks: Turn Kitchen Scraps into Easy, Healthy Dog Treats

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Supplementing Your Dog's Diet

Is your dog enjoying a well balanced diet? If he eats the same dry food, day in and day out, year after year, chances are he’s missing out on a few things. Despite most manufacturer’s claims to the contrary, no one really knows exactly what constitutes a complete canine diet.

The FDA, AAFCO and many vets recommend regularly rotating your dog’s diet between several brands to help maintain a balanced diet. However, changing your dog’s diet from one brand to another can result in unpleasant stomach upset and digestive issues.

Here are some healthy, homemade ingredients you can add to your dog’s daily intake, without any extra effort, that will add variety and help fill in the nutritional gaps. And better yet, they won’t impact your wallet. As with any food, portion control is the key to healthy dog snacking.

Kitchen Scraps That Make Healthy Dog Snacks

Romaine Lettuce: Romaine lettuce is low in calories, high in protein (in fact it’s 17% protein), Calcium, Omega-3s, Vitamin C (one head of Romaine has more Vitamin C than an orange), Vitamin A, Iron and is rich in B-vitamins and minerals.

When your cleaning your Romaine lettuce, set aside the tough leathery pieces and the hard pale cores that you might normally put down the disposal. Most dogs enjoy the dark leafy pieces as well as the crunchy cores. A snack of leftover romaine lettuce scraps will add fresh fiber and almost no calories to his diet. Butter, green leaf and red leaf lettuces are good choices too, iron rich Spinach is also readily enjoyed.

Potato Peels: Peeling potatoes for French fries or mashed potatoes? Those potato skins are packed with Vitamin C, B Vitamins, Phosphorous, Potasium, Copper, Manganese and Magnesium. In its raw state, potato skins contain approximately 16 calories per ounce. You can safely add two ounces of raw potato skins per 20 pounds of dog weight without significantly impacting his calorie intake.

Sweet potatoes are tremendously nutritious.  Rich in beta-carotene and Vitamin A, feel free to indulge your dog with left over baked sweet potatoes or peelings from them. Just make sure they don't have any added butter, sugar or marshmallows.

Carrot Peelings: When peeling and trimming carrots, put those scraps to the side for Fido. Carrots are high in fiber, anti-inflammatory and are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, B Vitamins, Vitamin K and Potassium. A quarter cup of raw carrots is only 15 calories and makes a nice fresh addition to a bowl of kibble.

Healthy Fruit Snacks for Dogs

When cleaning fruit, you may discover an unappetizing piece of fruit that your dog will enjoy. We are not advocating giving rotten fruit to your pet, but a bruised piece of banana or strawberry will add fresh nutrients and antioxidants to your dog’s diet.

Bananas: High in Fiber, Vitamin C, The B Vitamins and of course potassium. Bananas in small quantities make a nice occasional treat. A one inch piece is a healthy portion for a 25 pound dog.

Blueberries: Many of the Organic and Holistic pet foods are adding blueberries to their formulas, however processing removes a good bit of their nutritive value. Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants, selenium, zinc and iron. And like many of the fruits on this list they are high in Vitamins C, E, A and B complex. 2 or 3 blueberries a day makes a good treat or addition to his kibble.

Melons: Watermelon and Cantaloupe: Both are high in antioxidants, potassium, magnesium, vitamins A, B complex, C; cantaloupe has the additional benefits of beta-carotene, thiamine, niacin, pantothenic acid and folic acid. Be careful not to feed your dog the seeds. Two one inch cubes of either type of melon makes a healthy size dog snack.

Strawberries: An excellent source of fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iodine, Folic acid, Omega-3 fats and Vitamins C, K, B1 and B6. A single medium sized strawberry makes a healthy treat, however if they are exceptionally tart, your dog may not know what to do with it. Keep an eye on it to prevent staining on the carpet if he rejects it as a treat.

Leftovers – Cooked Vegetables That Make Healthy Snack and Supplements

Your meal is over and a few scraps of leftover vegetables are on their way to the trash. Wait! The following vegetables can be added to your dog’s dinner or given as a health snack. When feeding your dog leftover vegetables from the table, be sure to rinse them first to remove any salt, pepper, butter or sauce.

Asparagus – Steamed, Grilled or Baked – For those of you who only like to eat the tips, Fido will enjoy the leftover asparagus. Be sure not to feed him the fibrous ends of the stems. Rich in fiber asparagus spears are a great source of Vitamin K and contain good levels of Vitamins A, B1, B2, C and E, Folate, Iron Copper, Manganese and Potassium.

Broccoli Florets – Steamed or Baked – Dark Green Broccoli florets are a rich source of Vitamins C and K as well as Vitamin A, folate, manganese and fiber. Serve one floret per 20 lbs of body weight.

Collards – Cooked, Fresh or Frozen - If your preparing fresh collards, and are stripping out the fibrous stems, set those aside for your dog. They are crunchy and packed with Vitamin K, A, C, Folate and Calcium. Add frozen raw or cooked collards to your dogs kibble, serving size is approximately one tablespoon per 20 lbs. Everyone of our dogs loves the stems.

Green Beans – Cooked, Canned or Frozen – they make a great low calorie treat for any dog, and are especially valuable to dogs on a diet. If you need to reduce your dog’s calorie intake, but want him to feel full after his meal, green beans in any form make addition to kibble.

Sweet Potato – Boiled, Baked or Raw – Whether you are peeling them or have skins leftover after dinner, these potatoes are high in nutrients and fiber. Sweet potatoes and Yams are a great source of vitamin A and beta-carotene in addition to Vitamins C, B6 and B5, Manganese and Potassium.

Baked Potato Skins – Cooking concentrates the number of calories per ounce, so while baked potato skins still have the nutrients of their raw counterparts, one ounce contains 32 calories. Be sure to give your dog only plain baked potato; scrape away and sour cream or butter before sharing the skin with your dog. A quarter of a potato skin makes a nice snack for a 25 lb dog.

Peas - English peas must be shelled, however Snow and Sugar Snap Pea shells are edible. Peas may be boiled, steamed or sautéed. Low in calories, peas are an excellent source of Vitamins K, C, and the B Complex, in that order, as well as Manganese, fiber, folate, protein, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, potassium. Dog treat portion size: Two sugar snap or snow peas, or for English peas, 1 tablespoon – for each 20 lbs the dog weighs.

Pumpkin - The Miracle Dog Food

Canned Pumpkin – It's the healthiest vegetable you or your dog can eat! It’s high on the anti-inflammatory index, high in fiber, Vitamins A, C, K, B complex, Iron, Potassium, Manganese and Omegas 3 and 6. It also helps with both constipation and diarrhea. One tablespoon per 20 pounds dog weight added to your dog’s kibble will keep his coat and intestines healthy. Be sure to buy plain canned pumpkin and not the pie filling which has been sweetened and spiced.

Tip: If your dog has an upset stomach, boil white rice and add 2 tablespoons of pumpkin to it. Your dog will love it; it’s easy on the digestion and will help calm a bout of diarrhea.

Grapes and raisins, even in small quantities, can be toxic to dogs.

Foods NOT to Give Your Dog

Onions and Garlic should never be given as a treat to a dog. If you have a leftover that was cooked with these ingredients, pass it be as a snack for your dog.

Grapes and Raisins can be toxic, even in small quantities.

Never feed your dog any variety of White, Milk or Dark Chocolate.

And while many commercial dog foods vaunt Avocados as ingredients, they can cause digestive upset in their raw form.

5 Reasons Why Dogs Eat Dirt - And You Should Too!

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5 Reasons Why Dogs Eat Dirt - And You Should Too!

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By federico stevanin, published on 08 November 2008
Stock photo - image ID: 1001821

As scientists of various disciplines investigate the topic of dirt eating, or more accurately clay eating, they are discovering that it is more prevalent across geographic regions and species than previously imagined.  Humans, primates, dogs, cats, parrots, buffalo, deer and even fruit bats engage in clay eating or geophagia, a subset of pica.

Until now it has been assumed that the animals engaging in geophagia were either malnourished or suffering from a form of obsessive compulsive disorder originating from boredom.  New studies indicate that there may be other factors at work in the age old practice of clay eating. In our list of five reasons your dog eats clay, we offer up three traditional explanations as well as two new explanations that are gaining credence in the international dirt-eating research community.

Eating Soil From Boredom, Habit or OCD

It has been noted that bored dogs can get into the destructive habit of digging holes and then consuming the unearthed soil or clay as a by-product of the digging behavior.  In some dogs, this behavior takes on an obsessive quality, with dogs digging 2-3 new holes per day, leaving yards pock-marked with ankle-bending divots.  This behavior is different from that of the dog that returns to the same beloved spot in the yard for his daily dose of dirt, frequently an area of moist clay.  Habitual digging is a behavioral issue that should be addressed with training, increased interaction and exercise.

Clay Eating to Relieve Hunger

Some trainers have suggested that dogs fed a single meal a day are relieving hunger pains by adding a clay snack to their diet.  If your dog is on a single meal regimen and eating soil, you may try stepping him up to two meals a day to see if that curbs his clay appetite.  If that does not work, read on.

By Tina Phillips, published on 10 August 2012
Stock photo - image ID: 10095988

Dogs Eating Dirt For Missing Nutrients

Soil contains many trace elements and nutrients that are not readily available in packaged foods; clay eaters may be seeking minerals that their normal diet is lacking.  In fact, geophagia in expectant human mothers in Nigeria (an area low in available calcium) is a centuries-old indicator of pregnancy.  In other regions of Africa, where calcium is readily available, clay eating is not particularly prevalent among expecting mothers. Perhaps the pregnant, clay-eating women in Nigeria and other regions of the world are adding calcium, sodium and iron to supplement their diets for their developing fetus.

Clay Eating For Relief of Digestive Upset

For centuries man has used clay minerals to relieve vomiting, diarrhea and stomach upset.  In fact, Kaopectate, a remedy for relief of gas, bloat and diarrhea, was originally formulated with Kaolin, a clay mineral.  Ironically, clay can also contain parasites, which may create a vicious circle.  The dog eats clay to alleviate the discomfort created by the parasites, while ultimately re-infecting himself with greater numbers of parasites.  It’s a good idea to get a stool sample to the vet if your dogs is eating a lot of clay to rule out parasitic infestations.

People and Dogs Eat Dirt to Detoxify?

Clay has long been considered a detoxifier. The Mesopotamians and ancient Egyptians used mud as a treatment for wounds and to treat various digestive ailments.  Today spas worldwide offer mud baths as a path to detoxification.  As kaolin and other clay minerals have the ability to bind toxins and remove them from the system, this motive for clay eating has now moved to the forefront of scientific research. 

Returning to the subject of pregnant clay eaters, women across Sub-Saharan regions and the Southern United States have consumed clay to alleviate morning sickness.  It has been proposed that morning sickness is actually the body's attempt to remove toxins from the system.  Even pregnant fruit bats increase their daily diet of clay.  It is surmised that as they increase their diet of fruit as well as fruit seeds, which contain toxic properties, they are using the clay to remove the additional toxins from their bodies. The binding properties of clay may not only be removing toxins from the system; clay possesses the additional ability to bind food born bacteria and viruses that would be harmful to the mother and developing fetus. 

Ranchers too have long used clay when preparing livestock feed to inhibit toxin transmission. And now a few researchers are now proposing exploiting clay’s pathogen-binding talents to purify water.

Dogs eating packaged foods with traces of antibiotics or chemicals remaining in them or grass, weeds and run-off from treated lawns, may be attempting to remove toxins from their systems.  It is likely that geophagia is a specific defense that has evolved across a spectrum of species to combat toxicity and, also ease mineral deficiencies.

But, if you’re feeling that old kaolin craving, we suggest you stick with safe commercial products that have been heated or otherwise sterilized.  If you have a favorite dig in your neighborhood, heat the dirt or clay in the over at 200 degrees for at least 2 hours before consuming it.  That should eliminate most parasites.  Bon Apetite!

If your dog has been experiencing stomach upset for a prolonged period of time, including loose stools and gas, you may want to look at adding a probiotic to his diet. To learn more about how probiotics work, and which probiotics are the most effective visit Pet Helpful's article, The 5 Best Probiotics for Dogs.

Easy, Healthy Pumpkin Dog Treat Receipe

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Easy, Healthy Pumpkin Dog Treat Receipe

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Canned pumpkin tops the list of the most nutritious fruits and vegetables!  Rich in Vitamin C and E, high in fiber as well as antioxidants, it also helps to control loose stools.  Add to that a teaspoon of cinnamon, an anti-inflammatory that improves blood circulation and helps regulate blood sugar and lower cholesterol,  and you have a super nutritious and inexpensive treat for your best friend.  This is a gluten free recipe that's great for dogs on a limited ingredient diet. Also, dogs suffering from diabetes or arthritis will benefit especially from this recipe.

Preparation time 5 minutes:

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Dry Rolled Oats

1 - 15 oz Can of Pumpkin (not the spiced pie filling)

1 - Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Dry Powdered Milk

2 - Tablespoons Water
2 - Tablespoons of Molasses - optional

Place dollops on a greased (or Pam sprayed) cookie sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes at 300 degrees.

Does your dog need to lose a little weight?  Research shows that approximately 50% of american dogs are overweight, placing unnecessary stress on the animal's joints as well as spawning other health issues such as diabetes and heart disease. To help him shed those extra pounds, reduce the dry kibble by half a cup, and add in 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin.  Pumpkin is low in calories, high in fiber and nutrients and will help your companion feel full and satisfied.

For more Easy Homemade Treat Recipes click here!

Learn how to turn your leftovers and kitchen scraps into Health Snacks for Your Dog