BCPuppy Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Find myself being made redundant at the end of the year I was tossing around ideas for a home based business and OH suggested making bisucits for the furry ones as I have done so for mine and can dehydrate and make jerky too, so thought I would pick the brains of DOLers :D What do you look for when buying treats/biscuits? Are there any flavours that are realy hard to get? What are your pets all time favourites? My thoughts so far are: Preservative free additive free colour free wheat free range natural only no sugar vegie baked dried human grade meats only some for cats too dont expect to make my fortune but enough for the odd bottle of wine would be nice All comments, ideas, jokes, would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esky the husky Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Esky loooved dried liver. It's always a hit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddles Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I have a book that I picked up from an op shop for $2! Can't think of the name - I will have to go and have a look for it if you want to know, but its a book with tonnes of dog biscuit, muffin and mini bread recipes! The author has basically made a book of treats that could be used as a sole diet, but I just deleted the stuff I didn't want in it - like kelp - and made them for the club to sell at our obedience trial! The best part about them, they use preservative free ingredients and are all fir for human consumption!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Healthy (without me making them) dog and cat treats would be wonderful. No garlic for the cats please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjosa Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I make my own dog treats, a friend of mine in the USA gave me the recipe, all human consumption ingredients, makes the house smell wonderful Very easy to make. 1 1/2 cups of a mixture of two flours ( Potato, Rice or cornflour) 1 egg 1 cup of cooked mashed pumpkin 1/4 cup Oatmeal 1/4 cup Olive oil 3 heaped tablespoons of honey 1 tspn Vanilla 1 " Bi carb 1 " Baking Powder 1 " cinamon Form into small balls, place on baking tray and cook for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees. My dogs line up at the oven waiting for them to come out of the oven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minyvlz Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I would like yoghurt treats without sugar, or not a lot anyway. Tuna treats are always a big hit. Air/Refrigerator/freeze dried will be my first choice. Maybe an organic range? If you can make roast chicken treats without wheat/carbs I would like that too Smelly treats are also good. Maybe with bits of cheese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 My dogs line up at the oven waiting for them to come out of the oven. I thought mine were the only ones I make peanut butter biscuits for the dogs on a regular basis (using wholemeal flour, low fat milk and low fat peanut butter) but the problem is that they now think that the oven belongs to them so whenever I make biscuits or muffins for the humans, the dogs come and line up by the oven looking expectant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J... Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I make my own dog treats, a friend of mine in the USA gave me the recipe, all human consumption ingredients, makes the house smell wonderful Very easy to make. 1 1/2 cups of a mixture of two flours ( Potato, Rice or cornflour) 1 egg 1 cup of cooked mashed pumpkin 1/4 cup Oatmeal 1/4 cup Olive oil 3 heaped tablespoons of honey 1 tspn Vanilla 1 " Bi carb 1 " Baking Powder 1 " cinamon Form into small balls, place on baking tray and cook for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees. My dogs line up at the oven waiting for them to come out of the oven. These sound great - do you cook & mash the pumpkin yourself? I had heard you can buy it cooked and mashed in cans ready to use for pumpkin pie but I've never seen them (small country supermarket though!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinabean Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 BCPuppy I think your ideas are good. I particularly like the idea of a wheat-free range. Maybe some grain-free treats? As there are so many dogs with allergies it might be good to research the most common food allergens. You might find a niche market. It can be hard to find suitable treats if your dog can't tolerate all foods. So many companies blend a lot of ingredients into treats too. A treat may be labelled as 'chicken' flavoured but also contain beef, pork etc.. Not great if beef gives your dog diahorrea and you didn't check the label carefully! So maybe some single meat flavours too? One more idea, you could make some of your treats small enough to fit into some of the most common treat dispensers/ Kongs etc. Good luck, I'll definitely be interested in what you come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCPuppy Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 Great ideas! Keep em coming guys. Liver jerky is good, I allready do that for mine as she wouldnt eat 'real' liver but loved jerky. that is a definate for the list. I have noticed that wheat free is hard to come by, and also not too many cat treats out there, good tip about no garlic btw I am not a cat person so know nothing of their tastes Allthough my brother has volunteered his kitty as taste tester :D Puddles if you find that book I would be interested in title/author and see if I can get it, there are thousands of recipes out there when you start looking, but finding ones tried and tested by DOLers are a bonus! Single meat flavours, a definate too, must be a nightmare having to check everything to see what is in it, especially as so many manufacturers do not list everything. Lots of research and kitchen work, have lots of volunteers for testing, the disasters will go to the local rescue group Doesnt matter what is in our oven, the dog is allways there when it gets opened, can see the next few months being torture for her as testing gets underway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddles Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Great ideas! Keep em coming guys. Liver jerky is good, I allready do that for mine as she wouldnt eat 'real' liver but loved jerky. that is a definate for the list. I have noticed that wheat free is hard to come by, and also not too many cat treats out there, good tip about no garlic btw I am not a cat person so know nothing of their tastes Allthough my brother has volunteered his kitty as taste tester :D Puddles if you find that book I would be interested in title/author and see if I can get it, there are thousands of recipes out there when you start looking, but finding ones tried and tested by DOLers are a bonus! Single meat flavours, a definate too, must be a nightmare having to check everything to see what is in it, especially as so many manufacturers do not list everything. Lots of research and kitchen work, have lots of volunteers for testing, the disasters will go to the local rescue group Doesnt matter what is in our oven, the dog is allways there when it gets opened, can see the next few months being torture for her as testing gets underway Found it! It is called 'Tasty treats for demanding dogs' by Gregg R Gillespie, published 10 years ago. It really is a fantastic book if you can get a copy! I recently made some for the club to sell at our obedience trial and got some bone shaped cookie cutters - very cute!! Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I have a fantastic book called,"The Good Food Cookbook For Dogs"by Donna Twichell Roberts.I have made heaps of the bikkies in it and they're easy to make.Last Christmas I made all different shapes and varieties put them in Xmas boxes with a list of ingredients for each flavour and gave them to all my friends with dogs.They were a big hit.There is also a simple liver sauce to put over kibble to encourage dogs to eat if they have no appetite.Nearly made me heave when I took the lid of the blender but did the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 awesome thread... inspired me to have a little browse and I ended up buying a book on dog biscuits. loads available here (and free international shipping too) http://www.betterworldbooks.com/dog-biscuits-H0.aspx?SearchTerm=dog+biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCPuppy Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 I am collecting a veritable library of recipes for dog treats, there are so many out there! Did a little baking on the weekend one disaster but two successes Fresh mackerel air dried came out better than expected and biscuits I made up as I went from chicken, pumpkin and oats, looked yummy except for the strange shapes I ended up with as the piping bag broke I was tempted to taste test myself but resisted and let the dogs do the judging, there were no complaints :D Must find some fussy eaters to taste test though, I have a feeling that the dogs I know of them would eat anything! Mind you they didnt like the sweet potato I dried much. Off to find those books! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 wow dried mackeral..! any photos from your weekend's efforts?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I always buy treats and biscuits when I see them at markets. I like a decent sized bag, a bag of 5 biscuits isn't going to last long My dogs aren't fussy but I would get excited over wheat free. Treats need to be little or easily breakable. Look for markets were dogs are welcome and have a tasting table. You will get lots of customers. A lady that used to do this would sell out each market. She used to do liver cake too which was very popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCPuppy Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 Photos! Gee not sure if I am ready for that yet, will think about it. I am fortunate to be able to go out and catch my own fish so can guarantee freshness! I agree about size and value Jules, will make different sizes I think. Markets would definately be the go, unfortunately I am a bit remote. We do have a small weekly market where I would have no competition, but main focus would be online, unfortunately that does add to cost with post, it is something I will have to deal with. I will make the effort to attend larger seasonal markets and shows once things are running smoothly. Little steps I can imagine a tasting table would be very popular, I have an image of every dog for miles queing up for treats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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