Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Gigi Recommends

Will you throw the ball already???

Positive dog training involves plenty of rewards. Training Gigi in a positive way takes lots of rewards. I do mean lots of rewards. Luckily for me, Gigi is fascinated with her ball on a rope. However, I can't always toss a ball. Since it seems I'm spending most of my budget on waterfowl, I decided to come up with some tasty treats for the dogs that wouldn't empty my pocketbook. These have passed the Gigi Taste Test and she even prefers them over other treats. Biscuit likes them as well. She says they taste "better than duck". (Did I just actually write that???)

Little Creek Tasty Treats

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup non-fat powdered milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix well. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter (my choice), cut into desired sizes (for training purposes, smaller is better). Bake for 15 minutes until just golden brown. Turn off oven. If you want crispy treats allow cookie sheet to remain in oven as it cools for an hour or so. I prefer softer treats that I can break apart, so I leave the sheet in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. Break them apart and you're ready to treat the dog. I keep them in the freezer and thaw them before training sessions, as I've found they don't have a real long shelf-life.

4 comments:

  1. You've really gone all out and included all the nice things dogs love! No wonder your furry kids love 'em.

    Sadly, Silver has been ordered by the orthopedic specialist to stay svelte. So she gets diet food (gak!) and only carrots and beans for treats. *sob* The other ones get an occasional treat sneaked to them when Silv's not in the room.

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  2. The "kids" don't get many treats (unless you count the compost pile - eewwhh...). They generally only get treats when we're training. Chelsea and Biscuit are on "diet" senior food now. It's done both a lot of good. Gigi gets "high energy" food. The vet has also ordered me not to let her gain weight with her doing agility, not that gaining weight is her problem... :)

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  3. Gigi is really a beautiful dog!

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  4. Why thank you! :)

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