Make Your Own Dog Treats to Save Money
September 22, 2008 by Katelyn Thomas
Filed under Cheap Pet Care Solutions
I have been meaning to try this for awhile and never got around to it. However, with listing my groceries under $40 every week, I realized that I buy dog treats every two weeks. So, it is time to get serious about Operation Frugal Fido. I bought the You Bake ‘Em Dog Biscuits kit by Janine Adams last year at 90% off after Christmas, which should mean I’m all set. Unfortunately, there are very few recipes I can use because Sophie just hates cheese.
(This is an example of a thrifty purchase that ends up being a waste of money. I don’t need a dog bone shaped cookie cutter or special treat bags. They’d eat square treats from ziplock bags just fine.)
Anyway, I’m going to have to experiment with recipes to find one that works for my dogs and will post any that turn out right. In the meantime, do you have an easy treat recipe that doesn’t require a $20 trip to the grocery store for obscure supplies, like wheat germ? If so, I’d love to hear it.
Photo by Craig Jewell
About a year ago, I blogged about making my own dog biscuits from a recipe from our local newspaper. My post is at this link.
Since then, I’ve modified my process — I don’t even cut them out with cutters now; I rolled out the sheet of dough and used a pizza cutter to cut it into 1.5″ squares, then cut the squares in half to form triangles. Very easy.
I love this recipe because my dog loves them, and he tends to have a sensitive system (allergies, etc.), so it’s good to know they are all human-grade ingredients with no corn, etc. I don’t think I save any money over cheap dog biscuits, but they likely are cheaper than organic or human-grade purchased biscuits.
That recipe sounds exactly like what my picky Sophie needs. It sounds like I won’t save money, either, since I buy clearanced treats with coupons, but I’m still going to give it a try. Hmm. On the other hand, I got my baby food free with coupons…Maybe I will save money.
(I got chicken baby food for emergency doggie intestinal issues. A bit of the baby food mixed with rice is a lifesaver when you are raising a puppy with a delicate stomach.)