Yes, today we are talking about Halloween Treats for Dogs!
It’s almost time to welcome trick or treaters again. Something I’ve noticed the past couple of years is that more and more families bring their dogs out for trick or treat along with the children. I thought it would be a nice twist on my monthly recipe post to share a dog cookie recipe for Halloween. You can have a nice plate of Halloween Treats ready for your fluffy dog visitors.
Just in case you didn’t know, I’m more into a sweet and not scary Halloween. I don’t know when it got so over the top and so creepy. I choose not to participate in that, but instead stick to things cute and fun. Because you can dress up and not have to be terrifying. Isn’t the upcoming election terrifying enough?
This sweet dog cowl is perfect for Halloween trick or treating. Your doggy can be a little bit dressed up without the rigamarole of a full costume. A knitted cowl is far less stressful on a dog to wear than a full blown costume.
Halloween is a bit stressful for dogs, and I have taken more than a few lost puppies home who were frightened by everything and quietly slipped out when their humans were preoccupied. Keep your eyes open for little lost doggies while you’re out there.
Then there’s this guy. Oh Willie. I miss you so much. If you are a newer reader, you might not know that this handsome Golden Retriever is Willie. He was my companion for almost 7 years, and lived to be about 12. I lost him over the summer, and I’m still so sad about it. He modeled for me frequently, and it was one of his greatest joys. These pictures are some of the last photos I got to take of him. I wanted to do more, but he just wasn’t up for it. I took the pictures for today’s post in two different sessions over about 10 or 15 minutes for each setup. It was enough for him to enjoy being the star without getting totally exhausted. I took these pictures especially for this blog post.
I baked for Willie frequently throughout his life with me. He LOVED my home bakes. I usually used oat flour and canola oil and just about always sweet potatoes or pumpkin. That was a favorite of his. He also loved anything with peanut butter and banana. You do need to be careful when fixing food for your dog as some ingredients are quite toxic for them. Like grapes and raisins and macadamia nuts. Never give that stuff to you dog.
The safest way to start making treats for your dog is to invest in a cookbook. I found this cute set in Barnes and Noble. It has raw food as well as more traditional style baked dog biscuits. The book is well written and the packaging is adorable. It would make for a wonderful gift for the dog people in your life. I didn’t really see cookies that you rolled out and cut with the doggy themed cookie cutters, but you can use them for people cookies. I will do some digging (ha ha) for dog cookies that will roll out for cutting.
It’s nice to make at least some treats for your dog for much the same reason you make them for yourself or your family; you know what’s in the dish. I do my best to cut out preservatives and food dye and added chemicals I don’t need in my own diet, and did the same for Willie. I think Willie lasted as long as he did and held up as well as he did the last couple of months because of the high quality food he received. I cannot say enough good about Pawtree food and products. A live person answers calls and will help you when needed. When we do get another dog (which won’t be right away), I will absolutely start using Pawtree again.
The recipe I would like to share with you is a cookie recipe I often made for Willie and his doggy friends. You will be much beloved by all dogs if you make this and start handing out cookies to the neighborhood pooches. While I think the book is awesome, and I totally recommend it, it’s not right for me to publish their recipes for free in my blog post. So I’m going to share something with you I developed for him.
And since I’ve cooked for Willie for at least 5 years, I have experience with it. If you are new to cooking or baking for your dog, then I highly recommend starting with this book, The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook. Consider this post a recommendation for this book so you can learn more about making home made doggy treats.
Since Halloween is right around the corner, and you might not have time to order this book and make a selection of treats, I’m going to share one of Willie’s favorite recipes today.
So here’s a true confession. I do not know how to make the dog cookies look good. Any dog recipe I’ve ever fixed looks kind of like this. I think it’s because the ratio of dry ingredients and sugar and fat are different than in human cookies and muffins. I know people with professional Barkeries have beautiful stuff, but I don’t know how they do it. Fortunately for us, dogs are not as picky as humans and will love these treats AND YOU no matter how they look.
They may not be beautiful to look at, but you know what’s in them. And they come from your heart. Dogs know that and will appreciate them regardless of how gloppy the treats come out.
This picture of Willie in the red cowl is SO SPECIAL to me. For a couple of reasons. First, it’s the last series of photos I took of him. He modeled this for me early in the morning of the day we lost him. And secondly, I was able to put that plate of cookies on his paws and he didn’t take any until I told him it was ok. I didn’t make him wait long, but I did ask him to wait until I could get a couple of photos.
The reason this is so important is that he failed his Therapy Dog test, because he took a treat when he shouldn’t have. It was heartbreaking! We were so close, but he just couldn’t resist. Here he is a couple years later, and he finally passed that test. So in my mind and heart, Willie passed his Therapy Dog test and here is the proof. He was a gifted therapy dog, and loved by so many people. He just did the work naturally, from his heart. He never really needed the paper to do the work.
I told ya I didn’t make him wait!
That red cowl is one I knitted for him on his last big day. He had so many visitors coming to say goodbye and I wanted him to look good. I wanted him to have that special red cowl to wear on his journey to the Rainbow Bridge. I think he’s the only doggy in heaven wearing a hand knit cowl, so that will be special for him. Maybe it will encourage the angels to knit for the rest of the doggies at the Rainbow Bridge. It makes me so happy to think of all the dogs in heaven who maybe didn’t have such a good life on earth receiving hand knit cowls from angels in heaven. I hope that can be my work when I finally get reunited with my baby.
I would love to spend my eternity knitting for dogs.
That darling plate is from Pier One, and I grabbed it as soon as I saw it. Such a cute way to hand out doggy treats for Halloween. The dog stuff sold out immediately last year, so if you want this and haven’t already grabbed one, you might want to head over there today.
I definitely encourage you to bake treats for your dog if you have never done so. It’s a way to deepen your bond, and take extra special care of these precious creatures who are not here nearly long enough.
If you have any questions, just send me a note! I would love to hear about your doggy baking adventure! Give your fur baby and an extra treat and hug for me.
PS: I misspelled Cinnamon in the pdf. I designed the printable a few weeks ago and had serious tears in my eyes and had not slept well for weeks. Please don’t hold it against me. I’ll fix it as soon as I can, but for now it’s posted in it’s imperfect glory.
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