Pet Tip / Budget Tip: Affordable Extra Special Treats

Flickr Photo Credit: R. Clock

I’ve already posted the Ol’ Roy dinner rounds snack idea, but there are a few others I’ve used over the years when pennies were extra tight:

• chopped, fried / microwaved hot dog bits.
• fried chicken skin
• extra meat bones (not chicken)
• leftovers
• homemade baked treats (recipe links in a previous post)
• stuffed kong toys

Pet Tip / Budget Tip: Ol’ Roy Dinner Rounds

Flickr Photo Credit: Randy Son of Robert

This is another great tip I got from one of the dollar stretcher newsletters ( http://www.stretcher.com) . The dinner rounds come in large bags of varying sizes and are actually sold as one of Walmart’s higher end dog food options. However, they look, feel and apparently taste quite similar to the popular (and expensive) round sausage type of treats that are on the market for dogs right now.

I empty the whole bag into an airtight (preferrably clear) container to maintain moisture and dispense the treats individually as appropriate. The dogs love them, they’re cheap, and since they are reasonably small, I don’t need to break them apart like I did the doggy biscuits. This is a great time saver as well, since I’m not running around cleaning up pet biscuit crumbs. Two thumbs up!

Pet Picks: Some Treat Resources From the Web

Flickr Photo Credit: KM Photography

Since we’ll be picking our dogs up soon when we fly back to the states, I wanted to get a heads up on some resources for homemade pet treats. Most of our recipes are packed and will remain so for at least another year. Here’s what made my final list:

http://www.dogaware.com/treatref.html Some decent ideas and advice here regarding treat prep and behavioral shaping.

http://www.gooddogexpress.com/recipes.htm Some interesting looking dog treat recipes here and some fun looking dog-themed cookie/biscuit cutters to order (bones, multiple bone, hydrant, paw print and dog house shapes).

http://www.yummyfordogs.org/ Looks like a good selection of hound treat recipes here.

http://www.huskyhaven.org/Recipes.htm#BACON%20BISCUITS Another decent selection of dog treat recipes.

http://users.eastlink.ca/~joansinden/kong_recipes.PDF A free online pdf with several kong stuffing recipes.

http://westwoodanimalhospital.com/BhvArticles/kong_stuffing.htm Some doctor recommended kong ideas.

http://www.mywoofgang.com/handouts/KongStuffingRecipes.pdf Another kong stuffing pdf.

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/category/pet-recipes.html  This one has some precious sounding recipes for cats as well as dogs. Can’t wait to try some.