Are chews and treats for your dog a luxury or a necessity?

Chews in my house are essential for calmness, to keep the dogs busy while I work, chill, clean, etc but also they are a natural way to clean teeth, and they are full of good vitamins, minerals, and protein.

Treats, well are they just a treat? Or are they also essential? I like to reward my dogs for good behaviour, on walks, for calmness, would you keep coming away from something exciting for no reward? You can make the treats even more exciting by adding catch into the game. If you need some dog training tips and ideas check out our friends Puptalk or All To Play For.

Yes, treats and chews are another cost but one I factor into part of having the enjoyment of a dog (or a few in my life!)

How can you make dog treats more economical?

Some people like to make their own treats, I used to! But to honest I did it occasionally for fun, but sometimes I was too busy with everything else to have a constant supply. Most homemade dog treats you can make in bulk and freeze. This still takes time, effort, planning, and the cost of gas, and electricity!

But still a great thing to do especially if your dog has allergies or particular likes or dislikes. Or fab to do with the kids. Common recipes are liver cake, but this can be a bit gross, especially for kids so why not try using banana, or cheese, most recipes are flour, a bit of liquid (water or milk), an egg if you want, and then banana, cheese, etc

I made my dogs a DIY birthday cake see the recipe here!

Or why not stock up and buy in bulk? We have great offers on bigger quantities and flat rate postage so this is a great way to save money. Or see if some friends also want some treats and split them?

What are cheaper dog chews?

Bones from the butcher, supermarket, and others can make fab chews, but please only feed raw and supervise any chewing.

Plus be careful, high bone content doesn’t suit all dogs, it can cause constipation, we have many long-lasting chews that have no bone in like the beef muscle for larger dogs, beef stick for medium to small dogs, and duck feet for smaller dogs and puppies.

Or you can dry your own treats using a dehydrator. But a home dehydrator isn’t suitable for large chews or quantities. And definitely not for anything with bone content in! Plus the time and electricity made it a faff for me!! But great to dehydrate is slices of meat, eg. chicken, beef just slice them thinly, or grab some of our own Beef Biltong here

But also many people don’t want raw bones/blood rolling around the house, carpet, or garden, so they like the convenience and ease of a ready-to-go dried chew.

Free postage on our monthly subscription boxes!

Have you seen our monthly subscription boxes? They offer fab value for money as it is free postage after your first month! And they are individually tailored to your dog! No bulk packing here! Recent requests are multiple dogs, long-lasting chews, quick wins/rewards, include treats, No treats all chews, no rabbit, no pork, in fact, we can do almost anything in your requests!! Why not treat your dog to a monthly surprise!!

Homemade dog treat ideas

For the carrot and cheese treats, I used grated carrot and grated cheese, flour, and an egg, mixed and baked.

The homemade dog black pudding is blood (ok a bit gross I know, check the freezer section of your local chinese supermarket!!) and porridge oats, I soaked the oats then baked and cut them into cubes. I wouldn’t give my dog’s black pudding intended for humans because of the seasoning, flavourings, and high salt content.

Both of these were really enjoyed by the dogs.

Do you make any other treats? I would love to hear about them, drop me a comment below and let me know what your dogs favourites are.

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