Activities with your dogs? Flyball, agility, canicross, hiking, hoopers, scentwork and more.
How can you help their energy levels? Homemade energy bars for your dog, easy to make, feed, store, and transport.
I partake in agility with my dogs, and I have recently started competing with Rebel. I noticed Reb is getting tired in the afternoons, so I thought about how could I help her energy levels.
My dog’s current diet
I am a raw feeder, so my dogs have the typical 80/10/10 diet of raw meat with bone and offal. They also receive lightly steamed vegetables, usually broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, spinach, green beans, and garlic (not all at once but on rotation!)
Also, some supplements are added to the diet, garlic, seaweed, a probiotic, green-lipped mussel, turmeric, brewer yeast, spirulina, and mushroom powder, again on rotation rather than everything every day.
So a fairly low-carb diet.
Do dogs need carbs?
Dogs are carnivores and have very little nutritional requirement for dietary carbohydrates to thrive. They get everything they require from protein and fat.
But I have found feeding some carbs just before competing has helped my dog’s energy levels.
This is a short-term boost and I will not be adding carbs every day, just on competition days.
Hydration is key
It is also important to note that you need to make sure that your dog is adequately hydrated.
All my dogs get water in between runs but Rebel is particularly fussy and likes milk much more!
I choose to give her goat’s milk and I have recently discovered dried goat’s milk powder, this is really convenient for me as I don’t have to think about buying it fresh for that day and keeping it chilled.
The powder mixes easily with water, and my dogs love it.
I also take her some cottage cheese for energy and hydration.
My Homemade Energy Bar For Your Dog
For my first attempt, I put 200g porridge oats and soaked chia seeds in pig’s blood.
I left them for an hour, then poured them into a lightly greased tray and baked them at 180 for 25 minutes.
This made a lovely moist cake. I cut it into squares and into 4 portions, the first one for the pending competition, and the other 3 were put into zip-lock bags and frozen, after cooling.
And the first portions were fed, loved and there was definitely an improvement in her afternoon performance.
I have been asked where I get the pig’s blood from, I have brought it frozen from a raw dog food shop and my local chinese supermarket. If you can not source blood you can use blended liver.
Another energy bar recipe
So after I had made mine, my friend sent me this recipe.
2 tins sardines, 1 mashed banana, 1 grated apple, 200g ground almond, 4 eggs, tbsp coconut oil, 1/2 tub cottage cheese, 2 tbsp full fay yogurt, 1/4 tin coconut milk
Mix and bake in a greased tin at 180 for 20-30 mins
Your thoughts
I would love to hear if you use either of these recipes or have any other tips or tricks, please drop a comment below.
These recipes for homemade energy bars for your dog are not meal replacements but an added treat that could boost their energy, please ensure you feed a balanced diet that is correct for your size of dog and their activities.
