Thanksgiving is coming up which means my house will be full of delicious food soon! With a husband, two kids and three dogs, there are always plenty of volunteers to eat my Thanksgiving creations. Sadly, many traditional Thanksgiving dishes can make pets very sick.
Last year one of our dogs ate some onion by accident and had an awful upset stomach! Ingredients like onions or butter are common in many popular Thanksgiving dishes and while we may find them delicious, they can make dogs pretty sick.
When pets are like family members, it can be really hard to refrain from sneaking them some special holiday treats. I’m making a big batch of my homemade dog treats so I have something fun to feed my dogs when they are staring up at our turkey with wide eyes. These treats are also pretty healthy as well, so I don’t feel guilty letting my pups indulge a bit. I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have an extra can of pumpkin puree in my cupboard around this time of year, so this is the perfect way to use it up! Just make sure you are using canned 100% pumpkin, don’t get the canned pumpkin pie filling.
I love these dog treats because they are super easy to make and my kids are more than willing to help out! My three year old loves to help me measure the ingredients and mix the dough, she is so proud when the treats are ready to come out of the oven!
Thanksgiving Dog Treats
5 cups whole wheat flour
4 eggs
1 ½ cup pumpkin puree
2 Tablespoons flax meal (optional)
Step one: Measure 5 cups of whole wheat flour into a large mixing bowl, slowly add the wet ingredients mixing well. The consistency should be almost the same as sugar cookie dough. If the dough is too wet, just add in a bit more flour.
Step two: Lightly flour your surface and roll your dough to about 1/8 to ¼ an inch. Use your favorite cookie cutter (I like to use a dog bone shape) to cut out your treats and place them on parchment lined cookie sheet.
Step three: Cook at 350° F for about 20 minutes, or until the bottoms of the treats are nice and brown. Cool and let your dog enjoy a tasty and healthy treat!
You can make these treats as large or small as you would like, and it will make quite a large batch! With three dogs we go through treats pretty quickly, but if you just have one dog you may want to cut the recipe in half or plan on freezing the extra treats.
