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Human Food and Dogs
Not everything that us humans eat is good for dogs. In fact, some human food is known to be very harmful if eaten by dogs. All of the following foods have been known to be fatal, if consumed in moderate to high quantities:
- Cocoa (also be aware that cocoa mulch is toxic to dogs)
- Chocolate (especially toxic if it's dark/plain chocolate, i.e. if it has a high cocoa content)
- Alcohol
- Garlic (if uncooked/unprocessed)
- Raisins
- Anything in the onion family
- Raw pork
- Hot, spicy food
- Unripe tomatoes (and every part of a tomato plant is toxic to dogs)
The recipes on this page have carefully chosen ingredients, but as always, when introducing a new type of food to your dog, do so slowly and with small quantities.
If in doubt, when introducing a new food to your dog, seek veterinary advice.
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Tasty Treats
Dogs need high value rewards when training, to motivate them in a positive way, to encourage them when learning a new exercise and to make them want to do certain tasks. The very best "tool" when training your own dog is yourself; the more you praise your dog (the timing is crucial, don't forget!) and let your dog know you're pleased with them when they have done as you have asked, the more quickly your dog will respond to the training. But the early days aren't easy, so to help you, it's a good idea to use extra tasty treats as an additional training aid.
Some dogs are more toy driven than others, but almost all dogs will be motivated by tasty, high value treats and it's definitely true that the way to most dogs hearts is through their stomachs.
When you come to classes it's a good idea to have a plentiful supply of tasty treats, especially for the first couple of weeks of the course. Here's some ideas for high value rewards:
Cheese
Chicken
Hot dog sausages
There's also plenty of dog treats available in pet shops and supermarkets, but if you want to make a lot of inexpensive, extra tasty treats for your dog, here's some easy recipes:
Liver Cake
This recipe uses only natural ingredients and it's really tasty and smelly - which your dog will love!
Ingredients
- 250 g liver (lambs liver is best)
- 125 g self-raising flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 cloves of garlic (or the equivalent of paste or powder)
Method
- Chop the liver into small pieces.
- Blend the liver in a food processor.
- Add the flour, eggs and garlic.
- Blend everything together thoroughly.
- Place mixture in a greased tray or cake tin.
- Bake in the oven at 180°C (gas mark 4) for approximately 30 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool.
- Cut the cake into small squares.
- Liver cake can be frozen, so divide up the cake pieces into little bags and freeze for later use.
Cheese Delights
Makes approx 50. These treats are ideal if your dog loves cheese - which most dogs do!
Ingredients
- 90g grated parmesan cheese
- 150g cottage cheese
- 350g self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 50g sesame seeds
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
- Put all of the ingredients (except the sesame seeds) into a bowl and mix well.
- Make small, rough ball shapes out of the dough (you should get about 50 out of the mixture).
- Gently roll the dough balls in the sesame seeds.
- Place the small dough balls on the baking tray.
- Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
- Turn off the oven and leave the Cheese Delights in there for about 2 hours, for them to thoroughly dry out.
- If you store them in a paper bag, the Cheese Delights should keep for about 4 weeks.
Roasted Chicken Strips
Makes approx 40. These are extra-special tasty, chewy treats, which dogs which absolutely love!
Ingredients
- 500g (1lb) chicken breast.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C.
- Cut the chicken breast into small strips.
- Line a baking tray with grease-proof paper.
- Place the chicken strips onto the baking tray.
- Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 80°C (or as low as it will go) and allow the chicken strips to dry out for a further two or three hours.
- Remove from the oven and let them dry out further overnight.
- Stored in the fridge, the chicken strips will keep for about four days.
Katie's dog, Travis, leaving one of his tasty treats!