Pinterest Inspiration: Piña Colada Frozen Dog Treats

As mentioned last week, we've had some scorchin' weather here in P-town (thank goodness it has started to cool down).  With warm weather also comes the desire to do absolutely nothing and make the excuse that "it's just too hot."  I used the "it's just too hot" excuse on a long list of tasks this week, but I made it a point to make an extra special frozen treat for Athena to help her beat the heat.

That's right.  I made Miss Athena a big yummy batch of homemade piña colada frozen dog treats that I found the recipe for on Pinterest.  Now, not only has my cellphone ringtone been Escape by Rupert Holmes for as long as I can remember (you know, "if you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain..."), but I also had a pineapple on hand so OF COURSE I knew that I just had to make some of these delightful frozen goodies.

I got these coolio ice cube trays with tiki man faces at the Dolla' Tree for only one dolla'!  I knew they would be the perfect shape for these pineapple and coconut island treats.

Here's the recipe:

• 1/3 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 T honey
• 1/2 cup low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt
• 1 T hardened coconut oil or coconut flakes

Instructions:

• Blend the pineapple and yogurt together in a blender (I used a Magic Bullet)
• Pour mixture into a silicone mold, ice cube tray, cupcake liners, paper cups, or anything that you'd like (I used my tiki man trays)!
• Drizzle honey over the top of the pineapple yogurt mixture and the sprinkle on some hardened coconut oil or coconut flakes (I simply got out my jar of coconut oil and instead of heating it up, I just used a spoon to scrape off small pieces off of the top to sprinkle on the treats)
• Freeze for at least 2 hours
• Serve to your four-legged friend!

Athena thought these treats were totally DELISH!

There are a ton of other great frozen treat recipes on Pinterest that I still have yet to try.  Here are a couple that I found that I can't wait to test out this summer:

Frozen Berry Water Treats
BananaBerry Appsicle Treats

Athena also loves our trusty triple berry and banana frozen treats that I make for her often.  What are your dog's favorite frozen treats?

Homemade Grain-Free and Egg-Free Flyball Speed Boost Bones

In preparation for the shelter's dog sports demo day over the weekend, our flyball team, the Flying Underdogs, decided to jazz up our booth at the event with fancy team flyers and some homemade dog treats and recipe cards.  I was put in charge of baking the treats, so I knew that I'd need a yummy recipe that was grain-free to accommodate all of the doggies who would be visiting our booth.

Our table at the sports demo day

Grain-free homemade treat recipes are hard to come by online.  I scoured Pinterest for grain-free treat recipes that had limited ingredients and that also didn't contain egg, since many dogs are also allergic to eggs (we still don't know if that's one of Athena's triggers, so we avoid it).  I finally found an awesome recipe here, but it called for an egg, so I did some further research on dog-friendly egg substitutes.  Just for your reference if you ever want to substitute egg in homemade dog treats:

one egg = 1 T ground flaxseed + 3 T water

Bean waiting to try a speed boost bone!

This egg substitution sounded PERFECT to me since flaxseed is not a grain and has many health benefits for dogs.  As far as the grain-free part of this treat recipe, garbanzo bean flour is called for instead of wheat flour.  Athena has had treats made with garbanzo bean flour (like her favorite STAM treats), so I knew that this recipe would be good for her sensitive tummy!  Garbanzo bean flour is also very high in protein, so these treats were perfect to bring along for a long hard working day of flyball!

Here's the recipe:

The recipe cards that we handed out at the sports demo

Here are some photos of the treat-making process:

4 thick slices are sizzling away!

Bean always hangs out in the kitchen when there's bacon cooking

I rolled out the dough on floured parchment paper just so there wouldn't be any sticking

Look at those big chunks of bacon in there!  YUM!

Rolling out the dough in preparation to cut with my cookie cutter

Straight out of the oven!

Not only are these treats yummy, they are pretty too!

Of course, Athena has to perform a solid "leave-it" in order to enjoy her treat

I was so impressed with this treat recipe (I actually made 3 batches for the demo) and the dough turned out great every time even with the garbanzo bean flour and egg substitute.  Just an FYI, I poured the bacon fat into my dough mixture while it was still hot (I let it cool off of the burner for about five minutes before pouring it into the mixture) which helped to melt the shredded cheddar and keep the dough really smooth instead of lumpy.  One batch of dough yielded an entire cookie sheet full of bones.  However, because these bones are homemade and have fresh ingredients, they do need to be stored in the refrigerator.  Athena doesn't mind though, she goes bonkers for these treats!  Every time I get them out of the fridge she stalks me around the house, jumps on me (which is rare) and even gave me a woof!  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that at least four humans have tried these treats since I made them and everyone agrees that they are actually pretty tasty.  They would make great crackers to pair with some cheese!

Have you ever attempted a homemade grain-free treat recipe?

Gettin' Flirty

Recently our friends over at Erie-sisti-Bulls wrote about one of Ed and Tess' favorite toys: the flirt pole!  We've been wanting to make a flirt pole for some time now, so it was perfect that they posted the instructions for us to follow.  We made a trip to Home Depot last week to purchase all of the supplies which cost us about $8 (it was great to have an actually purpose for visiting Home Depot with Athena other than to just parooz the light fixtures and such for training purposes).

The supplies for making a DIY flirt pole are quite easy to find and are also inexpensive.  They include PVC pipe cut to desired length, rope, two washers, and a toy to attach to the rope.  I pulled up Erie-sisti-Bull's instructions and supply list while at Home Depot and went around the store looking for each item.  After cutting the PVC pipe at the cutting station and getting our rope cut by an employee (annnnddd getting in a bit of training with Athena), we were in and out of the store in less than thirty minutes.

The flirt pole was super easy to assemble at home and Athena couldn't wait to find out why we had attached her bunny carcass to the end of the rope.  She soon found out the rules of the game in the backyard.  Once she mastered the game at home, we took it to the park for even more fun!

Focus, focus, focus:

Before we start a game of "chase the dead bunny," we ask Athena to be in a "sit" or a "down."  The game won't begin until she follows this first rule.

Get it!:

Athena isn't allowed to move toward the flirt pole until we say the magic words, which in this case are "get it!"

The funny thing is, Athena is actually more mesmerized by the rope than she is by the actual toy at the end.

Drop it like it's hot!

After Athena has caught her prey, we give her the "drop it" command.  After much practice with dropping her tug and toys on command, she now knows that she better spit out whatever's in her mouth when we say the words, or it will go into hiding.  She's pretty good about dropping the flirt pole on command, but we won't play with her if she doesn't follow this rule.  Not dropping it = bye, bye, flirt pole!

Here's a video of Athena in action (after about 15 minutes of playing with the flirt pole):

So far we've been loving the flirt pole as a different way to exercise Athena.  The only thing we've found is that at this point, Athena gets bored of the flirt pole after about 15 minutes (maybe it's because she's so totally exhausted that she can't take much more?!).  Apparently it's just not quite as entertaining as her beloved ball.  She does get quite the workout with it though, even in our small backyard!

Has your dog ever tried a flirt pole?  What has your experience been like with it?

Pinterest Inspiration: Triple Berry and Banana Frozen Yogurt Dog Treats

Clearly I had a lot of time on my hands during spring break.  With the Baby Pickin' Game, Kibble Egg Hunt, a trip to the beach, and Easter, Athena was a very busy (and tired) girl last week.  Here I am again with another DIY project all for Athena.

On Monday I checked out the Easter section at Target to scope out any after-holiday clearance deals.  Mostly I was just looking for backup plastic eggs for kibble hunts (which I did find for 50% off), but I also came across a 50% off bunny silicone mold.  It was just the thing that I needed to finally make Athena a batch of frozen dog treats that I'd been eyeing on Pinterest.  After looking at a couple of different recipes, I flung some different ingredients together to create these Triple Berry & Banana Frozen Yogurt Treats with Flaxseed.

Here's the recipe:

• 8-10 oz plain non-fat greek yogurt (I used Fage Total 0%)
• 1 banana
• 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh berries (I used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)
• 1 tsp flaxseed meal (a great source of omega-3's for doggies!)

Instructions:

• Blend all ingredients together in a blender (I used a Magic Bullet)
• Pour mixture into a silicone mold, ice cube tray, cupcake liners, paper cups, or anything that you'd like!
• Freeze for at least 2 hours
• Serve to your four-legged friend!

Pouring the mixture into a silicone mold

All ready for the freezer!

Once frozen, I popped the bunnies out the mold and stored them in a freezer bag

As much as Athena loves the store-bought frozen treats like Frosty Paws, they don't love her so much (if you know what I mean).  I love how easy it is to make her these cool berry treat and I love that I know exactly what's in them.

There are a ton of other great frozen treat recipes on Pinterest.  Here are a few that I found that I want to try out next:

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Peanut Butter

Breath Freshener

Does your dog love frozen treats?  Have you ever made your own at home?

DIY Kibble Egg Hunt

As if yesterday's enrichment game wasn't enough excitement for one week, today we bring you yet another DIY activity.  This one's for all the sniffers out there!  It also happens to be quite fitting for the upcoming holiday.  Introducing the Kibble Egg Hunt!

I loooooovvvveeee celebrating holidays which means that I looooooovvvvveeeee when the holiday aisles get updated at the stores.  This week I popped into Target and couldn't help but meander through the Easter section.  While I was there, I picked up two packages of large plastic eggs at $1 per pack of six for a special game to play with Athena.

Of course, I couldn't wait to play it with her until Easter, so we've already played a few "practice" rounds this week in preparation for the big hunt on Sunday.  The game is simply an egg hunt for dogs, but instead of finding chocolate (please don't poison your dog...) or money, they find FOOD!

To play this nosework game, fill up some plastic eggs with kibble, treats, or both and hide them around your yard or house.  I filled up our eggs in front of Athena so that she knew that food was inside of them.  I then put her in a down-stay and she watched me hide the eggs around the yard.  We often play a "Find It" game in the house, so Athena is released to find the kibble with the "find it" command.

The first time Athena played the game she wasn't quite sure what to do when she found an egg.  She started by nudging an egg with her nose and rolling it through the grass.  When that didn't work, she would bat the egg with her paws.  Finally, Athena gently put an egg in her mouth and popped it open.  From then on she's used this "gentle pop" technique to open all of the eggs.

Because we are able to portion how much kibble goes into the eggs, we can either use the game to feed Athena an entire meal, or simply use it as an "afternoon snack."  This game really gets Athena's nose sniffin' which means that her brain gets quite the workout.

To make the game even more challenging, I suggest having your dog wait inside the house while you hide the eggs in the yard (or if playing indoors, have your dog wait in a separate room while you hide the eggs around the house).  This will really get those sniffers workin'!

Athena gets super excited when she sees me bring out the plastic eggs for a hunt.  I plan to pick up a few more backup packages of eggs once the Easter section goes on clearance so that we can continue to play the game all year round.

**IMPORTANT: If you plan to play this game with your dog, please keep a careful eye on them during any human egg hunts.  Once they know that plastic eggs equal food for dogs, they will probably assume that ALL plastic eggs are filled with dog food.  We don't want any dogs getting ahold of the kid's stash of candy!**

Do you play "find it" games with your dogs?

Pinterest Inspiration: Sweet Potato Dog Chews

Yesterday was a perfect cloudy Portland day to stay inside and make homemade sweet potato dog chews for Athena.  I've been lusting over a few recipes for these on Pinterest, so it was about time that I made a batch.  Not to mention that I always contemplate buying a bag of store-bought sweet potato chews whenever I see them, but I end up passing them by because a) why spend money when I can make them for super cheap and b) if I make them myself, I will know 100% what's in them.

My recipe for these dog chews was inspired by a few pins on my Pinterest Dog Recipes board including this one, this one, and this one.

Here's what I did to make these tasty (and healthy!) treats:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Sweet Potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

How to Make Em':

1.  Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
2.  Prepare a cookie sheet by lightly coating it with olive oil
3.  Wash the potatoes and then thinly slice them into rounds (I tried to slice mine to be about 1/4-1/2 inch thick).  You could use a mandolin or food processor for this step to make the slices the same thickness, however I don't think that Athena minds that mine weren't perfect =)

4. Lay out your round potato slices onto the cookie sheet.  It's OK if the slices touch, but try not to overlap them.

5. Bake for 4-5 hours (depending on if you want chewy or crunchy chews).  Flip the potatoes every hour.  Because mine weren't perfectly sliced, I got the best of both worlds (chewy and crunchy).
6. Remove the chews from the oven and let cool.

7. Feed them to your dog as a delicious snack or tummy soother!

Staring at the deliciousness would be just too much to bear!

Athena thought these treats were DELICIOUS!  We plan to use the crunchy ones for special training treats that are low-calorie and healthy and the chewy ones will be great for an after-school snack ;)

Have you ever made any dehydrated dog chews (in a fancy dehydrator or in the oven)?  How did your dog like them?

Check out these Pinterest inspired Peanut Butter Dog Treats that I also made

Pinterest Inspiration: Homemade Dog Treats

This weekend not only did we attend the grand opening for Portland's new Unleashed by Petco store and test Athena's sniffer at a free K9 Nose Work class, but we also did some extra special dog treat baking.

Mom, can I have that?

Ever since starting my Pitlandia Pinterest boards months ago, I have wanted to use one of my 'Dog Recipes' pins to bake a batch of dog treats.  This weekend I finally gave it a shot after realizing that most of the treat recipes call for ingredients that I already have at home (I've also been looking for an excuse to use my new bone shaped cookie cutters).

I ended up baking a batch of Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats using this recipe found on Pinterest:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour oat flour
2 large eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin purée, canned or fresh
3 Tbsps peanut butter

"Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place all ingredients in the mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium for about a minute, or until the dough looks like a bunch of little dough balls. If you pinch a piece and it crumbles, add a little water. If it’s really sticky, it’s too wet and you’ll need to add a little flour. Gather the dough together and form into a ball. Place on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness. You can either use a cookie cutter to cut out cute shapes, or use a knife to cut squares or strips.  Place the cookies on a baking sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes for softer treats or 30 minutes for hard treats."-Recipe provided by userealbutter.com

The recipe made 100+ little crunchy treats in bone, heart, and flower shapes!

Athena thought that these treats were absolutely delicious!  I will admit that I tasted one and found it to be just like an unsweetened peanut butter cookie.  Athena doesn't seem to mind the flavor because she's been gobbling them up like crazy (I would say that she seems to like them even better than packaged dog treats)!

'Waiting' for her 'OK' to eat her treat

Substituting Oat Flour for Wheat Flour in Dog Treat Recipes:

The treat recipe above is not grain-free, but I substituted wheat flour for oat flour to make it so.  I made my own oat flour by putting dried rolled oats in the food processor and pulsing to chop the oats into a fine powder (1 1/4 cups of oats yields 1 cup of oat flour).

Making Dog Treats Grain Free:

One reason that I've been discouraged from making any dog treats found on Pinterest is because most are not grain-free.  We try to feed Athena a grain-free diet as much as possible.  To make the above treats grain-free, you could substitute the wheat flour for potato flour, almond flour, or any other grain-free flour substitute.

Grain Free Dog Treat Recipes:

Peanut Butter & Carrot Treats (also gluten, dairy, and sugar-free)

Dehydrated Liver Treats

Sweet Potato Chews

Dog Treat Recipes (substitute flour for a wheat-free or grain-free treat):

Peanut, Banana, & Bacon Treats

Veggie Treats

Carrot & Banana Treats

Cheesy Treats

Excuse me, but when can I eat that?

For even more homemade dog treat recipes visit my 'Dog Recipes' Pinterest board

Have you ever tried your hand at baking homemade dog treats?  What are some of your favorite recipes ?

Dog Collar Fabric Flower Tutorial

In an attempt to make Athena look girlier, we have recently outfitted her in her very own bright pink Tiennot Knits sweater as well as two stylish Sirius Republic collars.  I have definitely noticed more “she’s so pretty!” comments rather than the “he’s so cute!” ones.  But, I decided that Athena needed just a touch more girl to go along with her new girliness.  So, I sat down at my sewing machine and created a collar flower complete with a Velcro attachment and fabric button.

Here are the steps for making your very own dog collar flower:

1.  Gather the materials

• Fabric (I used part of one fat quarter for the main flower fabric as well as a small amount of fabric from a different colored fat quarter for the flower button)
• Cover Button Kit  (or any button that you would like to use)
• Felt
• Double Sided Velcro
• Top Thread (or any thread that is thicker than sew-all thread)
• Fabric Glue
• Rotary Circle Cutter  or Drinking Glass (I used an Olfa rotary circle cutter, but you could easily use a drinking glass to trace a perfect circle)
• Sewing Supplies (Sewing machine, rotary cutter, ruler, needle, fabric pen/pencil, fabric point turner--I just use a chopstick)

2.  Cut the flower petals & felt circles

Begin by ironing your main flower fabric and lay it out on a rotary cutting mat.  Next, set your circular rotary cutter to the desired circumference (or find a drinking glass with the circumference that you need).  Each circle that you cut should measure 4” (this means you need to set your circular rotary cutter to 2”).  Cut out 8 circles from your main flower fabric.  Then cut out 1 circle from your felt that measures 2” (set circular rotary cutter to 1”) and another felt circle that measures 1.5” (set circular rotary cutter to .75”).

Set aside the two felt circles until step #8.  Now fold each of the 8 fabric circles in half and iron each on the fold to create a crease in the fabric.

Using your rotary cutter and ruler, cut each of the 8 circles on the center crease.  You should now have 16 half circles of fabric.

3.  Sew the flower petals

Bring all 16 half circles to your sewing machine.  Fold each half circle in half again with right sides together.  Using a ¼” seam, sew down the straight edge of one of your folded half circles.  Continue to feed all of your petals through the machine without cutting the thread.

4.  Prepare the sewn flower petals

Snip the thread in between each of the flower petals that you sewed in step #3.  You should now have 16 inside-out petals.  Using a fabric point turner (or a chopstick…or your finger!), flip each petal so that it’s right-side-out.  Next, iron each flower petal flat (this is important for achieving crisp looking petals).

5.  Stitch the bottom flower

Use 9 flower petals from step #4 to create the bottom layer of your fabric flower.  With embroidery thread, hand stitch a running stitch on the bottom curve of your first petal.  Pull your needle through the fabric and tighten the thread to gather the fabric at the bottom.  Continue to add the remaining 8 petals, tightening the thread as you go.  Once all 9 petals have been stitched, use the remaining thread to attach the first and last petal together with backstitches.  Tie a knot to secure.

6.  Repeat step #5

Repeat step #5 to create the top layer of your fabric flower, however this time use only 6 flower petals from step #4 (you should now have one flower petal left over from step #4).

7.  Attach the bottom and top layers of the flower

Position the top layer flower on top of the bottom layer and stitch the two layers together.  Secure with a knot.

At this point I didn’t like how I could see the knots from my thread peaking out from the sides of some of the petals.  To hide the thread knots, I simply used a touch of fabric glue at the base of some of my petals to hide the knots.

8.  Fix the ugly back by attaching felt & Velcro

Now that the top and bottom flower layers are attached, you may notice that the back of the flower is quite unattractive.  This is a quick fix by using the felt circles from step #2 to hide the mess.

First measure how much double-sided Velcro you will need for the flower to attach to your dog’s collar.  Then, center align your Velcro on top of the 2” felt circle and securely sew it into place (make sure to backstitch here to create a strong hold).

Glue this felt piece onto the back of your fabric flower.  Next, glue the 1” piece of felt on top of the Velcro to hide the thread and to prevent the double sided Velcro from fraying a nylon dog collar.

9.  Make the button!

This is my favorite part of making the fabric flowers because I just love to make buttons!  To make my fabric covered button, I used a Dritz button cover kit #36 in 7/8”.  I followed the kit instructions to make my button.  You could also easily use any button that you have available instead of making your own.

To finish off your fabric flower, use fabric glue to attach your button to the front of the fabric flower.

10. Wear it out and about!

Now that you’ve completed your dog collar flower it’s time for you and your dog to go out on the town and model it around!  

So far I have made Athena quite a few collar flowers in many colors and styles to match all of her outfits.  People can’t help but stop and admire what a pretty pittie she is when wearing her flowers =)

Please leave a comment below or e-mail us at PitlandiaPooch@gmail.com if you have any questions or suggestions for improvements to this tutorial!

Also check out our Dog Tutu Tutorial for another stylish DIY accessory to add to your dog's wardrobe!