As the number of months of the stay at home order increased, different hobbies emerged in our day to day lives. Maybe you picked up a book that had been laying on your shelf for a long time, decided to listen to a new genre of music, or you headed into the kitchen and experimented making new meals. Cooking is an art and can be very fun and interesting to learn. Making small treats for yourself and your family can be a nice way to spend the weekend. But what about your most loyal member of the family, your pets? Specifically, a man’s best friend. 

Having a dog can be very exciting. But often, when it comes to the topic of their food, we are concerned that we cannot feed them certain things and wonder what treats we can give them. Going to the store and having to choose between the different types of bags and boxes and ads that promise to be the best treats for your pet can quickly give you a headache. What if your dog doesn’t like them? What if the texture isn’t right? Or the price is too high?

Well, any troubles you might encounter in the store can be solved by making your treats at home. You can make them as healthy as you want and design them to be the best for your pup. 

“We were given some dog treats that my godmother made for my dog’s birthday, but we decided to make her a cake on our own,” said freshman Daisy Gijon. 

Treats for special occasions are hard to find, something that Daisy’s family also found out when planning the party for their puppy. So, the easy way of solving the problem was to make their own cake and food for the party that was edible and healthy for the dogs. 

Here are some tips for when you are making your own doggie treats. 

1. Be sure to have the right equipment and tools like mixing bowls that vary in sizes, measuring cups and spoons, baking sheets and/or parchment paper for an easy cleanup, and assorted cookie cutters, to name a few. 
2. Start with easy recipes, it might take some time to get to figure out how to make the best treats for your pet. 
3. Add new ingredients to your treats. There are many ingredients that your dog would enjoy. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things based on your dog’s preference. A couple of good options would include wholemeal flour, peanut butter, eggs, sweet potato, banana, and yogurt.  
4. Be careful on what you include, however. There are some ingredients that can be toxic for dogs like grapes, raisins, chocolate, artificial sweeteners and colorings, nutmeg and nuts. 
5. Be sure to know how to store extra dough or the treats when they are done so that they last the longest time possible and be cautious for anything your dog might be allergic to. 

Having a dog can be hard work and this might not be as efficient and a little more time consuming than simply buying a random bag of treats at the pet store, but it is the best way to find the best treat for your pets. 

You can find many recipes using this link: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/pets/g23026561/homemade-dog-treats/