My first puppy, a tan cocker spaniel male, won me over. We drove to a local farmer’s house to possible adopt a puppy only to find him the one of the last two boys in the litter sitting on the front porch. He hid timidly behind the leg of a antique metal chair and looked up at me with nervous eyes that said “take me home.” He was mine. I named him Waffles, for the color of his coat, and he became my buddy. Boy did he change as he grew up. He was a rambunctious dog that pulled my tall clumsy frame down the street with abandon. The neighbors would stare at us, but he didn’t care. He was born to explore.
Many years later, when I turned sixteen, I knew exactly what I wanted for my birthday. Most teen girls want a car. Not me. I wanted to adopt a shelter pup, a collie to be specific. We brought Shelby, a blue merele collie, home and she stole our hearts for many years. She passed away while I was away at college leaving mom’s empty nest a bit more empty.
After college I lived with roommates’ dogs. I remember three labrador brother dogs that ate trays of holiday candied nuts and got so sick they had to sleep in the garage on Christmas Eve. Oh, and there was a white Akita that walked delicately through the house leaving a trail of fur puff balls in his path. But these dogs weren’t mine and I wanted one of my own.
Today, my heart melts for Sasha, our nine year old lab mix. She was adopted by my boyfriend from the Bartlesville, Oklahoma SPCA shelter as a puppy and I met her three years later. She is our fur baby. We try to take her everywhere with us. So it was no surprise to our friends that I hosted a birthday party for her several years ago and invited their fur babies to join in on the fun. Every dog deserves to be celebrated!
Seriously, I love dogs. An advocate for shelter dogs, I created a Facebook page for dog lovers that promotes dog care, adoption events, and area veterinarians. I use this page to inform followers of adoptable shelter dogs and to let them know if the shelters in the area are running low on supplies. If I could adopt all shelter animals, we would have a zoo in our backyard.
But since I can’t adopt every dog, I try to spoil them by making dog treats for my family and friends’ dogs. My Homemade Bacon Cheddar Dog Biscuits and Frozen Yogurt Pupcakes, are crazy easy to make and human-grade. You can even sample them yourself. I dare ya! If your pup is anything like Sasha, he or she will follow you around the house begging for just-one-more. Seriously people, your dog will be at your side like magnet. These treats are puppy approved!
Instead of buying a box of artificially dyed dog treats made with non-pronounceable ingredients, make the recipes below. Better yet, tag One Delightful Life on Instagram with a picture of your pup eating one of these yummy dog biscuits or a frozen pupcake. Don’t forget to follow my Facebook page made especially for dog lovers just like you!
To make the dog biscuits, simply combine all ingredients into a large bowl. Knead the dough with your hands for a minute.
Your dough should look like the below picture when you’re done gently kneading it. At this point, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out the dough to 1 1/2″ thickness on a flour covered cutting board. Use cookie cutters to create the biscuits shape.
Transfer the biscuits to a slightly greased cookie sheet. I used canola oil cooking spray.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove biscuits from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Don’t try to give a treat to Fido just yet! The biscuits will be extremely hot and are guaranteed to burn their mouth.
Once cooled, let your pup enjoy his or her tasty treat. Sasha didn’t want to wait much longer.
Homemade Bacon Cheddar Dog Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
- 1 brown egg
- 1/2 warm beef broth
- 1 T. shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 diced turkey bacon slices
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Use a fork to mix ingredients until completely incorporated.
- Using your hands, make a large ball out of the dog biscuit dough and let it rest in the bowl.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle a bit of whole wheat flour on to a cutting board and rolling pin.
- Transfer the dough to the cutting board and roll it out to 1/2" thick.
- Use cookie cutters to individual cut dog biscuits.
- Spray a cookie sheet with a light coating of cooking spray.
- Place cut out biscuits on the tray. (Don't worry if you need to crowd them as they don't spread out while baking.)
- Bake 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and transfer biscuits to cooling racks.
- After biscuits are cool, place them in a ziplock bag and refrigerate until serving.
Notes
Recipe for Frozen Yogurt Pupcakes
Ingredients:
- 1 c. non-fat grade A plain yogurt
- 1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
- 3 T. whole grain oats
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Transfer mixture into six baking cupcake liners. Freeze until solid (about 2 hours). 
Happy tails, I mean trails.
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