Honeydew? Honey do, says Humphrey! These frozen pupsicle dog treats are an all-natural pale green, which is perfect for St. Patricks Day, too. That time of year just happens to be when melons are ripe in our garden (lucky us indeed) or in season at local markets. Melon isn’t something we usually feed as a treat, but Humphrey loves the smell and is always nearby if one is being sliced for breakfast. Since the melons were all coming on at once and I couldn’t keep up with eating, I decided to make him a little special batch of honeydew treats.
Mmmm... Melons for Lucky Dogs
Melons are full of antioxidents, vitamins, fibre, and other tasty goodness. They’re one of the many fruits and vegatbles that you can share with your pup. Depending on the type, they’re often sweet though, so be mindful of the natural sugar content and remove the rind, seeds, and share in small quantities. Melons may not be suitable for some dogs, especially furfriends with sugar-related issues or dietary restrictions. No melons? Not worries. You can sniff though our dog treat recipes for all sorts of other tasty ideas instead!
A little cube of fresh melon makes a simple yummy treat, and you can also freeze cubed melon or pulp it into puree and freeze in ice cube trays for you and/or your dog. Sharing? Yep! Frozen melon cubes are great for smoothies, smoothie bowls, or making drinks for people, too. Freezing is a great way to extend the harvest and/or moderate consumption by stretching things out over time.
Here, we’re going to blend the melon with optional extras in a special pupsicle treat. The sweetness of the melon takes the tart edge off our homemade low fat goat milk kefir, and the addition of cooked chicken pushes these pupsicles to the next doggone level for lucky dogs. These are probably not the flavours you’d use if you’re going to share the frozen melon with your dogs, though. Haha!
Pupsicle Precautions
As always, not all treats are for all pups. In addition to being aware of the sweetness of the honeydew melon (or other dog-friendly melons if you’re switching things up), some dogs just aren’t pupsicle pups. Just like people, some dogs don’t like cold treats. If your dog doesn’t enjoy frozen goodies, there are plenty of other tasty treat options in our recipe archives. Other dogs might love their frozen pupsicles a little too much. Highly aggressive chewers or dogs with dental issues may be better with softer treat options to avoid accidently damaging their teeth on firm frozen snacks. Again, you can sniff around our recipe archives for lots of other ideas.
Customising Pupsicles for Pup Preferences
Any dog-friendly liquid or puree can be used to make pupsicles. The cold does all the work of setting pupsicle treats, so it’s easy to customise recipes and create different combinations. Check out our introduction to making frozen dog treats for tips and ideas. If you’re skipping or swapping the melon, you could use another naturally green ingredient or mix in some dog-friendly food colouring ingredients. Or just enjoy the tasty treats in whatever colour they might be! After all, taste is what matters most to dogs, not the festive good looks.
Making Honeydew Pupsicle Dog Treats
Naturally Green Honeydew Dog Treat Recipe with Kefir and Chicken
As noted above, ingredients for pupsicles can be easily adjusted, substituted, and/or scaled to suit your mould (see tips and tricks below). New to treat making and need a little extra help? Looking for ideas on different ingredients and combos? See our pet chef help for a handy introduction to making frozen dog treats.
Treat Ingredients:
- Fresh honeydew melon, rind and seeds removed.
- Plain kefir, yogurt, or other dog-friendly substitute.
- Cooked unseasoned chicken, cooled.
Measurements aren’t important for making pupsicles. Yay! But for those of you who might be wondering, the pictured pupsicles are approximately 1/2 cup pureed melon, 1/4 cup goat milk kefir, and 1/4 cup pureed/shredded cooked chicken. If your mixture comes out a little thicker than you’d like, you can use water or dog-friendly stock to water it down for easier filling. You can also do this if you’d like the treats to be a little less indulgent. Shhh… Don’t tell the dogs! Swapping stock for the chicken is also an easy switch if you’d like to include a meaty scent and flavour but don’t have cooked meat. Or you could swap it for the kefir to go dairy-free. Don’t you just love the easy of customising your own pupsicles? Pawfect!
Making the Treats:
- Puree the prepared honeydew melon. I like to use a small food processor when making treats like this. Super easy! We currently use a small KitchenAid food processor (affiliate link) for small batch purees.
- Puree or shred the cooked chicken. If you’re using a food processor like me, you can just drop it in with the honeydew puree and whiz.
- Combine the puree and kefir or yogurt. Adjust to the desired consistency, as noted above.
- If using a flexible silicon mould, place it on a portable solid surface of some sort before filling for easy handling. I like to use a cutting board. Pour or spoon your puree mixture into the mould(s).
- Freeze thoroughly before removing from the moulds. Transfer the treats to a suitable container and return to the freezer until serving.
Pupsicle Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- See our comprehensive post on making and storing frozen and chilled dog treats for additional info and tips for frozen treats.
- Flexible silicone food moulds (affiliate link) or ice-cube trays work great for making fun little shaped treats. If you want a precise measure of a specific mould’s capacity, you can do a test pour from a measuring cup of water to measure the volume required to fill your tray. Volumes are very easily scaled, and you can customise the type and amount of flavour add-ins to suit your pet.
- Store and serve straight from the freezer. Frozen treats will melt quickly, especially in warm temperatures and can be messy while your pup is licking merrily. You might prefer to serve pupsicles with a bowl or outdoors. And as always, moderation, furfriends!
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- Check the ingredients carefully when shopping for dog treat ingredients. Be particularly careful to avoid unwanted ingredients, like sugars or sweeteners, in kefir or yogurt for your dogs. Xylitol (also identified as sweetener E967) is particularly dangerous for dogs.
- Not keen on dairy? Coconut milk, pureed dog-friendly fruit or veggies, or anything pet-safe, including simple water, can be used to create your own custom blend. As noted in the post above, pupsicles are really easy for ingredient substitions and adjustments.
- Looking for different holiday colours? See our post on natural food colourings for dog treats for tinting ideas.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of different DIY dog treats here on the blog. Woofs! Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas here from treats that we make ourselves for our pets, but different animals will have different preferences (likes or dislikes) and dietary needs. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies or intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
