Get the scoop on how to make your own easy dog-friendly café style drinks. Recipe ideas and instructions for making homemade puppuccino and hot dogolate drinks for dogs. Doggone delish indeed! Lap it up, furfreinds!
But First, Coffee...
Sometimes you just need a little extra indulgence to start the day off on the right paw. For our dogs, the sound of the coffee machine signals the potential to plead for a little bit of froth or perhaps some warm milk. Cue the puppy dog eyes and drool! If you feel like spoiling your pup, then perhaps a puppuccino or a mini cup of dog-friendly carob hot ‘chocolate’ is the perfect quick treat for a chilly morning, birthday breakfast, or just because. Here are some easy options.
How to Make Homemade Dog Puppuccinos
This easy homemade favourite started as an occasional indulgence on chilly weekend mornings – puppuccinos! Pavlov’s Oli quickly developed a love for the sound of the coffee maker, and (of course) Humphrey learned from the Master. Those puppy dog eyes are just so doggone hard to resist. Whipping up a puppuccino has become a frequent treat during our family coffee ritual.
Puppuccino Ingredients and Options
Dog’s can’t have coffee, of course. Special puppuccinos, perhaps – depending on the dog and the ingredients. Café puppuccinos are often made with whipped cream, which may be sweetened, high in fat, or include other ingredients that may not suit some pups. Especially not by the cupful. Although my dogs would definitely be happy lapping that up, we simply froth a trim (low-fat) milk for a healthier alternative. Our dogs are not lactose sensitive, but we buy trim lactose-free milk for their puppuccinos all the same, just to be on the safer side. We serve them warm and frothy, but you can make a cold drink, if you prefer.
For a light and simple dog-friendly puppuccino fluffy, we just froth up the milk and serve it with a tasty sprinkle of Ceylon cinnamon and/or carob powder. The boys usually get a simple fluffy from me so that hubby can have the special role of hot dogolate hero, but I occasionally make something special on wet or cold mornings. Although the servings are kept small, I normally use much bigger bowls than these staged photos to minimise mess. Humphrey is a particularly splashy slurper.
Making Homemade Puppuccino
Treat Ingredients:
- Milk
- Water (optional)
- Carob powder (optional)
- Ceylon cinnamon (optional)
Volumes can be whatever you wish, based upon your dog(s) and personal preferences. Special treats and in careful moderation, as always. See the tips and note at the end of this post.
Making the Treats:
- Heat (optional) and froth (optional) the milk.
- Pour the frothed milk into single serving bowls.
- Add cool water to dilute (optional) and/or adjust temperature, if needed.
- Optional: Sprinkle with a dash of carob powder or Ceylon cinnamon (optional).
- Serve warm, but not hot.
Don’t worry, eagle eyed furfriends. Those cinnamon sticks are purely photo props. I’m ready-to-use all the way! If you’re using cinnamon for dogs, Ceylon (real) cinnamon is the recommended variety. Cinnamon in moderation has some good purported health benefits for dogs (and humans), but like many things it is not suitable for all people or pets as it may conflict with health conditions or medications. Always check before trying new foods. Of particular note, cinnamon is not recommended for pregnant or lactating dogs.
How to Make Homemade Hot Dogolate
For a dog-friendly hot chocolate (hot dogolate), the process and ingredients are similar to the puppuccinos, but with the addition of carob to the milk. We use trim lactose-free milk and carob powder. Sometimes with dollop of froth or perhaps a carob drop to make things extra special. Again, we serve them warm, but you can make a cold drink, if you prefer.
Carob vs. Chocolate
Carob is often used as a dog-friendly version of chocolate. Arguably, ready-made carob drops or chips (which can also be great for dog-friendly special treats, like our indulgent Easter dogolates) are rather similar, but actual carob and cocoa powders the taste and nutrition profiles are quite different.
In terms of dog-friendly cooking, carob is hands-down the way to go! Chocolate contains a compound called theobromine which is toxic to dogs. It can also contain other doggy no-nos like caffeine, sugars, or sweeteners. Holidays, such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween when there are lots of human goodies can be very dangerous times for dogs. Always keep human treats out of reach.
Carob is naturally sweet and flavoursome. It smells a lot like chocolate, but I find it tastes a little different with a slightly nutty spicy zing. Pure carob powder is high in fiber and anti-oxidants, low-fat, low-calorie, and free from gluten, lactose, and caffeine. Pawesome!
Making Homemade Hot “Chocolate” for Dogs
Treat Ingredients:
- Milk
- Water (optional)
- Carob powder
Volumes can be whatever you wish, based upon your dog(s) and personal preferences. Special treats and in careful moderation, as always. See the tips and note at the end of this post.
Making the Treats:
- Heat (optional) and froth (optional) the milk.
- Pour the majority of the milk into single serving bowls. Retaining some of your froth for topping.
- Add cool water to dilute (optional) and/or adjust temperature, if needed.
- Stir in a small amount of carob powder
- Top with remaining froth.
- Optional: Sprinkle with a dash of additional carob powder.
- Serve warm, but not hot.
Recipe Tips and Tricks for Puppuccinos and Hot Dogolates
- Froth, froth, froth. It is our dogs’ favourite part.
- We use low-fat lactose free milk for our dogs; however, if your dog is sensitive to dairy including lactose free options, you can create a special drink using other dog-friendly treat ingredients. An alternative milk such as goat’s milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or even just water may be alternatives. You can also make drinks using diluted yogurt or kefir.
- Our dogs get colostrum as one of their dietary supplements (it has lots of potential health benefits). We often slip the powder into their drink bowls. It’s a natural fit with the milk.
- A little carob powder goes a long way! A tiny dash is enough to add a great hint of carob to the drinks. If you can’t get carob powder, you can melt and mix carob drops for a similar effect. Beware and check your ingredients for dog safety. Drops are often sweetened.
- My go-to carob powder is quite potent. Not sure about yours? You can probably get a very good sense from the smell, but don’t be shy to try a little taste test. You might even get hooked!
- Drinks can be made and served cool if it is too warm for hot beverages or made as a smoothie-style slushy on an extra hot day. See our pet chef help post on making frozen and chilled dog treats for tips and ideas.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the category and tag labels to find other recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search to find something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
