We’re going from garden to gummy with our homegrown watermelon gelatin gummy dog treats. These yummy summer gummies are perfect as cool refrigerator dog treats or portable picnic goodies. Made with doggone delicious watermelon, the humans might even want to share! Here’s the recipe and details on how to make watermelon gummies.
Wonderful (and Weird) Watermelons
Watermelon for Dogs
Watermelon is one of the many fruits and veggies that you can safely share with your dogs in moderation. It’s pretty doggone healthy for dogs (and people), too. Remove the seeds just in case and no gnawing on the rinds, furfriends! Watermelon straight up is delish, but we’re making gummies. They’re great quick treats, and you can pop them in your cooler for road trips or picnics, too. It is also easy to adjust the flavour and/or richness of the treats by using a watermelon mixture instead of pure puree. Although watermelon is mostly water. Hehehe…
Waste Not, Want Not
You can buy or harvest watermelon especially for the dogs, but pureeing is also a great way to use up leftover or excess melon. You can use it fresh (like we did in these treats) or thaw frozen puree. Yes, frozen puree. You’re welcome, furfriends. Now you can taste summer anytime you like! Puree your watermelon and freeze it in cubes for easy treats, smoothies, and more. Less waste, more yum! And the frozen fruit cubes can do double duty as pupsicles if your dogs enjoy frozen treats. Pawesome!
Colour Surprises
If you’re surprised by the deep pinky-orange colour of my treats, I was too. These were made with homegrown watermelon from our garden (yay!) and the flesh was very different to the paler pinky watermelons I’m used to. It still smelled and tasted like “normal” watermelon, though. I’ve since learned that watermelons come in a whole variety of shades: yellow-white, yellow, orange, pink, and red. Nifty. Colour and opacity of the gummies will also be influenced by whether the puree is diluted (see note below) and, if so, what is added.
Watermelon Gelatin Gummy Dog Treat Recipe
Homemade Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats with Pureed Watermelon
These gummies were made in shaped moulds (affiliate link) as individual shaped gummy treats. They can also be made as set-and-slice gummy treats in a pan. The general process is the same for either method, other than slicing of course.
Treat Ingredients:
- 1 cup cool pureed watermelon or watermelon puree mixture (see below)
- 3 tbsp quality powdered gelatin
Remove rind and seeds from watermelon before preparing your puree. The puree needs to be watery enough to hydrate your gelatin powder, so you may want to make a blend of puree with water or a dog-friendly liquid.
When I started making these gummies, I was planning to dilute the watermelon puree. Most fruits will need to be diluted when making gummies. However, my home grown watermelon pureed into such a watery juice that it didn’t need added liquid. Since my dogs love fruit (they were circling like sharks as I was prepping the melon), water would be an easy way to dilute the fruit and would keep these gummies palatable for people too, if you wish! That said, chicken stock with watermelon would be even more doggone delicious!
Making the Treats:
- Measure the pureed watermelon into a small pan.
- Sprinkle the surface with gelatin powder.
- Wait and let sit for approximately five minutes or longer for the gelatin powder to bloom / gel.
- Gently stir the mixture over low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Take care not to shortcut with high temperatures or overheat. Heat can reduce the setting strength of gelatin.
- Remove from heat.
- Optional: Allow to cool slightly if you have any little melon pieces that you’d prefer to keep suspended in the set gummy instead of sinking or floating.
- Pour into a glass pan (cut and slice) or silicone moulds (shapes).
- Chill to set.
Gummy Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- See our comprehensive post on making and storing homemade gelatin gummy dog treats for additional information about making gummy treats including helpful gummy making tips, troubleshooting, and safe treat storage.
- These treats should be kept refrigerated and can be frozen for longer storage, although freezing can affect consistency.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- In my experience, 3 tbsp of gelatin powder per cup of liquid makes firm gummies. If you prefer, you can use more gelatin for added supplementation or less for a jigglier jelly treat with lower gelatin content. Individual gelatin powders may be a little stronger / weaker. Find a ratio that works for your preferences and, of course, your dog.
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 recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search tools 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.
