Easy DIY Ideas for Homemade Valentine's Day Dog Treats

Looking for love, Valentine? Find sometime who looks at you the way Oli and Humphrey do their tasty treats! Hehehe...  Happy almost Valentine's Day, furfriends!  If you're thinking about baking up a special Valentine's day dog treat, here are a few of our personal favourite ways to make Valentine treats, plus links to more treat making ideas.

DIY Valentine's Day Dog Bandanas

Hey there, Valentines! Who wants kisses??? These DIY Valentine's themed dog bandanas combine several of our archived DIY techniques, and you can easily adapt the ideas to make your own customised look and DIY design. Here are the DIY details (and a few extra kisses).

Hand Stamped Valentine's Day Jigsaw Puzzle Dog Treats

With Valentine's Day coming up and Puzzle Day later this week ( I love these crazy days), today's post is a cute DIY decorating idea for homemade dog treats. Stamping is one of my favourite ways to dress up a treat, and it's an easy way to make cute treats without adding icings or glazes that require extra time/ingredients and may affect the portability, storage, and/or shelf life of the treats. They look fancy, but stamped designs can be deceptively easy to make (and fun).

Making a Favourite Dog Treat Recipe into a Special Valentine

It's almost Valentine's Day, furfriends! We have lots of recipe ideas in our blog archives, but if you have a tried-and-true recipe or want to make your dog's favourite treat into a special Valentine, two VERY simple ideas are to just play with the shape and/or colour of your go-to treat recipe.  Here are some tips and inspiration:

DIY Woven Fleece Double Loop Dog Tug Toy

Love is in the air! Humphrey has a new puppy pal (they are so cute together) and this toy was created for some wild tug toy playtime. It may be a bit strange looking, but was created for function and fun - which is what matters most, right? With two loops and two straight stick "handles" there are tons of options for multiple dogs and humans. Humphrey has even figured out how to play tug with himself by using a paw with one loop and his mouth with the other - quite hilarious to watch. 

{RECIPE} Beetroot and Carob Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

These yummy gummies use a dash of yummy carob to take the natural translucent red of a beetroot gummy treat to a richer more opaque deep red treat. Plus carob tastes/smells delish! 

{RECIPE} Naturally Pink Strawberry Cheesecake Dog Treats

We're back from our holiday blogging break and hopping straight into the goodies with our Valentine's Day post line up, and it's a berry-based treat for my berry-loving boys. May we all be as lucky to find a Valentine who looks at us with as much love and desire as Oli eyeing up a strawberry (or strawberry treat)! Haha! Look at this face:

Valentine Dog Treat Tips for Pretty Pinks and Ravishing Reds

It's almost Valentine's Day, and this will be our final Valentine themed post of this year's collection as we switch our posting focus to the upcoming celebration of the Chinese New Year (Year of the DOG!) with a delicious diversion in honour of Pancake Day. Yummo! So for all of our Valenpups and their humans looking to make a few special last minute Valentine treats, here are our top tips for tinting pretty pinks and ravishing reds, including natural colours.

{RECIPE} Blackberry Cheesecake Dog Treats

Old boy Oli is an absolute fiend for blackberries. Our berry patch is in a gated area, but when the gates are open whilst I'm working in the garden, Oli is sure to arrive like a berry seeking bear bumbling his way into the bird netting hoping for a tasty nibble. Since antioxidants are a big part of our efforts to give Oli happy healthy golden years, his berry love is something we happily indulge in moderation. Blackberries are a powerhouse of free radical fighting antioxidants along with vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Blackberries are also a vibrant dark purple-red inside their inky drupelets, and the messy stains on my berry picking fingers inspired me to use that natural colouring to create these Valentine treats.  Beetroot is usually my pink go-to, but Oli was very pleased to see blackberries on the menu. And with the irresistible tang of cream cheese? Drool! 

{RECIPE} All Natural Hot Pink Valentine Gummy Dog Treats

These bright pink gelatin gummy dog treats get the pretty pink from combining our go-to simple stock base with plain yogurt and beetroot powder. They only take a few minutes to make (plus set time) and are something that I feel great about giving to our boys as a treat since they are jam packed with healthy goodness. 

DIY Giant Lips Squeaky Softie Valentine's Day Dog Toy

Smmmmmmoooch! Young master Humphrey-Hot-Lips is loving his newest squeaky toy. This Valentine's Day DIY dog toy was a quick and easy craft - much simpler than some of our fancy embellished squeaky toys, but still tons of fun!  The centre seam really completes the lippy look, and the toy looks exactly the same on the front/back.

{RECIPE} Strawberry Carob Valentine's Day Dog Treats

These Valentine dog treats were inspired by chocolate covered strawberries, recreated in portable treat form (although you could totally dip a few berries in dog-friendly melted carob, like these treats). Yummo!

{RECIPE} Carob Peanut Butter Cinnamon Heart Dog Treats

Pucker up, valenpups!  These no-bake treats combine the irresistible flavours and scents of carob and peanut butter with breath freshening cinnamon and coconut oil. Smooches for pooches?  Count us in!

{RECIPE} Sardine and Cheese Dog Treats (Naturally Pink!)

With the chaos and fun of Christmas behind us, it's time for us to start our Valentine's posts, yay! Feel the love, furfriends!  Nothing says love to our boys quite like something super stinky and delicious, and fishy treats are particularly irresistible. Sardines puree to a not-so-appetising greige colour, so these treats get an all-natural colour boost from beetroot powder.  Delicious and nutritious!

Doggone Great DIY Ideas for a Valentine's Day with Dogs

Happy (almost!) Valentine's Day!  Today we're rounding up some doggone great ideas for having a pawesome Valentine's Day with your dog.  All that unconditional doggy love definitely deserves a little something special.

DIY "Love Bone" Valentine's Day Squeaky Softie Dog Toy

Love love love love love love love love love love love... You can never have too much love or squeaky toys, am I right?  Humphrey seems to think so, check out these action shots playing with his new squeaky Love Bone toy:

{RECIPE} Beetroot + Gelatin Red Gummy Heart Dog Treats

These simple gelatin gummy heart homemade dog treats are naturally red thanks to the addition of delicious nutritious beetroot powder and are full of gelatin goodness - yum! 

DIY Twisted Double Spiral Woven Fleece Dog Tug Toy

The Double Spiral weave starts with a Double Box Knot, which is just two Basic Box Knots next to each other, both tied using the same up/down strands.  From that starting point, the weaving style switches to Circle Twist. Since we have two sets of horizontals with shared verticals, the two woven circles conjoin into a spiral around each other as the tug is knotted, creating the Double Spiral. Here's how to make it!

{RECIPE} Yogurt Gelatin Healthy Heart Gummy Dog Treats

These little hearts are so easy and our dogs LOVE them.  Made in two steps to protect the probiotic content of the yogurt, these gummies are quick healthy treats that you can feel good about sharing with your dog... even literally if you'd like to sample! I'm not into eating gelatin myself, but it's great for humans as well as dogs. When made with plain yogurt, these gummies are naturally a creamy white. The mixture can also be tinted with compatibly flavoured natural colourings (or a dog-safe food colouring) before pouring the prepared gelatin mixture into your molds, if you wish.

{RECIPE} Pink and White Puzzle Heart Valentine Dog Treats

These fun Valentine's Day dog treats were made using naturally tinted beetroot dough and our new puzzle heart cookie cutter (a Christmas gift from Santa's "pet chef" stocking stuffers), aren't they cute?