{RECIPE} Simple Spirulina Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

Simple gelatin gummies are a great way to include super-food spirulina in our doggy diet. They're easy to make, mess-free to serve, and make it a snap to share nutrient-dense spirulina in small quantities. No muss, no fuss. Plus, they look pretty cool as well thanks to the gorgeous natural blue-green of spirulina. Unlike my experiments with using spirulina as a tint in baked treats, the colour shines bright and beautiful in a gummy suspension.

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:

{RECIPE} Strawberry Carob Christmas Spice Dog Treats

In confession, I simply couldn't resist pulling out the plunger cookie cutters to make a few final holiday treats.  My go-to carob powder smells a lot like cocoa powder to my underpowdered human nose, but in flavour  it's subtly sweet, a little nutty, and sort of reminds me of gingerbread. (I've tried it in human baking....not taste-testing dog treats, although I've been tempted! Hehe...) With spice and all things nice on the brain, I adapted our strawberry carob recipe to make a treat spiced up with a hint of cinnamon, ginger, and the rich scent of blackstrap molasses. Cue the drool! 

{RECIPE} Berry Bacon Barkmas Bone Dog Treats

  

Berry bacon barkmas bones...say that 10 times fast! :) These treats combine yummy strawberry (a dog favourite around here) with the irresistible scent/taste of bacon. Strawberries are in season during our Christmas holidays; however, frozen berries are fine for baking treats any time of year.  Any treat that gets crazy googly eyes from our beloved old Oli makes all the baking effort worthwhile! 

{RECIPE} Merry Fishmas! Naturally Green Sardine Dog Treats

It's beginning to smell a lot like Fishmas, everywhere you go... Oh my!  Super stinky and delicious, fishy treats are particularly irresistible to our boys. These are delicious and nutritious, with an all-natural green tint for an extra festive touch.  Pawfect for very good boys (or girls)! Woofs!

DIY Blue and White Hanukkah Spiral Fleece Dog Tug Toy

As promised, it's the bonus bonus post!  We were asked for a blue version of our Howliday tags for Hanukkah and decided to treat you to a Hanukkah tug toy DIY as well. We love our furfriends of all shapes and spots, and it's pawesome when you send us a request to create something special for your holidays and events that we might not be celebrating ourselves. No matter what the reason or season, did you know that blue is a great colour for dog toys?  One of the things we learned while trying to support senior dog Oli with his declining vision is that most dogs see on a spectrum of blue-yellow unlike our human red-blue-green, so blue and/or yellow toys are the dog version of "high-vis" fun!

Free Mix-and-Match Printable Howliday Dog Tags and Labels

We have a bonus post for you this week with a little freebie! We'd just started sharing our Christmas line-up when we received a reader request asking if we could make a blue version of our Howliday tag freebies as they were gifting goodies for Hanukkah. Easy peasy! Since those freebies are Christmas-themed in their design/format, with a combo of Barkmas and Howliday tags in festive red and green, I decided to create a slightly different Howliday set and share it in both shades of blue as well as red and green so that you can pick your preferred colour or mix-and-match between both sets if you are celebrating or gifting for both occasions. Since Hanukkah is about to start and we already have a full line-up of Christmas posts prepped, we're sliding these freebies in as a special extra outside of our usual Monday posting cycle.

{RECIPE} Cranberry Chicken Christmas Cookie Dog Treats

Mmmm...the holidays are so close we can almost taste them! It's one month until Christmas, and here's the first of our barkmas-themed posts for this year. Woofs! As blog dogs, our boys taste test holiday and special occasion treats well before the calendar (they never complain!) and if you are currently swimming in leftover turkey, dry turkey meat would make a great substitute for the cooked chicken in this recipe. You can bake and freeze your treats or (like often do, and as was used in these treats) freeze some small batches of cooked meat for future use. Winner winner, chicken dinner! 

{RECIPE} Spiced Apple Gummy Dog Treats

Yummy, healthy, and easy to make! These spiced apple gummy dog treats are quick and delicious. Like most gummy treats, they're low guilt at our place where the dogs absolutely love their gummy treats and we love that they are getting the health benefits of quality gelatin in sneaky "treat" form. 

{RECIPE} Pumpkin Pie Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

These treats smelled soooo good! Ridiculously good. I almost convinced hubby to taste one. :) I probably would have myself to be honest, but being vegetarian I'm not into eating gelatin.  I liked working with pumpkin in gelatin for our Pumpkin Spice Latte Gummies, and decided to play around with a fancy variation to create a special pumpkin pie inspired gummy.  The results? Doggone droolworthy!

Halloween Mummy Recycled Paper Tube Treat Holder

There's definitely nothing fancy about these Halloween mummy treat holders, but there's tons of riptastic fun! They're free, recycled and recyclable (depending on your local area recycling programs), and very simple to make. Our boys LOVE ripping and puzzle opening, and a cardboard tube, empty box, or egg carton can compete with the fanciest of dog toys. The empty white cardboard tube was just begging to be mummified. Woofs!

Frankenbone Homemade Halloween Dog Treat Decorations

Halloween isn't really a done thing down here in New Zealand, but we'll take any excuse for a treat of two! Last year's mummy bone dog treats were one of my favourite treats to create and decorate (definitely something I would do again). These Frankenbones simplify monster treat decorating for a fast way to make a fun batch of treats and it's easy enough for the kids to help with making special Howl-oween dog treats for their furry friends.

Free Printable Thanksgiving Dog Treat Tags and Labels

Woofs!  Who isn't doggone grateful for pets and all the love and joy they bring into our lives?  Thanksgiving isn't really celebrated here in New Zealand, but this special request freebie has been created for our furfriends celebrating elsewhere and is being shared a little earlier than our American puppy pals will be getting ready for their feast as our Canadog furfriends will be celebrating next weekend.

Free Pawesome Printable Easter Dog Treat Tags and Labels

Happy almost Easter, furfriends! As promised and previewed in Friday's Bunny Bone Easter dog treat recipe post, here is your fresh Easter freebie. This is our last pre-Easter blog post and we're going to take a little posting pause for the holiday weekend. We will return to our usual posting schedule next Friday. Have a pawesome week/weekend!

{RECIPE} Bacon Bunny and Bones Easter Dog Treats

Mmmm...bacon bunnies! These treats combine the doggone irresistible scent/taste of bacon with yummy peanut butter and blackstrap molasses to make a naturally brown treat.  The Easter treat tags and labels you see in the pictures will be shared here on Monday as our final pre-Easter post this year. Woofs!

{RECIPE} "Hot Cross Gummy" Easter Dog Treats

These Easter dog treats were inspired by the aroma of beloved hot cross buns. Drool...  Hot cross gummies...hot cross gummies...smelling oh so yummy we would like them in our tummies! Hot cross paws...hot cross paws... tasting so delicious when we get them in our jaws!  

{RECIPE} Peanut Butter and Carob Coconut Oil Easter Treats

Is anyone else a sucker for peanut butter and chocolate? It's one of my personal favourite (human) treat combos, so I couldn't resist combining them into a peanut butter chocolate egg inspired Easter treat.  The treats were created in layers, as shown, but can also be created as a homogeneous mix  if you prefer, or you can adapt to make without the carob and/or peanut butter to suit your dog's sensitivities, palette, and/or your own personal preferences. Easy peasy!  My dogs both enjoy coconut oil straight-up too!