Dog Treats

Earlier in the week I posted stocking fillers and gift ideas for the pets in your life.  I included some ideas for dog treats but I wanted to give the recipe again with more detailed instructions.  These are a great alternative to shop bought treats as they have no nasty additives.  I saw this recipe on tv and decided to give it a go.  My little boy loves them.

You'll need:
350g plain flour
2 tablespoons of dried parsley
1 egg
Low salt chicken stock cube
120ml of hot water
Bowl
Wooden spoon
Cookie cutters

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.  Add the plain flour to the bowl with the dried parsley and egg.  Give them a stir.  Dissolve the stock cube in 120ml of hot water and add to the mix.  The mixture will start to smell like dog food at this point. Stir it and then start to knead it.  Once it looks a bit doughy, flour a chopping board or the counter and continue to knead.   Roll it to about 1/2 inch thick before cutting out shapes.  Add some grease-proof paper to a tray and throw the biscuits in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

Gatsby has been with us over a month now and as he is a new puppy, some of our friends are coming over to see him this evening.  I baked some of these treats in Christmas shapes for our friends' dogs.  I bought presentation bags (with ribbons) in Dealz  so parceled the treats up in them.  They will make a lovely gift for anyone with a dog.  

The treats are also great for house training puppies.  You can break them into smaller pieces if you don't want to give them a full size treat each time they do their business outside. 

The treats will last for a couple of weeks.

Pet Gifts and Stocking Fillers

I am the definition of a crazy pet lady.  I love my animals; they are my children.  I waited for so long to have them and they are an absolute joy to be around.  I currently have pneumonia and Gatsby (the pug puppy) is minding me.  They are the most loving little creatures in the world.  I have created lots of Christmas lists so it only seems right that I do one for pets.

Starting off with my first born, Pumpkin (the hedgehog) I bought him a new snuggle sack. For those of you not familiar with snuggle sacks, they are a great invention for small furries. They are double lined fleece bags that the smallies like to sit in.  Santa brought one to Pumpkin last year and he loved it so much he is currently using it to sleep in.  He needs a new sack for sitting on the couch (hedgehogs love heat) so I ordered him one on Etsy.  This was about €7 so it was a great bargain.

Like other small creatures, hedgehogs love to run in wheels.   We have a giant one that Pumpkin adores.  We got ours from Carolina Storm Hedgehogs in the states.  I'd highly recommend this website for anyone with hedgehogs.  There'll be lots of great stocking fillers and treats.

My guinea pigs are our second lot of pets.  We have two, Thor and Loki. Thor should technically be on the naughty list because he has been a bit of a brat lately.  For Christmas they have some new hats.  I buy the Santa hats for wine bottles and put them on the smaller babies.  I also knitted them two elf style hats (I told you at the beginning I was crazy!).

My piggies love to chew and their favourite thing is to chew cardboard tunnels so they are getting a selection of them in their stocking.  Any pet shops will stock them and they aren't expensive.

Dealz, EuroGiant and Mr. Price all stock great cat and dog gifts.  These range from food stockings to Christmas collars to festive clothes.  Now I don't have cats, as much as I love them I'm allergic to them. I don't want to leave them out of the list.  Dealz have cat toys.  The stick ones with string and a toy at the end.  There probably is a proper name for them but I don't know it.  They have little Christmassy ones that are very cute.  Home Store and More stock cat Christmas collars.

Gatsby is our latest addition.  His new obsession is pulling the baubles off my Christmas tree and chasing them around the house. For the doggies, Dealz have little jumpers that are a light fleece and available in a small, medium and large. The snowman costumes are adorable and are again available in the same sizes.

Squeaky Santa is a much loved toy in our house and it is great for any puppy or dog.  They also have squeaky penguins.

I wanted a Santa jacket for Gatsby and found a lovely one in EuroGiant.  The material is stiff so it means the hood isn't flopping into his eyes.  It fits him really well and he likes it.

I mentioned Mr. Price earlier and they have great treats for cats and dogs.  For dogs they have squeaky slippers and as any dog owner knows dogs love slippers.  These are €1.49 each. I also got Gatsby a camouflage jacket for €6.99.

Dealz also have animal stockings so you'll have a nice carrier for your pet treats.

I saw a recipe on tv for dog biscuits.  I'm going to make these for Gatsby and his doggie friends.  The recipe is very simple: 350g plain flour, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley, one egg and chicken stock (low salt cube disolved in 120ml of hot water).  Mix it all together and knead it.  Cut out whatever shapes you want and throw it all in the oven at 200 degrees celsius for 20-30 minutes.

I hope you and your pets have a very happy Christmas.