Bottles and Dogs.

Work has been busy this week  with everyone leaving going out of town for  spring break Combined with the fact that because we are so busy we are not allowed to bring our dogs to work. So what the means is I come home exhausted to two bored and under stimulated dogs. Sadie for the most part is a piece of cake and will adjust her energy level to whatever the people are doing. Feel sick and want to sleep for three days? Sadie will snuggle with you as long as you let her out for bathroom breaks and feed her. Want to go on a hike for a few hours? Sadie will race around and play like there is no tomorrow like I said she is amazing.

As for Simon.

Well Simon is a 1 year old husky who is used to getting a lot of exercise and mental stimulation. He is also prone to being very vocal when bored. Now that being said he is pretty good doesn't destroy the house. But he will chirp and whine and try to get anyone to play with him or take him somewhere.

I was way too tired to entertain him so I decided to make dinner enriching and fun. I stuck the food into some empty gatorade bottles and let them bat those around. I figured that would make dinner a lot more . I watched them push them around for about 15 minutes and both dogs seamed to really enjoy playing with them. I went to go get something to eat and when I came back I noticed Sadie had chewed the top off her bottle. There were still about three pieces stuck in the bottom so I took it away from her and helped her get the last pieces of food out for her. Simon had managed to get all of the food out of his without destroying the bottle. It struck me as a good example of how different my two dogs are.  Sadie couldn't get something so she ripped it open. If  Simon had had an issue he would have either given up brought it to me or let Sadie open it for him or found something more fun to do.

Over all the idea worked up pretty good and it was a free puzzle toy that both dogs enjoyed. I plan to do it again but I will only do this when I can keep an eye on them to make sure Sadie doesn't accidentally eat any of the bottle.

Simple Tuna Treats.

I am going to walk you through one of my fall backs for making treats. This recipe is great because I normally have the stuff already in my house, it's super simple and it's a treat my dogs love.


Ingredients:

1 cup of almond flour. 

1 egg

1 can of tuna

Directions:

preheat your oven to 375 I apparently took the picture and didn't see that it was at the wrong temp  but it shows that is is not a delicate recipes and there is some wiggle room in the directions. I ended up having to cook mine for an extra 4 minutes after I found out but it is not a big deal.

Mix all ingredients in bowl including egg shells and the water from the tuna can. Remember that simple part?

Cook for around 20- 22 minutes for crunchy treats or less if you want chewy treats. You can just roll them into balls or use a cookie cutter. I am going to roll mine into balls and cook the rest in the dog bone shaped cookie sheet. 

I use almond flour for these because so many dogs have grain allergies or sensitivities to grain that I avoid it when I can but you could also use whole wheat flour or potato flour to make the treats.  

Of course when making dog treats I have some supervisors watching my every move. There are some modifications I sometimes use for example if I had a little fresh parsley or mint I would have chopped it up and stuck it in the treats as well.

Sadie is ready for the cookies to be done Simon is just happy he is getting to hang out in the kitchen.

All attention on the person with the mixing bowl.

Simon knows where the food comes from.

Can't move without them noticing.

Sadie will still stand guard.

Sadie likes them.

This was the least blurry picture of Simon I could get.

See! But Simon likes them too.

The biggest thing I would like to change to this is I would use a dehydrator if I had one. They help remove extra moisture from the treats and help them last longer. To try to make them last on my end I stick them into a tupperware and will either leave them in the fridge or freezer. In the freezer they can keep for a few months in the fridge you are lucky for a few weeks.

Let me know if you make these and if your pups like them. The only dog who hasn't like them so far has a history of not eating fish.