Just listening to the wild weather outside is enough to convince us to spend the day cozied up with a book and our furry companion at our sides! Why not use the rainy-day opportunity to whip up a little something special for the pup in your life! Store-bought treats can often be full of fillers and other fattening ingredients, which may be okay every so often, can lead to weight gain and other problems if given all the time.  Check out these easy, homemade, wholesome snacks you can prepare right at home – and lucky you, there’s a ready and willing taste tester on hand!

Low-Cal Salmon Crunchies

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup soft oatmeal
½ lb raw salmon fillet
1 egg
3 ½ Tbsp sunflower oil
About ½ cup water

Utensils

Mixer, cooking pot, rolling pin, fish-shaped cookie cutter (cute, but optional!)

How to do it

• Preheat oven to 300° F and line baking pan with baking paper.
• Cook salmon fillet for 15 minutes and let it cool.
• Puree fish with water.
• Measure and mix wheat flour and oatmeal.
• Add the salmon, egg, and sunflower oil.
• Mix everything in to a smooth dough with a hand or electric mixer.
• Roll the dough to about ¼” thickness on a floured surface and cut out with a cookie cutter.
• Put the cookies on the sheet and bake them about 20 minutes at 300° F.

Tip: You can also use canned tuna. If possible, use a type packed in water.

Tuna-pops

• An ice cube tray
• Can of water-packed tuna (alternately, you can use canned salmon)
• Approximately ½ c water
• A mixing bowl or Magic Bullet
• A Ziploc bag

1. Start by mashing up the tuna in your bowl or stuffing it into your food mixer. Don’t drain the tuna water as it helps with the freezing. Add about half a cup of water to the mix.

2. Then mix up that tuna! You can use a mini blender, or food processor. Yum… doesn’t that just look delicious?

3. Fill your Ziploc bag with the mix and cut a small hole in one end. This helps save you from making a huge mess while filling up the ice cube trays. Fill your trays and place in the freezer for a couple hours. Let dogs lick the bowl.

4. When the treats are nice and frozen, you can pop them out and let cats have a taste! We recommend letting them chew on these on a tile floor or a plate, because you don’t want tuna bits all over your house. You can store these in a plastic bag in your freezer for up to six months, so if you make a bunch you’ll have some on hand for hot days!

Recipes from Modern Dog & The Wonder Forest