I can’t believe I’m going to share this secret with you. Especially if you shop at “my” Safeway (the new one on Rockville Pike). If there’s a sudden lack of my secret dog treat weapon, I’ll have no one to blame but myself for telling you all about this…

But it’s okay because Your Dog’s Friend fans deserve it.

Secret Cheap Chicken

At Safeway, there is a cooler where they keep hand-trimmed chicken breasts. Next to those beautifully trimmed chicken breasts are packages labeled “Chicken Fat.”  They are $0.79 a pound. Grab a package of about 1.5 lbs (under $2!). Look for one that appears to be more meaty than fatty.

These are the trimmings from those expensive chicken breasts. They have fatty bits attached, but getting rid of the fat is as simple as boiling water.

Getting Rid of the Fat

Go home, fill a pot with water and put the chicken in it. Boil for 20 minutes or so. This will render off the majority of the fat, leaving just chicken. Scoop out the chicken pieces, rinse them (if you want), and bam, you get about 12 ounces of perfectly useable boiled chicken!

Ta-da! You Can Be Done Right Here.

Cool off the chicken. Chop it up. Toss it in your treat pouch and bring it to class.

You can use the fatty broth for anything else you like. Make soup. Mix it into mashed potatoes. You get the idea.

Make Some Cheap Dog Treats!

Ingredients

• 12 oz (or so) of boiled chicken meat
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of flour (for grain free, chickpea flour or rice flour works!)
• 1 cup of parmesan cheese (I use the sprinkle kind from a can)
• (Optional) 1 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanut butter) or 1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a food processor, process the chicken chunks until they’re a ground meat consistency. (You may have to add a little water depending on the amount of chicken and the strength of your food processor.)
3. In a large bowl, mix ground chicken, eggs, flour, and parmesan cheese thoroughly.
4. You should have a consistency that will form into loose meatballs. If it’s too crumbly, add water. If it’s too squishy, add flour. (It’s not an exact science.)
5. Cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
6. Spread the chicken mixture so it fills about half the tray. It should be a fairly thin layer.
7. (optional) Sprinkle the top with PB2 or parsley.
8. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
9. Turn oven down to 200F. Bake another 20 minutes.
10. Turn the oven off. Leave the tray in the oven another 20 minutes, longer if you want them more dry.

You will now have a pan of delicious homemade chicken treats!

Slice them into whatever size works best for your dog.

One they’re cool, store them in a ziplock bag or sealed tupperware in the fridge. They’re usually long gone before you have to worry about them going bad.

Enjoy!

In our Puppy Kindergarten and Basic Manners 1 classes, students often ask, “How am I going to afford all these treats?”

Easy! You’re not going to buy them at the pet store.

Easiest Dog Treats

Pre-cooked, frozen chicken breast: Toss it in the fridge to thaw the day before class. Cut into small pieces.

Plain rotisserie chicken breast: White meat only for dogs. Eat the rest yourself.

Low-fat string cheese: Cut it up before class or break pieces off with your fingers.

Baby food: Lickable meat!! Read the labels. Avoid onion powder and garlic powder.

Deli meat: Yes, it has fillers, but some brands are better than others, so check the labels. Deli meat is also handy for infusing a lower-value treat (kibble, cheerios) with a bit more value. One piece of deli meat rolling around in your treat pouch will make everything else smell more delicious to your pup!

Peanut butter: A super awesome treat! Read the label and avoid brands with xylitol (deadly for dogs). Use peanut butter sparingly as it is a high fat food.

Easy Dog Treats

Meat: Boil chicken breasts or make your own jerky if you have a dehydrator.

Lickable treats:  In a blender or food processor, make a paste of tasty ingredients. Put the paste into a PetToob/GoToob, Coughlin tube, or a small tupperware or baby food jar.

Combinations:

• pumpkin/banana/peanut butter
• strawberry/peanut butter (PBJ!)
• tuna in water (drained), mashed potatoes
• leftovers (meat/potatoes/vegetables)

A good consistency for use in tubes is somewhere between baby food and toothpaste. Thin with water or broth. Thicken with plain rolled oats.

Tuna fudge: Sounds gross but dogs go CRAZY for it.

TUNA FUDGE

4 cans of tuna in water (do not drain)
4 eggs
3 cups flour
(Tip: Tapioca flour is AWESOME for non-crumbly treats. You can find it in the gluten-free section of the store.)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or grease it).

Mix together eggs and tuna.

Once eggs are mixed in, gradually mix in the flour.

Spread mixture on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Let cool completely, then use a knife or pizza cutter to slice into squares.

Portion out the tuna fudge into snack-size zip baggies and store in the freezer.

Bake cookies:  This sounds difficult, but it really is easy and tons of fun. Fill in the _____ with some sort of protein: 90/10 ground beef (drained), chicken or turkey breast, a pouch of salmon or tuna (drained), peanut butter, grated cheese.

DIY                 DOG COOKIES

1/2 can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 cup of ______

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, whiz the rolled oats until they are flour.

Add the _____. Whiz.

Add everything else. Whiz.

Check the consistency. It should be like thick mashed potatoes.

If you need to adjust, add water/broth to thin or more oats to thicken.

Using a spoon, drop rounded blobs on your cookie sheet. Don’t worry about spacing them out. They don’t expand like human cookies do.

Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes. They are done when the bottom of the cookies are starting to brown.

Cool before letting your dog taste test!

Store in an airtight container in the fridge. They also freeze well.

Your dog will enjoy these tasty treats and your wallet will enjoy the extra cash you’ve saved!