Frugal Dog Biscuits Recipe

A reader submitted this recipe for frugal dog treats.  He is a long-time pet owner and his wife works at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.  The last line of his email was, "Pets are a huge money pit, but I am learning as I go." 

We do not have pets in our house, for one my husband is allergic to most furry friends and two, I can't be trusted.  I do not have a "pet thumb".  We won some goldfish at a school carnival earlier in the year and all three of them were dead within a week.  I fed them, changed their water and sang to them, but they still didn't survive. 

Anyways, I know people love their pets, but they do seem to be expensive.  Tony (our reader) says that this recipe yields about 60 treats, but you could probably get more by just making them smaller.  I guess dogs don't really care about the size of the treat, only that they are getting one. 

Here's the recipe:

Mix Together:

·         3.5 cups unbleached flour

·         2 cup whole wheat flour

·         1 cup cornmeal

·         ½ cup skim milk powder

·         1 TBSP (or 1 package) dry yeast

·         3.5 cups lukewarm chicken or meat broth

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm chicken or meat broth. The richer this broth is, the better your dog will like the biscuits. Let yeast broth mixture set 10 min. Then stir in flour mixture. Roll resulting dough out ¼” thick. Cut dog biscuit shapes from dough. Apply an egg wash (basically just brush on a beaten egg) Bake on un-greased cookie sheets at 300° for 45 min.

Then turn off oven and leave overnight to finish hardening.
 Makes 60 medium-sized biscuits

Neuter for a Nickel

Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control is offering Neuters for a Nickel.  You have the opportunity to schedule male cat neuter surgeries for up to seven male cats per household for just five cents a cat.  This opportunity is for those living in zip codes including 4602, 4685, 46806, 46808, 46815 and46818.  This event will be held on February 9.  Call 427-1244 to schedule appointments or for more information.

Frugal Dog Toy Idea

1.       Find a used plastic container (this picture is of a plastic container of prunes) and wash thoroughly and dry.

2.    Cut rectangular openings in the container that are slightly larger than the size of your dog’s food. You can make more or less holes/bigger or smaller based on how difficult of a challenge you want your dog to have. Be careful not to make it too challenging, as some dogs may just give up, or stop knocking it around and start chewing it only.

3.       Put the dog food in the container and give to your dog.

Typically, his dog will spend about 45 minutes to an hour knocking the container around trying to get the food to fall out of the hole.  There are other benefits to this besides entertainment. This also helps dogs slow down while eating which may not be a problem for all dogs, but some tend to eat too fast, and upset their stomach.  Also, as his zookeeper wife informed us, when an animal has to work for their food, it is more rewarding to the animal. This is considered good enrichment for the animal, and stimulates them mentally and physically.

How much do you save doing this?

Before he started making these toys, he was spending $20 on a fancier heavy duty plastic version of this.  The plastic version is nice, but sometimes was too challenging, and his dog would just sit and chew it. He went through two of these toys in a year. So, he spent $40 in a year on plastic that ended up going in the garbage. Now, he makes these toys, and even if the does chew through them, they were going to be in the garbage anyways.

Other containers that make good toys:

·         Milk cartons (rinse thoroughly or it will smell in a few days)

·         Empty vegetable oil containers.

·         Anything plastic.

Thanks, Tony and Kristy, for your suggestions and tips!