My dog treats are the consistency of biscotti.  Here are the ingredients for one batch.  (I make three batches each time I make them as I have three big dogs and we go through a lot of them.  If you are going to heat your oven for hours, you might as well make the most of it.)  You can freeze these treats as well in case you have smaller dogs that won’t eat them quickly.

Mama’s Treats by Sandy Parker
4 1/2 c wheat flour
3/4 cup raw wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup cracked wheat
1 cup bulgar wheat
1/2 cup flax seed
Mix these ingredients by hand so the wheat flour is well incorporated into the mixture
2 cup oatmeal (doesn’t matter if it is fast cook or old fashioned)
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 large eggs
2 cups apple juice–you can use broth or stock instead or tomato juice or a combination of juice and water to reduce calories.  You could also use pumpkin pie filler combined with water.  Clean out whatever juice you have left in your refrigerator as long as it doesn’t have grapes in it.

If you can’t find any of the ingredients above, replace that ingredient with the same amount of wheat flour or oatmeal.  A lot of the ingredients can be found in the bulk section of your Whole Foods and near the flour in Walmart.  If you do have an Amish bulk food store near you, they have the best prices on these products.

It’s easiest to mix by hand and your consistency should be not runny, it should be sticky

Use old cookie sheets that you don’t care about the staining on them.  I pour oil on the pan and make sure the pan is well coated on all sides and don’t wash your hands afterward as you will use your hands to put the treats into the pan and it won’t stick to your hands then.

Press your dog treats into the pan and it should fill the cookie sheet completely (the bigger sheet.)

Take a long knife or a food mover and cut your treats in long rows the whole way across and then cut them into squares.  Cut them as small as you want your treats to be.  I cut mine about 1/2″ to 3/4″ square.  Make sure you cut all the way to the pan or they won’t separate.  Bake them at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.  Then remove the pan from the oven and let them cool.  Once cool, pull them out of the pan and break them up and put them back on the baking sheet without re greasing it and put them in the oven at 275 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.  (Also, please make sure you lean away from the oven door when you open it as it will be very humid inside and you can get burned.   I make three batches at a time and depending on which shelf in the oven, they may be darker or lighter.  If one batch is darker after the 350 degree round, then put it on a different shelf and the lighter batch goes on the rack where the darker batch was originally to ensure they are equally hard.

I’ve never had a dog refuse these treats and you should definitely try them as dogs absolutely love them.  I normally triple my batch and make three pans at a time and they will last about a month with three 60-85 pound dogs.  I hope you try this recipe and let me know at saundralparker@yahoo.com all about your dog’s response to them.

If they aren’t hard as a rock, bake them longer or they will mold.  The harder the better.

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