Zuke's Does Thanksgiving for Dogs

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

You can fill your Kongs or other fillable toys with Thanksgiving leftovers. Just be sure to use pure foods--no ingredients that are dangerous to our Fido friends, like onions. Above you'll find some of our dog's favorite fillings.
The recipe I followed went something like the image below, except the turkey didn't make the photo. I'll be cooking that tomorrow and it will definitely make the next batch! Yummy :)

Event Barkers is working with Zuke's to help them gain online exposure and share the news of their new products.

More Super Dog Sunday™ Fun!

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© C. Boyko
Super Bowl XLV Hat
Received from a Fan Last Year

© C. Boyko

We have the most wonderful readers! There are days when I get photos in my email from readers who love their prizes, and then there are days when I score a field goal with a Super Bowl hat! Check this out. One fan sent along a Super Bowl XLV (last year's event) hat just because they knew we would love it. And we do!


Tanner and Oliver also love noshing, a favorite activity of many a Super Bowl fan. Last year I had a bit more time on my hands, so I whipped up some cookies just for Game Day. I'd like to share that recipe again, as it is still one of my boys' favorites. They freeze well, so we were able to eat them all the way through Summer. Enjoy:

© C. Boyko
Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies

Fido's Football Snacks*


*We used organic ingredients, but you can whip these up however you choose.This recipe was adapted to our theme from one at Dog Treat Kitchen.
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk, reduced fat or fat free
• 1 cup peanut butter (salt and sugar free is best)
• 1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Whisk dry ingredients together
3. Stir in remaining ingredients gradually, until well mixed.
4. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead to a soft dough.
5. Roll out to 1/2" thick and use cookie cutters to create shapes
6. Bake 20 minutes, slightly less if your dough is thinner.
7. Cool and store in an airtight container.

© C. Boyko
Good Boy Oliver

These treats are quite hard and crunchy, and will be fine in your treat jar for a couple of weeks. Dog Treat Kitchen tells us that you can cook for a shorter time to create a softer biscuit, but be sure to refrigerate afterwards. The harder treats freeze quite well for up to 6 months. Note that the frosting decoration was removed before I allowed Tanner and Oliver to snack. It fun to decorate them just for the event. :)

Want to take a walk down memory lane? Last year's Super Dog Sunday photos can be found right here.

Busy Bones Go Organic with Organix

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© Carrie Boyko
Ready to Make Busy Bones?

Have you been entering the drawing for our 12-bag giveaway of Organix? Your options for entering were shared at the giveaway post here. Today I'm here to share Tanner and Oliver's favorite Busy Bone recipe. It's organic and super tasty. In addition, it keeps the boys busy for 20-30 minutes whenever I need to be free of pup responsibilities. Here's how it works:

Ingredients:

• Several sterilized beef bones. You can purchase these at pet supply stores or on Amazon. Choose the sizes based on your dog's size. As you can see, I have 2 short ones for Oliver and 2 longer ones for Tanner's much lengthier tongue. These bones may come filled, but can be washed in the dishwasher to clean thoroughly before re-use.
• Organic sweet potato leftovers, mashed. Other options that work well are banana, cooked carrots, green beans, broccoli, leftover bits of cooked chicken or turkey, or even grated cheese, yogurt or a little peanut butter. We choose organic, but it generally comes from leftovers to help use them up and save us money.
• Organix dry kibble
• Organix canned food

Instructions:

1. Using a table knife, you'll be able to insert some canned Organix into the opening of the sterilized bone. Press it down into the bottom of the hole. This procedure works well with Kong toys, as well.
2. Next sprinkle a layer of kibble to offer a change in texture. This keeps the pup's interest when they discover new tastes as they work through the layers.
3. Finally, add your leftovers and fill the bone to the top.
4. Place in sealable containers and freeze.



© Carrie Boyko
Step One
Canned Organix in the Bottom

5. Serve when you need a few minutes of dog-free time to attend to a visitor, phone call or other activity that requires your full attention. I love to use Busy Bones on Thanksgiving to keep the pups occupied while dinner proceeds without the boys drooling over our feast.

© Carrie Boyko
Step Two
Add Kibble in the Middle

© Carrie Boyko
Step Three
Delicious Sweet Potatoes

© Carrie Boyko
Ready for the Freezer

Is Fido drooling now? Mine did while I made these. I'll have to spoil them with a snack shortly. Give this a try and find out how well it works for you.

Have you missed any of the earlier posts in this series? Check them out here:

• Our Pet Food Pantry: A Little History
• Your Dog's Food: Why is Organic Healthier?
• Our Dogs' Food: The Big Decision
• Dog Food D-Day: The Big Reveal
• Surprise Dog Toys Awarded to Observant Winners
• Organix Dog Food Giveaway: 12 Bags of Healthy Goodness

Tanner and Oliver are offering up their tips on how to dig out the goods over at 5 Minutes for Fido. When you stop in for a visit, feel free to leave them a comment too. I don't want them feeling left out.  Don't miss tomorrow's post on tips for saving money at the pet superstores. Happy tails!

Full disclosure: All Things Dog Blog has not been compensated to provide this review of Castor and Pollux and Organix.  We have not been paid to provide our opinion of these products, and the opinion provided is our own.

The Love Bunny Wishes You a Happy Easter

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© Carrie Boyko
Check our Our Easter Goodies

Did you miss any of our treat posts lately that have focused on fun, Easter-themed treats for your Fido? Here's a few links in case you're just itching to give your Pooch some healthy yummies:

• Fruity Yogurt Pupsicles recipe--quick and easy, no bake yummies for their tummies.
• Chicken and Carrot Biscuits (we made bunny-shaped biscuits) recipe
• Greenies seemed like the perfect treat for Earth Day, so we stuffed a basket full and adored their perfect look for this treat-filled holiday. After the photo op, we offered these up as prizes. This prize deal is still available to you at this link. Hop on over and enter to win!

And don't miss our big blow out of free fashion accessories for the ladies: Fido Fashion Fun for Spring.

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Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day?It's International Treat Loving Day!

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

(c) Carrie Boyko
Rainbow Bridge Dog Houses
A Special Tribute to Xena

Who knew? A special day for dog treat appreciation? I had to laugh in spite of myself, the dog treat baking, recipe-seeking maniac that I have lately become. Maybe it's because I'm an empty nester now. No kids to bake for, so I'm coming up with Fido yummies instead. 

Today's picture is in honor of our fallen pack mate, Xena. We lost her to a stroke in October, but she continues to live in our hearts, memories, and at our Rainbow Bridge Memorial. I still return to her eulogy here on the blog to remember those feelings she brought out so strongly in me.

Dear Xena: The dog houses are for you at the Rainbow Bridge, sweet girl. We know you will share with your new friends. We hope you are enjoying the company that we have tried to bring you with the many friends in our Rainbow Bridge Memorial. We'll keep inviting our readers to submit their lost furry friends' photos to be with you. Love, Mom

Would you like to make the treats I've displayed in this photo? They're easy to prepare and very healthy for your fido. More importantly, Tanner and Oliver completely approve. Check out their comments at 5 Minutes for Fido. You'll find the recipe here at Paris Permenter's guest post. Happy tails!

Mutt Meatball Recipe and Snoopy Prize Drawing

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© Carrie Boyko
Time to Give Up the Vigil, Oliver
The Snoopy Books Have New Homes

Our tribute to Charles Schulz has come to an end. Oliver has done his job well; he guarded the prizes, making sure Tanner did not decide they were chew toys. That's a very big job for a little guy and he deserves a reward, don't you think?


Of course! Before I announce the winners' names, let's share a sneaky little recipe for Leftover Night that your dogs will devour. I'll be sure Oliver gets his reward. Here's what I do with leftovers:

© Carrie Boyko
Ready for the Dinner Bowl
or the Freezer

Mutt Meatballs 

© Carrie Boyko
Leftovers--Good Stuff!

Your dogs will likely enjoy any assortment of meats you have available. Go ahead and mix them up, or make one-flavor meatballs if you prefer. I used 1/2 leftover cooked chicken breast, 1/2 braised pork chop, and 2 slices of leftover ham to make the meatballs in this photo, with a few cooked carrots mixed in as well. Even this small amount of leftovers made a dozen meatballs and filled 2 Busy Bones; great money saving opportunities shouldn't go down the garbage disposal. My dogs think this is heaven.

1. When you clean out your refrigerator for those leftovers that just aren't going anywhere, give them a sniff. If they're still okay--no spoilage--then set the meats and veggies aside. Toss the onions and garlic; they're not safe for Fido.
2. Separate the vegetables into one pile for addition to the mixture last.
3. Cut up any large pieces of meat into bite sized chunks.
4. Toss all the meats into the food processor with the blade in place at the bottom.
5. Run the food processor until you have an evenly blended, course grind that looks somewhat like ground meat. 
6. Now add the vegetables and  do a few quick whirs of the blade to mix them into the ground meat. There will be flecks of color from your vegetables now.
7. The resulting mixture of ground meats and veggies will be a smorgasbord to Fido and a delightful addition (or partial substitution) to his dinner. Be sure to adjust his kibble accordingly, so he won't be getting too many calories.
8. Using a soup spoon, I form meatballs with most of the meat. Size these to your dog; they should be too large to swallow whole. You want them to bite and chew them up, so they are not a choking hazard when frozen.
9. Then I pack some of the mixture into hollow, sterilized beef bones. I freeze these for serving anytime I want to keep the pups busy while I have company, an important phone call, or something I can't be interrupted from. A frozen "Busy Bone" will keep the dogs working to chisel out the icy meat for anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on the shape and size of the bone. Great fun!
10. The meatballs made above, can be served fresh today, and then freeze the remainder for serving either frozen (like a Busy Bone) or freshly thawed.
11. To thaw safely, do it in the refrigerator overnight, and then serve the next day to assure freshness.

Now it's time to announce our Snoopy board book boxed set winners. If you're one of the lucky names drawn, be sure to drop me your address to LetsAdoptaDogPark@gmail.com ASAP. Your address will be used ONLY for this shipment--no spam mail afterwards. Today's winning names are: 

Janet and Mike Merriman

FiveSibesMom

Congratulations. Hope to see you here for more upcoming children's books giveaways. Happy tails!

Visit Adopt a Dog Park

Help protect our precious dog parks

© Carrie Boyko, all rights reserved

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Super Dog Sunday: Kick-Off the Dog Treats

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© Carrie Boyko
Woo hoo! Game Time

© Carrie Boyko
Homemade Peanut Butter
 Dog Cookies

Shall I share the recipe again? Of course! That's easy. You'll find it at this link--my first post of the day. Now, let's let Oliver and Tanner give thanks before they eat. It's been a long wait and they've earned it:

© Carrie Boyko
Say Please, Oliver

© Carrie Boyko
Yippee!
How Many Can I Have?

Enjoy the game! I'll be continuing to post on FB and Twitter if you'd like to get into the conversation there. Thanks for joining me for this fun afternoon of pre-game silliness. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Shall we make it an annual event?

Thanks for joining us for the first annual Super Dog Sunday Blog Hop here at All Things Dog Blog and 5 Minutes for Fido. The action is also going on at our Facebook page throughout the afternoon, as well as on Twitter. After you “Like” us at Facebook, be sure to “Follow” us on Twitter.  Don’t miss out on any of the photos, videos, commentary and all-out silliness as we continue to celebrate Super Bowl XLV with our own brand of Fido fun!