Having adopted my third "recycled" dog who is being trained, I was going through a lot more doggie treats than before. I decided to take some bread that was going stale anyway and try an experiment.
I piled up a few slices then cut them into quarters. I laid them out on a cookie sheet, lightly brushed them with healthy olive oil, and sprinkled them with garlic powder. I put them in a low oven for a bit, until they were hard and crunchy, like Melba toast. All healthy ingredients and they basically cost me nothing, I used the too stale for me bread and the dogs love them. May try flax seed next time!
By Linda from Vista, CA
Editor's Note: Most veterinarians recommend against giving your dog garlic, but there some do advocate for it. Please talk to your own vet prior to feeding dogs garlic.
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Wonder if some chiken bullion crystals would work too? Though the sodium level may not be appreciated. However it wouldn't take much to flavor a whole batch. Just let it sit in the oil overnight to dissolve well.
That sounds like a good idea to use chicken stock. You could use the broth from a roast chicken that you make and could be in control of the salt, etc. I always wind up with tons (not quite) of bread in my freezer and nobody wants to eat the rumpled and bent hot dog buns, etc. so I might just try doing this. Thanks for the idea!
That is a great idea! Other toppings might be peanut butter or cheese.
Update on dog treats: I did try the chicken stock that I had mentioned earlier and my dogs love it! I basted bread with mostly turkey stock saved from Thanksgiving (and now the Christmas turkey), sliced the bread into long 1 inch slices, and baked on about 200 for a long time...I tend to forget they're in the oven. Then I just left them in the oven overnight to harden more.
Wow, great ideas here! Sounds good enough for human consumption too! I know how doggie treats can be costly!
Hi all,
It is interesting to note that vets do say to not give garlic to dogs, but if one has a smell of the cheap sausage type foods being touted as 'fresh dog food' in supermarkets, there is a strong and distinct smell of garlic in them! I believe it is used to disguise the offal and rubbish used to make them, myself, but it seems that there is very little consultation with vets regarding dog food when it comes to some manufacturers! If garlic is bad, then there are quite a lot of dogs out there in trouble methinks!
Great idea, and great on salads too. :) You might want to watch for High fructose corn syrup in the bread. I have noticed when my dogs get that it makes them gain weight and be a little more hyper.
Watch the garlic on them. The garlic and onion family causes anemia in most dogs. For some reason they can't digest it easily and it can either cause them to bleed internally or it can mess with thier bone marrow and they don't produce enough RBC's.
Great idea however!
I would never give garlic or bread to my dogs.
If you'll do a google search for dog treats you'll find a lot of recipes where garlic is included. It's moderation. As to the one stating she wouldn't give bread to a dog; it's probably better that the corn and all the other stuff they put in dog food.
I feed Taste of the Wild dry and canned to my two large dogs which does not have "corn and all the other stuff" as was mentioned by someone. They do not eat anything with "by-products" either and that eliminates most of the well known, "popular" dog foods.
Yes, but for the cost of your specialty dog food, we could rescue and feed four dogs. And that is precisely what we are doing in Indonesia.
I would just caution all of us from using too much self-righteousness in comments, posts, or even our daily lives. It's usually more about ego than trying to be helpful.
While Taste of the Wild dog-food may not have "corn and all the other stuff," here are some of things it does have: garbanzo beans, peas, lentils, pea protein, canola oil, egg product, pea flour, tomato pomace, natural flavor, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product.
There is no peer-reviewed evidence that the above are any better than the seed pods that a hungry dog chews on all over the world, and many of which are grasses (i.e., grains). If a dog can tolerate wheat without problems, there is no scientific consensus that this causes any harm whatsoever. And if it provides him or her with more clean, natural food, for most of the world's dogs, that is a huge bonus.
We live on the same block as a wonderful well known Italian Bakery known for sourdough white and wheat loafs with amazing crusts. We buy fresh loaves abs have them sliced. If you accidentally leave a fresh slice out of an airtight bag, it gets stale in a day but is still really good. My dog loves a very small treat of the crusty hard day-old bread just on its own. And I like not wasting it!
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