D.I.Y - Sweet Treats

Make your own healthy summer treats

From the book The Healthy Dog Cookbook: 50 Nutritious and Delicious Recipes Your Dog Will Love / Illustration by Jess Golden

Frozen Banana Treats

Frozen treats are great for keeping dogs cool in the summer, and they can be used to soothe teething pain in puppies.

Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Makes: about 16 treats

4 cups (32 fl oz/900 ml) plain, whole milk yogourt
2 tbsp peanut butter
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

Blend all the ingredients to a purée in a food processor.
Pour into 4-oz/115-g plastic cups. Freeze until firm.
Pop the treat out of the cup and watch your dog enjoy!

Vet's View

Bananas are a great source of potassium. Combined with yogourt, they make a healthy treat. The mixture can also be frozen inside stuffable chew toys (seal the tip with a dab of peanut butter first).

Nutritional Information - Per Cube

Calories - 71
Protein - 3 g
Carbohydrates - 8.5 g
Dietary fiber - 2.9 g
Fat - 3.1 g

Fruity Pops

Dogs just love the crunch of ice cubes, and here the rewards are made healthy and delicious. Perfect for a hot summer’s day.

Recipe
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Makes: 24 ice cubes

1 qt/1.13 litres fruit juice (not grape juice)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) plain, whole milk yogurt

Blend the fruit juice with the mashed banana and mix in the yogurt.
Pour into ice cube trays and put in the freezer.
When frozen, pop out of tray and serve one at a time.

Note: the Pops will keep for up to 1 month in the freezer.

Vet's View

A fun and healthy treat, good for hot days and for teething puppies. It can also be frozen inside stuffable chew toys (seal the tip with a dab of peanut butter first).

Nutritional Information - Per cube
Calories - 71
Calories - 31
Protein - 0.2 g
Carbohydrates - 7.2 g
Dietary fiber - 0.1 g
Fat - 0.2 g