Where my dogs at?

 Crazy Dog and Old Dog have a lot of needs.

For example, they need breakfast and dinner; they need blankets and soft beds to sleep on; they need pillows to rest their fuzzy heads on (I am dead serious. They both use pillows properly.); they need fresh water 4-6 times daily; and they need treats.

Lots and lots of treats.

See, Old Dog also needs medication.  He's Old, after all, so he gets a nerve-blocker and pain relievers twice a day to help with his Old Dog arthritis.  We give him these pills by putting peanut butter on a treat and then burying the pills in the peanut butter.  He usually swallows them whole.

Whenever Old Dog gets treats, Crazy Dog has to get treats.  Because otherwise, it's just not fair, and he sits and stares at us with his little Labby face and looks sooooo sad.  Like this:

Here, he was actually begging for study-time snuggles, not treats.  But it's the same look.  He gets his way a LOT with this little face.

Since we're giving both dogs treats at least two times every day, multiple treats at a time (and sometimes they get midafternoon treats, and treats tucked into a Kong or a bone), we go through a LOT of treats.

Treats have gotten particularly complicated in the last year, however.  Crazy Dog here is allergic to chicken and beef, despite the fact that most Labs could eat a battery and not bat an eye.  This didn't used to be a big problem - we had to feed him pricey, venison-based food, but he could still have beef bones, rawhides, and chicken treats once in a while with no ill effects, as long as we didn't give him TOO much.

At least, that's how it was for the first 1.5 years of his life.  Now, at 2.5 years old, his allergies have been getting steadily worse, and he's broken out in both acne (his usual allergic reaction) and rapid-growth hives (his terrifying allergic reaction) recently if he's had too much chicken or beef.

What was once an easy trip into the bulk treat aisle at Pet Life now has become an exercise in patience, as we now need to read labels carefully for phrases like "chicken meal," "beef meal,""fortified with beef broth," etc.  Since I've had some time recently, I've decided that it might just be easier to bake their treats than it is to buy them.

My mother sent me home from a recent visit to her house with a bag full of homemade dog cookies.  Now, I have also made numerous batches of dog cookies - oatmeal parsley cookies, to be exact.  They are every bit as dry and bland as they sound.  The dogs like them, but in a sort of indifferent way.

Grammie's cookies, however, had them climbing my body to get them out of my hand the minute I walked back in the door.  So I got the recipe from my mom, and I baked them a batch of dog cookies.

Grammie's Bestest Doggie Cookies
1 1/8 c each white and whole wheat flour
1/2 c peanut butter
1 c water
2 Tbl veg oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Show the bowl to your dog so they understand that you are baking for them.

That's for ME?!?

Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface.

My surface wasn't floured well-enough.  The cookie dough stuck to the counter.  Oh well. 

Cut into shapes, and bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, until they're nice and dry and crunchy.

Mmm.  Doggie cookies.  I guarantee that if your pups like peanut butter, they will be climbing the walls to get to these while they're cooling.  The best part is, these are completely hypoallergenic for Crazy Dog.  Win-win.