Making Homemade Dog Treats Safe and Delicious

​Question: I want to make my own dog treats, what ingredients do I need to avoid?

Answer: With all of the treat recalls of recent years, many people have gone to making their own treats.  There are many recipe books specifically designed for homemade dog treats.  We would hope that the authors would research the ingredients prior to publishing, but it is better to check out the recipe yourself.  The main ingredients to avoid in the treats would be grapes, raisins, garlic, onion, chocolate, and macadamia nuts.  These ingredients are the main toxic human foods.  Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure, however the quantity of ingestion is not known.  Onions and garlic, while mythically said to keep away fleas, can cause the red blood cells within the blood stream to burst and not be able to carry oxygen.  Chocolate has different degrees of cocoa which contains theobromine.  This component can cause changes to the heart rate and rhythm which can be deadly in high quantities.  Finally macadamia nuts can cause hind limb weakness and ataxia (incoordination) even in small quantities.

Don’t let this list of dog treat don’ts scare you though!  There are plenty of healthy and delicious homemade dog treat recipes you can try for your pet!  They look so delicious, I don’t know if they would ever make it into the dog bowl!

​If you ever have questions about these or any ingredients, feel free to give your vet a call, or visit our website at www.pipevet.com.