Who's a good boy?

My three-year-old black lab, Blue Bear, that's who! For that he deserves something special: homemade dog treats. I've wanted to make them for some time now. They've always seemed fairly easy, no more work than cookies. Plus, the fact that I control the ingredients, improving the overall healthfulness and avoid the fillers that plague cheap, store-bought treats makes it a win-win.

An online search yields several recipes with varied ingredients for different flavors or to provide a health benefit. Regardless, they were all basically the same - a stiff dough made with whole wheat. Roll out into desired shapes and bake. Leave in oven overnight to further dry them out for extra crunch. For the bear's treats, I used a mixture of whole wheat, flax seed, peanut butter, garlic, and molasses.

"Hey, mom. Are they done yet??"



Admitedly, these smell great. Somewhere between a cookie and a pot roast. Hahaha. I didn't have a dog bone shaped cookie cutter, but no worries! I DO have a scared Halloween kitty cutout. Is that wrong?

Now if I can just keep my dog food-eating 18 month old away from the treats...