Feeling Fishy....

Question... what do you do when you have nearly 2kg of Fishbites to store??
Answer ... I haven't got a clue! lol..

I have just had my delivery of fishbites for the poopies, and ordering in bulk is fantastic value for money from here. I was buying around three packs a week (300g) from our local pet store, and they worked out at a total of nearly £15!!!! So... I decided to go to the website and order directly. I got 1.5kg for £25..

Well.. I have finally managed to get them sorted into various plastic sealable tubs to keep them fresh.. apart from the ones that dropped onto the floor to three anxious little pupsters!!

They absolutely love these little bites, and as you may know if you read my blog, that I only ever feed my poopies wholesome food. They don't have anything with additives or whatever in.. mainly because Scooby has colitis so he's easily upset!

These bites are 100% fish skin, which is brilliant for improving the condition of the coat and skin, and I am the first to admit that their fur is fantastic! Lovely, shiny and glossy, as you can see.

They are also a fantastic training treat for dogs. For training you can buy tiddlers, which are smaller than the fish squares that I buy for mine. The tiddlers are also just the right size for little dogs.

If you look back through my blog, ( click on dog health on my label cloud above) you will notice that from time to time I do write a bit about doggy care (spoiling!! as my OH calls it!). Last time, I did about food (please use a whole food - no additives, it really doesn't help your dog!) so today.. tada.. I'll do natural treats..

I feed my dogs with James Wellbeloved, or Wainwrights for a change sometimes. Both are free from colours, preservatives etc, and as a treat with their breakfast and dinner (yep.. still two meals!), they have scrambled egg, steak, tuna, sardines etc. They love it, and it breaks up the monotony of having the same thing every day. Just cut the main food down slightly so they are not over indulging!

For treats, they have the fish bites, which are given at bed times, and other times when anyone comes in and they are feeling extra bouncy (well.. they are springers!). I have a little pot next to the door, so if anyone comes in, they can reach for the tub and the pupsters know what's in it.. they stop bouncing and sit for their treat! Good eh?! They have a total of around 3-4 per day.

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To cook my own treats, I often use the following recipes..

Liver bites.

Cook up a packet of liver (cheapest is usually from the market), with some water, a garlic clove cut up, and a few sliced carrots. Cook the liver until thoroughly cooked through. Place in an oven, gas mark 5, for around 20 minutes or until dried out and a little crispy. The sauce that is left over you can blend up and use as a gravy on their dinner! The liver is left to cool, then chopped up into little cubes.

Turkey treats

1lb. minced turkey
1 cup oatmeal
1 egg
Parmesan (about ½ cup)
Garlic powder
Mix all ingredients together using hands and pat into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30-35 minutes. Cool, then cut into thick strips (these do not hold together when slicing into small squares); freeze unused portions and keep the portions you're using refrigerated. Has the consistency of meatloaf.

Quick as a flash Tuna Bread

1 tin of tuna in oil (if you have brine, drain it and add some oil or water to the mix)
80g plain flour
1 egg
sprinkle of garlic powder
Put the tuna, garlic powder and egg in a bowl, mix with a spoon. Then add the flour gradually until it all binds together (add less or more flour as you need).
Pour onto a microwaveable plate and put in the microwave for 4 minutes, turn onto a wire rack to cool and cut into small training sized cubes.

Peanut butter biscuits

You can also use potato flour instead of plain for this recipe, ideal for dogs with a gluten allergy.

3 tbs of peanut butter - chunky is best
1 cup of flour
1 egg
1/4 - 1/2 cup of water
Put the peanut butter, egg and flour into food processor, turn on and then gradually add water until it comes into a ball, roll out on floured surface and cut out using any cutter, bake at 170oC until golden brown and crispy.

Salmon Cookies
These are made with potato flour for dogs with a gluten intolerance, but can be made with normal plain flour
One large tin of pink salmon,
two eggs,
a sprinkling of dried parsley,
half a packet of ground pumpkin seeds
potato flour - enough to make it doughy
Roll it out, cut 'em out, and bake in medium oven for about half an hour. They are really popular - very hard and crunchy !

Beef and Garlic Balls
Approx 500g of beef mince - you could use lamb, or chicken / turkey too. About a dessertspoon of garlic powder.2 eggs Oatmeal
Mix the mince with the eggs, and the garlic powder. Then take off tiny pieces at a time and make into tiny balls, and roll those in the oatmeal to coat them. Put on baking tray and cook in a low oven about 150c for about half an hour - the oatmeal doesn't really brown, it just changes slightly to a golden colour.You can freeze these too - I guess they'll last in the fridge about 3 - 4 days.

Cheese Oatie's

60g flour

60g medium oatmeal

60g rolled oatmeal

75g grated cheddar

75g parmesan

1 tablespoon oil

Mix all dry ingredients together, mix in oil and enough water to bring mixture together break off into tiny pieces, mould between fingers and bake until golden. It’s best if you line your baking tray with greaseproof paper.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------So there we have it... dog treats in a flash.. no fancy ingrediants, nothing that is going to make your dog ill.. just perfect!

And to finish... a few photos of my little furbabies..

Truly Scrumtious..

Holly-poppett

Mr Scoobs

Now are they not faces to die for? Boooootiful!!!! xxxx