Turkey/chicken Meatloaf Dog Treats

[jackienmutts]

Found this on Kathy Sdao's website, as I'm always trying new treats with Makena for Nosework, have to keep her working hard and keep it rewarding for her to keep searching, esp when she might be tired and ready to quit, or having an 'off-day'. Just made these for the first time today - HUGE hit!! Couldn't keep the dogs out of the kitchen when they were baking, which is always a good sign (and hey, I love when I can grab a bite when I get hungry when we're out searching, it wouldn't be the first time ). And yes, I did taste a bite when I was cutting them all up - DELICIOUS!!!
Recipes

Healthy Dog Treat Recipe
Turkey/Chicken Meatloaf Treats: (very easy; Kathy’s favorite)

-1 lb ground turkey (or chicken), drained of excess liquid
(Don’t use high-quality lean meat; it will make the treats too crumbly treats. I use Jennie-O “Festive” ground turkey; comes frozen in 1-lb logs; located in the supermarket freezer section next to breakfast sausages; ~$1.89/lb)
- 1 ¼ cup bread crumbs (A friend replaces bread crumbs with oatmeal for her wheat-sensitive dog.)
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic (optional)

Mix dry ingredients, then use your hands to mix in the ground poultry thoroughly. Roll into three logs about 8” long, 1 – 1.5” in diameter. Bake on cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes. Cool. Cut into small bits. Refrigerate. (Also, you can freeze whole logs.)

I microwave the cut-up bits, spread on a paper towel, on low power for ~3 minutes to dry them out. That way, they’ll stay fresh longer in a bait bag, out of the fridge for several hours while I’m training.

© 2008 Kathy Sdao, Tacoma, Washinton. All rights reserved. Last Update: 4/15/2012

 

[tigerlily46514]

sounds delish!
yeah, i'd probably swap out the bread crumbs (= flour)
for oats or potato flakes, too,

but sounds wonderful. Buddy goes bezerko for any meat cooking, always,
even just plain hamburger or plain ground turkey, any meat!! even without parmesan cheese added to it, gets Buddy stoked up whenever we cook meat!!!!!!!!

I will try a batch! So we are starting with COOKED meat, right? in first step?

 

[jackienmutts]

NOoo, raw meat - cuz then you're gonna bake it, just like a meatloaf - if you start with cooked I think you'd end up with little burnt crispies. LOL

Take your raw meat and add the bread crumbs (or oatmeal) and parmesan cheese and I did add garlic powder - and you basically make little 'meatloaf rolls' - the breadcrumbs make it stay together. I did add the breadcrumbs, cuz in Nosework, we can't risk ever dropping a crumb (literally) cuz we can't risk ruining a search area with any dropped food, as it would 'poison' the search area for future dogs (in a trial, or class, etc). We're always searching for good treats that don't crumble.

 

[tigerlily46514]

HA HA good thing i asked!!

i wondered, where i saw it said, "drain off excess liquid" up at top of recipe, if i cook and drain the meat early on.

yeah, when i make Liver cookies, i do start with cooked meat, but i use raw egg in the dough to hold it together.

 

[jackienmutts]

Right at first I was a little confused, then I figured she meant just drain off any excess that was in the package instead of just dumping it "as is" into the bowl.

I guess I'm out to drive them nuts today - figured since I have enuf stuff, I'd make another batch (they're baking now), we have a trial coming up in 2 wks so are training hard this week, might as well have a good 'paycheck', altho will swap out with other treats too. Am making more so I can put some in packages and have ready in the freezer - hopefully I'll have enuf and can just grab some out and use for the trial. They seemed great today when we trained/searched, no "crumbles" - and that's huge (for us). Right now I have 2 dogs napping in the kitchen right by the oven. Funny pups. I guess they're guarding that 0ven door, in case those treats try to make an escape!

 

[tigerlily46514]

Jackie, til this moment, i had no idea you had such a mean streak in you, making all these treats to drive your dogs crazy!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

Jackie, do you let the dogs lick the bowls clean?

 

[jackienmutts]

I used to when I had a dishwasher - but I don't have one anymore (except for me ) - so no, these guys usually don't get to do 'dishwasher duty'. Poor them. Once in a great while I'll let them, depending....

 

[jackienmutts]

I must admit, this batch of 'meatloaf' is almost ready to come out, and the whole house smells really really good!!!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

ah, my dog often gets dishwasher duty, but, usually he does a trick for it first.
He is great at getting melted cheese off of plates, and gets all the crumbs off of pans, plates, beaters, most anything i have cooked that is healthy enough (no salt, no spices, no grease, not too fatty,etc)
Buddy does the first pass on cleaning the dishes!
of course, i wash my dishes, either by hand in hot soapy water,
or in the dishwasher,
but, Buddy does first pass on getting the crumbs etc, off.
There is no germ in Buddy's mouth that i can't wash off of a dish.


i especially enjoy giving Buddy beaters to clean off....those take him forever to get every side of every piece all shiney clean!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

i might make this recipe on a bit of a grill grid, which sets inside of pan, you know? those special meatloaf pans, to hold meat up out of the drippings? I have some similar grates and grills to hold meat up out of drippings.

or maybe make recipe into patties and just grill them outdoors,
and then break them up into treat sized bits...i wonder if that would work.

 

[Anneke]

Sounds great! I might try it next weekend! Don't have a lot of spare time this week.

 

[jackienmutts]

I made it exactly as the recipe stated - and it came out great. I did make 5 or 6 shorter rolls, as opposed to a couple 8" rolls - but they were so easy. I made them all on one cookie sheet, and there were no drippings. I'll def make these again, Makena loved hers this morning when we went out and searched, Alf got some freebies, I tasted a couple bites cuz they smelled so good - and now I have several bags in the freezer plus a couple baggies already made up in the fridge for this week..​

 

[tigerlily46514]

LOVE IT!! Doesn't it feel soooooooo good to know you are giving actual healthy HOMEMADE nutrition to your dogs when you treat them?
(verses rubbery store bought bits of crapola)
and have a whole batch ready to go in the freezer, too? YESsssss!!


well, i will make this recipe "as is" like you did, Jackie!

 

[jackienmutts]

You'll probably get way more treats/batch than I did - I don't cut mine super-small cuz when we treat for Nosework, we do want to give our dog a nice bite for a job well done (I cute mine into maybe 1/2" x 1/2" pieces) - and they're doing maybe 10 searches tops, as opposed to heaven only knows how many one might give during a training session. If you cut them into 1/2 that size you could get quite a bit out of one batch. I have enuf for several nosework sessions for both Makena and Alf - makes me happy! And yes, I love that it's all good for them. I really try not to give them crap - I think the 'worst' thing I give them as far as treats goes it hot dogs . Gotta have some 'junk food' once in a while, it's good for the soul!

 

[Dogster]

Sound yummy!!!!! I want to make some!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

actually, true enough, most hotdogs are crappy pieces of meat and full of fats,
but one can buy turkey hotdogs, lowfat hotdogs, and actually healthy-ish hotdogs which are at least as healthy as hamburger meat.

yeah, i probably will cut smaller treats, for my slightly smaller dog, a 1/2 inch treat is too big, he'd get full or fat in no time for tricks training, but, i can see for nosework, there must be less treating involved than in tricks training. I just repeat small treats, one after the other, while praising,
vs. give one big treat when buddy does good.

 

[jackienmutts]

Yep. For reg training, I cut up and use tiny treats - but bigger bites for nosework (tho not huge). It's funny, we have a 150lb Newfie in our class. Now she uses a BITE!!! (as in, the size we'd take ). And yes, I do use turkey hot dogs. I try not to use too many hot dogs, cuz just too much salt (and crap) - but they do like them (and heck, so do I ) ... and yes, a little junk food now and then is just plain fun! It keeps life worthwhile!!!

I like these meatloaf treats cuz they're soft (we need soft), fairly lowfat, and nothing in them is bad. Hooray!

 

[tigerlily46514]

yeah, i also prefer softer treats for tricks training, too.

 

[jakee57]

Found this on Kathy Sdao's website, as I'm always trying new treats with Makena for Nosework, have to keep her working hard and keep it rewarding for her to keep searching, esp when she might be tired and ready to quit, or having an 'off-day'. Just made these for the first time today - HUGE hit!! Couldn't keep the dogs out of the kitchen when they were baking, which is always a good sign (and hey, I love when I can grab a bite when I get hungry when we're out searching, it wouldn't be the first time ). And yes, I did taste a bite when I was cutting them all up - DELICIOUS!!!
Recipes

Healthy Dog Treat Recipe
Turkey/Chicken Meatloaf Treats: (very easy; Kathy’s favorite)

-1 lb ground turkey (or chicken), drained of excess liquid
(Don’t use high-quality lean meat; it will make the treats too crumbly treats. I use Jennie-O “Festive” ground turkey; comes frozen in 1-lb logs; located in the supermarket freezer section next to breakfast sausages; ~$1.89/lb)
- 1 ¼ cup bread crumbs (A friend replaces bread crumbs with oatmeal for her wheat-sensitive dog.)
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic (optional)

Mix dry ingredients, then use your hands to mix in the ground poultry thoroughly. Roll into three logs about 8” long, 1 – 1.5” in diameter. Bake on cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes. Cool. Cut into small bits. Refrigerate. (Also, you can freeze whole logs.)

I microwave the cut-up bits, spread on a paper towel, on low power for ~3 minutes to dry them out. That way, they’ll stay fresh longer in a bait bag, out of the fridge for several hours while I’m training.

© 2008 Kathy Sdao, Tacoma, Washinton. All rights reserved. Last Update: 4/15/2012

Steady Dog Treat Recipe
Turkey/Chicken Meatloaf Treats: (absolutely simple; Kathy's best)
Don’t utilize brilliant lean meat; it will make the treats too brittle treats. I utilize Jennie-O “Festive” ground turkey; comes solidified in 1-lb logs; spotted in the general store freezer area beside breakfast hotdogs; ~$1.89/lb)
measure bread morsels (A companion supplants bread morsels with oats for her wheat-touchy canine.
tablespoons ground parmesan cheddar
teaspoon garlic (discretionary)