A tasty treat on a hot day is the perfect way to enjoy the summer, so why not let your dog join in on the fun?
Giving your dog a taste of ice cream can be tempting, but high-sugar foods like your ice cream aren’t good for dogs. Instead, offer your puppy easy dog-safe treats to enjoy summer snack time just as much as you!
Here are some of our favorite dog-friendly summer treats that are easy to make with what you have in your kitchen.
Fruits
Dogs are facultative carnivores, which means that though they rely heavily on animal-based food, they can also enjoy types of plant-based foods. Lots of sugar or additives won’t be easy on your dog’s stomach, so sticking to natural treats over processed ones is recommended.
The ASPCA says that fruits like apples, bananas, blueberries, and strawberries are all safe to give your dog. These are easy treats to prepare and share, and your dog can feel included when they get to snack on human treats with their favorite human!
If you give your dog a larger fruit like an apple or banana, you should cut it up into bite-size pieces to avoid the risk of choking. You will also want to remove any inedible parts, like the core, seeds, or peel. Freezing fruit chunks can give your furry friend a cool treat in the summer, and a piece of frozen banana can make an easy dog-safe alternative to ice cream.
Vegetables
If you are considering switching your dog to a raw diet, vegetables are the perfect supplement to your dog’s meals. Raw diets have a variety of benefits to your pet’s endocrine system, and limiting processed foods is always good for long-term health.
Vegetables are a great way to give your pet a treat that won’t hurt their stomachs. If you’re practicing positive reinforcement training with your puppy, you don’t want to give them too many sweet treats. Vegetables let you reward good behavior without sacrificing your pet’s stomach.
Your dog will love snacking on vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, or green beans. They can be offered raw, which makes them easy to prepare for pet owners. Just chop them up into bite-size pieces, and you are ready to add them to the food bowl!
You can also offer your pet these vegetables after they’ve been cooked as long as you avoid seasonings. If you’d like to let your dog get a taste of human food, pick out a piece of cooked carrot before you add any spices for your human diners.
Dog Ice Cream
Yogurt is safe for dogs to eat, which means that making a dog-safe ice cream replacement has never been easier. Just add plain yogurt to your blender or food processor, add in a few other dog-safe ingredients like peanut butter or bananas, and mix. You’ll want to make your dog’s ice cream in small amounts; treats should never be a replacement for your dog’s regular meals.
Once the yogurt and ingredients are blended, you’ll want to get out a mold or ice cube tray. If you don’t have any ice cube trays on hand,
small containers that are the desired size of your ice cream treat will work. If not, you can freeze the ice cream as a sheet and break it apart later. Put the ice cream into the ice tray and freeze, and then you’ll be good to go! Just pop a piece out of the freeze the next time you want your puppy pal to enjoy some frozen dog treats!
Meat
Even if you don’t feed your dog a fully-raw diet, an occasional meat treat can make your dog’s day. A piece of liver or a sip of bone broth is just the thing to give your dog a taste of the wild.
Bones are also a popular treat and toy for dogs, and summer is a great time to let them do their bone-chewing outside. Just make sure the bones you provide are raw bones or ground bones. Cooked bones contain the possibility of splintering and can harm your pet.
Other Snacks
Cheese is a popular treat for dogs, and it’s perfectly safe as long as you feed it to your pet in small amounts. Too much can hurt your pup’s stomach, so a small cube of cheese or a sample of plain cottage cheese can make a great once-in-a-while treat. Cheese also serves as a convenient method for hiding pills. Just tuck your dog’s medicine into a cube of cheese, and they’ll enjoy a snack and their continued health.
No list of dog treats would be complete without peanut butter. A few tablespoons of peanut butter can make any dog’s day.
One important thing to remember is to check your peanut butter’s list of ingredients before feeding it to your dog. Xylitol is a sugar substitute found in certain peanut butters that can be deadly for dogs, so make sure it’s absent before offering your pup any.
Filling a treat toy with peanut butter is fun any time of the year, but put the toy in the freezer first for a frozen twist. A frozen kong of peanut butter will keep your dog cool and content on a hot summer’s day.
Snack Safely This Summer!
With these dog-safe foods, you’ll be able to whip up summer treats for your favorite puppy in no time. Dog treat recipes don’t have to be hour-long or multi-step processes. For the simplest treats, all you need to do is chop up a banana, and you’ll be good to go!
If you do have some extra time, all it takes is a blender and an ice cube tray to make dog-safe ice cream. Let your pet enjoy a frozen treat with you that they are guaranteed to love!
For more advice about eating raw and pet health, check out Astro Loyalty’s Blog!
