Cooking with Dogs: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Treats

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We’ve been messing with a bunch of recipes lapplecinnamonoatmealtreats-july2013-8449ately since I’ve not been happy with a lot of the store bought varieties available to the monsters.  This time around, we did a simple recipe that we found on Pintrest and modified it for our dogs and their allergies.

This recipe is fairly simple, inexpensive and easy to do and only takes a short time to make so you can stock pile yummies for your dog and still have time to get that long walk in with your dog in the same day. We had a triple batch done in about forty five minutes – including prep time.  And they were also a major hit with the monsters.

Are you ready for the recipe?  Here goes!

Ingredientsapplecinnamonoatmealtreats-july2013-8439

  • 1/2 cup sugar-free Apple Sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon Honey
  • 1 cup Oatmeal, uncooked
  • 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour (we substituted for rice flour)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • In a large bowl mix all ingredients one at a time, kneading well after each addition.
  • Once dough is well mixed roll dough into 1/2 inch balls and place them onto the prepared baking sheet. Press down on the tops to flatten.
  • Place on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Cool and refrigerate.

This recipe makes around 1 to 2 dozen rounds.  We actually tripled everything so that we could make more for the monsters.  This recipe is also vegetarian and originally found on Doggy Woofs.  Enjoy!

Bow Wow Luau

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dbcluau-july2013-8306If any of our readers ever visit the Metro Detroit area, Ferndale is one of the most dog friendly cities in the area and most of their restaurants have outdoor seating (weather permitting) for the pups to join their people for a meal.  This was definitely the case this past Saturday when Luna, Ryker, my husband and I all took the drive to Rosie O’Grady’s for the Bow Wow Luau fundraiser for Detroit Bully Corps., a local bully breed specific rescue and rehabilitation facility in Ann Arbor.

The party pretty much went to the dogs but the hospitality shown to us by the phenomenal wait staff at the restaurant left us wanting to return another day as well.  We always had our drinks filled, polite service and fresh, cool water for the pups.  The food was amazing as well and the support of Detroit Bully Corps. from the restaurant was an amazing feat with them raising $820 from food, raffle items and other donations.

While we were there enjoying the unlimited pizza and salad for our $20 donation, we were able to mingle with friends and other dog lovers and talk about all things dog-related and all in the name of supporting a dbcluau-july2013-8404phenomenal group that is geared toward helping bully breeds across the Metro Detroit area – many of whom come in severely neglected and abused, injured or emaciated.

We humans were happy to help out a wonderful group that focuses its resources on not only their resident canines but also on community outreach and education in the forms of anti-dogfighting rallies, access to free spay/neuter certificates for pit bulls and their mixes and other programs and the the dogs enjoyed being good breed ambassadors and got spoiled by all of the love and affection while assisting in helping out fellow bully breed brethren and a good cause.

If you’d like to see the rest of the photos and the fun we had, you can click here for the entire Flickr album.

Cooking With Dogs: Watermelon, Banana Honey Frosty Paws

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With my new obsession with Pinterest, I’ve been on a dog treat recipe hunt.  Now, couple that with doggiepopscicles-july2013-8250the extreme heat and I was given the motivation I needed to give a recipe a try – especially since it involved my favorite fruit, watermelon.  When that was coupled with some banana and a touch of honey for some natural sweetness and everything was golden.

The dogs were very pleased when I attempted this recipe and it gave me a chance to play with some of the cute molds I’d found at various places (mostly dollar stores) for these delectable frozen goodies.  The whole cost of making these (and we madedoggiepopscicles-july2013-8251 quite a few!) was about eight dollars and pretty reasonable since I’m a stickler for working on finding mostly locally sourced goods.

I started with my two helpers, Ryker and Luna, supervising and cleaning up the watermelon.  They made sure that if I dropped a piece that it was promptly cleaned…er…eaten up. Once they realized all that was left on the counter was the rinds, they focused on messing with the sticker that had fallen off of the watermelon.  Poor Ryker, of course, had to suffer at my hands and be embarrassed with me sticking it on his muzzle.  (He wasn’t very amused!)

Afterward, we cut up a ripe banana.  There was very little pomp with this and the dogs were less than dogpopscicles-july2013-8416happy when I didn’t “drop” any pieces onto the ground for this item.   (Sorry, guys!  Recipe called for one whole banana.)

After all of that was said and done, I hooked up my blender and put 15 or so chunks of watermelon into it.  I then added the cut up banana and a little bit of honey for some natural sweetener and blended thoroughly.  (I used the “Smoothie” setting on mine.)dogpopscicles-july2013-8426 

Once it was the consistency I wanted, I grabbed my molds and poured the mixture into each of the shaped compartments until I’d filled them up and put them all into the freezer to harden.  It took about two and a half hours until they were frozen solid and ready for pooch (and husband since he stole one!) consumption. 

All in all, it was a major hit at the house and everyone was begging for more (A major thanks to Sugar the Golden Retriever for this awesome idea!).  We’ve got plenty of items left so we’ll probably be repeating this recipe in the near future to keep the pups hydrated and happy in this horridly hot weather we’ve been having. 

Here’s the recipe if you’re interested in doing this at home for your lucky dogs!

Watermelon Banana Honey Popsicle

Ingredients
  • Chunks of Watermelon – Approximately 15 pieces
  • 1 Banana
  • 1 tsp. of Honey
Directions
  • Mix all the ingredients in a blender.
  • Pour into an ice cube tray or mold.
  • Freeze it for about 2 hours and then serve!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Mika!

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I wasn’t exactly looking for another dog when Mika came into our lives but my husband was.  He was sick and tired of me hoarding all of the dogs and he wanted a puppy of his own to train and work without my interference.  I had suggested a few litters but nothing that spoke to him until our good friend Howard asked if we would be interested in one of his puppies – which I had secretly been watching because I loved the father of the litter.  We jumped at the chance.

The rest is history.  He got his sport dog (even if she’s not gotten a whole heck of a lot of titles just yet – she’s just a baby after all…or I’d like to think so still!) and we got one helluva wonderful dog that the nieces and nephews absolutely adore, is a good representative of the breed and has drive with an off switch.  She truly is an amazing girl and has made us so proud with even the small amount of accomplishments she’s had so far (with many plans on the horizon!).

We’re proud of our baby girl and everything that she can and will accomplish over the many, many years we will have with our little minx.  Happy birthday, baby girl!  Here is to many, many more years together (but can you please stop lifting your leg like a boy?! Haha!).

City Bulls: Our Chicago Trip

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As you saw from our Wordless Wednesday post last week, we were out of town for a few days with chicagotrip-july2013-7437the crew to the beautiful city of Chicago.  Now, we’re not big city folk and prefer the outdoors, soft dirt and forests with the crew but this was a pleasant change and a welcome event for the pups as well – even with the beastly heat we endured for a portion of our trip.

The initial purpose of our trip was Paco Collars hosting a collar making class at Unleashed, a wonderful doggie daycare and boarding facility in downtown Chicago.  We, of course, couldn’t just stay one day and drive home so we opted to come down a bit early and enjoy our time in the city being tourists.   We made sure that before we left, we had plenty of dog-friendly activities to do so that the pups wouldn’t have to sit and be bored in our hotel room (we highly recommend Red Roof Inn for all of your doggie travels – dogs-friendly, beautifully laid out and their Redicard program means free rooms for dogs on the go!) and thanks to a fellow blogger who lives in Chicago (thank you, Two Pitties in the City!) we were able to have a LOT of options and ideas on how to keep the monsters entertained while we enjoyed our little mini vacation – which I wish had been longer!

We hit up Navy Pier on our day of arrival and met up with a fellow pit bull owner (actually, she haschicagotrip-july2013-7423 AmStaffs. Hehe.) and were able to take in the sights and sounds there.  Ryker and Mika tagged along with us for this round and enjoyed getting to mooch pieces of the elephant ear sundae my husband ordered and my funnel cake and all the stranger affection they could weasel out of those who happened to pass by that they could give some attention too.

While we were there, we all opted to take a 30-minute boat ride aboard the Shoreline Cruises’ Cap Streeter.  Dogs rode free and it cost us people a measly $17 to enjoy the tour that talked about Chicago’s heritage, growth and birth of the coastline.  The dogs enjoyed a cool bottle of water that a one of the employees provided and their own glasses.  They didn’t quite know what to make of it at first but once the boat got moving, they all relaxed and attempted to mooch affection from the other passengers on the boat.

At the end of the day we said goodbye to Cassie and her two wonderful pups, Ace and Sugar, and headed back to the hotel for the evening where we all passed out after giving the whole pack (all five of them!) some romp time and dinner in our spacious hotel room.  We, after all, needed our rest for the adventures to follow, right?

We woke up bright and early the following morning and had hoped to hit Grant Park, which was listed as a phenomenal place to go with dogs, but unfortunately we weren’t able to indulge ourselves there chicagotrip-july2013-7601due to the Taste of Chicago Festival that was closed to dogs.  Instead, we took the opportunity to walk along the shoreline with Luna and Ryker.  They got lots and lots of compliments and we met some bully-loving people along the way (even if a one or two asked if we had puppies for sale.  Ha!).

Afterward, we headed out and about into the city.  We checked out various places and just relaxed with the pups until early afternoon where we had a quick lunch at Chicago Joe’s Restaurant.  The pups enjoyed cool bowls of water provided by our phenomenal waitress while we dined (and shared!) on delicious hamburgers with all of the goodies before heading back to the hotel to drop the kiddos off and head to our Paco Collar class (which was amazing and we highly recommend taking one in your area!).

We headed home the following day but we couldn’t end our adventures there.  After we crossed the border into Michigan, we made a point of stopping at Weko Beach in Bridgman, Michigan.  This beach is dog friendly for dogs who accompany their owners on leash and gives them a chance to experience Lake Michigan and the wonderful feeling of sand between the toes.  We walked all five (yes, at one time – we were a bit crazy, we know!) down to the beach line to let them romp a bit in thechicagotrip-july2013-7920 water before retreating to a small tidal pool for calmer play (and to allow our rescue boy, Duo, some fun in the water since the waves didn’t sit too well with him!) and more family photos of our adventures.

We didn’t get home until late that evening and the dogs and humans were exhausted from our travels but we had a good time and can definitely see visiting the beautiful city of Chicago in the near future – preferably when the hot weather relaxes its hold!  Until then, you can see our complete set of photos from the Chicago adventure here.

Happy 7th Birthday, Ryker!

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Seriously, has it been seven years already?  It’s honestly hard to believe that such a vast amount of time has passed since your little wiggly puppy self came into this world.  In these many years, you have taught me so many valuable lessons in not only “dog stuff” but also a few lessons on a personal level as well.  You were not only the dog I wanted but the dog I needed and for that, I am beyond grateful for you to have come into my life.

The trials and tribulations we’ve faced over the years are nothing in comparison to the fun adventures we’ve had.  There are those special moments in time when I could have just hugged you to death because we faced something as a team that I had some serious measure of doubt in – like our first UCD leg.  No matter how terrified I was or how utterly unprepared I felt, your cool brown eyes looked into my soul with an “I got this, Mom.” look and I knew we had it.

Here is to many, many more years, my friend and partner.  You are my heart and soul.  You are my teacher and my student.  I don’t know what I would do without you.  Happy birthday, baby boy.

Wordless Wednesday: Pit Bull On A Boat (Chicago Edition)

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Hello from Chicago!  We know it’s Wordless Wednesday and the dogs, husband and I are on vacation in the beautiful city of Chicago (check back for updates when we get back into town!) and Ryker wanted to check in with a photo from his fun trip on the Shoreline River Cruise boat, the Cap Streeter.  Hope you are all enjoying your summer time – we sure are!

The River Trail & Marsh Trail

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Being on vacation for a couple of weeks has allowed for some exploration of local hiking trails.  We proudlakestaterec-rivertrail-july2013-5806much prefer the state parks because they allow for more freedom on dirt hiking trails for us and the dogs but we’ve been known to hit a few metroparks as well. This time around, we had decided to scope out Proud Lake State Recreation.  We’d opted for the River Trail which is rated as easy despite the 5.75 mile loop it boasts and ended up doing a combination of the River Trail and Marsh Trail due poor trail markings from construction/maintenance going on.

We went on an early morning and a week day hoping to avoid some of the more prominent crowds with the 4th of July celebrations that were set to be on their way in just a couple of short days and we weren’t disappointed.  We saw a group of hikers on our way in and one gentleman with a very rude Labrador while out on the trails but other than that, it was pretty peaceful.  Mika and Ryker enjoyed romping ahead of us a bit and were good about checking in and returning when we asked because of a human or canine visitor approaching.  (It’s a pet peeve of mine to be rushed by rude dogs and I make sure my crew follows the same etiquette I’d want from other hikers with their dogs who are on or off leash but that’s a tale for another time.)proudlakestaterec-rivertrail-july2013-5821

The sights and sounds of this particular trail were pretty amazing.  We saw a variety of wildlife from the usual cottontail rabbits and deer to a few amphibians (leopard and bullfrogs) and snakes.  The dogs were particularly enthralled with a juvenile garter snake that slithered right across our path since neither had really experienced one that up close and personal before.

The dam on the trail was amazing as well.  There was a nice wooded dock-type area that had a shallow area that the dogs enjoyed splashing about in half way through our walk.  This enabled them to cool down as well as us while watching a few kids leap into the water.

All in all, it was a very fun day and I took a LOT of photos (all of which can be seen here).  The trails weren’t as well marked as we’d hoped but it was worth wandering and getting slightly lost.  Now that we have a more accurate map, we’ll be hitting that trail again in the future and hoping to do the entire length instead of only 3 miles of it.