Sweet potatoes are not only good for you, but they are good for your dog too. We all know that love equals food in our minds (your dog thinks so too!) even though it can lead to too many high calorie treats that are not good for your dog. How about some healthy snacks?
Sweet Potato Dog Chewy Treats
There are many things that you can make for less at home. Although you can purchase sweet potato treats, they can be a bit on the expensive side. Why not whip some up at home? Sweet potatoes are fairly inexpensive and, if you do not have a dehydrator, you can bake them in the oven. Slice your sweet potato into strips length-wise in fairly thick slices, as they will shrink as the moisture is cooked out. Put your oven on the lowest setting and cook until all of the moisture is nearly gone. After your sweet potato jerky is done, you are ready for the litmus test of your dog’s taste buds. Betcha he loves these treats, and you can eat them too!
Just to Make it Interesting
Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamins and fiber also. You can make healthy treats with this single ingredient, but why not throw in a little something extra just to make it interesting. Try some sweet potato/peanut butter treats. Combine ½ of a roasted sweet potato (discard the skin) to ¾ cups of peanut butter. Fill up an ice tray with this mixture to add some challenge to the treat to keep your dog busy. You can also use these in one of those dog toys that you put food in for your dog to lick out.
Like to mix it up more? How about Buckwheat Salmon and Sweet Potato Treats? This tasty treat combines more good things with the humble sweet potato to really kick the nutritional value into high gear utilizing buckwheat flour, salmon, eggs, sweet potato, and parley. Whip it all together in the food processor, roll out the “dough,” cut into fun shapes, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes and store in an airtight container. This combines lots of good stuff for your dog that might even motivate him to get off the couch.
Do In Yourself
There are plenty of foods out there that are good for your pet without being high calorie or expensive. Use your imagination and come up with your own sweet potato treats for your dog. You can combine whatever he likes, and experiment to see what he likes best. How about shredding some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and mixing it up with sweet potato cubes? You can add some eggs or gelatin to firm it up a bit and bake. Once it sets up, slice into cubes.
You can add in some blueberries or venison instead. If your dog needs or likes a softer treat, cook sweet potatoes, scoop out with a melon baller, refrigerate until they are firm, and offer to your dog.
The internet is a huge resource for ideas of this sort. You can find almost anything you want on Pinterest, where hundreds of others are technically helping you in your quest, as they have hunted down recipes (or whatever else you want), and “pinned” it for you to find. It feels good to go natural once in awhile.
Image: iStock
