I found the best dog treat recipe in a book called "You Bake'em Dog Biscuits printed by Running Press. They have a veggie dog treat recipe that is simple:

1 cup canned pumkin (no seasoning)
1/4 cup water
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup Brewers yeast
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup olive oil

Combine the dry ingredients then mix in the wet ingredients. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut out treats. Bake at 325 F on a greased cookie sheet for 15 minutes.

I have made a couple of dog treats that were well received by my pooch, porkchop.

One is very simple if you can get your hands on the one ingredient necessary to make it: salmon skin. I stole I mean borrowed the idea from something I saw in the pet store: a salmon skin bone. Simply take a piece of salmon skin, scrape it of all its flesh, knot it on both ends and dry it out in an extremely low oven or food dehydrator.

Another recipe I made up on my own. I took, again, salmon byproduct like bones, skin and scraps and cooked them down with fresh sweet potato, steel ground oats and rice, blended it all, spread it out on a sheet pan, dried it out in the oven and cut it into little snack sized bits. She, porkchop, loved them and I swear they made her coat very shiny.

there was definitely egg in the second recipe as well.

I have a question- what is the benefit of making home made dog treats? Is it for nutrition, or cost savings?

So happy that my question is up.

Spossberg - I would say that the biggest benefit to me of making home made dog treats to me, is knowing what is in them.

They can be cost effective as well, if it's a recipe that has a short ingredient list, many things you might already have around, the price can stay low. When i saw low, i mean in comparison to other dog treats that are high quality. Not the cheapest box of who knows what at Walmart. I don't really want that kind of stuff going in to him. If you go to a dog bakery, or any type of small pet stores and get good, high quality treats, they aren't cheap.

Plus, i don't mind taking some time to do it. He loves them, and always knows when they're for him (somehow) and hangs out in the kitchen until they're done. I can customize them, some big ones for every once in awhile, and little ones if he's being good or when he goes in his crate. If i make a big batch they last quite awhile.

Oh and for anyone else, This is a great place to get dog shaped cookie cutters. I had trouble finding all the breeds i needed one place, and at a good price. I ordered them the Tuesday before thanksgiving, and they showed up the monday after. All mail order though, even payment, but it worked out great.

So now for x-mas they shall be getting larger cookies in the shapes or Corgis, Shelties, Cairn Terriers, and Beagles (all the dogs my family has). Along with some mini squirrels, cats, and bones...

http://www.thelittlefoxfactory.com/cookiecuttersdogs.html

Corgi!!!! Oh, the corgis love their treats.

I've got a couple. My dog loves 'em both and they've got less mystery ingredients than commercial treats. I store 'em in the freezer.

<B>Peanut Butter Bones</B>
2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup skim milk or water
2 tbsp. honey

Pre-heat oven to 350 F
In a large bowl combine flour, oatmeal, peanuts and baking powder. Add peanut butter, milk, honey and stir until you have stiff dough. Use your hands, if you need
to, at the end in order to blend it well.

On a lightly floured surface, roll or pat the dough out about 1/2 inch thick cut into 1” x 3” strips OR roll out and using your dog bone shaped cookie cutter, cut out the shape of the bones.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden. Leave them inside the oven for several hours to cool.

Store in a tightly sealed container.

<B>Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls</B>

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups oats
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds or carob

Preheat oven to 350 F
In a large bowl, stir together peanut butter, water, honey and egg. Add flour, oats and baking soda and mix until blended. Stir in peanuts, seeds or carob chips.

Roll dough into small balls the size of large marbles and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden and firm.

Makes about 5 dozen treats. Store in a tightly sealed container.

...the second recipe of mine is much easier...

I made these once for my parents' dog and they were a big hit. You can even roll the dough a little thinner and bake them as people crackers.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Dog-Biscuits-233290

I thought I would try this recipe from the King Arthur flour people. They also sell a mix... the dogs loved that last year. I see that it has some of the ingredients Josh didn't want to see.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/RecipeDisplay?RID=R1140

My kitties say... "Hey! What about us???"

I made this one last weekend: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2007/11/03/gone-to-the-dogs/

Peanut Butter Doggie Bones
Ingredients:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup low-fat milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk. Add wet mixture to dry, and mix well.

Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

It was dead simple. I didn't even make them into bone shapes. I just used a drinking glass to make round treats. They tasted pretty good too.

Thanks for the suggestions so far everyone, always looking for more. I have a running list of about 15 now... the hard part being next is which ones i try first.

Very Happy to see Rocky on the New York page this morning!

CallieKoch - so i'm not the only one who tries them after baking them? Usually they're just kind of bland though.

Also looking for suggestions on using carob to drizzle on them or dip. Good suggestions of places that might have it in stores (our hobby lobby did not in the baking section and the lady looked at me like i was crazy when i said "carob"), and tips on melting them, i've read that it often clumps.

Thanks

I found the easiest recipe to be a Three Dog Bakery Recipe for:

*SIMONS SIMPLE BIRTHDAY BONES*

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup skim milk

preheat oven to 375. combine dry ingredients in one bowl and pb and milk in seperate. add wet mix to dry mix and mix well. knead on lightly floured surface to 1/4in thick and cut with cookie cutter. place on greased baking sheet (I use silicone baking sheets and do not grease them) bake 20 min. cool on rack and store in airtight container. yields about 30 medium size treats.

Because I have 2 dogs I double the recipe to have enough for each to have one daily. I also vary the size of the treats to have some for small training rewards and some for their nightly treat. The natural peanut butter is a must, because the consistency of it makes the dough much easier to work with.

My pugs go nuts for these and all their k-9 friends think they're the cats pajamas too!

Oops, just noticed that this recipe was already posted directly above mine. Just goes to show the dogs love it I guess!

I have two boxer-labs and they love pumpkin so I make them pumpkin treats. Pumpkin is low in fat and very good for dogs.

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 teaspoon salt

Bake on 350 for 20 minutes on each side.
I use bone cookie cutters and sometime I add some oats for something different. Never seen my dogs beg for something as much as these treats.

My dogs love carrots. Any carrot recipes?

Does anyone have any good recipes for horse treats? They deserve some lovin' too!

You guys should check out www.critterscafeandbarkery.com

It's still a small business, but a very good and honest one. I've only had good experiences with them!

Jmorey-

All they needed was some sugar in order to be some tasty PB cookies for humans :) Of course I tried them. If they're good enough for me, then they're good enough for my dog.

My dog is allergic to corn and wheat which is in just about every dog treat out there. I came up with a recipe for Allergy Free Apple and Banana Dog Treats that my little guy goes nuts for http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2008/08/allergy-free-apple-and-banana-dog.html#links!