Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Salmon Puppy Pizza Bites

In preparation for my first time wrangling of about 25 dogs for a Television commercial, I baked a batch of Salmon Puppy Pizza Bites. Humans were told to bring treats, but I wanted to be sure we had a super high value treats just in case.

My budget for dog's treats breaks the bank some weeks. When I saw my trainer friend  Tracy Haskell's  blog on  salmon brownies that she baked and brought to a Rally-O trial, I took a look at the recipe and couldn't wait to give it a try. I already had a pack of seven 7 oz cans of Salmon my mother bought me at Costco (for human fish chowder , but Mom I still have enough for fish chowder) and all the other ingredients on hand.
While I realize that was not technically free, it sure seemed like it last week! A comparable dog treat if purchased in a store, would not be nearly as healthy and would cost about 10 dollars for less than half a pound. I estimate this made the equivalent of perhaps a dozen store sized  bags, but my guestimate math is weak at best . What I do know is that I had enough for all the dogs at the shoot, and for training treats for my 4 dogs, and my client's dogs for another week. Only a few dogs turned their noses up at it. Most of the dogs including mine, acted like it was doggie crack.
Now that is some guestimate math that I can get behind!

For Charlee who is on a very restricted diet due to pancreatitis, I stored the treats in with her regular food to make her own food tastier and of course smellier. She still has a small bag of  salmon trail mix left.

Tracy's recipe is for Salmon Brownies, but I ended up using my pizza pan, which is how I ended up making Salmon Puppy Pizza Bites. 

Copy and pasted below is Tracy's recipe. I will be making them again, and next time I am going to add shredded sweet potato. I will let you all know how that turns out. If you have a  tried and true high value dog treat recipe (not biscuits) please share in the comment section. My baking time was closer to 50 minutes.


FYI, I froze leftovers in small baggies and used them as needed. I have no idea how long you can freeze these for, but at my house that is not ever an issue.

Bandit liked them so much his Mom asked for the recipe.  I wish they had told me that you can't wear shoes in the studio, guess who wasn't wearing any socks that day?




Tracy's Chewy Salmon Brownies


The Basic Recipe
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix All together:


14 to 18 oz. canned fish- do not drain (salmon, tuna)
2 or 3 eggs
1/2 cup cheese finely grated
1 1/2 cups flour (oat, wheat...)
Spread onto an oiled 9 x 13 inch baking sheet.
Bake about 20 minutes.
A large chef's knife works well to cut them. After cutting remove from pan to cool.


Makes about a bazillion training size treats!


Feed to your dog- who hopefully relishes them- woof, woof woof!

4 comments:

kcsk9s said...

I've made millions of dog treats over the years, but my latest easiest treats are this - I take a package of ground turkey, I mix a little garlic powder into it. I spread it thin on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper (this is an important step). Then i put it in the oven at about 250 for several hours until it is dry to touch. I let it cool slightly and then cut into thin strips. I can freeze those and take out what I need for training, using kitchen shears to cut the strips into tiny cubes. These are great, no crumbs at all!! I even do the "mixing" right in the package so the only item to clean is the pan and that is easy because I use the parchment paper!

Daisy's Mom said...

I like both the salmon treat idea and the turkey one by kck9s. I'll have to try both! I'm always looking for new ideas for treats that are healthy. I am assuming the size of the cans are 7 oz (I think it didn't copy and paste over). Is that correct?

BTW - Glad I'm not the only one to break the bank on treats! I do all of the time.

gooddogz said...

Thanks for commenting. I will try the Turkey treats soon. I have a 3 lb package of Turkey in my freezer. (more guestimate math). The total is about 14 oz of meat, which is the size of one big can or two little cans. I have the 7 oz cans on hand.

pratchthebratch said...

Since our brownie recipes are nearly identical, here's what I do to mine; parmesan cheese, garlic powder and finely minced parsley. Goggie crack for sure!
I'll have to try the ground turkey jerky as that sounds like Goggie crack too!