National Cook For Your Dog Day!

Today is National Cook for Your Dog Day, so get in the kitchen and whip up Barkley a yummy
treat made with quality ingredients and love! Don’t be surprised if he begs for seconds!

If you dog is very young, has allergies, is pregnant or nursing or has a compromised immune system please check with his vet before making any changes in his diet.

Tuna Brownies, courtesy of Jan Casey

These yummy treats are a training staple in my house & I’ve never met a dog who turned his snout up at them!

2 cans tuna packed in water (canned chicken, turkey,
mackerel or salmon can be used)

2 eggs
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 ½ cups rye flour (use more as needed to increase dough
stiffness)
1 TBS molasses
Splash of water if necessary

Mix ingredients together and press flat into a cookie sheet lined with foil & sprayed with baking spray. The dough should be ¼ inch thick. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

After cooling, use a pizza cutter to cut ¼ inch strips in the dough. Store in a Ziploc bag in the
freezer. As needed, take a few strips out and use scissors to cut into ¼ inch squares.
Use or refrigerate thawed pieces.

Peanut Butter Bonanza, courtesy of You Bake ‘Em Dog Biscuits by The National Dog Biscuit Baking Co

You will need small shaped cookie cutters for this recipe—great project for the kids to help with!

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup rice flour
½ cup Brewers yeast
¼ cup wheat germ
½ cup dry powdered milk
¾ smooth peanut butter
¼ cup canola oil
2 eggs beaten
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients. Cut in peanut butter. And the remaining
ingredients and combine mixture with your hands. Roll out to ¼ inch thickness on floured
surface and cut out treats with floured cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 14
minutes.  Treats can be left in cooling oven overnight to harden. Store in air tight container.

Say Cheese Please, courtesy of Real Food for Real Dogs by Arden Moore

You will need small shaped cookie cutters for this recipe—great project for the kids to help with!

1 ½ cups water

1 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg whisked
½ cup powdered milk
Pinch of salt
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup wheat germ
3 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bring water to a boil and pour into a bowl with the oats and
margarine. Stir the mixture until blended and let sit for 5 minutes. Add
cheese, egg, milk and salt. Blend in the cornmeal & wheat germ. Slowly add
the flour, 1/3 cup at a time, until a stiff dough forms. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness on a floured
surface. Cut into fun shapes with small floured cookie cutters. Place the treats
on a cookie sheet sprayed with baking spray. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Turn off oven and let treats remain in oven for 1 hour to make them crunchy.

Mutt Meatballs, courtesy of Real Food for Real Dogs by Arden Moore

Fun as treats or in addition to your pup’s regular meals.

½ pound ground beef

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 carrot, finely chopped
½ cup bread crumbs
1 egg, wished
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp tomato paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Scoop out mixture by the spoonful and roll into mini-size meatballs. Place meatballs on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 15-20 minutes. Cool & store in an air-tight container.

Sheila Rinks is the editor of Finding Fuzzybutt Four, producer of the Raising Indiana podcast and shares her home with her husband, 4 Great Pyrenees and 2 very well-fed kitties.

FFBF Future

Clarence, my Great Pyrenees, showing his Puppy Up! spirit.

Tomorrow Sunday, the 25th, ends Petfinder.com's "Less-Adoptable" Adoptable Week and begins National Dog Week.

One look at a calendar and it is apparent that we do love our four-legged friends because we devote more designated days and weeks to them than we do most humans.

Finding Fuzzybutt Four began with Luke and Hudson searching for a new member of their family. We met many fuzzybutts needing forever families and love. Now that Luke & Hudson have found Indiana, we will countinue to post Great Pyrenees puppies under 6 months that are available for adoption. I also have a special place in my heart for senior pyrs over 6 years old. These are the dogs that get passed by and overlooked but they have so much love to offer! We will be featuring these dogs as well.

I encourage our readers to help us spread our reader base by posting and sharing this blog with Rescues, Shelters and Animal Organizations.

Indiana has been found, and finally named but we will countinue the blog to cover training tips for puppies, behavioral issues and basic training 101 for all dogs. We'll cover fun tricks and games to play with your dog--you know colder weather is just around the corner which means more inside time. And, we'll discuss RPO, responsible pet ownership, with experts in the animal field. We'd like to know what topics you'd like to see covered & discussed--let us know in the comments section below.

We have guest bloggers lined up. Some with dewclaws, others with 10 fingers.

We'll talk about cooking for your dog and share recipes.

I'm looking forward to beginning a "Favorite Things" post!

And, we'll cover health topics. If you have a health issue with your pet we encourage you to seek medical advice from your vet. Myself and the other contributors to the blog are not doctors, we can only offer personal experience and opinion, which should never take the place of sound medical advice. That being said--what health topics do you want to see discussed here? Post ideas below.

I'm also excited about a Q & A section with one of our resident pyr-experts!

If you see an interesting story that you think should be featured on the blog, email me at sheila@2dogs2000miles.org.

So, we have many things in store for FFBF. Help us spread the word by sharing with all your friends and let us know your thoughts.

Puppy Up!

Blog Admin, Sheila