DIY Dog Treats & Chews

Hi Everyone! This is going to be a fun Note highlighting my experiences with my new dehydrator!

I found a local Oriental Market that sells a variety of meats and found Pig Ears and Duck Feet. This sparked the idea of dehydrating chews for Hank as I have seen many Raw Feeders do. I purchased a dehydrator at my local Wal Mart (pic below).

It was $45.00 which I felt was the most I would spend on a dehydrator so I figured I would give it a shot. There are definitely more expensive dehydrators on the market which I am guessing the only difference is temperature gauge/timer (the one I purchased has neither), size and quantity. To be honest, I see these as luxuries and are not completely necessary for the average person to make a few different chews for their dog.

So, I kept a few duck feet and pig ears in the fridge and put them in the dehydrator this morning at 6:30am. By the time I left at 7:30am I could see a color change in the duck feet, so I was super excited!

As I was at school some body in a Raw Feeding Facebook Group I am a member of mentioned that when they dehydrated duck feet and pig ears, that the duck feet took 4-5 hours and the pig ears almost 12 hours! I was shocked and a little discouraged. I came home at 11:00am and both the duck ears and pig ears were perfect! Looking back and seeing how the pig ears cooled, I could see them staying in the dehydrator for another 30min to 1 hour, but they are definitely good enough to be considered dehydrated and stand up perfectly to the pig ear chews sold in pet stores! Only difference? You made them yourself and know precisely where the meat came from and that you did not add any artificial preservatives or flavors! Pretty awesome if you ask me!

So, if you are looking for a great, inexpensive way to make your own dog chews/treats I 100% recommend this dehydrator! Another awesome feature? You can dehydrate WHATEVER YOU WANT! You can make jerky out of multiple different meats as long as you thinly slice them and remove fat prior to putting them in the dehydrator.

Next, I am going to make chicken jerky for Hank and small jerky-type treats for Olive the Cat! I have made beef heart jerky last year in the oven and also wrote about it on Tumblr but the Tumbler blog is no longer active. If you have any questions about home made dog chews/treats, or any dog related question, please feel free to ask!

K9SavvyGirl

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