Pooch Pampering

Now, I have been quite loyal in providing my family and friends, and even you my dear readers with as many toothsome morsels as I can. There’s been a lot of fodder exchanged on this blog and, many a meal has been passed around but somehow I have been forgetting one thing. What about man’s best friend?

Well, it seems that my dog Jack has expressed his discontent at the way that I have catered to everyone else’s taste buds, but never his. Now we do feed him good (dog) food and even try to be creative by adding combinations to his normally boring cans of food. However it’s been far and few between the treats that really matter- the kind that comes from the heart.

So when I stumbled upon this recipe on Chubby Hubby that he made for his puppy’s birthday, I knew it was Jack's sixth sense spurring me to bake these for him. Now I usually make a point to taste everything I make so that I can faithfully recount it for you on the blog. But this time I thought I would leave it up to Jack.

As I mentioned, the recipe was taken from Chubby's blog, which in turn was adapted from a Three Dog Bakery Cookbook. The original recipe also includes raisins and pecans, although these two ingredients have been known to cause adverse reactions in some canines, so I decided to omit them. Just to err on the side of caution and perhaps avoid a trip to the veterinarian. Jack hates that place.

The biscuits are also perfect for older, or should I say more mature-aged dogs as the biscuits are not extremely crisp. If your dogs like something a little harder to chew on, bake the biscuits for a few extra minutes but don’t over bake them, as the outsides will burn. I also added a ½-cup of wheat germ as this aids in curbing bad breath.

So for today's post it's all about pampering your pooch. Next time, it’s back to satisfying the taste buds of the two-legged kind- Pears and Tarts.

Ginger’s Fourth of July Snaps
adapted from this blog, which got the recipe from the cookbook Three Dog Bakery
makes 25 ten-cm doggie bones



¼ cup olive oil
½ cup (unsulfured) molasses
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup water
2¾ cups plain flour
½ cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Combine the oil, molasses, honey and water in a bowl. (It is advisable to pour the oil first in order to prevent the molasses and honey sticking to the bowl. Do the same with the measuring spoon.) Stir to combine.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
Whisk to blend evenly before pouring the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Stir to combine.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough. It should come together easily.
Shape it into a ball. Cut a quarter of the dough and keep the rest of it under a damp kitchen towel.
Roll out dough to a ½-cm thickness and then use your cutter to cut out shapes.
The scraps can be gathered into a ball and rolled out again. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are a medium brown colour; don’t let them burn.
Let them cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.