It’s no secret that Golden Retrievers LOVE their snacks. As pet owners, though, we know we have to be cautious about what we feed are pooches and how much we give them.
Treats are perfect for rewarding good behavior or showing your doggy some love with a lip-smacking snack.
But have you ever thought about making your own?
With only a few molds, a freezer or oven, and some basic ingredients, you can create a range of dog treats for your Golden Retriever.
There are tons of recipes online you can make, but we’ve tried the below homemade treats on Dante and Bella, and they were great!
10 Scrumptious Homemade Dog Treats To Try
1. Oat And Apple Pretzel Dog Treats
These Oat And Apple Pretzel Dog Treats are a little tricky to form the first time, but they’re fine when you get the hang of them, and your Golden Retriever will surely appreciate the effort.
These are ideal to make if you have some leftover unsweetened applesauce that you are struggling to work out what to do with.
All you need to do is combine a cup of applesauce with two cups of oat flour and three-quarters of a cup of rolled oats.
Add most of a beaten egg to the mixture, leaving behind a full tablespoon to use later.
Stir the mixture until it forms a dough, and pull off pieces measuring around two tablespoons each.
Roll out every piece to a length of around ten inches so that they look like pencils. To create the pretzels, turn the tube to the shape of a U and then twist each end to fold back to the top.
Brush each pretzel with the leftover beaten egg and bake for between 25 and 30 minutes until crispy.
Allow them to cool, and you can store them for two weeks in an airtight container.
2. Apple And Carrot Dog Treats
This is another lip-smacking, sweet dog treat; they are made with grated apples and carrots.
In a bowl, mix together two and a half cups of whole wheat flour, half a cup of oats, and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
In another bowl, beat together an egg with a third of a cup of vegetable oil, then combine with the grated apple and carrot.
Bring the wet and dry ingredients together, adding enough water to create a dough.
Roll the dough out, cut it out into shapes with a cookie cutter, and then bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
Once the biscuits are decidedly firm, leave them to cool and serve to your (drooling) Golden Retriever.
3. Frozen Pumpkin And Yogurt Dog Treats
If you’ve got a spare ice cube tray or some doggy-specific ice molds, you have to give these frozen delights a try.
We love that these cold snacks, which are perfect for the summer months, only use two ingredients: pumpkin purée and plain yogurt – though you can use Greek yogurt instead.
Simply mix together equal parts of both ingredients in a bowl and then pour it into large ice cube trays. The mixture can be left to freeze for a full 24 hours before popping out for your Golden Retriever to enjoy.
4. Frosty Yogurt And Berry Bone Parfaits
If you’re looking to serve something faaancy, and the time to make something special, we highly recommend these parfait treats. We may or may not have made them for Bella’s birthday last year (no judgment, please).
If you already have a bone-shaped cookie cutter, perfect – but if not, don’t stress; you can realistically use any cutter as long as it’s deep enough.
Start by pouring a tablespoon of plain yogurt into the mold and freeze for around an hour, then add smashed blackberries with their juice to freeze for an additional 20 to 30 minutes.
Chop up a few strawberries and add them in before topping with another tablespoon of plain yogurt. Freeze it again, this time for 20 minutes, before adding some toasted oats to freeze for a final 10 to 15 minutes.
Pop it out of the mold and serve it to your Golden Retriever for a delicious treat.
5. Watermelon And Blueberry Popsicle Dog Treats
If you’re looking for more summer snack inspo, you can try these cooling watermelon and blueberry popsicles.
Start by removing the seeds from a couple of cups worth of watermelon and then puréeing in a blender.
In molds, add enough plain yogurt to cover the bottom of each one, and then add a couple of blueberries on top.
Finish by pouring in the watermelon purée, freezing for a couple of hours, and then popping them out once the weather heats up.
6. Cheddar Bacon Dog Treats
Our doggies love bacon, and we are sure yours do, too! You may have seen Cheddar Bacon Dog Treats in the store, but you can easily make them at home.
To create a batch of around ten dog treats, blitz together one and a half cups of rolled oats, four strips of crumbled, cooked bacon, and half a cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
Once the mixture reaches a crumbly texture, add two eggs, and, with more processing, the mixture should become a dough.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to around a quarter-inch thickness. Using cooking cutters, cut out your shapes to bake at 350F for around 20 minutes.
Allow them to cool, and you can store them in a jar to reward your bacon-loving Golden Retriever whenever you want.
7. Chicken And Wild Rice Dog Treats
We will admit we haven’t tried to make these yet, but they are high on the list.
We love that these Chicken and Wild Rice Dog Treats are nutritious as well as easy to make and allow you to use up some of your leftover chicken.
Leave around six ounces of boneless chicken to cool and combine with half a cup of cooled, cooked wild rice and half a cup of chicken stock.
Blitz in a blender until a paste has formed, then add two and a half cups of all-purpose flour, an egg, and a quarter teaspoon of salt to form a dough.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is no longer sticky, then roll it out around half an inch thick.
Cut out shapes using cookie cutters, ideally bones, of course, then bake them on parchment paper at 350F for between 25 and 30 minutes.
They should be light brown when removed, though make sure you leave them to cool before serving to your Golden Retriever.
8. Peanut Butter And Chicken Dog Treats
If your Golden Retriever enjoys peanut butter and chicken, then why not create a dog treat that includes both ingredients?
Preheat your oven to 350F while you combine two and a half cups of wholewheat flour, half a cup of oats, and half a cup of non-fat dry milk.
Once combined, add three-quarters of a cup of chicken broth, a lightly beaten egg, and a third of a cup of peanut butter.
Fold in a mashed banana, and you should get a dough, though you may need to add some flour to prevent it from sticking. Roll out the dough to around a half-inch thickness, then cut with cookie cutters and bake for around 15 minutes.
9. Peanut Butter Dog Treats
You only need four ingredients to create a batch of around 36 Peanut Butter Dog Treats.
They can also be a lovely seasonal gift for your doggies if you make them around Thanksgiving.
To make these snacks, you need two-thirds of a cup of pumpkin purée, a quarter-cup of peanut butter, two eggs, and three cups of wholewheat or oat flour.
Beat the purée, peanut butter, and eggs until well combined, and then gradually add in the flour until the dough can be rolled out.
Knead the dough a few times, roll it out to a quarter-inch thickness, and cut out your shapes with regular coffee cutters. Bake at 350F until golden brown and allow to cool.
10. No Bake Pumpkin Dog Treats
No bake doggy treats? Um, yes, please!
And, with just three ingredients, these No Bake Pumpkin Dog Treats are simple as well as delicious and healthy. We think these are perfect for making after Halloween to use up your pumpkins!
Take a third of a cup of pumpkin purée, three-quarters of a cup of coconut oil, and two tablespoons of ground ginger.
Heat the coconut oil and pumpkin purée in a saucepan until the oil melts. Stir the mixture until the oil takes on an orange tinge.
Sprinkle a pinch of ground ginger into each mold and then top with the heated purée. Once the molds are full, freeze them for an hour until solid and ready to serve.
The Final Woof
While you may be tempted to head to the store to grab your Golden Retriever some treats, you can easily make them at home.
What we love about these recipes is that you only need some simple ingredients, and some of these can even help you use up some leftovers.
We prefer to use doggy-themed cookie cutters for these treats – not only to spoil our pooches but also so it’s super clear to the rest of the household that these snacks are for the wet-nosed family members!
Big shout out to all of the wonderful bloggers who have shared these treat recipes with the world.
We’ve baked most of the recipes in this article, but we have a few to tick off the list, and we’re always looking for more inspiration – so, if you have a dog treat recipe you want to shout about, let us know!