Did you know dogs can be vegans too? While this may be a topic of controversy, some vegan dogs have shown that, like humans, vegan dogs live longer and healthier. Bramble, the vegan dog, lived a fulfilling 27 years! My eleven year old rescued Weimaraner, Mason, also enjoys a protein-rich vegan diet and is full of muscle and energy!
Whether your dog is vegan or not, here are five easy at-home vegan dog treats you can incorporate into your favorite canine’s diet:
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
My guy was trained using baby carrots! Apple slices, oranges, watermelon, carrots, green beans, and fresh or canned pumpkin are healthy and tasty treats for humans as well as those with waggly tails. Do be cautious of foods that can be harmful or toxic to dogs such as seeds, pits, onions, garlic, grapes, raisins, and avocado.
Bakeable Barkable Biscuits
This vegan dog biscuit recipe is quick and easy (…and delicious; I’m not going to lie— I’ve tried them). You can use any cookie cutter shape or roll the dough into little balls for easy hand to mouth delivery. Homemade vegan dog treats are a great gift for dog lovers too! The recipe is as follows:
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup grated carrots (optional)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup water
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine ingredients, roll out, and cut out with cookie cutters. Bake 10 minutes. Then, flip cookies over, and bake until golden brown (usually about 10 more minutes). Cool and serve.
Stuffable and Frozen Treat-Filled KONG
Durable, stuffable, hollowed out dog toys like the KONG come in various fun and challenging shapes and sizes for all dog types and sizes. You can stuff these with various vegan dog treats like applesauce, peanut butter, vegan yogurt, dog biscuits or a combination of these for hours of lickable entertainment. I have five different KONGs that I stuff at the beginning of the week and place in the freezer. Freezing these treats makes them last longer and makes it more challenging, which gets your dog’s brain working too!
Dehydrated Anything
Dehydrators have come a long way since their bulky and expensive days; you can now get a compact and decently priced dehydrator for only thirty-five dollars. There are many delicious vegan dog treats a dehydrator can make, but the best ones are dehydrated sweet potatoes and apples. Make a batch ahead of time (they stay fresh for a few weeks), and dole them out to Fido as you please.
One Pot Wonder
If your dog is vegan, remember that dogs need more protein than humans do, so if you are not using a vegan kibble (engineered for a dog’s nutritional needs), make sure you do your research. Dogs usually eat about three percent of their body weight (keep in mind, your dog may become leaner on a vegan diet). My buddy Mason enjoys a diet of vegan kibble for breakfast and the “one pot wonder” for dinner (you can also make ahead and portion out meals into freezer bags). The typical ingredients (which can vary by seasonal produce) include: boiled rice, lentils, beans, oats, peanut butter, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, spinach, blueberries, flaxseed oil, coconut oil, and olive oil.
Even if your dog is not vegan, your little buddy will enjoy these treats! Send us photos of your creations and videos of your dogs going crazy over them here!
Earlene Krause says
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Brian Maida says
Please email me at brian@vegaprocity.com
James says
Is there a typo in the bakeable barkable biscuit recipe? The mixture was very dry–more like a bowl of bread crumbs then dough. Three cups of flour? One teaspoon of water? Thanks. James
Lorilei says
Hi James, I already responded to you directly, but I thought I should publicly respond in case other readers have a similar question.
The consistency of brands of peanut butter may differ (I used an organic brand that tends to be more watery/oily). We wanted to post a bare bones recipe, but I should mention that you can mix it up and experiment–I suggest adding a couple tablespoons of blueberries, banana or coconut yogurt for added moisture, flavor, and nutrients.
Good luck and let us know how your fur babies like it!
Michael says
hello, I’d love your readers to check out our vegetarian, vegan, grain, gluten and soy free dog treats. Smartalexproducts.com
Alex says
My dog, Millie, is mad about these! We ran out of her usual treats this morning so I thought I’d crack out a batch of these bad boys and she was very excited about them. I was down to the bottom of the peanut butter tub, which was quite dry, so I did add a little more water, but I like your suggestions for other additions – will try these in future!
Very excited to try out more recipes…
Alex and Millie
Lorilei says
Alex and Millie–This is great! Thank you so much for sharing!
I made an apple pie last weekend and didn’t want all the nutritious peels to go to waste, so I added them to a batch of these treats and my Mason Weim did every trick he knows all at once (unprovoked) just to get one!
Viviane says
I’m curious if cats would be interested to eat this “bone” snack recipe.
Has anyone tried?
When I try I’ll come back to leave in the comments
Lorilei says
I have made these treats for cats before, with three modifications: I added a good sprinkle of fresh or dried catnip and nutritional yeast, tediously rolled the treats into tiny balls for baking, and reduced baking time to about five minutes. This recipe yielded a TON of cat treats so I divided the harvest into small jars to give to cat loving friends and coworkers, and also froze a bunch for a rainy day. One of my cats (who was affectionately nicknamed, “the tank” by my roommates) loved the treats, my other cat batted one around like a toy and lost it under the fridge.
Looking forward to your update!
SingingVegan says
I’ve never had a dog before–my dad just moved in with me and his little dog was part of the package. I was thrilled to find vegan dog treat recipes! These are so easy and little doggy is very happy.
I found that the amount of water in the recipe was far too little. I use a moist, natural peanut butter, but ended up with 3/4 cup water for the dough to hold together.
Thanks for the recipe!
Annette Marinkovic says
HI Lorilei,
Thanks so much for the vegan dog treat recipe. All the dogs in the neighborhood loved them @ our annual dog halloween party. I also was at the bottom of my organic all natural peanut butter jar and had to add just a bit more water. Thanks Again!
Annie says
This looks really cool! I make dog treats and have been trying to get the word out on my new business, My Fair Doggie Bakery, on
myfairdoggiebamkery.weebly.com
It would be awesome if some of you guys could check it out!
Thanks so much!
Annie says
myfairdoggiebakery.weebly.com
Typo, I apologize.
Jacki says
Just a warning for your readers.
I never recommend Kongs. Many dogs have got their tongues caught inside them – if the block the other end it can act like a suction cup and can only be removed by a vet cutting them off. I have a kong but I will never buy another one and I NEVER put treats in it.
Heather says
I’m happy that Google found you for me. Our american bulldog suffers from pretty severe food allergies and we recently visited a holistic vet and she put him on a vegan diet of cooked lentils, brown rice, and kale. I’m happy to cook for him as long as he gets better. What we’ve been lacking is treats. When we get to the point where we can add more variety of foods to his diet, I’ll definitely be making the vegan dog treats. For now he gets brown rice balls and kale. He’s allergic to almost all animal proteins that are out there. Our vet was running out of options for food and I don’t want him on steroids for the rest of his life. He’s only 3 and we’ve been struggling with this from about 8 months old. It’s hard on him and us watching him suffer.
Sarah Hockel says
Hi, Heather! That’s great to hear that vets are recommending safe, vegan foods. I’m so glad that your bulldog is feeling better and enjoying rice balls and kale — he sounds spoiled!
I actually feed my dogs a vegan formula from Natural Balance and they LOVE it. It’s made from pea protein! Here’s an article we wrote and I included where to buy that brand I use: https://vegaprocity.com/2016/10/vegan-dogs-thrive-plant-based-diet/
I hope this helps! :)