# Dehydrator Adventures



## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

Nova is eating a lot of training treats these days, so I am trying to make things that are actually part of her diet, but are also high value. The way I figure it is if I can put the whole 10% of her diet that I already make out of cooked veggies into training treats I will be on the right track.

I took pumpkin puree and mixed it up with a dash of turmeric (a great spice the dogs seem to like the taste of and I want to get into their diet a little anyway) and a few spoons full of coconut oil. I am worried the coconut oil has made it too thin, but I wanted semi soft treats and was worried that without any fats it would just get crispy, not chewy.

I piped it in little rows using a pastry bag, lets hope that it works out! The plan is I will be able to pull off the lines of pumpkin once they are dehydrated and cut them into little round treats. Right now its in the dehydrator- but it could be a total disaster. I'll report back on the amazing treats/total disaster later in the day.


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

I wanted to add that my plan was to also put apple in this- so it would be a little less binding (as in poop-wise) but the texture was not going to be dehydratable that way. I am going to do the apple separately and I'll throw both in the treat bag together. To much of this mix and a dog wouldn't poop for days!


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

How did the treats go?? I love my dehydrator; we've had it about a year now and it's come in very handy. I never thought to make dehydrated pumpkin treats though, that's brilliant. I've made dehydrated sweet potato chews; lots of bananas and apple chips. Ground turkey is what we usually use, as it doesn't take more than a couple hours and the dogs love the texture!


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

Sorry- my SD card slot had a temporary lapse of functioning- and I wanted to reply with pictures. They turned out great!

Small, chewy, and the dogs are nuts for them. Once they were done I just pulled the long strips off the tray then broke them into pieces.
Piped onto the tray-









Finished treats-

















The dogs loved them-


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## BlueJax (Jun 25, 2012)

Those look great!! I wonder if you could use a regular oven on low to make them?


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

BlueJax said:


> Those look great!! I wonder if you could use a regular oven on low to make them?


I'm not sure. Often with things like this (and fruit leather) it takes a lot of futzing around to do it with an oven. Might work though.


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## lilbabyvenus (Feb 8, 2009)

I'll have to try these! Thanks for sharing your recipe. I'm having a heck of a time finding anything Ocean is fond of.


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

That is great Annie!! I've got a dehydrator too, but the only thing I've made so far is dehydrated beef liver. I definitely need to try this recipe!!


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Awesome!!! And I really like the SIZE of your treats! I see so many feeding huge 1 inch by 1 inch snacks! And then wonder why their dogs are heavy. A treat for a chi should be PEA SIZED. They are little. They have small tummies. And it's a treat, not dinner.


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

That is really a great idea. I don't have a dehydrator at the moment but mine love pure bites and sweet potato chews....... which I guess would be easy to make with a dehydrator.


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