{RECIPE} Puppermint Patty Frozen Yogurt Dog Treats

Happy official first week of summer to our northern furfriends!  It's winter here (brrr...) but this is one of our very special prep-prepped and schedule posts for during the current moving chaos.  Puppermint patty frozen yogurt treats were one of the many frozen snacks made and eaten during our sizzling summer past. Yummy yogurt pops, happy dogs, and minty fresh(er) breath. Yes, please!

{RECIPE} Cranberry and Herb Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

It is early winter here, and autumn harvest time had cranberry on my mind (and in my freezer...mooohahah). Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here, but these would be doggone delish for a special Thanksgiving doggy treat. :) They were also a great opportunity for me to put my "suspended solids" gummy experiments to the test with a combination of chunky berry puree and light floating herbs - details below on how to beat the sinking/floating problem that often plagues non-soluble add-ins during gummy making!  Woohoo!

{RECIPE} Apple Pie Pupsicle Frozen Yogurt Dog Treats

These easy three-ingredient apple pie frozen yogurt dog treats are doggone delicious!  It's not pupsicle weather here at the moment (brrr....winter!), but the blog dogs have been busy for months pre-prepping and taste testing (such a difficult duty!) treats so that we can keep the blog active through the chaos of moving prep, relocation, and settling into a new home.  And June is Dairy Month, so we're kicking off with a yummy yogurt treat. These frozen treats were a summertime hit at our place and are super simple to make! Soak up some sunshine for us, nothern furfriends!

{RECIPE} Blackstrap Barbecue Meatball Dog Treats

Mmmmmmeatball treats! These treats aren't actually barbecued (although you could use your grill or pop one briefly to defrost while your making human snacks) but the meatballs are seasoned with BBQ sauce inspired blackstrap and herb/spice mixture to be extra doggone irresistible... although let's face it, my dogs would never turn down a meatball no matter how plain or how fancy it may be. Hehehe.

{RECIPE} "Kitchen Sink" Super Puppy Patty Dog Treats

These dog treats are packed with doggone delicious flavours and boosted with healthy ingredients, including some dog-friendly super foods.  Unlike many of our treats, these super food puppy patties include a wide variety of ingredients, hence the kitchen sink nickname. :)  Not to worry; however, as you can also easily customise the recipe to adjust quantities or make substitutions to suit your preferences and your dog's tastes.

{RECIPE} Banana Beetroot "Red Velvet" Pupcake Dog Treats

These doggy muffin treats are delicious, dense, moist, and a deep dark "red velvet" shade thanks to a yummy (and healthy!) combination of carob and beetroot. We don't often do doggy cakes here other than barkday parties, but I couldn't resist working on a velvety red pupcake recipe and here it is in honour of our third blogiversary! Three years ago (after much encouragement from folks who knew about my crazy treats and toys) the dogs got their own blog and the makings of Dalmatian DIY were born. Thanks to all of you who have joined in our crazy antics along the way, opened your hearts to Oli and Humphrey, and been part of our blog and social media world. We look forward to creating and sharing more in years to come.

DIY Spiral Dog Toy in High Visibility Colours for Dog Vision

Well hello there, beautiful blue and yellow tug toy!  As detailed in our post about the differences between how dogs see things vs. how humans see things, blue and yellow are the two "true" colours for a typical dog's vision so we combine those with the high contrast of white and black for this special spiral tug toy.  This combination is my new version of doggy "high vis" for maximum colour and contrast, as shown in the side-by-side simulation below:

DIY Custom Iron-Ons with Two Colour Shadow Effect Lettering

This post has been created in collaboration with our partner blog Creativity Unmasked.  With Mother's Day coming up in a few weeks and Father's Day not long after for those of you up north (it is in September here), we're sharing our custom heat transfer vinyl pet parent t-shirts. I made these first when I got my Cricut as a test for cutting size (little Dalmatian dots) and iron-on resilience. The bright blue shirts were bought as part of our dog vision walkies wardrobe changes, so they were the perfect target for some pet parent territorial marking. :)

Tasty Adaptations of Favourite Treat Recipes for Oli's Birthday

The final post of Oli's barkday week bonanza of golden goodies!  In addition to the birthday cake and special birthday treats shared throughout the week, we also had some adaptations on go-to treats and favourites on the birthday buffet menu. Here's the scoop on our Turmeric Gummies with Coconut Milk, Lamb and Carrot Meatballs, and Turmeric Coconut Oil Hearts. 

{RECIPE} Golden Oldie Birthday Bone Stamped Dog Treats

Oli's Golden Oldie 12th birthday treats all had a gloriously golden theme, but the busy baking kitchen still needed to smell moderately acceptable (unfortunately) to humans who might be sprung upon us at short notice for property viewings.  For these stamped birthday treats, I adapted our favourite basic roll-and-cut peanut butter dough recipe to smell even better (although the basic recipe smells pretty great as is) and look glorious golden.

{RECIPE} Carrot and Peanut Butter Dog Birthday Cookies

{RECIPE} Pumpkin + Peanut Butter Cake with Yogurt Frosting

It's not really a birthday party without a cake, is it? In the words of Julia Child, "a party without cake is just a meeting." and while we do enjoy meetings with doggone delicious snacks, barkday parties with dog-friendly cakes are far superior. :)  Our dog birthday cakes are usually meatloaf-style creations, but for Oli's barkday pawty this year I decided to make meatballs as a side and bake a cakier cake instead.

Oli's 12th Birthday Sneak Peek

The big 1-2!  Thanks for all the social media love and birthday wishes you've shared with Oli in celebration of his birthday last week. Oli's pawty this year had a golden oldie theme, with all of the tasty treats in hues of all natural golden yellow and orange. Come and take a peek at all the yummy golden goodies!

DIY Stamped Dog Treats (Plus Peanut Butter Bacon Bones!)

Santa Paws brought all sorts of interesting little goodies for crafting and baking (clearly the elves had read our post with Christmas Gift Ideas for Dogs and Dog Lovers) including a set of DIY alphabet cookie stamps. I have a number of cute cookie stamps and presses in my baking stash, including a set of larger letters, but these mini letters are perfect for using on smaller treats and are just the right size for my favourite bone-shaped cookie cutter.

Dog Vision vs. Human Vision: A Life Changing Owner Learning

Don't adjust your screens...this is the same post cataract surgery walkies photo of Oli as shared here, adjusted to represent a typical healthy dog's view of the same scene.   When trying to better understand the differences between human vision and our dog's vision so that we could better assist our senior Oli with his post-cataract surgery visual deficits, I had a (long overdue) lightbulb moment that changed everything for us in how we approach our dogs' view of the world. I knew that dogs didn't perceive colour the same way as we did, but never understood the potential implications of dog vision vs. human vision and how I could use that knowledge to better support our dogs with visual cues as well as boost their general fun. 

Senior Dog Love - DIY Emergency Dog Mobility Support Sling

This is not the most exciting or glamorous DIY post, but if it helps another dog owner at some point then it's totally worth it. As shared in our post cataract surgery summary, Oli's temporary vision loss meant that we needed a pet sling urgently.  We have steps at both entrances, so no matter what, potty time would require assistance and there was zero chance of finding one in our small city nor time for a special order. Oli is a big boy and lifting is no easy task. So I quickly made one with materials on hand while they were on the drive home from surgery.

Senior Dog Love - Oli Update - Cataract Surgery Experience

April is here, and this month is all about our beautiful old boy Oli who has his 12th barkday coming in a few weeks!  We are also passing the milestone of six months post cataract surgery and with any further visual improvements from here likely to be slow and minimal at best, it's time we shared a summary of our cataract surgery experience for those of you who have taken Oli into your hearts over the past few years of our blogging or those who may be facing similar uncertainties with their own beloved pets.

Free Pawesome Printable Easter Dog Treat Tags and Labels

Happy almost Easter, furfriends! As promised and previewed in Friday's treat post, here is your fresh Easter freebie. This is our last pre-Easter blog post and we're going to take a little posting pause for the holiday weekend. We will return to our usual posting schedule next Friday. Have a pawesome week/weekend!

{RECIPE} Bacon Bunny and Bones Easter Dog Treats

Mmmm...bacon bunnies! These treats combine the doggone irresistible scent/taste of bacon with yummy peanut butter and blackstrap molasses to make a naturally brown treat.  The Easter treat tags and labels you see in the pictures will be shared here on Monday as our final pre-Easter post this year. Woofs!

{RECIPE} "Hot Cross Gummy" Easter Dog Treats

These Easter dog treats were inspired by the aroma of beloved hot cross buns. Drool...  Hot cross gummies...hot cross gummies...smelling oh so yummy we would like them in our tummies! Hot cross paws...hot cross paws... tasting so delicious when we get them in our jaws!