FAQs, Tips, and Troubleshooting: Common Pattern Problems

We introduced our FAQ posts last week, exploring some of the questions we get most often here, on social media, and via email. The first FAQ mini-series covers one of the most popular topics here on the blog: DIY woven fleece tug toys.  We've talked about choosing and using fleece for DIY tug toys, and today we're looking at one of the most common questions we get about making tugs, and that's why a finished toy might have an uneven shape or irregular pattern. Here are some of the common culprits for problems with weaving uniform looking patterns.  To help with visuals, I intentionally made some of the most common weaving errors in a multicoloured square/box tug and multicoloured spiral/circle tug. Let's take a closer look:

FAQs, Tips, and Troubleshooting: Choosing Fleece for Tugs

As promised, we've created some posts talking about some of the questions we get most often here, on social media, and via email.  First up, we're talking about choosing (and using)  fleece for making tugs with tips for selection, value, cutting, care, and more. We'll share tug toy help for troubleshooting problems with weaving, as well as tips and tricks for weaving styles and techniques in future posts.

DIY Faux Fire Hydrant Garden Pee Post for Dogs

One of the things we wanted to try at the new house was teaching the dogs to use a designated location as their preferred toilet area, which for our dogs would require some sort of potty post. A fire hydrant would be perfect: great for any dog, but even more so for Dalmatians. Unfortunately, New Zealand doesn't use that style of above-ground hydrant, so buying an old/surplus hydrant, while a cool idea, wasn't an option. We decided to make one. 

{RECIPE} Crunchy Dehydrated Fish Jerky Dog Treats

Oli's 13th Birthday (Plus Surf'n'Turf Dog Birthday Cake!)

Wowzas! Our beautiful boy is 13!  Thanks for all the social media love and birthday wishes you've shared with Oli for his birthday. We're always grateful to celebrate another milestone together, but after Oli's medical emergency last year and Tiger's recent passing, we've been feeling extra mindful and thankful this time around.  Now that our little blogging breaktime for Easter celebrations and ANZAC Day commemorations is past, we're back with photos from Oli's barkday and the details on our latest crazy cake: a doggone droolworthy surf'n'turf layer cake!

Doggone Great Carob "Chocolate" Easter Dog Treat Ideas

Happy almost Easter, furfriends! Today we have two simple no-bake Easter treat ideas using carob to create a dog-friendly version of Easter chocolates. There are lots of ways to create carob treats for your pet, from baked treats to frozen pupsicles and everything in between, but these two are quick, simple, healthy, and you can use then to mold fun festive shapes too!  All of the looks of a fancy treat, but actually easy peasy in the kitchen.

{RECIPE} Stained Glass Yogurt Gummy Easter Dog Treats

Anyone else remember stained glass Jell-o jigglers from childhood? Here's my dogified version made with yummy yogurt, healthy gelatin, and colourful add-ins. Because I simply can't resist doing these crazy things. Haha!  The dogs totally don't care about the colours, but they do love gummies!

{RECIPE} Pretty Pastel Pupsicle Easter Dog Treats

{RECIPE} Dehydrated Cottage Cheese Dog Treats / Toppers

This simple treat idea can be as basic as a single-ingredient or as fancy as you'd like with optional add-in ingredients. Our dogs LOVE cottage cheese and it's a nutritious lower purine goody (see our notes at the end of the post on purines) that I happily share by the spoonful or let them help clean out the empty container. Unfortunately, it's something that's often quite expensive here and has a short fridge life. So how to take advantage of those sales? Hmmm. Freezing is one way to extend the storage, but after experimenting with the dehydrator, crunchy little nuggets of dehydrated cottage cheese have fast become a doggy favourite! Humans might enjoy them as well. :)

Using Homemade Bone Broth and Gelatin in Gummy Treats

{RECIPE} Bone Brothsicles Frozen Dog Treats

It's officially autumn here in NZ (although I'm hanging onto summer until the equinox!), but this past summer has been a scorcher! Perfect weather for cool yummy gummies and frozen treats These Bone Brothsicles were created along with Bone Broth Gummies (stay tuned for next week's post) when a batch of bone broth wasn't thick enough to set on its own for storage and serving. It was a sizzling summer day, so instead of just freezing it into broth cubes, I decided to stretch it out with a broth ice cream treat and a batch of yummy gummies.

"Gold Dust" St. Patrick's Day Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

This little gummy is a just-for-fun adaptation of our simple green gummy treats that takes advantage of the way turmeric powder tends to partially settle in gummy treats to create a dusting of golden flecks. 

{RECIPE} Cream Cheese Chicken Dog Treats

These treats combine the irresistible flavours of grilled chicken and tangy cream cheese with tasty herbs, and use healthy add-ins to make a naturally green treat - just because! They are perfectly yummy au natural, but cream cheese dough is great for tinting and I felt like playing. As we were pre-prepping our St. Patrick's Day posts at the time, I went for green, but this dough would also make a great base for other tints. I may try a pretty pink beetroot powder adaptation next time!

{RECIPE} Simple Spirulina Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

Simple gelatin gummies are a great way to include super-food spirulina in our doggy diet. They're easy to make, mess-free to serve, and make it a snap to share nutrient-dense spirulina in small quantities. No muss, no fuss. Plus, they look pretty cool as well thanks to the gorgeous natural blue-green of spirulina. Unlike my experiments with using spirulina as a tint in baked treats, the colour shines bright and beautiful in a gummy suspension.

Making a Favourite Dog Treat Recipe into a Special Valentine

It's almost Valentine's Day, furfriends! We have lots of recipe ideas in our blog archives, but if you have a tried-and-true recipe or want to make your dog's favourite treat into a special Valentine, two VERY simple ideas are to just play with the shape and/or colour of your go-to treat recipe.  Here are some tips and inspiration:

DIY Woven Fleece Double Loop Dog Tug Toy

Love is in the air! Humphrey has a new puppy pal (they are so cute together) and this toy was created for some wild tug toy playtime. It may be a bit strange looking, but was created for function and fun - which is what matters most, right? With two loops and two straight stick "handles" there are tons of options for multiple dogs and humans. Humphrey has even figured out how to play tug with himself by using a paw with one loop and his mouth with the other - quite hilarious to watch. 

{RECIPE} Beetroot and Carob Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats

These yummy gummies use a dash of yummy carob to take the natural translucent red of a beetroot gummy to a richer more opaque deep red treat. Plus carob tastes/smells delish! 

{RECIPE} Naturally Pink Strawberry Cheesecake Dog Treats

We're back from our holiday blogging break and hopping straight into the goodies with our Valentine's Day post line up, and it's a berry-based treat for my berry-loving boys. May we all be as lucky to find a Valentine who looks at us with as much love and desire as Oli eyeing up a strawberry (or strawberry treat)! Haha! Look at this face:

{RECIPE} Strawberry Carob Christmas Spice Dog Treats

{RECIPE} Berry Bacon Barkmas Bone Dog Treats

 

Berry bacon barkmas bones...say that 10 times fast! :) These treats combine yummy strawberry (a dog favourite around here) with the irresistible scent/taste of bacon. Strawberries are in season during our Christmas holidays; however, frozen berries are fine for baking treats any time of year.  Any treat that gets crazy googly eyes from our beloved old Oli makes all the baking effort worthwhile!