If you have ever spent more than 5 minutes with me in person or follow me on Instagram, you will know that I am obsessed with my dog, Seri. She is a very, very special girl and I just love her to pieces. I feel so lucky that we found each other.
Seri came into our lives nearly two years ago at a time that I never thought I would be getting a new dog. It was much sooner than either one of us imagined that we would be doing the puppy thing again! Sadly, our dog Derby had passed away a few months prior, very, very suddenly and unexpectedly at just 6 years old. We were obviously devastated, heartbroken and just plain sick over it. Considering neither of us had the opportunity to even think about another dog, what we wanted to do and when, etc and neither of us had been without a dog in over 15 years, we were totally lost. We didn’t know what to do. Should we rush back into being dog parents again or wait until we had time to really deal with our loss. When would the right time be? How would we know?
After just 3 weeks of being without a dog and hating the strange quiet of a dog-free household, we knew we were ready to start thinking about the next special furry baby. We spoke with a wonderful woman named Vanessa who breeds beautiful miniature bull terriers with more care than I could have ever imagined possible. Chatting with Vanessa about possibly making one of her dogs a part of your family is far more rigorous than I would have guessed it to be and it made me realize that she takes what she does very seriously and she loves all of her babies, so much. I have such an appreciation for what Vanessa does, she knows that breeding a dog is a privilege not to be taken advantage of and she takes great care to make sure that she upholds the breed’s standards and is doing right by all of the dogs that are a part of her life. We ended up speaking back and forth with her about our loss at great length, we shared with her the emptiness we were feeling and wanting to bring another puppy into our home to love and spoil. We even sent photos and videos of Derby.
Ironically, Vanessa found out that one of her dogs was pregnant on the very day that Derby passed away. It felt like fate. We patiently waited for the litter to be born to find out if we would be getting a pup and we soon found out that we were in fact getting a sweet little white baby with the tiniest little spot on her bum! We thought long and hard about a name and ultimately decided on Seri (inspired by the word Serigraphy – another word for screen printing). We picked Seri up the day before my birthday and she was so tiny and sweet. We of course fell in love with her instantly. Even still, having lost a dog just 4 months prior it was a scary thing to already have another. I honestly was afraid that I would never bond with her the way I did with Derby. How could I ever love her as much and I definitely didn’t want her to take Derby’s place. I will be honest when I tell you this, as much as I loved her at first sight, I also slightly resented her. I felt like as much as I wanted her and needed her, I also just wish I still had my Derby. Such a weird thing to feel and now it makes me laugh to think about it. I honestly thought we would never love her the same way. I realized that I was right, I don’t love her the same way, I love her in a totally unique and special way, because she is so special and different and the amazing relationship and bond that I have formed with her, is nothing like the one I had with Derby.
Seri is a very independent dog and for all of the amazing cuddle sessions that we have, she also loves to be on her own, either in one of her crates or wrapped up in a pile of blankets in our bed. She is a very smart dog that learns routines and actions quick. It doesn’t take long for her to pick up on a pattern. Oh and Seri has a serious, serious love for playing ball. If that dog sees a ball she goes nuts. No matter how tired she is or where we are, if we pull out one of her balls, she is ready for it. Seri has this ability to make everyone around her smile and she walks with this bounce in her step that makes me happy every time I see it.
If you can believe the irony in this, Seri is also on a gluten-free diet. Just a month or two into having her, even with the most expensive organic dry food money could buy, Seri just seemed to have issues with grains. She would be a bit itchy. Vanessa feeds all of her dogs a raw meat diet and takes their food and eating very serious. After speaking with her and a holistic veterinarian we decided to make the switch to a grain-free all raw meat diet. Seri’s skin, coat and all around health immediately responded to the diet and we have never gone back since. When we do give Seri treats she gets dehydrated raw meat or something of the like. Sometimes we will buy treats with coconut oil, peanut butter, fruits and veggies, etc. That dog loves pretty much anything. I decided to combine some of her favorite things and create this treat recipe for her 2nd birthday today.
I pulled the recipe together as I went along and I was mostly happy with it. The dough was a tad crumbly so the finished treats don’t look perfect, but one of the best things about a dog is their unconditional love and their lack of judgment. Seri is OK with how this look and even more OK with how they taste. Pretty much the best dinner guest, if you ask me. If I had eggs in the house, I probably would have added 1 to this recipe, to help bind the dough, but I realized just as I was making these, that I actually didn’t have any eggs, so I just went without and made it work. Feel free to add whatever your dogs favorites are to the recipe. Seri loves carrots so I just grated up 1 carrot to add in, she also loves kale and cucumbers. A lot of the time if I am making fresh juice, as long as she can have everything in there, I will scrape some of the pulp into her bowl, she loves it.
Happy Birthday to my sweet and lovely furry baby, Seri!!
She makes me so so happy every single day and I cannot imagine my life without her!
[print_this]Grain-Free Dog Treats – Gluten-free, Grain-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free
Makes about 2 dozen or so, depending on the size
- 1 cup potato starch, plus a little more for rolling
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- dash of salt
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup natural peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
- 1/4 cup low-sodium beef stock (you can also use veggie stock or water)
- 1/4 cup shredded carrots
Preheat the oven to 350º F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl whisk together the potato starch almond flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, peanut butter, stock and carrots. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well to combine. Feel the dough, if it feels like it is too crumbly and needs more moisture, add more broth, if it feels to wet, add more potato starch. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes or so, to chill it.
Sprinkled your surface and rolling pin with potato starch, and roll out the dough. I did mine in two or three batches. Using whatever cookie cutter you would like cut out the cookies and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake until lightly browned and slightly crisp, about 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool.
I made a bunch of different sized treats for Seri, and I also made one big one to make her a “cake” with, I just iced it with a thin layer of chunky peanut butter and layered it. She loved it. She also loved the taste of the uncooked dough, too, so she may have eaten some of that while I was rolling out cookies 🙂 [/print_this]
27 Responses
Your pup is so cute – I couldn’t live without my two! Just curious, what exactly do you feed her – is it a type of dogfood or do you just buy meat and give it to her?
Hi Anne, thanks! We give Seri Nature’s Variety Instinct raw bison. We prefer to buy this over buying raw meat and portioning ourselves, because a dog’s raw diet should be made up of 80% raw meat, 10% raw organ meat and 10% bones – to get all of the nutrients and vitamins, etc – that they need. Obviously grinding up raw organs and bones could be a bit tricky and time consuming, let alone hard to get my hands on. The patties from Nature’s Variety are pre-portioned out and we just give her what she needs based on her weight and activity level. Hope this helps Anne!
Beth: First of all, thank you for this wonderful recipe. It seems to have a “thai flair”. My great white pyrenees was drooling over them (literally).
I work at two different pet boutiques that sell holistic foods (one of them is a bakery). I also fed my oldest dog Nature’s Variety/Instinct kibble. Once we got a second dog (our pyr), Benelli became more interested in food often times eating Allie’s unfinished portion. We started lessening her kibble amount and adding canned food to her diet as it is less fattening than kibble (opposite of what most ppl think). Moisture is also good to have in dogs diets. Anyway, Benelli had gained a lot of weight and still wasn’t losing it with the changes. SOooooo, we decided to put her on a raw diet. Google Vital Essentials! Their raw food for dogs has the bone and organs in it. Both our dogs love it. It comes in beef (thier favorite), turkey, fish, tripe, and chicken. It seems to be much more affordable than other brands, but here are some others to check out: Primal, OC Raw, Stella n’ Chewy’s, and Steve’s. Benelli now waits for her food to be served as she was never food motivated before getting the second dog, but the raw is the main reason she is so excited about her food. It is very safe and not too difficult to work with once you get used to it. Our dogs are large, so they get one and a half patties per meal. As soon as I get home with the food, I divvy it up into baggies and put all of the baggies in the fridge downstairs. Then we just dump them in their food bowl, add their supplements, and stir. I wash their food bowls once a week. They have been on a raw diet for at least 6 months now. Benelli lost all of her weight quickly as raw food sets their metabolism giving them their optimal weight. Their stools are MUCH less now and sometimes white meaning they are using the nutrients in the food and no waste. We love serving them raw! I hope this info helps you and others who read this! Oh…one more thing, we did start adding some kibble back in here and there due to cost, but every time we do, her tummy rumbles or they get “gassy” so we try to do mostly raw.
That is one adorable dog. And cat. And together they’re doubly adorable. They’re lucky to have you and you to have them. Happy birthday, Seri, and many many more.! xoLin
Thanks so much Linda!!
Beth,
THis is such a sweet post! I loved the whole story behind Seri: all the sadness, happiness, birthdays, food, everything! She is so lucky to have you as parents 😀 Happy Birthday, Seri! And I am totally keeping this recipe for my puppy 😀
Thanks so much Alex, this little baby really makes my world go ’round and she makes me a better person every single day! Hope you and your puppy are well 🙂
Beth – I loved this post. Losing a pet and getting a new one is not an easy thing. I know how that feels.
Seri is adorable! Is she a “Spuds MacKenzie” dog? (Wow, I just REALLY dated myself with that!) My sister’s German Shepherd, Savannah, has terrible food allergies too. I’d like to make this recipe for her – the potato starch doesn’t bother Seri at all?
Thank you so much Dawn! You are right it definitely isn’t easy but in the long run I feel like things happen for a reason and Seri was definitely meant to find her way to us, as weird as that sounds!
Yup Seri is a miniature Spuds MacKenzie 🙂 Hahah
Nope the potato starch doesn’t bother Seri, it seems like anything overly processed or with any grains at all. Pretty ironic that my dog would end up on that kind of diet, right? 🙂
Oh my gawsh! She is the cutest thing EVER. I saw one of these images on instagram yesterday and pulled Kevin aside to show him. So adorable. Lexy (our German Shepperd/Border Collie) is starting to have some health issues that make me a bit worried – weight gain, sprained shoulders, etc. Kevin and I have decided to put her on a raw meat diet and homemade food once we get to Montreal. Have you ever thought to do a post about how you prepare her food and how you do a healthy raw diet for her? Sounds like you know a ton on the subject and information out on the net can be sketchy.
Happy birthday to your little one, she’s so adorable and it sounds like her being added to your family was exactly what the universe wanted. Such a great story!
Hey Leanne. Thanks – we are quite in love with this little baby! Not a bad idea on doing a post. We actually don’t prepare Seri’s food ourselves since it can be quite labor intensive. They actually need a diet that is comprised of 80% raw meat, 10% raw organ meat and 10% ground up bones – to get all of the nutrients and vitamins, etc – that they need to stay healthy and well. Obviously grinding up raw organs and bones could be a bit tricky and time consuming (and maybe a little gross), plus it would all be quite hard to get my hands on. We use pre-portioned frozen patties from Nature’s Variety and we just give her what she needs based on her weight and activity level. They already contain all of the things they need on the raw diet, with no grains, no fillers and no other junk! It feels good knowing she is only getting what she needs and her health has improved incredibly and very quickly after being on it. Feel free to email me if you have any questions at all, I would be glad to help however I can. Hope Lexy is feeling better!
I am so excited you posted a dog treats recipe! My two Shih-Tzus need to start eating Mommy approved items because they have gained tons of weight from harmful dog foods.
Happy Birthday to your Little Doggie! She is so cute!
Love and Shine CourtStar
Thanks so much! Glad to hear your babies are on some better food – I bet they are feeling and looking so much better already.
What an adorable girl! And happy birthday to Seri! Loved reading this post. And so glad to know I’m not alone in my over the top love of my furry girls! 😀
Thanks so much Ricki! And you are definitely not alone, my little pooch totally makes my world go ’round. I just love her.
Hi Beth!
This recipe looks so amazing and especially perfect for my company’s blog. If you’re not familiar with us, BestBullySticks.com is an all-natural dog treat company and our blog (bestbullysticks.com/blog) features healthy dog treats each from bloggers all over the web! We’d love to feature you and Seri, too! If you’re interested in letting us use this recipe on our blog, I’d love to talk more with you! Of course, you would get 100% credit on our blog. Hope to talk with you soon, Beth! Thanks!
Callie Blackwell (Social Media Manager, BestBullySticks.com)
[…] knows that these grain-free meals aren’t just for the humans anymore, either. Beth at Tasty Yummies blog has been eating gluten-free for 7 years and shares her great recipes with her readers. By a […]
At the beginning of this year, I got a puppy that I was told was a chocolate lab. When I went to pick him up, turns out he was a chihuahua/dachshund mix. Big difference. He had very flaky skin. The vet told us to feed him raw. Within 3 weeks, no more flaky skin. Then our bull mastiff died. We went to get another puppy. A chihuahua/shih tzu mix. He went on the same diet. One minor problem. He developed hot spots. Turns out he is allergic to chicken and carrots. So a few more adjustments were made. They get beef, lamb, bison. Since we were giving them raw food, we decided to make their treats too. Most dog treats are made with chicken. Not good. Thank you for this recipe.
I have several degrees in culinary arts and I have been an accomplished chef for over 0 years I am just starting to explore the world of dor food abuse; I have two small dogs and I thought that I was buying good food at the department store. I would buy protien first ingredenet dog food thinking that Iwas getting them the better stuff. They were having lots of the problems dogs have so one day I went to a pet store and ask for a grain free dog food. I told then it didn”t have to be the most expensive well the rest is history. The bag I bought cost me $3.40 a pound for 4lb. bag. The treats per pound are $9 a pound. The dogs have totally improved but now I am on a mission to figure this game out. I did go back and buy a 25 lb. and reduce the cost to $2.25 per lb. but the industry appears to only wants to package and sell the treats at 1 lb. packages at$9.00 or so. My dogs are small but this is crazy…………
Yay for raw feeding! I’ve been looking for a home made dog treat recipe especially one catered to raw feeding. I was really excited to come across your post!
I’ve been raw feeding my Australian Shepherd/Border Collie, Rain, since I got her at five weeks old. She’s two and half now and absolutely loves raw food! She’s prone to allergies (environmental, not so much to food), but just to be safe, I try to stay away from any food that might cause her allergies like gluten. The raw diet has been the best thing I have ever discovered. Rain has a super shiny, glossy coat, pearly white teeth, and the best part (in my opinion) the small poops. Not to mention, she’s also very slender and muscular.
Thanks for posting this recipe! I can’t wait to give it a try! 😀
It is so difficult to find superior dog treats that have been produced commercially. Manufacturers have caught up with the grain free demand; however, finding a treat made without some form of sugar is nearly impossible. Thank you for posting this recipe that has no grain or sugar product.
Hi Beth, Your blog is so inspiring. I’m an avid follower. I really enjoy all the lovely treats for and photos of Seri. The little animals in our lives are so important. I’ve got lots of vegan and gluten-free dog food recipes on my blog too. Thanks for sharing!
hi, i love ur story. my dog is my world also. i have a quick question about the recipe. i recently made dog treats and used almond flour when i remembered that dogs shouldn’t have almonds. i was wondering beside it’s flour, if it makes it safe. do u know where i can find more literature.
I have never heard that about almonds, so I cannot comment. Where did you hear that?
Almond flour is okay, but not whole almonds. I’ve made treats with almond flour before, but was a mix with two other grain free flours. I learned the hard way. I have my great white pyrenees some whole almonds and she threw up. I’m part of a dog treat group. There is a lady on the group that works with dog parents in nutrition. She informed me that the almond flour is okay, but not whole almonds…has something to do with digestion. Feel free to join the group….Homemade Dog Treats. I also have a fb page for sun as I’m not selling treats yet. It is called “Julie’s Dog Treats” for now. I will change the name once I get a business license and have my treats tested.
I really love this recipie and story, but, almonds are actually considered toxic to dogs. :/ I probably will use garbanzo flour instead. If you are doing the same, don’t use the kind that also has fava in it, s it is also toxic.
I love the idea of these treats, but I am wondering how do you store them, and for how long? I’m looking for a treat I can make to pass along as gifts, so they would have to be able to be stored at room temperature. How long could these treats last that way? Thanks.