DIY: How to Make Frozen and Enriching Halloween Dog Treats
Editor’s note: We are very excited to bring you another edition of #TOCDIY for our special TOC Trick or Treat Series, which is starring Hannah Guttormson this week. Hannah is the owner of K9 Fuel, an ethical dog training and wellness business, and she is a Professional Dog Trainer (KPA-CTP) and Canine Nutrition Specialist (CCN-CASI). Hannah is also a retired athlete, and health and wellness has always been her passion. Her three dogs Fendi, Epic, and Luna love taste testing her recipes and trying new enrichment activities. She told TOC, “We enjoy trying new sports but our main focus will always be letting them be dogs and live their best lives! We love going on adventures!” Hannah is going to teach us how to make “a Halloween stuffable [frozen treat] to enrich your dog’s life with this salmon/chicken blend topped with a berry scary ghost and some coconut cobwebs!” [Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning TOC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, at no cost to you.]
📎 The Supplies That You’ll Need to Make Frozen Halloween Dog Treats
Tools
Any stuffable of your choice! I used the WestPaw Toppl*
A silicone mold*, but you can also use an ice cube tray*
A food processor or blender
Hannah, seen here with her silver lab Fendi, is a natural health practitioner and she has her diploma in canine nutrition, along with being a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner.
Ingredients
Fruit! Can be frozen or fresh: 1/4 cup of mango, 1/4 cup of cranberries, and 1/4 cup of blueberries
2 tsp of chia seeds
1 tbsp of raw honey
1 chicken breast (boneless and skinless)
1 can of salmon (stored in water, not oil and never feed your dog raw Pacific salmon)
3/4 cup of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of spinach (fresh or frozen)
Unsweetened shredded coconut
⏰ Time Commitment
This project will take two hours if you are making the frozen toppers (the berry scary ghost garnish) at the same time. If the frozen toppers are pre-made, you can make this in 30 minutes.
⚖️ Skill Level
Easy (as long as you've baked/cooked anything in your life before!).
✅ Step by Step: How to Cook Your Dog Homemade Halloween Treats
This recipe requires that you make the cute garnish or berry scary ghost fruit topper (step one), and then you need to make the main mixture to fill the toppl (step two). Finally you need to combine those two elements (the fruit topper and the main mixture) for your final product that you’ll freeze (step three). Keep scrolling to find out how you do that.
Step One: Make the cute fruit topper or the berry scary ghost garnish part of the frozen treat
If using frozen fruit, allow to thaw completely
In a food processor or blender, combine 1/4 cup of mango, 1/4 cup of cranberries, and 1/4 cup of blueberries
Add water as needed for desired texture!
Add 1 tbsp of raw honey
Add 2 tsp of chia seeds
Use a batter bottle*, piping bag or spoon, and add the mixture to your silicone mold of choice! This is the mold I use.* Place it in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until frozen.
Step Two: Make the main mixture part of the frozen treat
Bring a pot of water to a boil
Add your chicken breast and boil for 15 minutes, or until fully cooked through
Remove from the pot and shred with a fork in a bowl
Mix in 1 can of salmon and continue shredding until the pieces are nice and small
Add 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree
Add 1/2 cup of spinach (** If using frozen spinach, thaw completely, if using fresh, steam it**)
Step Three: Put the mix in the toppl (from step two), add the garnish to the top (from step one), and freeze!
Fill the toppl with the main mixture from step two.
Top the toppl with your cute garnish from step one.
Add your coconut cobwebs to the top as a bonus garnish for added aesthetic!
Serve as is or freeze the whole thing for a long lasting snack!
This recipe is very versatile! You can swap out ingredients for whatever you have available! If you need help finding a substitute, please do not hesitate to reach out!
If you have something that you’d like to DIY for your #TOCFam, please fill out our form here.
The Life-Changing Magic of Dog Enrichment
Dog enrichment has a whole lot of buzz these days and for good reason: it’s really important. But WHY is it so crucial for our dogs? First, let’s define enrichment. It actually originated in the zoo world through the efforts of zookeepers who were focused on zoo animal welfare. Dr. Markowitz, who was a leader in zoo animal welfare, said, “Enrichment should be a synonym for ‘more like nature.’” Believe it or not, dogs are captive animals too. Enrichment is about meeting all of your dog’s needs as closely as they would be met in the wild (aka letting them do super natural dog behaviors). [Disclosure: The page may contain affiliate links, meaning TOC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, at no cost to you.]
These days, it’s easy to associate a lot of expensive toys, puzzles, and pretty looking photos on social media with enrichment and while those things are awesome, (yay frozen Toppls* ha!), they are not the only type of enrichment. Nature is $0 and usually extremely enriching! Keep reading for examples of enrichment, why it’s so important, and why it can be magical for your dog.
How Natural Enrichment Activities Can Help Meet Your Dog’s Needs
What do you notice about the little dog, Sully, in the post above? While Instagram Reels only allows for 30 seconds of video, I will tell you that she spent 30 minutes systematically gathering the best sticks she could find. This was all her idea. Do you notice how many reinforcers she comes into contact with?! She is independent and has agency (this is a big deal for a dog who lives in captivity in a one bedroom city apartment). She hears the creek and the bugs and the rocks moving. She feels the water and the variable surfaces. She smells all sorts of things. So much sensory stimulation. She had to use her brain to figure out how to dislodge and carry some of the sticks. She used her muscles to climb all over rocks. She shredded the sticks after she gathered them. All I did was put her in an environment rich with reinforcers (where she felt safe) and let her choose what to do.
What is enriching for one dog may not be what is enriching for the next (meet your dog’s individual needs), but health and meeting needs are always our first two goals and considerations. Check out “Canine Enrichment for the Real World”* by Allie Bender and Emily Strong from Pet Harmony to learn more about enrichment!
Why Natural Dog Enrichment Behaviors Aren’t ‘Bad’
What’s on your list when you think of all the little (and big) things you need to do today to take care of your dog? Maybe it looks something like: Breakfast ✅, Bath Time ✅, Vet Appt ✅, Training ✅, Decompression Walk ✅, Exercise ✅, and Dinner ✅. Bringing a dog into your life comes with a HUGE amount of responsibility. It starts to shift how you look at some of those responsibilities when you remember that your first job is to show them love. And that isn’t just a task. It is a gift that we GET to love these incredible animals who teach us so much about life.
Loving them is not just how we feel about them. It is how we treat them and how we show up for them. It’s how we make THEM feel -- safe, empowered, and fulfilled. The world often lifts up dog behavior as “good” when it is centered around humans’ needs. We LOVE training and will always celebrate it (and to be honest, done well, it is a deeply loving thing to do with your dog). We *also* want to keep celebrating dogs doing natural dog things and remind ourselves that behavior does not need to be centered around humans in order for it to be considered good. Giving dogs opportunities to engage in these natural dog behaviors like running, chasing, shredding, and digging is not only incredibly important for their wellbeing, it is also one of the ways we get to love our dogs. Dogs need to be able to behave in ways that are natural to them. As it turns out, getting to experience watching dogs do that works wonders on our own wellbeing. The video above features some awesome dogs from our TOC Fam doing some delightfully dog things.
For some of our favorite enrichment products like toppls, snoops, and snuffle matts, check out our Amazon store.*
DIY: Make Puzzle Toys for Your Dog Using Recycling
Editor’s Note: This month we posted a poll on Instagram about all things DIY and we were blown away by how many of you make things for your dogs at home. So this week we are trying something new and kicking off our first DIY series, where YOU will teach our #TOCFam how to make cool stuff. Meet Emily Ische, our first DIY-er. After losing her first dog, Gamora, a few months ago, she’s fostered a couple of pups, but is still looking for a new best friend who may also enjoy therapy dog work. Emily tells TOC, “As a kid, I systematically checked out every book on dog training from my elementary school library and would read them in front of my parents to try and convince them to get me a puppy. It never worked.” Her parents did send her to zoo camp though (we are so jealous!) where she made puzzle boxes for wolves. “It was really cool to watch them joyfully destroy the boxes.” Keep scrolling to learn how to make Emily’s puzzle toys for your dog!
📎 The Supplies That You’ll Need to Make the Recycled Puzzle Toys
Emily loves this photo of her with her last dog, Gamora, whom she lost a few months ago.
Cardboard boxes or toilet paper/paper towel rolls
Scissors
Tape
Dog treats
⏰ Time Commitment
All in, this DIY project should take around five to 15 minutes.
⚖️ Skill Level
Easy!
✅ Step by Step: How to Make Your Dog Puzzle Toys
Go through your paper recycling and look for paper rolls or boxes that are the appropriate size for your dog to play with.
For paper rolls, bend the ends in to seal off one side, add treats, and then bend the other end shut.
For small boxes, cut a slit large enough for the treats to come out. Fill the box with treats and tape shut if necessary
If you have numerous boxes, you can hide food/treats in smaller (open) boxes and let them rummage around to forage for food.
Be creative! If you have a dog that likes to destroy boxes you can seal them completely and let them go to town. Just make sure you don't make a box that is too challenging for your dog.
General Warning: Make sure to supervise your dog while they play with these toys as some do enjoy eating cardboard. While small amounts of cardboard typically don't pose a health risk to most dogs, ingesting large amounts of cardboard can cause GI blockage. If your dog seems to enjoy munching on cardboard, this enrichment is probably not for your pup.
If you have something that you’d like to DIY for your #TOCFam, please fill out our form here.