Thursday, October 30, 2014

Home Made - Sweet Potato Dog Chews / Treats / Jerky

Home Made - Sweet Potato Dog Chews / Treats / Jerky

Call them what you will, chews, treats or jerky, they are all edible and you dog will love when you make them at home.  And the fiber and protein in sweet potatoes is good for them.  You can make these in the oven or by using a dehydrator.

Oven method –

To get started purchase two nice long, as straight as you can find, fresh sweet potatoes.  This will make a nice sized batch to test out your skills.
Preheat oven to 250˚
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Wash and scrub them clean, then dry them.  Make sure there is no mold on them.
Cut off one side of the sweet potato lengthwise, as close to the edge as possible.  This will make a nice flat side to place downward for stable slicing.  Cut the sweet potatoes into slices about 1/4 “ to 1/3” thick.
Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 3 hours, turning halfway through.   This will make them chewy and if you want more crunch add about 20-30 minutes.
Cool completely on a wire rack.
They should store in your refrigerator in a zipper bag for about 3 weeks, if they last that long.  They can be kept frozen for about 4 months.

Dehydrator method -

To get started purchase two nice long, as straight as you can find, fresh sweet potatoes.  This will make a nice sized batch to test out your skills.
Wash and scrub them clean, then dry them.  Make sure there is no mold on them.
Cut off one side of the sweet potato lengthwise, as close to the edge as possible.  This will make a nice flat side to place downward for stable slicing.   
Follow your dehydrators instructions for spacing.
Dehydrate at a setting of about 145-155 until done.  Drying should take about 6-8 hours for a chewy texture.  For a crunchier texture dry out longer.

Big dogs will love these as is, but for small dogs you might want to tear them into smaller pieces after they are dried out.

Adapted from many recipes/articles I have read and recipes tried using both methods.

© 2014 Gregory Jevyak

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Train Your Dog

Train Your Dog


Why train your dog?  Because it is a pleasure to have a well-behaved animal that responds to your instructions and it may help keep the dog safe from injury one day.

I recommend to anyone getting a puppy to attend a puppy class as it will teach you how to work with your dog and the puppy will experience lots of other dogs and people and get the socialization it needs.

If you already have a dog, it is never to late to get started.  Rather than go into detail here, look for resources already available for dog training.  You can take a class, get a book or look for videos on the Internet.

Training your dog at home doesn’t have to involve a long period of time.  They are going to loose focus after 15 or 20 minutes anyway and then you will be in a period of frustration for the dog and yourself.  Use the commercial breaks while watching TV to work with your dog.  Anytime is training time.  Take a few minutes in the morning, a few in the afternoon, and any other time you can spend 5-10 minutes working with your dog.

Basic training should include; sit, down, heel, stay, and leave it.  After that it is all up to you on what you want your dog to know.  But it is fun to have a dog who shakes a paw, rolls over for you, retrieves the newspaper or can do what I call “paws up” where they sit up on their butt and hind legs with their front paws raised.

“Leave it” is a great thing to teach your dog.  It can come in handy if you drop a prescription pill on the floor, if you are walking your dog and it comes across food lying on the ground, or if you don’t want it to pick up something hazardous.

Dogs are amazing creatures and love to please you and enjoying learning.  It is good for them to stimulate their minds and it makes the human dog relationship that much more fun.  Don’t forget to use lots of praise and reward them with treats.  I like to use the same dry kibble that I feed them when training.  It goes into a pocket and is easy to grab and give to them.

Even though my dogs are in their senior years now I still reinforce my dogs training by having them sit, down or shake a paw with me before I feed them or give them any treat.

It’s fun to have a well-mannered, well-behaved dog and that starts with training.

© 2014 Gregory Jevyak