Cabana's Kibblesicles Recipe

Famous blogger and renowned author, Tall Guy from Daily Dose of Jack, is putting together a canine recipe book to be sold on Amazon. All proceeds will be donated to a "worthy cause", which I'm sure does not refer to Jack's toy and treat allowance. My recipe is one I shared a while ago, but with summer just around the corner, I think it's a timely one. Not only that, it's easy and just about the only dog treat recipe I've ever made.

WHAT YOU NEED:
• a couple of ice cube trays (mine are colorful ones in fun shapes from Ikea, but any old ice cube tray will do
• kibble or small treats (I'm using Itty Bitty Buddy Biscuits just because they're cute)
• plain or vanilla yogurt (non-fat, low-fat, or whole milk is fine)
• broth (chicken, beef or vegetable, your choice)
• a mixing bowl and spoon


WHAT YOU DO: Put a few pieces of kibble or a treat in each receptacle.

Mix together equal amounts of yogurt and broth until smooth.

Carefully pour yogurt/broth mixture into the ice cube trays.

Even more carefully, freeze ice cube trays on a level spot. Toaster Strudel boxes make a great platform for freezing. (It's suddenly quite embarrassing to show the world what's in my freezer!)

When kibblesicles are frozen, take them out of the tray and serve to your favorite dog, poolside if possible. Mmmmm, Cabana loves them. (But I gave her 4 of them in quick succession so I could get a few photos--and she barfed them up a few minutes later. She got a tummy freeze instead of a brain freeze maybe? So don't do that with your dog. Normally, I only give her one at a time, which doesn't make her barf.)

If you have a recipe you'd like to contribute for the book, click here for more information.

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Chicky-Pops or Veggie-Sicles

Here's a fun summer dog treat idea from my friend Peg. Using chicken broth, plain yogurt, and small recycled plastic containers, Peg makes Chicky-Pops, which are like popsicles for dogs. Since my family is vegetarian, I didn't have any chicken broth on hand, so I substituted vegetable broth and made them in ice cube trays.

Observe the necessary fixin's--vegetable (or chicken) broth, a container of plain yogurt, some kibble or other treat/meat (optional), a mixing bowl, and ice cube trays. Mine are cute fishy and star shaped trays from Ikea. Someday, I hope to get a bone shaped tray, but alas, these will have to suffice for now.

Put a few pieces of kibble into each receptacle.

Mix broth and yogurt in mixing bowl. It doesn't really matter how much of each you use, but I used equal parts broth and yogurt.

Carefully fill your ice cube tray. Now comes the hardest part of this recipe--find a nice flat spot in your freezer. Followed by another ridiculously difficult task--carry the filled tray over to the freezer without spilling.

Wait a few hours for veggie-sicles to harden. Try, if you are able, to wait as patiently as Cabana, who is completely unaware of the tastiness to come.

After the veggie-sicles have frozen, before serving, take this opportunity to practice a bit of obedience. Cabana is very good at "wait".

Release your dog and allow her to gobble down. I took Cabana outside to eat her veggie-sicle, but since it only took 2 seconds to eat, next time I won't be concerned about it making a melty mess on the floor.

But warn your dog not to eat it too fast, or she might get a brain freeze!

FYI, if you noticed a dark spot on the top of Cabana's head, it's not dirt or a tick. The dark spot happens to be the same color as my hair--the EXACT same color. The other day, I was coloring my hair (gotta cover those pesky greys) and Cabana came over and sat at my feet. I think the rest is self-explanatory.

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Kibble-Sicles

It's been hot around here for the past couple days, so I made Cabana some fun kibble ice cube treats. I saw these on someone else's puppy blog, although I can't remember whose--sorry, I'd like to be able to give the person credit!



Our refrigerator has an automatic ice maker, so I bought this cute Ikea ice cube tray especially for the purpose of making Kibble-Sicles (like popsicles) for Cabana. There are 2 pieces of kibble in each "fishy".


Yum, the perfect snack for a hot afternoon. Oops, is it bad that she's eating them off the ground? I guess I should be serving them in her food bowl....

It was also too hot to cook, so we went out for dinner tonight. We don't eat out very often (we're more into carry-out, I guess), and my husband has been somewhat reluctant to take Cabana to restaurants. So Cabana is sorely lacking in restaurant etiquette. Overall, I thought Cabana conducted herself pretty well tonight, although our waitress did rather snidely remark, "She's DEFINITELY still in training" to another waitress. It was difficult to get Cabana to sit under the table, and in the beginning, she would bolt up whenever anyone passed by. By the end of the meal, though, Cabana stayed consistently in a down position, although she still wasn't quite under the table.



Yep, we've still got work to do in this department. Well, I suppose it's a good excuse to eat out more often!

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