The Ultimate Treat Guide for Your Dog
October is here and Halloween is hitting a little harder this year in the best possible way. After being limited to celebrations at home last year, most of us are really excited to jump in and get the most out of the Halloween season—and our dogs aren’t any different. If you want to enjoy the best Halloween, you will want to enjoy a celebration that is suitable for the whole family, including fun things to do on Halloween with your dog. Read on to learn how pawrents can spoil their pups with delicious Halloween doggy treats that are pup-friendly and healthy too!
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Doggos and Halloween
Most humans love Halloween, but for too long, we have overlooked that Halloween should be a time that we share with our dogs too. Instead of leaving your pup to just wonder who keeps ringing the doorbell, why not include them in this year’s celebrations? You might be surprised to find that your best pal can love Halloween just as much as you do!
The Chocolate Scare
Halloween has been considered a bad holiday for pets for a very long time now, and it is easy to see why. While we humans might seek out the houses that hand out full-sized chocolate bars, this isn’t ideal for a furry friend that can’t safely eat chocolate.
A lot of people make the assumption that Halloween is a time of danger for pets because pets are more likely to get into someone’s chocolate stash, but this actually isn’t the case. When we talked to our vet, we were surprised to learn that Valentine’s Day is actually the real troublemaker for pets because of the kind of focus on chocolate involved.
While Halloween does have chocolate, it doesn’t only have chocolate—but Valentine’s Day is known for its focus on chocolate pieces that can be toxic for your furbaby. No matter what holiday you are celebrating, it is always important to make sure that your dog can’t get into anything that they shouldn’t.
Ways to Keep Your Doggo Safe
Keeping pets safe and healthy is a number one focus for all pawrents—and this is why it is so important to know how to keep your doggo safe. Let’s talk through a few key ways to keep your pet safe from treats and candy alike.
Avoid Dark Chocolate
While we humans are known to love dark chocolate, it is incredibly toxic for dogs. In fact, dark chocolate is the reason that we know that chocolate is toxic—and the cocoa beans are to blame. Dark chocolate has higher concentrations, which means it must always be kept where dogs can’t reach it for their safety.
Store Candy Somewhere Safe
This Halloween, make sure that your candy supplies are well out of doggy reach, even on counters. Dogs have been known to be tempted by delicious smelling treats, even ones that are usually very well-behaved. To avoid any problems, always keep Halloween candy locked away from sniffing noses—and not just chocolate.
Give Them Their Own Halloween Doggy Treats
We can’t exactly blame our doggos for showing an interest in treats when we have them all over the house, which is why it is important to make sure that they have their very own. When your dog has their own pup-friendly Halloween snacks to enjoy, they likely won’t care as much about yours!
The Benefits of Making Your Own Dog Treats
Making your own dog treats is one of the best tricks that a pawrent can have when it comes to making their dogs happy. When you make your own dog treats at home, you can benefit just like you do when you meal prep for yourself. Not only is it a great way to better manage your pet’s health and happiness, but it can also be quite a bit of fun too!
Ingredients You Can Trust
The majority of us know by now that not every pet product that is available in local stores is necessarily a good one. For a long time, people didn’t notice that too much, but now, we know better. The ingredients that are used in popular dog treats are not necessarily healthy for our pets, which can lead to some pawrent guilt when you realize it.
When you choose to make your own dog treats from scratch, you can rest easy knowing what will be going into those treats. You will know every ingredient that you are giving your pet and have a much better idea of where they are sourced from. This means that you can skip on those corn-based treats with questionable flavor makeup and trade them in for something tasty that is also good for your dog.
Custom Options Your Pup Will Love
If you have a spoiled doggo at home, chances are that you know picky they can be. Our dogs tend to dislike certain treats—or better yet, they absolutely love some more than others. In this case, you can make sure that your doggo is always getting their favorite treats at home.
There are countless dog treat recipes online that are great for Halloween, other holidays, or even daily treats. With so many options, you can try out different recipes to find your dog’s new favorite. They will love the experience, and you will get the joy of watching them love what you make!
It’s a Bonding Activity
For generations, parents and their children have baked tasty treats together. Now, you can do the exact same thing with your furbaby. Pawrents can easily make a habit of making their very own delicious doggy snacks—and once you get started, you better believe that your doggo will notice and want to lick the spoon too.
After you have made a round or two of treats that your dogs love, you might just notice that they are always back for more when you go to make the next round. It can be fun to turn this into a bonding experience with your favorite floof and focus on spending that quality time with a promise of treats at the end!
Celebrate Halloween with These Tasty (and Spooky) Dog Treats
Doggos love Treat O’Clock, especially when it comes with a fun theme. Whether you want to make the classic Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits that Willow made for Dilla’s birthday or you want something a little more specific to Halloween, we are here to help.
Mummy Bones Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Our pups love a good classic peanut butter dog treat, but this recipe takes it to the next level in true Halloween style. These Mummy Bones Halloween doggy treats are absolutely adorable—and your doggo will love them. With this modern twist on traditional peanut butter biscuits, this recipe includes pumpkin for that special fall vibe!
These treats take a little more than an hour to make, but once you get the process down, it all goes that much better. With delicious dog-friendly ingredients like honey, cinnamon, and pure pumpkin, these treats are an instant Halloween hit for dogs of all ages!
Pumpkin Spice Dog Treats
When the nights start to get cold and every coffee shop starts rolling out the pumpkin spice flavors, we know what time of year it is—and now your doggo can too! These delicious pumpkin spice dog treats smell so good that you might be tempted to try one yourself.
To make these, you need just under an hour of time, and the results are well worth it. These cookies are delicious and bring that special hint of fall with them that will make them a long-standing classic in your home. As a bonus, the ingredients in these dog treats are also wonderful for making all kinds of human snacks!
Pumpkin FroYo Bites for Dogs
Fall is a season that brings a pretty big temperature range. Some days can start out cool then get incredibly hot during the day—and when you have a whole body covered in fur, that can be RUFF. Fortunately, these pumpkin froyo bites are perfect for keeping hot dogs cool for those scorching afternoons.
With only three ingredients (one of which is water!), these are perfect for doggos that don’t like a lot of extra ingredients in their goodies—and they can be great for dogs with food allergies! These bites only require 15 minutes to make and they are nice and cheap too. All you need is a pumpkin mold and you’ll be ready to surprise your pup with this healthy treat at any time!
Black Cat Cookie Halloween Dog Treats
Dogs have a bit of a controversial past when it comes to cats, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t love these adorable cat-shaped treats. Made using simple dog-friendly ingredients, these cookies act as the perfect doggy gift bag item for all of your pup’s best furry friends!
Baking these treats is easy, and they require a very small amount of time to make. Really, these treats shine because they are so unbelievably cute. While your doggo will love to eat them, your friends will love to look at them and marvel at their kitty cat cuteness!
Banana Coconut Bats
For those beach-loving doggos who are sad to see summer pass on by, these bats can bring a delicious tropical twist. Made with fruit, oats, and coconut flour, these adorable bats are completely gluten-free, making them ideal for pups with food allergies.
Making these bats only takes 40 minutes, and a single baking session can make two full trays of cookies for your dog and their friends. These all-natural biscuits are as delicious as they are cute and will quickly become a seasonal favorite in your household!
DIY Skeleton Bone Treats
There are few things that pups love more than a delicious bone, and these are guaranteed to be their new favorite version. These completely edible dog bone treats are a delicious Howl-O-Ween treat for dogs of all shapes and sizes. Using a bone-shaped cookie tray, you can give your doggo completely realistic-looking bone cookies!
With only a few key ingredients, making these cookies is an absolute breeze. It takes almost no time at all and the dogs go wild for these ones. The best part? You can shape them any way that you want by just using different molds. This means you can use these treats to celebrate every holiday with your pupper!
Halloween Eyeball Gelatin Gummy Dog Treats
For those dog lovers who also love things that are a little creepy, these gelatin eyeballs are a Halloween must-have. These realistic-looking eyes are so unsettling that even the bravest among us would feel a little uneasy around them, which is what makes them so fun to feed to your pup in front of guests!
These spooky eyeballs are surprisingly easy to make and they leave open room for other flavors and fun. You can change up the colors of the eyes by using different dog-friendly ingredients, which can be wonderful too. Perfect for dog-friendly Halloween parties, these creepy eyes are an absolute delight!
Pumpkin Spice Puppuccinos
These adorable and delicious puppuccinos are an autumn twist on traditional puppaccinos—and they are a huge upgrade! The puppuccinos only take three ingredients, and they only take five minutes to make! If you’re looking for something simple and adorable, look no further.
Everyone loves a pumpkin spice latte, but coffee isn’t good for our favorite canines. This dog-friendly twist brings together all-natural ingredients for a delicious snack that your pup will lose their mind over. Just be sure to give it to them somewhere where you don’t mind a mess because some doggos can get a little too excited!
The Takeaway
Halloween is a wonderful time of year where we can all enjoy the changing leaves, the cool air, and all of our favorite snacks. Before you dig into your Halloween treat stash, make sure to put aside some time to really dive right in and try out some delicious and healthy DIY Halloween treats for your favorite canine companion. Your dog will love you for it—you know, more than they already do!
Until next time, thank you for reading!
About the author: Gabrielle is the loving pawrent to adorable pups Willow and Dilla. Growing up surrounded by dogs, she always dreamt of having her own. Willow and Dilla came into her life and changed everything. Now, she's crazy about pampered pooches, and her perfect day involves dancing with her husband, dressing up her furbabies, and cuddling them to sleep. For Gabrielle, life is all about spreading love and joy with her adorable canine companions by her side.
