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Ultimate Guide to Cooking Delicious Treats for Your Dog-Sitting Customers
Dog sitting is a wonderful job. But sometimes, your customers need a little help warming to you. Not every dog is a social butterfly, and they can be a little shy in the beginning. Plus, if they don’t know you, they might be stressed without you footrent
Fortunately, there are many ways to earn your client’s love, trust, and affection. One of them is by offering delicious dog treats that you have cooked yourself.
If you want your canine clients’ tails wagging, we’ve got everything you need to know about using treats to win them over.
Why You Should Be Baking at Home
Dogs, like people, have favorite foods, preferences, allergies, and substances to which they are sensitive.
By baking treats yourself, you have complete control over what goes into them and can ensure that each client will be happy and safe to eat the snacks you provide. Homemade treats also allow for a personal touch and show pet parents that you really care about their animals.
Dog Cooking Essentials
You don’t need a lot to start cooking your homemade dog treats.
Chances are you already have these essentials in your kitchen. Baking dog treats requires the same tools and utensils used in normal baking—metal trays and cookie cutters for cookies, silicone molds for frozen treats, and, if you have one handy, a dehydrator for in jerky.
If you’re not a regular baker and don’t already have these items, there are dog baking kits on the market to get you started. You can invest in dog-themed cookie cutters and molds, as well as dog-themed decorations and packaging to make the treats extra special.
Once you have cooked the meals, storage is equally important. Many recipes make large quantities of treats that can be stored for weeks to months. Invest in airtight containers that will keep your treats fresh and flavorful.
Taking Necessary Precautions
It is important to be careful about what and how much dogs eat. You should consult with each dog owner to find out their dietary requirements and preferences and check each recipe for possible allergens.
There are ingredients you don’t normally think to reconsider, like flour and wheat that are harmful to some dogs. You should familiarize yourself substances known to be toxic in dogs, such as chocolate, onion, and garlic. As a general rule, choose organic ingredients and avoid using artificial flavors and sweeteners.
You should also adjust the recipes so that each dog has an appropriate portion size. While dog treats can be great for supplementing their basic meals and providing additional nutritional value, feeding dogs too much can be harmful. Some dogs can consume a lot of calories, because they have a high metabolism, while others gain weight quickly. Factors to consider include their age and size.
Be sure to supervise your dog-sitting clients while they eat your homemade treats to see how they react. Also, be aware of potential choking hazards. If you have elderly clients, consider cooking them softer foods that are easier to chew.
Dog Treat Ideas at Home
Now that you know how to get started and which precautions to take, you may be wondering which treats to prepare. There are many recipes available online, and the amount of choices can be overwhelming. There are some creative and complicated recipes, but cooking dog treats doesn’t have to be difficult, and you don’t have to run out and buy a million ingredients.
The following list has a diverse range of options for healthy dog treats that novice bakers can use.
Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
Dog biscuits are a classic treat for dogs. Along with peanut butter, a universal dog favorite, this crunchy treat will make your clients go crazy. Peanut butter is a great source of protein, vitamins, and healthy fats, so this treat provides plenty of nutritional value.
While peanut butter is a great choice, be careful when making any peanut butter-based treats. Many sugar-free or low-sugar peanut butter brands contain an artificial sweetener called xylitol, which is highly toxic to dogs. Be careful with this substance, as it can be fatal, even in small amounts.
Meat-Based Treats
Dogs are natural foodies, and meat-based foods will meet their palettes and nutritional needs. You should opt for lean, healthy cuts of meat for these meals. Good choices are chicken, beef, and fish. Processed meats should be avoided as they are unhealthy.
For an option high in protein, vitamins, and essential nutrients, bake liver-based treatments for your clients. You’d be surprised to find that dogs go crazy for these!
Hypoallergenic Treats
If you’re hoping to make a large batch of treats that you can offer to all of your dog-sitting clients, you should look into baking. hypoallergenic treats, which is safe for most dogs. They are also useful to check if you are catering to single dogs, or dog owners, with any specific allergies.
Protein allergies, which prevent dogs from eating chicken, soy, or dairy, are surprisingly common. In this case, you may want to opt for recipes that use fresh proteins instead. You’ll also find that many recipes are based on peanut butter, which dogs and dog owners can be allergic to—in which case, recipes that recommend good substitutes are helpful.
Cakes for Special Occasions
A homemade cake can make a great gift to a dog-sitting customer on a special occasion—especially for a birthday, which many pet parents like to celebrate.
Cooking a delicious dog cake may seem like a challenge, but there are many easy recipes. You can also try one of our three ingredient dog cake! These cakes may be simple, but they are delicious, and your canine customers are sure to be blown away on their special day.
You can make dog cakes with ingredients you have around, like dog biscuits—they can be the base of a delicious kefir cakeif you are looking to bake unique delicious food with a recipe suitable for beginners.
Grow Your Four-Legged Fan Club
All in all, cooking dog treats should be an enjoyable, stress-free activity. However, you should also know how to calculate profit margin to make sure your dog sitting fees cover your ingredients and leave you a little extra for your efforts too.
These delicious treats can be part of your business plan, and they’re sure to make you a favorite not only with your four-legged customers, but with their owners as well!
