Recipe Review: Rachel Ray's Pupkin Biscuits

Heidi has been out of treats for about a week now. To her, that is an eternity! I usually pick up Old Mother Hubbard peanut butter biscuits while buying her dog food. Well, the past few times I have been at the store, I forgot to pick up the treats. I know, I am a terrible doggy mommy. Thankfully, for her, she hasn't needed to be crated much this past week. Logan and I haven't been out much lately because the poor little man contracted croup from one of his grubby, germy friends at daycare. Last Tuesday, I walked in to pick Logan up from daycare to see another child (grubby, germy friend) hacking up a lung within inches of my son's face. GROSS! But what can I do, they are toddlers, they don't know to cough into their sleeves yet. Okay, now that I am a touch off topic, let's get back to my Wiggle Butt.

In every issue of Everyday With Rachel Ray magazine, Rachel Ray ends with a dish specifically for your dog. Issue after issue, I say to myself, "I think I'll make that for Heidi." Do I ever? Sadly, no..no, I don't. Well, that all changed today. I held on to the October 2011 issue just so that I could make the Pupkin Biscuits for Heidi. Click here for the recipe. Just in case Rachel is reading (a girl can dream), thanks for including every family member, even the four-legged ones, when creating your recipes!

These biscuits are super easy to make, requiring only 4 ingredients. I followed the recipe exactly as is...for the most part. Because the 2 1/2 cups of flour REALLY dried the dough out, to the point of crumbling in my hands and under a rolling pin, I added another 1/2 of pumpkin puree. The dough was much easier to work with after adding the extra pumpkin. Yesterday being Valentine's Day, I wanted to use my heart cookie cutters but they were no where to be found. My star cookie cutters were sitting happily in the drawer, waiting eagerly to be used. The recipe also says to bake the biscuits for 20 minutes, flip, and then bake for another 20 or until the biscuits were hard. After flipping, I only put them in for another 10 minutes, pulled them out and they were plenty hard. I know dog biscuits are typically quite hard, but I have been known to overcook (blackened grilled cheese anyone?) and over bake (care for a chocolate chip hockey puck?) a few things, I didn't want to disappoint Heidi.

Ready for the oven.

An hour later (30 minutes baking time + cooling time) it's taste testing time!

The verdict is in:

She gobbled it right up!

Logan was upset that he couldn't have a sample!

I think this is an easy recipe to play around with, too. Next time, I might use natural, unsweetened apple sauce, mashed bananas and peanut butter, or grated cheese in place of the pumpkin. Either way, I think Heidi will love them.

Heidi's treat jar is full once again!

In other news, a friend sent me this story on Facebook and I just HAD to share it! This is a story about Maverick, a rescued Weimaraner, who showed at Westminster. It's a truly touching story and I hope you like it as much I as do. Read Maverick's story here! Thanks for sharing it with me, Jessica!

Do you make treats for your pups? Feel free to share your recipe. If you decide to make these biscuits, I would love to hear how yours turned out. Now, do me a favor, will you? Leave a comment and/or share my blog! Thanks for reading!

Crate Training

Crate training a pup is one of those issues that many people are whole heartedly for or against. In my not-so-professional opinion, crate training is fantastic when done correctly and used for the right reasons. A crate is very useful for potty training, transporting, feeding times, and to keep the pet safe while the owner isn't home. The crate should not be used for punishment and the poor pup should not be left in there for EXTENDED periods of time. When I say an EXTENDED period of time, I mean for 3/4 of the day. In my opinion, that is not fair to the dog. Think of it this way, how would you like to be confined to a tight spot while holding your bladder for 16+ hours a day?! Not fair! Also, the crate should NOT be used as punishment for your children. Have you seen the news lately? Seriously, there are people who have been using their dog crates to punish their children. I'm not making this up! It's awful! So remember, dog crates are for dogs...not people. ;-)

There are a few things to think about when purchasing a crate for your dog: 1) Size. The dog should be able to stand-up, turn around, and lay down comfortably in the crate. Think about how large the dog will be once it is full grown. Buy a crate to accommodate that size. Heidi's crate is HUGE and it takes up quite a bit of space. This is the same crate we have used with her since the day we brought her home at 8 weeks old. We didn't find it necessary to buy one for her puppy size because like weeds...and kids, puppies grow so quickly. 2) Wire versus plastic versus decorative. There are quite a few styles to choose from. Most pet stores only carry the wire and plastic crates. The nice decorative ones can be found online, for a pretty penny. One of the things I like about Heidi's wire crate is that we can fold it up to transport or to store. You can't do that with a plastic one. It also has a removable plastic tray which makes clean up very easy.  The plastic ones, on the other hand are great to use if you need to fly with your dog.

Heidi's large wire crate. 

There is plenty of information out there on how to properly crate train your pup. It's not rocket science, really. Pick a command that is short and easy to remember. For example, my parents have always used, "Kennel up!". Jeff and I tell Heidi to "Go to bed!". Every time you want the pup to go in the crate, give the dog the command and once the dog is in the crate, whether you picked the pup up and placed them in the crate or they walked in on their own, give him/her a treat, praise, and/or pat on the head. My parents dogs always get a treat and so does Heidi. We have used this same command, followed with a treat for over three years. This is one command that I can give Heidi ONE time and she listens. She's very driven by food.

Heidi modeling her crate. She is able to stand and turn around in it.

What else do we put in Heidi's crate? Not much! When she was a little pup, she had a little bed, blanket from the breeder, and a stuffed bunny which also came from the breeder. Now, she only has a wool blanket ($10 from Wal-Mart). Because Heidi HATES anything poly-fiber filled, it wouldn't last an hour in her crate. We'll also put a toy, such as a Kong in the crate with her when we leave.

She even did her "hair" for the photo shoot. One ear back is the style these days!

We only crate Heidi when we leave the house. It's not that we can't trust her, because we have left her numerous times in the house when we have left and she has been great; no accidents and nothing destroyed. However, now that we have an alarm system in our house, I have to crate her so that I can set the alarm. Heidi loves her crate! She will go in there on her own some days, just to get away and have some peace and quiet. Logan likes to pester her while she's napping on the couch, so it's also a place to get away from the toddler that keeps touching her feet and leaning in for wide-open mouth kisses.

Will do anything for a treat!

What are your thoughts on crate training? We love to hear about your dogs!