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It’s summer and one of the most popular fruits in the USA are blueberries. However, blueberries aren’t enjoyed by just Americans, our dogs love them, too! Furthermore, homemade dog treats with blueberries are a “thing”.
And, why not? Blueberries aren’t just tasty, they are also a superfood that both you and your dog can benefit from. However, fruit isn’t needed for your dog to have a healthy, balanced diet. After all, they are omnivorous. To clarify, they require a combination of animal and plant based ingredients.
Although it’s not necessary to supplement your dog’s diet with fruits, it’s fun to use them as treats. For example, your dog will find homemade dog treats with blueberries to be yummy. And, you can rest assured that you are giving your dog a treat with great health benefits.
However, dogs can’t eat all of the fruit out there! For instance, grapes and raisins are a big no-no! So, before feeding your dog any fruit, check out this list from the AKC. As a result you’ll discover which fruits are safe and which aren’t.
Are you wondering if blueberries made the safe list? Guess I’ve already pretty much established that dogs can eat blueberries. However, I haven’t shared the health benefits of making homemade dog treats with blueberries. So, let’s get to it!
Now This Is Something To Bark About!!
Health Benefits From Homemade Dog Treats With Blueberries
First of all, these little blue wonders are the perfect choice for boosting your dog’s health. Along with their sweet and tart flavor, blueberries burst with vitamins and minerals. Plus, blueberries boast the highest amount of antioxidants for a fruit.
Furthermore, they are high in fiber, low in calories and contain phytochemicals and anthocyanins. So, whether you have a puppy or a senior, blueberries will add a healthy punch to their diet.
Vitamins A, C, and K found in blueberries boosts your dog’s immune system and helps to reduce inflammation. Without pain and swelling from inflammation, dogs have more agility.
Plus, these vitamins help support the quality of your dog’s skin, coat, muscles, and nerves. They also help increase bone density. Minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium help to support bone growth.
Blueberries are probably best known for their antioxidant properties. Which, by the way, are an integral part of our human diets as well as our dogs. For instance, antioxidants fight free-radicals responsible for cellular and molecular damage.
In addition, antioxidants help slow down the aging process and cognitive dysfunction in senior dogs. Furthermore, they can benefit your dog’s heart health, such as helping to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Furthermore, blueberries contain phytochemicals, which is a chemical compound found in plants. Therefore, studies show a link to blueberries helping fight cancer of the colon, bladder and small intestine.
Lastly, the anthocyanins found in blueberries work with the antioxidants to lower the risk of arthritis and diabetes. They also help to lower the risk of heart disease and cancer.
How to Prepare Blueberries for Dogs
Other than homemade dog treats with blueberries, you can give your dog one right from the container. For instance, this would be considered giving your dog fresh blueberries in their raw state.
However, before doing so, make sure to rinse them well with water and inspect for any moldy berries. Then it is safe to offer one to your dog. Blueberries are soft and easy to chew and the risk of choking is low.
In addition, you can give your dog frozen blueberries as a refreshing treat on a hot day. However, to avoid choking, only offer one or two at a time if your dog is medium to large in size. If you have a small breed dog, it would be best to let the blueberries thaw out first.
Purée the blueberries and add them to your dog’s food. Plus, you can add blueberry purée to plain yogurt and serve it to your dog as a smoothie. However, make sure there are no added sugars or preservatives and you can use nonfat yogurt.
Furthermore, you can add blueberry purée to the yogurt and freeze it in ice cube trays. You can also try adding it to coconut water. Either way, it’s great for a hydrating treat on a summer day.
Adding blueberries to your dog’s diet is great but, the saying, “too much of a good thing” applies.
How Many Blueberries are a Safe Amount to Offer Dogs?
Just like with any fruit, vegetable, or treat, giving it in moderation to your dog is key. For instance, treats of any kind should only encompass 10 percent of your dog’s diet.
Too much of any food can cause stomach upset and diarrhea. Therefore, most small dogs can have approximately six to eight blueberries at a time. A larger dog can tolerate more. However, with both small and large dogs, keep the ratio of 10 percent in mind.
With the following recipe for homemade dog treats with blueberries, your dog should tolerate the amount used.
Making Homemade Dog Treats With Blueberries
I love creating recipes for Bella and Edward from leftover human food. For instance, I had half of a baked sweet potato in the refrigerator not being eaten. Plus, part of a large carton of blueberries was a day away from going bad. Those two ingredients are both of my dogs’ favorites. So, Blueberry Barkies came into existence in my kitchen!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Blueberry Barkies
- sweet potato purée
- blueberry purée
- organic quick rolled oats
- cinnamon (Ceylon or organic)
- coconut flour
Preparing Blueberry Barkies Step by Step
Firstly, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, gather your ingredients.
Secondly, cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Next, cover a countertop with parchment paper dusted with all purpose flour.
Thirdly, blend the whole blueberries in a blender to create a purée. You can use store bought blueberry purée if you can find it without any added sugar.
After that, blend half of a baked sweet potato to create a purée. Again, you can opt to use store bought sweet potato purée. However, there does not need to be any added sugar.
Next in a small bowl, mix together the blueberry and sweet potato purées. In another small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
Then, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well blended. After stirring with a spoon, finish with your hands to completely mix.
After that, form the mixture into a dough ball and place on the flour covered parchment paper. Gently use a flour covered rolling pin to flatten the dough to ⅛ to ¼ inches.
Next, use flour covered cookie cutters of your choice to form shapes. Then, place the shapes on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake for nine minutes.
After that, turn all of the shapes over and bake for another five minutes. Then, remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
Lastly, place the baked shapes on a cooling rack to thoroughly cool before sharing with your dog.
In Conclusion
Now that you know how to make homemade dog treats with blueberries, you can experiment with other berries. For instance, substitute the blueberries in this recipe with strawberries.
However, not all berries are good for dogs. Keep your dog away from cherries, holly berries, juniper berries, bane berries, poke berries, and mistletoe berries. For instance, the pits and/or chemicals can be a health hazard for your dog.
My favorite part of making homemade dog treats with blueberries is sharing them with Bella and Edward. They watch every single step I make preparing the treats and wait so patiently.
How do you share blueberries with your dog? We would love to hear about it in the comments below.
What would you do differently with this recipe? Drop your ideas in the comments below. We love reading suggestions.
Your dog wants you to try these other berry treats from the Dog Chef section of our blog:
Or, check out this post about what human foods dogs can safely eat.
If you would like to save this post with the recipe, use one of the images below to pin to Pinterest. You also have the option to print the recipe below.
Blueberry Barkies
Ingredients
- ½ cup sweet potato purée (½ of a baked sweet potato)
- 1 cup blueberry purée (small carton whole blueberries)
- ½ cup organic quick rolled oats
- ½ tsp Ceylon cinnamon
- 1 cup coconut flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and the countertop with parchment paper dusted with all purpose flour.
- Blend whole blueberries in a blender to create a purée and blend half of a baked sweet potato in a blender to create a purée.
- In a small bowl, mix together the blueberry and sweet potato purées.
- In another small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well blended. After stirring with a spoon, finish with your hands to completely mix.
- Form the mixture into a dough ball and place on the flour covered parchment paper.
- Gently use a flour covered rolling pin to flatten the dough to ⅛ to ¼ inches.
- Use flour covered cookie cutters of your choice to form shapes.
- Place the shapes on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake for 9 minutes.
- Turn all of the shapes over and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Place the baked shapes on a cooling rack to thoroughly cool.
Notes
- If the dough is sticky, add some more coconut flour or all purpose flour. Or, if it is too dry, add a little water.
- Bake for longer if a crunchier treat is desired. Or, bake for less if a softer treat is desired. These were soft baked.
- You can opt to use store bought blueberry and sweet potato purées. However, there absolutely can’t be any added sugar.
