August 26th is National Dog Day. Founded in 2004 by Pet & Friendly Lifestyle Expert, Animal Rescue Advocate, Conservationist, Dog Trainer and Author, Colleen Paige. He is also the founder of many other holidays such as National Wildlife Day to bring attention to the plight of animals around the globe and to encourage adoption.
National Dog Day celebrates all dogs, mixed or otherwise. The mission is to reach out to the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued and put their lives on the line every day; personal protection, law enforcement, for the disabled, searching through wreckages or detecting bombs and even detecting cancer and seizures. I would say they deserve a special day!
Every dog I have owned or known does/did not like squirrels. The squirrels seemed to know this and they would sit up in a tree screeching only making our dogs go crazy. Squirrels make all kinds of warning sounds and each communicates a specific message. My parents had a shag bark tree and the squirrels would look like they were going to fall and to the disappointment of the dogs they didn’t. Maybe it was just a game between one animal and another but their reaction was always the same! The squirrels loved taunting our pets. I’m pleased to report that no squirrel was ever caught by any of the dogs!
This recipe comes from the Woof Gang Bakery in Palm Beach, Florida as found in the Food Network Magazine, March/April 2022 issue. Such a cute idea and our pets deserve some special treats don’t they?
Nutty Squirrels Dog Treats
- 1-1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. water
- 1-1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter, plus more for spreading on tail
- 1 tbsp. blackstrap molasses (regular molasses would be fine)
- 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- crushed peanuts, for topping (I used unsalted and dry roasted peanuts)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the water, peanut butter, molasses and canola oil in the bowl of a stand mixer. Slowly add the flour and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are combined and a dough forms. I did use my hand mixer which was fine – you might need to add some flour by hand.
Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and roll out to a 3/8-inch thickness. I love this rolling pin which gives me an even thickness. Cut out the shapes with a squirrel cookie cutter; use a toothpick to make the eyes and a knife to score the arms and legs.
Place the cookies scored-side down on the baking sheet. Place a second baking sheet on top to prevent air bubbles from forming. Bake 15 minutes, then remove the top baking sheet, flip the cutouts and continue baking, uncovered until just golden and slightly firm, 5 to 10 more minutes.
Turn off the oven and keep the treats in the oven to dry for 2 hours (this will allow all the moisture to evaporate completely). Remove from the oven and spread a small amount of peanut butter on the tail; sprinkle crushed peanuts into the peanut butter and press with your finger to get them to stick. Place in the refrigerator or freezer to set. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com
my three rescue pups want you to know they love this post! I don’t have a squirrel cutter so I will have to be creative with a sharp knife – very cute idea!
I think you did pretty good with a knife even though the squirrel’s mouth looks rather ferocious 🙂
I’m not a dog owner, but these look good. It’s a great idea for a gift to friends’ dogs. 🙂
I don’t have a dog now 🙁 but other family/friends do 🙂
they look so cute. i used to bake for our dogs; they loved homemade treats!
We’ve had a lot of dogs in the past from Lab/husky mix (Humane Society) miniature schnauzer and a yellow lab. No dog now but I thought these cookies were such a great idea – love the peanut tail 🙂
I know what is going into their stockings at Christmas this year! Thank you. All our dogs have made a game of trying to catch those pesky things that steal the seeds from our bird feeder. We had so many of them when we lived in Oakland (folks compared them to rats) but here on the coast I only see a few and they are gorgeous and fun to watch. They do tease the dogs though.
Thanks Liz – they are cute and the word is the dogs love them. We have lots of squirrels (everywhere in Michigan) – brown, black and small ones. The dogs love to chase them, the squirrels screech at them and to date no squirrel has ever been hurt 🙂
Shanna actually caught one, at least we think it was a squirrel as it was pretty mangled when we found it. They keep the dogs on their toes!