Casper's favourite home-made treats.. Sardinos!

Kate Hart
Sep 10, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Nov 7, 2022

I am often asked at training sessions "What do you use for treats?" Especially when my clients lovely dogs appear to be drawn not to me, but rather the contents of my treat bag!

With the cost of living rising, it is reassuring to know that whilst you can cut down on the cost of treats by making your own.. you don't need to cut down down on the quality! Making your own treats also means you know exactly what goes in them..

Knowing what goes into your dog treats is important, especially if you need to monitor your dogs diet, for example due to weight or intolerance to certain proteins. It isn't easy trying to read the small print on the pack of packets, trying to figure out if they will be good or not for our dog. So it makes good sense for us to make our own. Using healthy ingredients which also happen to be our dog's favourite foods is a bonus. Sardinos are most definitely Casper's favourite treats!

A little bit about Casper..

Casper arrived as a foster from Ireland around 8 years ago aged 6, a foster from Black Retriever X Full of character, desperate for affection and very anxious if left alone. He was also over-reactive to everything. It took a while to help him feel safe and settled. After a period of adjustment, Casper decided our cottage here at My Hart Dog was to be his home and who were we to argue?

Casper was also a skilled Houdini..

We had been warned about this particular habit before he arrived. Given half a chance, he would leg it after getting a whiff of an interesting scent. There was one memorable occasion when on one of his impromptu field trips, he found the carcass of a deer. I found him deep in our local wood, don't ask me how long he had been there, but he was HUGE! Like a barrel. It took a good couple of days for things to get back to normal, and in the meantime we all suffered his terrible wind.

Despite his incorrigible nature, we have learned just to accept him as he is. We love the very bones of him.

Sardinos recipe

Casper would like me to share the recipe, a tasty and smelly morsel that all our dogs love and great to use as high value training treats.

You will need

A non-stick baking tray lined with greaseproof paper will do the trick

Blender or food processor.

Ingredients

3 tins sardines in spring water or olive oil, you can use any tinned oily fish. You can buy these cheaply at any good supermarket for around 50p a tin.
2 medium free range eggs or one large egg.
100g flour of your choice, I use spelt but you can use anything, or you can swap out spelt flour for rice or coconut flour instead.
40g parmesan cheese - for that extra oomph!
Pinch of garlic ( optional )
1/2 cup of water ( approx. )

Options

Add a teaspoon of golden paste ( turmeric ) if you have an oldie like us!

Spare veggies? You can add those too! Bit of grated carrot goes down well.

You will also need a food processor or a blender. I just zap everything in a Nutribullet

Method

Throw all the ingredients into your food processor or blender. Aim for a gloopy texture. If it looks a bit thick, just add a little extra water. You just need it to spread easily for the next step.

Next, pour the mixture into your baking tray. I like a depth of around 1cm.

Place in a medium oven for around 20 minutes or until golden brown.

When ready, leave to cool before cutting into approx. 1cm squares. If you want to crisp them a bit more you can pop back into the oven for a few minutes after you have cut them into desired shapes.