Flea Terminator Dog Treats Recipe March 24, 2009

I came across these two recipes for dog treats that also prevent fleas.

Enjoy!

Flea Terminator Dog Treats

3 cubes beef bouillon
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup brewers’ yeast
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Dissolve beef bouillon cubes in boiling water, and set aside. Grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, corn meal, brewers yeast, and garlic powder. Add the yolks, then gradually pour in the bouillon water while stirring. Mix thoroughly to form a firm dough. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies one inch apart onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn the oven off, and leave the cookies inside for at least 3 hours or overnight to harden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Did you know?
Brewers yeast (available at health-food stores) is a natural anti-flea remedy. A half teaspoon of nutritional brewer’s yeast daily can provide the B complex vitamins a dog needs. Dr. Michael Fox recommends brewer’s yeast or nutritional yeast (but not baker’s yeast), giving 1 teaspoon per 30 pounds of body weight mixed with the animal’s food.

Flea Hater’s Dog Biscuits

1 cup flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup brewer’s yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
optional 1 clove garlic chopped, or 1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock plus 3 tablespoons for basting

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Mix flour, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a mixing bowl, combine oil and garlic. Alternately add 1/2 cup chicken stock and flour mixture in 3 parts; mix until well combined. Knead about 2 minutes by hand on floured surface; dough will be sticky.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out about 3/8 inch thick. Cut out bone shapes; place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, rotate baking sheet, and baste with remaining 3 tablespoons chicken stock. Bake 10 minutes longer. Turn off oven, leaving oven door closed. Leave pan in oven for 1 1/2 hours longer

Essential Oils for Flea/Tick Control March 23, 2009

Many of you already know that I use a variety of essential oils in household cleaning, laundry care and to meet the health needs of my family.

But I’m also learning how to apply those same essential oils to caring for our family pets as well.

It’s Spring here on the Plateau and the dogs are romping outside for most of the day. So flea and tick control have been on my mind quite a bit lately.

I started researching tick prevention and came across this list of essential oils that are recommended for tick prevention….apply to the cloth collar of your pets weekly or a few drops between the shoulder blades….I’m a little hesitant to do the 2nd one without diluting the essential oil with some kind of other oil…like olive or almond oil (almond oil contains sulfur which is also a natural insect repellent). The recipes recommended that you apply a few drops directly but I know how powerful these oils can be and how in their undiluted form can irritate the skin so use your discretion. If you notice that your pet seems uncomfortable after an application of pure essential oil, try diluting the next dosage with olive or almond oil.

Tick repellent essential oils: lavender, rose geranium, palmerosa (cheaper than rose geranium and just as effective), tickweed (not recommended for use around pregnant women)

Flea repellent oils: lavender, cedarwood, lemongrass, peppermint, rosemary, thyme, tea tree, wintergreen, citronella

Also adding nutritional yeast, brewer’s yeast and garlic to your dogs diet can help reduce fleas and tick’s. Only give the amount of garlic that you would to “season” food….too much raw garlic can be harmful. An alternative is to feed garlic tablets to your dog. Raw garlic is not recommended for cats or kittens.

I add a little bit of apple cider vinegar to our cats and dogs water dishes as fleas do not like the smell or taste of vinegar. Also rubbing their (dogs)  coats with apple cider vinegar after bathing will deter fleas and make for shiny coats.