Spoiling your dog with treats can be unhealthy and expensive. The cheap treats you can find on any shelf tend to have a mix of ingredients that can do more harm than good. It’s not hard or time consuming to create your own treats at home, and you probably already have everything you need!

As we approach the change of seasons, you may want to include pumpkin - because, well, it’s just that time of year! Take your pick from these simple, no-bake (or simple to bake) treat recipes and spoil your dog guilt-free as often as you’d like!

My pup loves anything and everything, and she is run 2-5 miles every day, so I seriously feel no guilt tossing her several treats a day. The kids spent an afternoon in the kitchen with me this week, and we whipped up bags full of treats for our furbaby! These were the favorites (and easiest) out of all of the recipes we tried.

Simple, Easy-to-Make Dog Treats

One thing to note: Make sure that any peanut butter you use does not contain Xylitol.

Sizzling Eats has a recipe for “No-Bake Pumpkin Dog Treats” that our dog flipped over.  They can be stored for 5 days in an air-tight container and have so many nutrients and dense ingredients that 2-3 a day should be enough to keep your pup happy without tipping the scale! Bonus points: My kids tasted and loved these treats, too!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 1/2 cups oats rolled/old fashion oats are fine
• 1/4 cup Honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon 

VegAnnie has a delicious recipe worth whipping up! Banana Oatmeal Cookies for your furbaby are a sure hit. My kids thought we were making them for ourselves (and may have sampled them!). They are vegan, gluten-free, low-fat, oil-free, and contain no added sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup gluten-free quick oats
• 1/2 banana

That’s it. There’s no way that you don’t have an over-ripe banana and some quick oats laying around! You smash your banana up, stir in the oats, and make a few treat-sized balls. You’ll bake them quickly and let them cool before storing them (or eating them yourself). 

Sunny Day Family has created a recipe easy enough for my 5 year old to recreate. These No-Bake Chicken Broth Treats are great for training, hiding pills, or just for easy snacks. Again, my kids *may* have sampled them before our dog. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon quick oats
• 1 Tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 Teaspoon water or chicken broth

My kids had no problem mixing this into a dough and rolling little balls with it. They pressed their thumbs into each one to make thumbprints, and I don’t think our furbaby minded at all.

My Brown Newfies has modified a recipe that we enjoyed recreating. Her “No-Bake Pumpkin, Ginger, and Oat Dog Treats” are simple, quick, and dog-approved. These can last up to a week in an air-tight container in the fridge, and months in the freezer. We made a large batch, and our pup loves them frozen - just make sure you make them small enough to not be choked on!

After mixing the ingredients, my kids rolled them into bite-sized balls. We refrigerated them overnight and sampled them the next day!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 can of canned pumpkin. Just plain pumpkin not the pumpkin pie mix.
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup of old-fashioned oats.
• 1/4 tsp of ginger
• Optional-parsley for topping.