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Disclaimer: this is only a rough guide sharing tips from a fellow dog parent. I am by no means an expert in this area, so all tips here are based on estimation and my experience after lots of trial and error. Please consult with a vet or canine nutritionist for professional guidance. 

Hemlo there! 

Do YOU like dehydrated treatos? I certainly do! They’re super yummy, and also super healthy for us puppers. These delicious, natural and single-ingredient treats are a must have in my tum tum. However, sometimes my furiends’ hooman slaves say, “Mako! Why your supply like never ever run out?!” Well, firstly, I know how to order from bellyup.sg on my own by hypnotising mama with puppy eyes, but also, my mama home-makes a lot of my dehydrated treats. She likes doing it this way so that she knows exactly what goes into the treats she gives me, without any nasties or additives. It is better for my princely tummy, and really economical too if you buy raw food in bulk. Lastly, it is also a LOT of fun! Want to learn how to do it? Keep reading for Mako’s guide to making homemade dehydrated treatos! (Manual for hooman slaves of course, we puppers are just here to be fed)

What Can You Dehydrate?

Almost anything! My mama’s usual staples for me are the following:

Training Treats

1. Pork liver 

2. Pork kidney

3. Chicken breast or thigh

4. Lean beef 

5. Lean pork

6. Duck gizzard

7. Chicken gizzard

8. Salmon fillet 

Natural Chews 

1. Duck feet

2. Duck neck

3. Chicken feet

4. Chicken neck

Other Things You Can Try!

1. Beef or pork tendon

2. Chicken, pork or beef heart

3. Pork or beef lung

4. Fruits

5. Tripe (beware that this may stink up your house!)

What Do I Need?

You need a decent dehydrator machine. Mama does not recommend using an oven because it takes too long and is harder to regular than a machine designed for dehydrating. There are any inexpensive options on the market now. Mama uses a 14L Cornell Dehydrator (that she bought second hand from Carousell).

Then, you need the raw materials, such as your choice of raw meat/bone.

Temperature

It is imperative that you do NOT set the temperature too high or else you would be basically cooking the meat, which reduces the benefit of raw dehydrated treats! As a general guide, most meats should be dehydrated between 60-70C. Mama uses 65C in general. 

Time

This is highly dependent on your temperature settings, how much you have in the dehydrator, what you are dehydrating, and how thin your pieces are. The thinner the item, the faster it dehydrates. The thicker the item e.g. tendon and neck, the longer it will take to dehydrate thoroughly. 

A Rough Guide Mama Uses (But always double-triple check for doneness at the end!)

• Kidney and Liver: 8-12h

• Lean meat (chicken, pork beef) thinly sliced: 6-10h

• Duck/Chicken neck: 36-48h

• Duck/Chicken feet: 12-24h

• Gizzard: 12-16h

• Salmon (because it is very oily): 12-14h

The Process (and #lifehack tips from my mama to make your life easier)

Now, let me take you through the process of making the treatos! Make sure to command your hooman slaves well. Yummy treatos at stake here!

1. Preparing The Meat

Supervise your hooman. Mama’s protip: Do not cut fully frozen or fully thawed meat. You will cry.

Mama finds it to be good practice to give the meat a quick rinse in water before starting prep.

Now on to slicing…

#lifehack 1: Start slicing when the meat is semi-thawed. If fully frozen, it is too difficult to cut. However, when fully thawed, meat becomes too soft and this actually makes it really hard to cut thin slices. A partially thawed chunk of meat is soft enough to slice with a sharp knife but still holds enough shape to give you nice thin slices. 

Thin slices are ideal for the dehydrator because they will dehydrate quicker, more evenly, and give better results (crispy!).

Fully thawed portions - too soft to hold a shape

Result: slices are TOO thick. You can still dehydrate these, but they will take longer to dehydrate and will not be as crunchy for your pup. They will be more chewy instead! If your pup prefers chewy, then that’s fine, just be sure to dehydrate longer to make sure all pathogens are killed, especially those in the center of the thicker treat.

A semi thawed block of liver. Holds a firm shape well.

Result: more consistent, thin slices of pork liver.

#nowaste tip: if you have lots of thick chunks that wont dehydrate well, steam them and use them as meal toppers for your pup :) then dehydrate only the nice thin slices! 

That’s literally all here is to prep. Just keep slicing, just keep slicing~ 

2. Dehydrating

This part is pretty straightforward. Take your meat slices, and lay them out on the dehydrator treats. Pieces should be arranged in a single layer, without overlaps as much as possible. Please try to leave some gap between pieces so that water can escape better during the dehydration process!

Examples of how mama lays out the liver slices. (Process is similar with any meat)

Set your temperature and timer, and then leave it! And go play with your pupper :)

To check for doneness, from time to time, mama will open the dehydrator and (with clean hands) touch the treat pieces. If it is still bouncy, there’s too much moisture left. She will leave it for a little longer.

Once all pieces are dry to the touch throughout, that is when your treats are roughly done! To be sure, take out a test piece. Check that it is brittle and snaps easily. That is how you know you have a good crispy treato! If you drop it in a ceramic bowl, there should also be a ‘ping’ sound!

Wasn’t that easy? Now time to feed the pupper!!

Dehydrating Bone

This is very similar to dehydrating training treats, but even simpler (in mama’s opinion), because there is not much cutting involved at all!

Duck feet/chicken feet

As always, start with a good rinse. For neck and bones, you do not need to semi thaw. Fully thawed is fine. 

Look Ma! These things have claws! It is important that you declaw duck and chicken feet because the sharp nails may injure your pup when chewing. 

Simply take a pair of kitchen scissors and snip off the sharp bits.

Tada! It is now puppy safe!

Lay it out in the dehydrator. You may need to use fewer trays, as feet take up more vertical space. Once again, set and forget! 65C for 12-24h. It is done when the foot is dry to the touch and no longer bouncy in any spots. 

If you are dehydrating duck or chicken neck, it is even simpler as you don’t even have to declaw. Just rinse, and put it in the machine!

End product should be golden brown and dry to the touch.

Now the most important step: FEEDING ME!!!!!!!!

Hope this guide was helpful! From one pawrent to another, hope you enjoy this process as much as we do!

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xo
Nellie