Its hot out, and your about to enjoy a cold delicious ice cream treat! You take a bite of your ice cream when you notice intense eyes… just staring at you. They are staring into your soul, you start to feel guilty. You take another bite, and now you sense they are judging you. Judging you like no being has ever done before… You try and take one more bite and you get a paw.. and the guilt kicks in.. the pup wants a frozen treat too!

Rather then giving them a bite of your sugar filled treat, have a stash of awesome frozen dog treats at your finger tips! This recipe can me made with either greek yogurt or with coconut milk to make it dairy free. Good unflavoured greek yogurt will be lactose free. Which is why it works so well for doggy ice cream. However if you want to avoid all dairy, then Coconut Milk is a great substitute.

I’ve been making ice cream, and variations of it for over 12 years. When I signed up for my first Dog Jog with the Calgary Humane Society, I decided to give away free ice cream. It was such a hit, it became our annual tradition!

First thing you need to decide, what are you freezing the doggy ice cream in? I suggest freezing it into serving sizes, this makes it easier to give the appropriate serving size for your pup. Just like us humans, dogs could indulge in to many treats! I use molds that hold anywhere from 1/2cup to 1tbsp. Keep note of how much is going into the molds, this way you can deduct it from their feeding routine.

Serving Container Ideas:

The first thing I would recommend is deciding on how much volume your pup should have. Is it a spoon or two? Or is is half a cup? Once you decide on volume, you will be able to figure out what containers you need to freeze the ice cream in.

• Muffin Pans
• Silicone molds from Amazon
• Ice Cube Trays
• Wash and reuse small yogurt containers

What kind of Ingredients can I use?

There are so many options! However you do want to avoid any foods that are toxic to dogs. Ingredients like raisins/grapes, chocolate, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, caffeinated foods/beverages and onions are a few of the most common foods to avoid! Lots of information out there, so do your research before you feed it to your pup.

Some additional foods that are great and easy to add to any of the below recipes:

• Mashes sweet potato
• Unseasoned Bone Broth
• Shredded or mashed carrots, beets, cucumber, Broccoli, Cauliflower
• Watermelon
• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Raspberries
• Peaches
• Shredded Coconut

How do you decide portion sizes? A good rule of thumb, the volume of treat you give them, should be removed from their daily feed. Just like us humans, too many calories results in some chunk!

The base of the ice cream is simple, and honestly freezing it on its own is a great treat for your dog! However adding a bit more too it is a rewarding experience for your dog and fun for you and your family to create! Here are a few of my favourite combinations!

Recipes

Apple Maple Bacon Doggy Ice Cream

• 1 cup greek unflavoured plain yogurt ( or 1 can of coconut milk)
• 1tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1/2 cup of shredded apples
• 2 slices of bacon cooked with bacon fat

Mix together all the above ingredients. Pour into designated freezer containers. Freeze for 24 hours and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Doggy Ice Cream

• 1 cup greek unflavoured plain yogurt ( or 1 can of coconut milk)
• 1 tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup
• 1/2 cup of pure Pumpkin*

Mix together all the above ingredients. Pour into designated freezer containers. Freeze for 24 hours and enjoy!

* do not use preseason pumpkin pie filling. Use plain pumpkin puree*

Peanut Butter Banana Carob Doggy Ice Cream

( looks like chocolate but isn’t!)

• 1 cup greek unflavoured plain yogurt ( or 1 can of coconut milk)
• 1 ripe mashed banana
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 3 tbsp of carob powder

Mix together all the above ingredients. Pour into designated freezer containers. Freeze for 24 hours and enjoy!

Final Thoughts

Always check your peanut butter labels. Sweeteners like Xylitol are extremely toxic to dogs. Always use a plain and unsweetened peanut butter! This goes for yogurts as well.

The combinations are endless! Always ensure you double check any ingredients used, so you are not giving something to your dog that might be unintentional harmful. Things like grapes, chocolate and artificial sweeteners are very bad for dogs.

Looking for edible items to make the the ice cream a little fancier? Try our sardines or beef liver treats to use as sprinkles! You can always add fresh berries, carrots, apples, a sprinkle of parmesan… to the pups dish when serving the frozen treat.

What flavour are you most excited to try? Did you come up with your own recipe? Would love to hear about it!