Ok, well, not just for the dogs! My 2 1/2 year old Saint Bernard and my 9 1/2 year old Great Dane are both vegan. Stillwell (the Saint) has been vegan for most of his life and I switched Belize over to a plant based diet about a year and half ago. I cannot justify killing an animal to feed an animal and if I won't eat something I am surely not going to feed it to my dogs.
There are a couple of sound vegan dog foods on the market; V Dog (http://www.v-dogfood.com/) is probably one of the best, though hard to find so I often feed Natures Recipe Healthy Skin Vegetarian formula because I can large bags of it nearby. With more than 300 total pounds of dog, you can imagine I go through some big bags.
Like so many times when we want treats and our outside choices are limited, dog cookies are loaded with horrifying additives and animal products. Milk Bones are certainly not on the menu, I wouldn't give them those if they weren't vegan. I love my dogs and want to spoil them as much as anyone, so after visiting some dog bakeries I have come up with a vegan dog cookie that is tasty (Yes, I tried it...), nutritious, easily made with items already in your pantry, and adaptable for any size dog.
Stillwell's favorite cookie (He's the finicky one!)
*You can make more or less of these proportions, the recipe is very flexible.
2 cups Rolled Oats
1/4 cup Blackstrap Molasses
1 cup Natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8-1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 Tablespoons vegan cane sugar
3 Tablespoons unbleached flour
Hot water (if needed)
Preheat oven to 375f
Mix everything in a large mixing bowl until it is a thick, chunky paste. Form into balls applicable to the size of your dog (mine are ping pong ball size), placing onto parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet and bake until browned and dry looking on the outside.
If the cookies don't form easily into balls add VERY small amounts of hot water to the mix and reattempt.
Cool on rack completely and store in an airtight container high away from the reach of your dogs.
They love these cookies! Please let me know what additions you made and share a photo of your furry friends!
