Delight your pup with holiday home-baked treats

I’ve made some new pals.

They are the happy sort, smart and energetic, and they never lick my face with their big, baloney-like tongues.

So when I saw a bone-shaped cookie cutter in a local kitchen shop, I scratched out the “bag of old tennis balls” note on my holiday gift list and decided instead to make something in the kitchen for my yellow Lab pals.

Until then, it had never occurred to me to bake for animals, but a search for instructions revealed that many others have. Online are recipes that dogs would drool over – Apple Cinnamon Drops, Puppy Pretzels, Snickerpoodles, Oatmeal Liver Cookies, Banana Mutt Cookies … the list goes on and on.

Dog-bone-shaped cookie cutter in hand, I looked for a recipe that specified rolling out a sheet of dough and cutting it into shapes, like making gingerbread men. Beefy Bacon Biscuits at www.hungrymutt.com fit the bill.

In my kitchen, I plugged in the stand mixer and heaped whole-wheat flour, powdered milk and baking powder into the stainless steel bowl. I opened a can of beef consomme and beat an egg in a teacup.

As I scraped out three tablespoons of bacon grease, making sure to get the bits of bacon that had settled to the bottom, I couldn’t help but think: I’m doing this for dogs?

The thought resurfaced when I reached for the vanilla extract, an ingredient in the second recipe, Banana Biscotti. For dogs? I marveled.

And as my kitchen filled with the scent of baking beef cookies, I couldn’t help but wonder again: For dogs?

Why not, said Tracy Tuten, assistant professor of marketing at East Carolina University. Intrigued by Tuten’s research at Virginia Commonwealth University, I called her one night and she answered, her Samoyed Leia by her side.

“For people who are really serious about their pets, they are part of the family,” said Tuten, who studied why people give gifts to pets and how those gifts are viewed by owners. “If you would acknowledge their children, you should not forget to acknowledge their pets.”

An Associated Press poll this year found that 52 percent of pet owners planned to give gifts to pets this year, up from 48 percent last year. And that’s despite plans to spend less overall this holiday season.

Tuten said my home-baked, dog-bone-shaped biscuits and biscotti would rate especially high with owners because the treats not only are useful but also required a commitment of time.

But how would they rate with the recipients?

I brought a Beefy Bacon Biscuit over to Bob, a friend’s puggle. Bob had just eaten a whole almond from the kitchen floor, but he shunned the Beefy Bacon Biscuit! “He’s a vegetarian,” his owner explained sheepishly. “He won’t eat bacon.”

Who knew such an animal existed?

The next day, I brought a plate of Beefy Bacon Biscuits and Banana Biscotti for a critique from Basil and Lily, my yellow Labrador pals who frolic in Virginia Beach. “Make them sit first,” said Dallas Ritter, their owner.

“Sit,” I said, holding a Beefy Bacon Biscuit high in each hand.

A bit of frantic panting ensued, as Basil and Lily sat, shiny black noses turned up in extreme anticipation. When I released the bone-shaped biscuits, they vanished immediately.

Happy holidays, pups!

Lorraine Eaton, (757) 446-2697, lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com