Make Home Made Dog Jerky Treats

This is going to be a long post, so if you're only interested in learning how to make home made jerky treats, scroll down to the bottom. What I would like to do, is show you how to make jerky treats at home that may be similar to Dogswell Happy Heart chicken breast treats, Mellow Mut chicken breast treats, and Breathies chicken breast treats. They all contain strips of chicken breast, but each variety is marinated with different ingredients.

Dogswell Happy Heart chicken breast treats ingredients: Chicken Breast, Flaxseed, Taurine, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Dandelion Oil, Vitamin E Supplement

Dogswell Mellow Mut chicken breast treats ingredients: Chicken Breast, Vitamin E Supplement, Chamomile, Clover, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Linden Flower, Oyster Shell Flour (Source of Calcium Carbonate)

Dogswell Breathies chicken breast treats ingredients: Oats, Barley, Brown Rice, Chicken, Dried Cane Molasses, Flaxseed, Potato Protein, Sweet Potatoes, Rice Bran, Canola Oil, Brewers Yeast, Natural Flavor, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Vitamin E Supplement, Parsley Flakes, Chlorophyll

You can make dog jerky treats as shown at the bottom of this post, but use the ingredient lists above as a guide to create a marinade. The inspiration of this post actually began almost a week ago when the owner of Kona Chips contacted CoCo the Blogging Dog about another post, in which I mentioned their company.

That post is here: Dog Freebies

They stressed the danger of made in China dog treats, and I've also learned that Dogswell dog food is not made in China, but all of their treats are! Kona Chips asked me to share the following information with my readers.

If you haven't visited Lacie's Site, I suggest you check it out at Lacie's Site, a website dedicated to a beautiful Cavalier puppy who died from chicken jerky from China. Also, other stories on pets who have become ill and/or died are included.

Do you feed your dog chicken jerky and if so, have you checked the label for country of origin? You should check the back of the label for 3 very small words, "Made in China". Did you know that most of the chicken jerky for dogs on the market today is made in China?

Have you heard that the FDA issued a new warning dated December 19, 2008?:
FDA complaints on chicken jerky

There's also a lot of information on our website about this product and a fun page too--please check out our Kudos page: Kona's Chips Kudos

Thank you!
Kona
Kona's Chips
www.konaschips.com

I agree with Kona for a variety of reasons, we should all be checking the label for made in China dog food or treats. The number one reason is China's track record with melamine tainted animal food, poisoned baby formula and toothpaste, dangerous baby toys, and shoddy low quality merchandise. One of my biggest personal reasons to boycott China, is the fact that they refuse to stop eating dogs and even skin dogs for their fur, and that's not something I want to support. If you would rather buy dog jerky treats, safely made in the USA, try Kona Chips. This is a reply back from Dogswell, in defense of their made in China dog treats.

Thank You for contacting us here at DOGSWELL®. I just wanted to reassure you that there is nothing to worry about. In no way are we affected or involved with this FDA warning.

The DOGSWELL® manufacturing facilities meet the highest and most strict sanitary conditions. All of our plants have HACCP programs, have received high scores by independent Third Party auditors, have strict raw ingredient standards and continuously check our products during processing and when they are finished to ensure they meet our high quality standards. Our wet food for dogs, our dry food for dogs and our biscuits are manufactured in the U.S. and our treats are manufactured in China . We regularly visit our manufacturing facilities to ensure the quality and safety of our products.

We don't determine our source country for ingredients based solely on the country of origin; we find the best quality ingredient combined with the highest quality supplier and testing specifications and select them. You can be confident that DOGSWELL® products are natural, high-quality and provide the best for your pet.

Please know we certify that our products are safe and clean with regular testing and ensure that our products meet high quality standards. We test product from each batch that is produced and have never had our results come back positive for ANY harmful ingredients such as cyanuric acid, melamine, e.coli and salmonella. Moreover, please note that no DOGSWELL® product contains milk powder.

We regularly test our products for any harmful contaminants and to ensure that they meet our quality standards. Along with an in-depth knowledge of our supply chain, our regular tests assure our customers that we are providing their pets with only the very best ingredients. Tests are conducted at independent, third-party, U.S. laboratories that follow FDA and APPMA-approved methodology. Please see attached for an example of test results for our treats; I have attached one of our HAPPY HIPS® products that were tested recently.

Our material suppliers are certified clean and clear of any contaminants. If raw ingredients do not meet their specifications and pass safety tests, then the ingredient is rejected immediately and never enters our processing facilities. Moreover, we strive to use products from suppliers that treat their animals humanely. Please see attached for an image of our chickens in their barn.

Please know that we honestly believe that pets are family too and we feed our products to our own pets regularly. Again, we test product from each batch that is produced and have never had our results come back positive for ANY harmful ingredients.

Dogswell is known for high quality products, and again, the line of dog food is strictly made in the USA. I'll still boycott the treats, as well as other made in China products, in protest for dogs that have been killed and skinned to make cheap made in China fur trinkets. Ughh, I knew this post would get long...:)

Now we get to the home made dog Jerky treats recipe. This is a recipe based on Mary Bell’s dehydrator book, but modified a bit for this post.

Basic Chicken Jerky

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
*optional - Trying adding ingredients to the marinade, like Dogswell treats. Such as dried cane molasses, flaxseed, peppermint, parsley, etc.

1. Cut the chicken into 5 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/4 inch thick.

2. In a bag, combine the oil, lemon juice, optional ingredients, and add chicken. Squeeze out the air in the plastic bag, making sure all the chicken surfaces are covered with marinade, and seal the bag. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 300F. Remove the chicken from the bag, place in a glass baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the baking dish, reserving the cooking juice, which can be used as a sauce. Let chicken cool.

4. Place the baked chicken strips on mesh sheets in the drying trays. Dry for about 6to 8 hours, depending on the style of dehydrator, until the strips are leathery.
Makes 4 to 5 ounces.

If you don't have a dehydrator, you can dry them in the oven at about 145F, but it will take at least 4-6 hours. If you're not a vegetarian, these are probably the only dog treats you'll ever be tempted to eat with your dog.