SUMMER Recipes

featured chef: @sit.forest.sit

The dog days of summer: green grass, sprinkler chomps, big shady naps, and maybe even a roadtrip. These snacks cover all the bases, from keeping pups cool on hot days to tempting their tastebuds after the sun goes down.




Canadian Bacon Campfire Cup

Is that a tiny campfire in a cup?! It is indeed, and it practically crackles with smoky bacon logs, toasty sweet potato and carrot flames, and crunchy kibble embers. Serve this one under the stars. (Or in the living room at lunch, dogs will still be stoked.)

Download / Print Recipe
Ingredients & Materials
  • 2-5 pieces of Crumps Natural Sweet Potato Chews (these are sliced, dehydrated pieces of sweet potato with a leathery texture for chewing)
  • 2-3 slices of Carrot
  • 1 Canadian Bacon Treats from Farm Fresh Pet Foods
  • 1 Small cookie treat
  • 1/2 C Kibble
  • 1 tsp Peanut Butter and Banana Creamy Treat from West Paw*
  • 1/4 C Grass-Fed Beef Gently Cooked Recipe from Open Farm
  • Large or small Toppl®

*Look for natural brands without xylitol, which is toxic to dogs.

FEATURING

Toppl®
Puzzle Toys
Directions
  1. First, fill the side hole in the Toppl® with peanut butter and your choice of small cookie treat. Freeze to seal.
  2. Remove Toppl from the freezer and fill halfway with kibble. (If you feed raw, swap in dehydrated treats instead.)
  3. Fill up the rest of the Toppl to the rim with wet or raw food.
  4. Let’s get this fire started! Arrange the sweet potato chews on top to look like flames, pushing them into the wet food for stability.
  5. Cut the carrots into small triangles. Arrange them in front of each piece of sweet potato.
  6. Place kibble around the edge of the Toppl to mimic embers.
  7. Cut the smoky bacon stick treats into 4 pieces, popping them in to look like logs poking up out of the flames.
  8. Feed fresh or frozen, with s’mores for the chef.

Wellness Woof!

Toppl’s our top pick for newbie puzzlers—and chefs! The wide-open end makes it easy for chefs to put food in AND for dogs to get it out, but it still slows taste-testers down just enough for a fun challenge.

Red, White, & Blueberry

In our Declaration of Decadence, we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all dogs deserve this yummy summer number, and that it tastes just as good on regular days as holidays. Chill sweet fruit, tangy yogurt, and savory meat treats into one cool firecracker of a feast.

Download / Print Recipe
Ingredients & Materials
  • 15 Freeze-Dried Raw Beef Heart Treats from West Paw
  • 15 pieces of PureBites Freeze-Dried Cheddar Cheese
  • 5 Tbsp Plain yogurt
  • 3 Blueberries
  • 1/2 Red bell pepper
  • 1 slice of Dragonfruit or kiwi (without the skin)
  • Star-shaped cookie cutter or ice cube mold
  • Large or small Tux®

FEATURING

Tux®
Puzzle Toys
Directions
  1. Stuff Tux full of freeze-dried cheese and West Paw Beef Heart Freeze-Dried Raw Treat.
  2. Use a spoon to cover the treats with yogurt.
  3. Take 3 blueberries and place them in the yogurt (or 4, it’s a free country).
  4. Peel dragonfruit and cut a ½ inch slice. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out 1 star shape.
  5. Cut red bell pepper in half and remove seeds. Use the cookie cutter to cut out two stars. For a sweet substitute, you could blend up some strawberries and freeze in a star-shaped mold.
  6. Arrange stars on top of the Tux. Push lightly into yogurt to keep them in place.
  7. Serve frozen to cool off your pup and slow their snarf.

Wellness Woof!

Here’s how to soothe firework anxiety: start by giving dogs a puzzle treat while playing a recording of fireworks softly in the background, months before firework season. Imperceptibly turn up the volume with every treat session. With time and patience, your dog might just associate fireworks with food fun—and be as chill as this treat.

Char-Cutie-rie

Who wants a charcuterie board when you can make a charcuterie flower? First off, edible flowers are adorable, but more importantly, Rumbl helps doggoes slow down and savor all the fancy flavors. And isn’t that the point of an upscale spread like this?

Download / Print Recipe
Ingredients & Materials

FEATURING

Rumbl®
Puzzle Toys
Directions
  1. Plug the side hole in the Rumbl with a West Paw Beef Heart Freeze-Dried Treat.
  2. Fill Rumbl with freeze-dried cheddar cheese and West Paw Beef Heart Freeze-Dried Treat. If your dog is dairy-free or on a diet, swap the cheese for kibble.
  3. Cut orange bell pepper in half and remove seeds and stem. Using a small, sharp knife, cut out 7 petals.
  4. Squeeze West Paw Peanut Butter and Banana Creamy Treat over the opening of the Rumbl.
  5. Arrange the petals into a flower, lightly pressing them into the peanut butter to keep them in place.
  6. Add a dab of Creamy Treat in the center of the flower.
  7. Place blueberries in the center of the flower.
  8. Present your banquet bouquet with a flourish.

Chef’s Best Friend

We made our bouncy, wobbly Rumbl to surprise dogs when treats sporadically come out, but really? Chefs win too, with Rumbl’s easy-loading, slow-feeding, dishwasher-safe capabilities.

Piña Cookie Colada

This one’s for those blazing hot days that just smell like sunscreen—you know the ones. When you’re hitting the beach, a boat, the back deck, or just keeping your fuzzbud cool under your desk, fix ‘em this chilled concoction: the treat-toy equivalent of a fruity umbrella drink.

Download / Print Recipe
Ingredients & Materials
  • 1 Pouch Peanut Butter and Banana Creamy Treat from West Paw
  • 1 slice Pineapple
  • 1 Mango
  • 2 strips Canine Country Chews Duck jerky
  • 3 Small Fruitables cookie treats
  • 1/4 C Plain unsweetened yogurt
  • Large or small Qwizl®

FEATURING

Qwizl®
Puzzle Toys
Directions
  1. Peel and core pineapple, then slice into thin strips.
  2. Slice duck jerky into thin strips.
  3. Stuff the pineapple and jerky into the ends of the Qwizl.
  4. Peel mango and cut two small strips. Stuff into the slots in the Qwizl.
  5. Squeeze West Paw Peanut Butter and Banana Creamy Treat into each end of the Qwizl. Keep the toy as level as possible to prevent drips.
  6. Use a spoon to fill one of the slots in the Qwizl with yogurt. This will help keep the decorative cookies in place.
  7. Arrange cookies across the yogurt.
  8. You don’t have to freeze it, but if you do, it can help cool down your pooch and keep them busy a bit longer.

Healthful Hint!

Peanut butter has gotten a bad rap because some brands are sweetened with xylitol, which is toxic to dogs. But, our Peanut Butter and Banana Creamy Dog Treat leverages all of the healthy benefits of peanuts (like potassium, vitamin C, and B6) in a completely safe, easy-dispense package.



A few intrepid canine culinary explorers posted on Instagram, just for fun—and when we stumbled onto their accounts, this cookbook was born. Now, dogs are hungry for more. Post your creation and tag @WestPawUS.



SUMMER RECIPES BY

Jessica, Lola, & Forest

As a wildlife biologist, Jessica’s expertise in animal behavior led her down a delicious path—of crafting edible enrichment art for enthusiastic taste-testers Lola (an American Foxhound) and Forest (a Black and Tan Coonhound). The kitchen crew lives in Canada with Jessica’s husband (who won’t taste the treats but can be coerced into a two-month camping trip.)

@sit.forest.sit