Dog Biscuits Past and Present

Today you can find dog treats in many different flavors some with icing or carob coating, sprinkles and they all look delicious. Wonder who they are selling these to, you or your dog. It was not always this way of the modern dog baker. At one time the choices were not so plentiful but the history of the dog biscuit is interesting never the less. By definition dog biscuits are made in a similar fashion as biscuits for humans with mainly the same ingredients with a harder texture.

Originally Dog's Bread was a term to describe bread that was not fit for human consumption and comes from the times of the Romans. In the mid 1800's a dog food was made in England from a mixture of grain and vegetables giving regular dog owners an alternative to feeding their dogs barley meal.  Barley meal  is not very nutritious for dogs and cannot by itself maintain dog health. So in Maidenhead in 1828 Mr. Smith's dog-biscuit dog food was manufacture red and sold as a supplement to giving the dog meat and bones that sometimes could not be afforded by regular people. Soaking the dog food and mixing with fat or meat gave the nutrition dogs needed to maintain energy, good coats and skin.

An electrical engineer by the name of James Spratt from Ohio but working in England observe red some dogs eating hardtack, a very hard bread product taken as staple on voyages by sailing crews. His observation spawned "Spratt's Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes" likely the first commercially available dog food.

Quickly competition was born the most famous being a F. H. Bennett who produced Maltoid Dog Biscuits which later, after Bennett formed his biscuits into the shape of a bone, became "Maltoid Milk Bones" due to milk being an ingredient in the dog biscuits and the predecessor of Milk Bone Dog Biscuits. In 1931 Bennett was bought out by the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco).

Present day dog biscuits are sold and marketed as gourmet items. Heck I've tried many as they look pretty good sometimes but mostly are bland in taste. The gourmet dog biscuits are pushed by marketing the most famous of recent being the Three Dog Bakery started by a couple of guys who loved their three dogs. Their bio is a wonderful story of building a business doing what you love. There are many books in the stores that have recipes for homemade dog biscuits and other wonderful treats for you pups. Bake some for your dog and give a little extra to your best friend.

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional but good for the breath)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl or table top mixer. Add the chicken stock and mix until an even bread dough like consistency is achieved. This doesn't take too long.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Turn dough out on floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Use cookie cutter of your choice to cut shapes out, or roll into small balls and flatten with a fork to a cookie shape.

Bake for fifteen minutes and let cool. Store finished dog biscuits in dry, air tight container.

If you want a harder texture cut off oven and leave in overnight (six to eight hours).