The Magic of a Treat: A Dog’s Review of Pet-Friendly Baked Goods

Ma & Paws Bakery, a local holistic pet bakery, graciously provided SLUG with two dog-friendly treat recipes. Contributing Writer Katie Hatzfeld tested them out at home and her dog, Blue, shared his thoughts on the homemade treats that made his day the best day ever.

What a boring day, I thought from my bed in the living room, head resting against my paws. It was already midday and all I’d done so far was eat breakfast, told to “go potty” out in the rainy yard and cleaned my nails. Sigh. I looked over to my favorite toy, a corn-shaped squeaker with a green-stem rope, and halfheartedly picked it up. My human was in the kitchen, like she usually is, making banging noises and yummy-but-forbidden smells. She had told me “go to your bed” and then “stay,” but that was a while ago and I wanted to investigate.

I stood, stretched my legs and wandered into the kitchen, sniffing for crumbs. I reached my human, curious what was so interesting to her. I propped my nose on the edge of the counter, where the food lives, and smelled yogurt and peanut butter. She was mixing together scoops of the on-your-best-behavior snacks and a carton of blueberries lay open next to them. This counter was short to me, and without jumping I could’ve licked the whole bowl clean. My nose twitched. 

“I reached my human, curious what was so interesting to her.”

“Blue, out of the kitchen, bud,” my human said, glancing over at me. I took two steps back. Maybe she didn’t mean it. She turned and looked at me sternly. “Blue, out.” She pointed back toward my bed. Ugh. I walked over slowly, looking back halfway to see if she’d forgotten the command. Nope. Her blue eyes watched me. After a few minutes, I decided to go downstairs to the cool-tile hallway for a nap. I woke to the sound of my name. 

“Blue! Come here!” called my human. I bounded upstairs, wagging my tail when I saw her. She held a brown thing in her hand and my brain immediately thought, “TREAT!”

“I bounded upstairs, wagging my tail when I saw her.”

I sat as neat as I could, perking my ears forward for a new command. “Go to your bed,” she said. I leaped across the room and laid down on my bed, ready to jump up at any moment. “Good boy,” she said, and gave me the treat. 

It was bumpy and soft like a human cookie. I dropped it first to sniff: oats, applesauce, cinnamon and egg, I detected. I bit into it—YUM. The rest I almost swallowed in excitement and licked my lips, looking up at my human for another one. She walked back to the kitchen, opened the freezer and pulled out an ice cube tray. “Come,” she said, and I bounded to the kitchen, sitting at her feet. She handed me a cream-colored cube with a blueberry on top. The minute it hit my tongue, all I tasted was cold. I set it down and licked it curiously. Greek yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter. Even more yummy! I chewed it in the blink of an eye then cleaned the melted yogurt off the floor with a quick swipe of my tongue.

I looked back up at my human—she smiled and scratched my ears. “Wanna go to the park?” she asked. Yes, yes! I wagged my tail.

What a great day, I thought. 

Read more (human) food reviews:
Tamarind Vietnamese & Phở Kitchen: Fast and Furious Fusion
Late-Night Food for the Inebriated Soul: Tacos Don Rafa and Street Tacos