Forgot a gift for your dog loving friend?

Did you forget to buy any Christmas gifts for your dog loving friends? Or, perhaps you didn't have time to finish your Christmas shopping before Christmas.

Here's a perfect, thoughtful, fun gift: a homemade dog ID tag. 

I originally found this idea on Martha Stewart's Website, but after making a few from her template, I decided to design my own. If you're in a hurry, use the template off of Martha's Stewart's site. If you have some design skills, have a try yourself.

Here's what you need.

• Shrinky Dinks shrinkable plastic. I bought mine at Michaels. Look for the type that works with your printer. If you have a coupon for Michaels, this project will be even more economical. 
• Printer
• Hole punch
• Scissors (decorative to make these have more flair)
• Brown paper bag
• Cookie sheet
• Oven, conventional or convection

Directions:

Download or design your own template. I designed mine in Adobe Illustrator. The large tags were about 2.5" in diameter. Lighter colors seemed to work best.  Template designed in Adobe Illustrator
Print your template onto the Shrinky Dink plastic. Be sure to adjust your print settings to what's recommended by the printable plastic you're using.
Cut out the designs with regular or decorative scissors
BE SURE TO PUNCH HOLES IN THEM BEFORE BAKING (I had problems remembering this step). A regular hole punch will be sufficient.
Preheat the oven to the recommended temperature, between 275-325 degrees. I used 290 degrees.
Cut a grocery bag that is large enough for the cut tags. Place it on a cookie sheet and place the shrinky dink with the printed side up.
Bake for 3-5 minutes. The shrinky dink goes through a crazy transformation where it curls and then lays flat again. If the edges touch each other, you will not get them apart. This happened a few times for me when the oven temperature wasn't high enough.
Take the tags out of the oven and press flat. We used a notepad and pressed our weight on them for about 30 seconds. With a bit of luck, you'll have a cute, practical gift for your dog loving friends.

 Homemade Dog Biscuits. A Great Holiday Treat 

Ok. So you’ve bought every toy, treat, and gizmo for your furry best friend and you’re wondering what to put in his stocking. Or maybe you’ve been looking for a unique gift for that friend or family member’s pup. How about making your best friend some homemade dog treats or giving your friends and family an easy to make dog treat mix in a mason jar, with a dog or bone shaped cookie cutter attached?

 In this blog post, I provide a delicious recipe for dog treats and share how to package them so they look extra special/cute for your friends and family.

We used the recipe from the following site: http://www.thekitchn.com/cookies-for-canines-homemade-d-135078 

How long will it take?
The first question will probably be how long will it take to make these cookies for your dog or how long will it take to put all the ingredients into a mason jar.

The answer: not very long.
If you choose to go for the Mason jar method it will take about 25-30 min.
To bake the cookies and put them in a cute doggie bag will take less than an hour.

The Procedure
First, decide which gift you want to give. If for your own pup, then obviously you’ll just make the treats, and put them in a cute bag under the tree (if they make it that far). But if you want to save some time or give this gift to multiple people, then the Mason jar and cookie cutter is a great option.

Mason Jar and Cookie Cutter Option 
Decide on what recipe you want to use. The one we use to make the cookies in this blog is shown below. We have also included some links to other great recipes including some vegan and wheat free options.
                                    What you’ll need:

• 32oz mason jar 
• 1 piece of 4 X 4 fabric 
• Cookie cutter, preferably dog themed. Here are some we found
• http://www.gooddogexpress.com/page/GDPEI/CTGY/CC 
• http://www.k9cakery.com/Dog-Bone-Cookie-Cutters_c_91.html 
• Raffia or ribbon 
• Gift tag 
• The ingredients listed below. 

  

The Recipe:
If you’re baking the cookies

• Preheat the oven to 300°F. 
• Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line them with parchment paper.

If you’re going the Mason jar route, put the following ingredients in a bowl one at a time and then pour each ingredient individually into the Mason jar to achieve the layered look shown in the pictures. It also helps if you use some type of funnel or a piece of paper with a crease in the middle to transfer the dry ingredients into the jar.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour 
• 1 cup White Flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley – stir these ingredients together before putting in mason jar. 
• 1 cup rolled oats, regular or quick 
• 1/2 cup Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk 

After you’ve put all the ingredients into the jar, find a cool piece of fabric and use that as the lid instead of the flat metal part of the lid. Put the fabric on the jar and screw the threaded part of the lid over the fabric.

Baking Instructions

Next get a card large enough to write the baking instructions on them.

• Preheat oven to 300F •
• Pour dry ingredients in to the large mixing bowl •
• Add 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup peanut butter 
• Stir to combine 
• Add 1/2 cup + 1-2 tbsp. water stir 
• Bake for 40-60 min or until brown and crispy

 Attach card and cookie cutter to top of the jar with the raffia or ribbon if giving the Mason Jar or put your biscuits in a homemade bag. 

Scared of Thunder

If your dog is like many, the Fourth of July is pure torture and summer thunderstorms make your dog pant harder than after a 2 hour mountain bike ride. One approach is to desensitize your pet to the sounds of thunder. Buy a cd of storms and play it softly. You might try pairing the noise with a treat or favorite toy. Gradually increase the volume over time. If this doesn't help and your dog is so petrified that the house is being torn apart or your dog is harming himself, contact a vet.