400g Wild Salmon
180g Sweet Potato
70g Cauliflower
50g Pumpkin Seeds
1 tbs. Greek Basil
(any basil is fine)
5 Dried Olive Leaves
(or 1 tsp of ground olive
leaf)
1 drop CBD oil per cookie
Place the salmon into a bowl, grate the sweet potato (skin too) and add to your mixing bowl, roughly chop the cauliflower, break up the olive leaves, chop the Greek basil and add to the mixture.
Using a pestle and mortar or small blender, break up the pumpkin seeds until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add the pumpkin seeds to the rest of the mixture.
Mix everything together, using your hands worked well for us or use a mixer on low speed with a dough hook. Think of the mixture as a meat dough!
Pop the mixture into the fridge for 30 mins to firm up the mixture slightly, making it easier to handle.
Knead the mixture until everything sticks together well. The smell from the Greek Basil should be heavenly!
Now add the mixture to your chosen baking mould. We used a mini rectangular mould available from Lakeland (UK). Our mould made 24 treats, 32.2 x 24.2 x 2.4 cm. You can make them any shape or size that you wish. However, thinner than half an inch will be quicker to dry/dehydrate and ensure that the centre reaches the desired temperature.
Press the mixture firmly into the mould.
Place the moulded mixture into a preheated oven at 70c (158F). We cooked ours at this low temperature for around 5 hours, different size shapes will take less or more. Test that most of the moisture has evaporated, they should be hard and chewy on the inside but not crisp enough to snap.
Put the cooked treats on to a wire cooling rack. As the cookies are cooling, place ONE DROP of CBD oil onto each.
Allow to cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge. Alternatively freeze for 3 months. Technically, dehydrated foods can keep for a long time without spoilage. However, as many of you may be unsure of retained moisture content, or maybe some of you wanted a fresher treat and dehydrated for less time, you may wish to use within 5 days.
This recipe has been created in collaboration with my dear friend and colleague Canine Integrative Wellness Practitioner Junior Hudson at Heal The Dog
The cookies are (on a dry matter basis/without moisture)
43% Protein
30% Carbohydrate (of which 6% is fiber)
15% Fat
12% Ash
376 kcal per 100g. Weigh your dried cookies to estimate kcal per cookie.
This particular formula was put together primarily to maximize the following;
L-Tryptophan amino acid, (sole precursor to
Serotonin).
EPA/DHA/DPA Omega 3 acids, these acids are hugely important for neurological function and have been associated with improved mood, reduced anxiety, and cognitive enhancement.
Zinc & Magnesium, 2 important minerals for neurological balance and serotonin support.
CBD, efficient in reducing anxiety and calming (amongst many other properties).
Serotonin has been found to boost mood, reduce anxiety, impulsivity and aggression.
L-Tryptophan content in recipe 3.1g (Dry Matter)
Salmon 2.5g
Sweet Potato 261mg
Pumpkin Seeds 250mg (High amount in just 50g)
Cauliflower 200mg
Olive Leaf & Basil 2.5mg
EPA/DHA/DPA Acids
21g
As has been mentioned previously in articles by Junior, L-Tryptophan faces difficulty in reaching the brain and boosting serotonin. It has to compete with the many stronger amino acids present in the protein. For this reason, it’s important to include moderate carbohydrate content, carbohydrates favorably assist L-Tryptophan uptake.
CBD
Use THC FREE or below the legal limit of 0.2%
We used a product containing 280mg CBD. Each cookie contains 1 drop which is 1.4mg CBD
It’s important that you know the CBD content of the brand you use and therefore know the content in your cookies. It’s not possible for us to recommend dosages, appropriate amounts of CBD to feed will vary per dog, weight specifics etc.
CBD can interfere with the mechanisms of some medications.
In the UK, Veterinary approval MUST be sought before using CBD.
These cookies can be made with or without CBD oil.
THIS RECIPE IS NOT FOR COMMERCIAL USE OR FOR SHARING
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