# making your own treat



## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

wife and i got a nice 4 tray (Excalibur) dehydrator late last summer as a present
since i feed raw i wanted to try it out for drying raw treats
wondering if anyone else does this 
(busy, lazy and didn't search)

so far it has worked out nice for me 
basically i just load the trays after i cut em up as before, except the cuts are a bit bigger to allow for shrinkage
- no real extra effort ... 
been starting with beef and chicken and playing around with drying times
- too long and too hard; too short and they are not as easy to handle, but i'm getting it dialed in pretty good now
- only probs have been sometimes the dogs tend to chew too long which breaks concentration when i'm training with food.....maybe too "done", too big, or maybe they just like to "savor" em longer ?? // lol

- of course the dogs luv em and there isn't anything mixed/added that might have come from China 
- if anyone does this and has good ideas i'd like to hear about it
TIA....happy holidays !


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Use heavy kitchen shears to cut up the dried jerky into smaller bits =less chewing.


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

Rick we have been doing it for a couple years. Make jerky out of all kinds of scraps deer, beef, turkey, pork roast....if we spot some meat in the mark down isle we grab it and use it. 

we do like Lynn suggested and snip it up using those heavy shears.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

don't think i was clear
i never give a dog a whole strip of jerky, only 4 training treats, kibble size

but I've ben cutting to size b4 i dry em since they seemed to dry quicker if they were cut small first

but i can do it "human jerky size strips" and cut later ...Tx


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

some trivia.... 
one thing that has surprised me is that my dog will go for the dried piece of chicken over a cooked piece (lightly braised in a skillet w/ no oil, seasoning, etc) piece every time

both were from the same cut of chicken and about the same size and nothing added to either one
...maybe the crunch factor makes it more desirable 
...doubt he can tell which has more enzymes or nutritional value, but thot u lose some "value" when cooking 

may try dried vs cooked vs raw if i get the time


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