I have to admit that I didn’t make these Breath Freshening Dog Treats {Homemade Grain-Free Greenies} for our beloved dog, Hercules. I made these for my little sister, Bella. Hercules doesn’t have bad breath and honestly he has never even had a “Greenie” dog treat, but he was more than glad to be my taste tester!
The first 30+ years of my life I was an only child. I guess Bella would classify as one of those change-of-life babies for my parents. Not that I mind, if I have to share my parents with a sibling, I’m more than excited for it to be a 6 pound Yorkshire Terrier.
Bella is the apple of my parents eye, I’m not to embarrassed to say she’s definitely their favorite child. And it’s totally ok with me, after all she’s totally adorable.
But as her big sister, it’s my responsibility to look out for her, right?? And step in whenever necessary.
Bella is a very picky eater and my mom does her best to feed her a healthy, grain free diet.. but Bella loves her Greenies dog treats. They claim to freshen breath, clean teeth, etc… but with this extensive list of questionable ingredients they are hardly healthy for anyone’s fur baby – especially my precious little sister Bella.
Greenies Ingredients according to their website:
Wheat flour, wheat protein isolate, glycerin, gelatin, oat fiber, water, lecithin, natural poultry flavor, minerals (dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, potassium iodide), choline chloride, dried apple pomace, fruit juice color, vitamins ( dl-alpha tocopherol acetate [source of vitamin E], vitamin B12 supplement, d-calcium pantothenate [vitamin B5], niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement [vitamin B2], vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], thiamine mononitrate [vitamin B1], folic acid), turmeric color.
Now I’m the first to admit that I’m not a veterinarian and certainly not a expert at what keeps a dog’s teeth healthy – but I can say that there’s nothing naturally health boosting in that list of ingredients. In fact all those grains (wheat flour, wheat protein isolate and oat fiber) are one of the most problematic allergenic pet food ingredients! Yuck! IMHO Dogs should NEVER be fed grains.
I’ve created a undeniably healthy alternative to Greenies for helping to keep your fur baby healthy and with kiss-friendly fresh breath! My Breath Freshening Dog Treats {Homemade Grain-Free Greenies} are not only healthy but dogs and cats love them!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup fresh mint packed
- 1/2 cup fresh parsely, chopped packed
- 1 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon activated charcoal or 12 capsules cut open
- 1 tablespoon diatomaceous earth
- 2 tablespoons Brewers Yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon grass fed gelatin
- 3 tablespoons Organic Coconut Oil, for Pets melted
- 1 tablespoon Ghee melted
- 1/2 cup bone broth or filtered water, warmed
- 1 tablespoon liquid chlorophyll or freshly juiced wheat grass, optional
- 4 +/- cups garbanzo bean flour aka chickpea flour
Instructions
- In your food processor, combine mint, parsley, charcoal, diatomaceous earth, brewers yeast, gelatin and egg. Process until smooth.
- Add melted coconut oil, ghee, bone broth and chlorophyll, process until well combined.
- Add garbanzo bean flour 1/2 cup at a time, pulsing to combine until the mixture resembles a dough or will press together into your hand making a dough - similar to play dough. It should not be dry, add a few drops of water if it's too dry or additional flour if too wet until it will hold together.
- Roll out on parchment paper to roughly 1/4 inch thick and cut into desired shapes.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack to cool before storing in an airtight container.
Notes
If you love making healthy treats for you fur babies – check out my Flea Prevention Dog Treats, Frosty Pumpkin Dog Treats and Homemade Dog Treats {1 Ingredient}
In case anyone was wondering I did all the math, initial cost of bulk ingredients is about $125(if you’re buying bulk, which is usually better than buying enough for just a batch), and each batch is about $17 since unless you find decent chickpea flour in bulk it’s about $11 per batch for the flour alone. Overall it’s about half the price of a box of greenies and little over half a pound of extra mass, plus it’s grain-free(yes there’s grain-free greenies, but making it yourself is so much more fun!)and you more or less know where everything came from.
diatomaceous earth? really? that is used to kill insects in gardening by cutting them so they dehydrate and die and you want to put that in your dogs belly? What purpose does it serve nutritionally or why have you chosen this?
Yes Joanne! Really. Small does of FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous earth have been used internally in humans and animals without risk. I understand the correlation you are suggesting, but it’s not as easy as you think… Let’s look at this in a really basic way. DE does work the way you describe, so would you assume that coming into contact with your human skin, that it would also cut, dehydrate and kill you as well? One of the most widely accepted ways that DE is used for animals is topically to kill fleas.. based on your conclusion if DE kills fleas then it would also kill the dog too?
DE has many benefits that can potentially help with bad breath in dogs – and it’s significantly safer than the enormous list of junk in greenies.
One of the most popular health reasons to have your dog ingest DE is internal parasite control (which can cause bad breath!) Diatomaceous Earth has also been reported in scientific literature to absorb methyl mercury, e-coli, endotoxins, viruses, organophosphate pesticide residues, drug resides, and protein, perhaps even the proteinaceous toxins produced by some intestinal infections. Given this, Diatomaceous Earth is very useful as a detox solution, digestive aid and colon cleanser – that can also aid in treating bad breath!
Thank you for this recipe! You obviously put a lot of work into it. Where is the best place to get the ingredients?
Your post says that the treats freshen breath, but do they clean the teeth as well?
I’m not a doggie dentist so I can’t say if they clean teeth 😜 eating high quality raw diet and chewing bones keep our dogs teeth clean so I can’t speak from our personal experience either.
Hi! How many treats does this make and how much did it cost to buy the ingredients? Have to stop buying the kirkland brand from costco because they just raised it by $10 within 2 months! .50 cents per bone! on top of his prescription food for pancreatitis. I have 8 cats and 2 dogs-trying to find the least expensive way to feed my animals well. Thanks for posting!
The yield & dosage is highly dependentant on the size treat you make.
I purchase both ingredients in bulk so I can’t say the cost per treat.
Hi just wondering how long the biscuits last? It you batch cook them will the biscuits last a week or so before they go bad? Just wondering if I need to make little and often due to day to day duties etc plus I don’t give treats every day so would want them to last a bit thanks
They will keep like any cookie. For longer storage keep the surplus in the freezer.
Do dogs eat these? It sounds like a great healthy recipe bit it’s a lot of ingredients to purchase if my dogs turn their noses up at them. Just wondering how the d. earth charcoal and chlorophyll affect the taste..
Our dogs LOVE them!
Remind them to get food grade diatomaceous earth!!
Hello! I’m excited to try these homemade ‘greenies’ treats for my dog, Happy. He really loves his breath freshening treats. I was curious to what the benefit of diatomaceous earth are.
Some of the ingredients links you have in the recipe are no longer available. Can any brand be used to substitute or should I look for a specific brand?
Are you asking about the Brewers Yeast? It’s been unavailable for a while, I do like Lewis Labs best but use what you can find.
Is there any substitute for the brewers yeast? My lil turd is undergoing a full body yeast infection off and on.
Brewers yeast is not an active yeast, so it does not make yeast issues worse.
Hi there! This seems like a great recipe.. can’t wait to try it. With your recipe, it looks like the treats turn out more crunchy, especially with baking. I’m hoping to achieve more of the chewy “greenie” type consistency for my pup. I’m also planning on using my dehydrator. Have you tried adding more gelatin to achieve that chewy consistency? I may just have to play with the recipe and and see what happens.
You don’t use grains, which is fine, but then you choose to use activated charcoal? That’s certainly not something I would feed my dog unless she was ill from ingesting something poisonous.
I’m not sure why you would think that activated charcoal given as a part of a health diet would be a negative? It’s NOT only beneficial for emergencies, here are some other activated charcoal uses that will help your dog:
Indigestion Relief – Charcoal is effective at relieving indigestion and stomach upsets, in addition to getting rid of smelly gas. And dogs readily eat charcoal when they need it. They seem to know instinctively that it is good for them.
Diarrhea – Activated charcoal can be used to relieve your dog’s diarrhea, and it will not cause constipation.
Charcoal lowers cholesterol – Even dogs can have high cholesterol. Charcoal can help keep cholesterol within healthy limits.
Snake bites and spider bites – You can even use a poultice made of Activated Charcoal Powder and water on a snake bite or spider bite. Mix the powder with cornstarch or oatmeal and water, until you have a thick paste. Apply to the wound and cover with a large bandage. Change frequently and use fresh charcoal powder.
Doggie Odors – Activated charcoal for dogs is also used routinely to eliminate animal body and breath odors.
When you add charcoal to a dog treat recipe, the treats can be used to freshen your dog’s breath—which can sure make your life a lot nicer! This is one of those remedies that has been used for hundreds of years safely and effectively. Why argue with success?
Dog Poisoning – Activated charcoal is a natural blood cleanser, and it protects the liver when your dog has eaten something poisonous.
I found that the batter was really sticky even stuck to the rolling pin. I had to use coconut oil on the pin in order to have it not stick as much. Any suggestions to avoid this?
As I said in the recipe, add flour if the dough is too wet.
I would add a 1/2 tsp of turmeric to these dog treats, to help with gum inflammation. Bad breath could be caused from gum disease and/or tarter issues. Also brush with coconut oil, mixed with a pinch of turmeric and powdered egg shells, to remove tarter.
How long should the treats be dehydrated at 125 degrees?
Thanks!
its going to depend on how thick your treats are and what type of dehydrator you are using. By default I would let them dry 6 hours then check them. they should be crisp
Thank you for the recipe! I was wondering, how long do the treats last for?
About a month at room temperature. For longer keep in the freezer then thaw.
How many treats does this recipe yield? How many should you be giving a dog daily? Also, is baking or dehydrating the treats healthier?
Stephanie – the yield of the recipe is determined by the size of the cookie cutter you use. These are TREATS and you’ll need to determine that by the size/health of your pet. Dehydrating would be more healthy based on less heat.
Hey! I plan to collaborate with my neighbor and sell natural dog treats. I was wondering, what is the benefit of garbanzo bean flour, grain free? I was just wondering because I have been using whole wheat flour due to expenses. Thanks for the time and I hope to hear back!
A highly processed, grain-based diet fed to an animal (like dogs) who is naturally designed to thrive on a meat-based, fresh food diet is very likely to produce symptoms of ill-health over time. Diets to address disease most frequently deal with the symptoms that are the result of a lifetime of inappropriate food, not the true cause of their symptoms. The optimum diet for a dog or a cat should closely resemble their natural diet. A diet balanced heavily toward grain promotes insulin production and the production of inflammatory chemicals. Over-production of insulin makes it hard for the body to maintain its correct weight, and can lead to diabetes and other problems. An overabundance of inflammatory chemicals means more aches and pains.
I love this post and I always refer to my dogs as brother and sister to the Other Kids we have lol. I am going to give this a try because my Maltese has pretty bad breath. I am also making your Flea prevention doggie treats tonight – my little ones don’t have fleas but I am happy to find a way to incorporate coconut oil into their lives. Thanks so much!