Gourmet Dog Biscuits: From Your Bread Machine [Paperback]

Sondra Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2001

Now your dogs can say goodbye to the cardboard taste of commercial dog bones! This unique cookbook is full of wholesome, natural treats you can make in your bread machine. The recipes are healthy and easy to prepare, and you probably have many of the ingredients already. There are recipes for treats made with chicken broth and beef broth, as well as nonfat (for the possibly overweight dog), and vegetarian recipes. Author Sondra Macdonald has tested her recipes extensively on dogs of all sizes and shapes, and her dog biscuits taste great!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sondra MacDonald

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Bristol Publishing Enterprises (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558672583
• ISBN-13: 978-1558672581
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the bother, December 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gourmet Dog Biscuits: From Your Bread Machine (Paperback)

This book is a waste of time and money. For starters - it just uses the bread machine as a mixer - it is not anywhere near as easy as using your bread machine to make bread. So the title can be misleading. And as another reviewer said - it isn't for dogs with allergies. That was the whole point of me baking my own - to provide my dog with treats that he can't have otherwise because of his allergies. And the book is just too scatchy on the details. It doesn't tell you for each recipe how dark the treats should be when done - so you don't know if they are raw or burnt. I will return to the internet to search for some recipes for my dog that he can have despite the allergies and which I can make without guesswork.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for dogs with allergies, November 1, 2002

By 

T. L. Tanner (Cumming, GA U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gourmet Dog Biscuits: From Your Bread Machine (Paperback)

I got this book as a gift, and have just started facing some allergy problems with my dog. I haven't made any of these recipes yet, because every one of them calls for cornmeal and wheat flour, which are the most common things for dogs to be allergic to. There is also a whole chapter devoted to beef flavored recipes, which many long haired breeds are allergic to. It turns out that my dog probably is allergic to corn, so if I can find a substitute for cornmeal, I will try some of these recipes.

I was very disappointed that the author did not have a chapter devoted to allergen free recipes. To me, one of the biggest reasons to bake rather than buy treats, is to provide something that the stores don't provide. This book definitely does not do that. It gives you the opportunity to experiment with different flavors with your dog, but if your dog has a sensitive stomach, you probably don't like to do that anyway.

This is definitely more of a "fun, whimsical play with your dog" kind of book than it is a "provide the right nutrition for your dog" kind of book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My dog and I thank you!!, October 14, 2002

By 

J. Schrader (Gambrills, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gourmet Dog Biscuits: From Your Bread Machine (Paperback)

I bought this book in a fit of self-indulgence... I am 40 pounds overweight and I love to cook all sorts of ethnic and gourmet meals. I was facing the prospect of trying to diet, and I was feeling very sorry for myself, not only for the fact that I'd have to eat much more sparingly, but because that also meant I would have to COOK much more sparingly. I don't like to be obligated to cook, but I sure do like it as a hobby, and I've failed many a diet before by convincing myself that food isn't fattening if it's homemade.

When I saw this book, I realized I had a key ingredient to my OWN successful diet. I could spend time in the kitchen, but I could spend it baking for my DOG. I've made dog cookies before, and while I enjoyed it once, the whole dough-blending process is laborious, and not something I wanted to repeat too often. And I own a bread machine, which I love to use, but which lies around gathering dust because when I bake bread, I eat bread, and I get fatter.

This book is just great. Each recipe is sort of a variation on a theme, and even though the recipes have a zillion ingredients, I have found them to be very tolerant of reasonable substitutions, once you figure out which ingredients are sort of interchangeable. And yet, the huge variety of recipes, complete with their cute little margin stories, make each round of baking a little adventure. I've made four recipes so far, some of which my dog has grudgingly shared with her various doggie friends and cousins. The reviews have been great across the board.

My recommendations if you buy this book: Do check the dough, as advised, 15 minutes after blending starts, because it's not uncommon to need a little more oil or water. Buy a nice size jar of yeast and a nice size jar of brewer's yeast and stick 'em in the fridge; have a shopping spree on a bunch of weird kinds of flour and brans and such, put them all in tupperwares so it'll all last, and then just bake, bake, bake. I've been baking about once every other week, and I'm not at ALL tired of it yet.

And I've lost eight pounds!!