# Dehyrdating meat for dogs



## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

I am wanting to start dehydrating treats for Scrappy. I am getting dehydrator here soon! He is allergic to so much it seems like, that I want to make some meat treats that I can cut up for training and such. I can't handle (mentally!) raw meat...so I want to dehydrate some.

What cuts of meat would be good for him. He can't eat pork. 

We have a local butcher where I can get some insides too (not that I want to touch them--LOL) like heart and livers...from beef, deer, and other animals.

Can you dehydrate those for them? Does anyone else do this? 

Am I just an odd one? LOL


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

I don't know much about _dehydrating_, but I use chicken liver often and bake it. I guess it's kind of the same concept? I bake pieces of liver on 200 degrees for 2 hours, and they become tasty little treats that the dogs love. So I would recommend liver, definitely. 

Along with meat, I know that dehydrated sweet potatoes are loved by many dogs and are very healthy for them as well, or so I hear.


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## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

I have done some sweet potatoes... and Scrappy does like it! But, I want to do some meat for training treats and things.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Heart and liver should dehydrate very nicely. Any meat you use needs to be very low fat as fat hasn't water in it and won't dehydrate but cook out and make a mess. I would love to get some raw lung and dehydrate that. It is Max's favorite treat right now and works well for training treats as it is easy to break into small bits.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

I made dehydrated liver in my oven. The boys loved it. I get liver at my grocery store that is cut into thin slices and individually wrapped so it was perfect to dehydrate, no work on my part other than peeling the plastic off. 

But...I thought I would put it up on a cooling rack on top of a pan so that the air could get under the liver too...BIG mistake! The liver melted (I put it in the oven frozen) and it draped over the cooling rack and it was SO very hard to get off the rack!! I actually threw the pan away and soaked the cooling rack for days so I could get the liver off. Next time I do it I will spray the pan with cooking spray lightly and then just put the liver directly on top!

I also did sweet potatoes (they actually worked fantastically on the cooling rack ) and while I loved them Iorek was not a fan. I think that I will continue to make them as a snack for me 

I also do hot dogs in the oven. I split the wiener lengthwise into 4 and then cut that into small pieces. I have a small toaster oven/convection oven. I turn it on 350 with the fan on and put them in for 30 minutes and then let them cool in the oven. The dogs LOVE them!! I don't know if Scrappy is allergic to anything in a hot dog - I guess you would have to get the ones that are "all beef" just to make sure there is no pork in there. They are the perfect size and they are dry little treats that work perfect for training because they smell smoky.

I wish that I had a dehydrator but I don't. I find that the oven works pretty good. Maybe one day I will get one. I don't exactly have much choice when it comes to shopping here so I will have to go into town to get one. Until then the oven is fine. A few hours on 200 is not too bad. Although, liver is very smelly!


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## Jod-dog (Mar 28, 2010)

My oven quit working!! ACK! I will have to wait until it is fixed or my dehydrator gets here! UGH UGH UGH!


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Oh! I made sweet potato/turkey rollups for the dogs a couple years ago. Rolled the gunk on a sheet of wax paper when the top was dry I flipped it over and removed the paper. Guessing that would be the way to go with liver as well? What a mess!

I dehydrated ostrich tendons in the oven and the dehydrator and the ones done in the oven came out better. Part of the problem was just physical. Ostrich tendons are very long and I have a cheap round dehydrator. Newer ovens can hold a low enough heat to do a nice job. My old oven couldn't hold a heat lower than 200*, my newer one can hold 100* I think.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

Wax paper is a good idea for the liver. I will give it a try  Thank you!


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## Annamarie (Oct 14, 2007)

my mom does this all the time, if you buy cuts of meat sliced thin like rouladen it works well. chicken hearts didn't work so great though


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## mrslloyd09 (Jul 12, 2009)

I've done liver, gizzards, and thin steaks that had reached their expiration date. Saves me a fortune.


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