Frozen Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe

Pumpkin and banana blend perfectly in the coolest DIY frozen dog treat of the season. Treat your pooch to something unique that every other pup on the block could only dream of tasting!

It’s summer. It’s hot. You and your dog are both sweaty and desperately looking for ways to cool down. There are so many options from expensive air conditioning to shoving your head into the freezer for a few minutes at a time. However, when it comes to cooling down in the summer, nothing beats a tasty frozen treat. The only thing better than cooling off on a hot day is treating your tongue to sugary joy in the process. While it’s all too common for humans to cool down with a frozen treat, not nearly enough dogs get to enjoy that special summertime pleasure. Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place to finally right that egregious pupper wrong.

There’s no better way to beat the heat than with a frosty cold popsicle. Although it’s tempting to offer our panting pooches a lick, we know that these frozen treats are full of sugar or sweeteners and unfortunately that can be toxic to dogs. Thankfully, making a pupsicle is easy and worry-free when you use this Frozen Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe. It only takes a few minutes to blend all the ingredients and pour them into an ice cube tray. Leave them in the freezer overnight and you’ve got plenty of frozen treats to get you through the next heatwave! Your dog will gleefully chow its way through these summer treats and feel refreshed in the process. What more could you possibly want? Keep your eyes glued to this page and scroll away to learn how to make these delightful treats that will improve your pup’s summer.

The Frozen Pumpkin Dog Treat Recipe

Note: This recipe makes approximately 40 small-sized treats

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yogurt

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon of honey

1 banana

Directions:

1. Put your banana into a blender and puree until it is a smooth paste.

2. Add the yogurt, the pumpkin puree, the mashed banana, and the honey to a large bowl. Get out your best mixing spoon and stir until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

3. Spoon this mixture into ice cube trays. Once each mold is full, wrap the tray in plastic wrap or place it in a Ziploc bag to avoid any unnecessary mess.

4. Place the trays in your freezer and let them freeze overnight until the treats are completely rock solid.

Note: When choosing your canned pumpkin, only use plain canned pumpkin. It should not be pumpkin pie filling, and there should not be any added ingredients. You just want pure pumpkin puree in a can. Pumpkin pie mix can contain excess sugar and other ingredients that won’t mix well in your pup’s tummy.

The Benefits of Pumpkin for Dogs

Did you know that pumpkin could serve as a nutritious and beneficial addition to your dog’s diet? It’s true! Pumpkin isn’t just a traditional Halloween decoration or traditional holiday pie filling. It’s also something that could help improve your pup’s health!

First off, pumpkin can help balance any canine’s digestive system. It is an excellent source of natural fiber, so it could help keep your dog more regular if he is dealing with constipation. However, at the same time, pumpkin can even help pooches that are suffering from diarrhea. How great is that?! This massive orange fruit is a one-stop-shop for helping out your dog’s digestional tract. Since you are the one responsible for cleaning up his messes, it’s not a bad idea to have some pumpkin in your pantry in case of emergency (not to mention so that you can make these tasty treats whenever possible).

Another reason that canned pumpkin is good for dogs is that it is a low-calorie food. Adding these treats to your pooch’s diet will likely not have much of an impact on his overall calorie intake for the day, particularly if you are concerned about your dog’s weight or if he is on a weight loss plan. In fact, your veterinarian might even recommend using canned pumpkin as part of your pet’s weight loss diet by replacing some of your pooch’s regular food with it. Mixing a little pumpkin puree in with your pup’s usual food is a great way to make your pooch’s diet a little healthier and a little tastier.

In addition to helping your dog stay at a healthy weight or lose excess weight, and on top of being able to support your pooch’s digestion by relieving upset stomach, pumpkin is also a great choice as an ingredient for treats because it contains vitamins that can support your pet’s health. Vitamins A and C, for example, are both found in pumpkin, and they play an integral role in the body’s ability to maintain a state of balance and wellness. So, there are even nutritional benefits to adding pumpkin to any pooch’s diet.

The best part is that dogs tend to enjoy the taste of pumpkin, so they will readily eat it when it is added to their food or when it is given to them as a treat. So, with this frozen pumpkin dog treat recipe, you can bring this ingredient into your dog’s summertime diet easily. Your pooch will love consuming this refreshing and hydrating pupsicle, and he will be able to reap all of the nutritional benefits that pumpkin provides, all at the same time. Once your pooch develops a taste for pumpkin, he’ll be thrilled any time that it pops up in his food dish again. It’s a rare healthy food option that your dog will love regardless of the nutritional benefits.

The Benefits of Banana for Dogs

The second ingredient in this recipe, and another healthy choice for your pup, is banana. Most people associate this fruit with protein, and that’s true! It’s a great source of this key nutrient, which is necessary for a healthy, balanced diet. But protein isn’t the only benefit that bananas offer.   

If you have a dog that is struggling with high blood pressure, adding bananas into his diet is a great way to help manage the problem. With both potassium and vitamin B6 at high levels, it works to regular the blood flow and maintains healthy blood pressure. Ultimately, this will improve your dog’s heart health.

When looking at the health of your dog’s bones, the first nutrient that most people consider is calcium. But that’s not the only need to support the development and maintenance of healthy bones. Potassium works to reduce the loss of calcium, making it easier to meet your dog’s calcium needs. Bananas are also a great source of magnesium which promotes the ongoing growth of healthy bones. This is an important consideration for growing puppies and for dogs that are recovering from injuries such as fractures or breaks.

With a high level of vitamin C, bananas will also help to boost your dog’s immune system and fend off any sickness that he may be exposed to. If you are worried that he may have picked up a bug, increasing his vitamin C content will help to fight it off and feel healthy again.

What Are You Waiting For? Give This Easy Dog Treat Recipe a Try Today!

I know, I know. There are a lot of dog treats that you can buy in pet stores and online these days. It can be tough to keep on top of everything and try new things, especially if your dog already has a number of favourite treats that they crave. However, if you are the type of person who looks closely at the ingredients in those foods because you want the best for your pet, making homemade treats should definitely be on your radar. It might take a little extra work than simply opening up a bag of store-bought treats, but the health benefits alone are worth it.

Replacing store-bought treats with homemade ones will not only add variety to your dog’s diet, but it could also help ensure you aren’t feeding him any low-quality ingredients. When you can control the ingredients—and the quality of the ingredients—that go into your dog’s treats, you will feel a lot better about what you are feeding him. It’s all too easy to simply accept whatever mass-produced treats are available. It’s convenient and affordable, but it’s rarely the healthiest option for your pet. And because this recipe is so quick and easy to make, even the busiest pawrents can find time to give their furry companions something special. So, stop being compliant to the whims of the big dog treat industry and start taking this responsibility into your hands. Not only will your pup love munching on these frozen treats, but it will improve his health! What more could you possibly want?

Let us know if you try this recipe – post a picture of your super cool treats on our Facebook page or in the comment section below.