You must be a hole in my backyard because I really dig you, Valentine!
I chews you to be my Valentine, I Shih Tzu not!
I "Labradore" you from here to the moon and back!
You are the ulti-mutt puppy for me, Valentine!
Valentine’s Day is a day to show our love to special people in our lives, and our pets are no exception! When you have a puppy, every day is Valentine’s Day! You may even prefer your puppy to be your #1 Valentine over humans! The love you show her happens year-round instead of being limited to one day a year. Many pet parents are willing to go all-out on gifts and treats to lavish their puppy, and some of us prefer to take a budget-friendly approach with DIY gifts and homemade treats for dogs.
How Much Do Pet Parents Spend on Valentine’s Day?
While you open your heart to your puppy, you will also open your wallet! According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Americans are slated to spend $27.5 billion on Valentine’s Day on their loved ones, which includes pets. The organization also notes the number of people who planned on buying gifts for their pets grew from 17% to 27% from 2010 to 2020. Valentine’s Day is a big business for pet retailers since Americans are expected to spend $2.14 billion on Valentine’s Day for their pets according to Capital One Shopping Research.
You may be happy to contribute to the billions of dollars spent on your puppy for Valentine’s Day, and we can’t fault you one bit! After all, your puppy is the love of your life, and you want as many ways to show your love for your puppy on Valentine’s Day as you can think of. There are so many cute accessories, tasty treats, and fun toys to choose from for Valentine’s Day gifts for dogs. However, you don’t always have to open your wallet to have a meaningful time with your pet to show them you love them.
Make Your Puppy Valentine’s Day Treats For Dogs
Part of being a responsible pet parent is to resist the temptation to feed them candy, chocolates, and other delicacies meant for humans. However, you may accidentally be feeding them foods that are toxic to them no matter how much they look at you with those begging puppy-dog eyes. You might not know which foods are safe for dogs, so Valentine’s Day is a perfect time to begin with toxic foods to keep them away from your puppy.
It’s vital to know which chocolates and candies can be fatal to dogs and which foods are great choices when making or buying your puppy treats this Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate vs. carob
There’s nothing like working your way through an entire box of chocolates because (You know how this ends – you never know what you’re going to get)!
While humans love chocolate, dogs cannot have it because chocolate is extremely toxic to dogs. Chocolate contains a compound called theobromine that humans can metabolize, but dogs cannot. When a puppy consumes chocolate with theobromine, the stimulant can build up to toxic levels in the body, affecting their cardiovascular and nervous systems and causing other serious health issues.
One alternative to chocolate is substituting it with carob for dogs. Carob is a chocolate-like substance made from carob powder that contains no theobromine, therefore making it safe for dogs to consume. Make sure to serve it in moderation due to its sweetness, and always opt for organic, minimally processed carob powder when baking Valentine’s Day treats for dogs.
Try out this recipe for Easy Valentine’s Day Carob Peanut Butter Hearts for dogs by Blair Salt of The DINK Dog Mom. This recipe features just four ingredients: Carob powder, maple syrup, smooth peanut butter, and coconut oil. All you do is melt and mix ingredients together and pour the mixture into cute-themed silicone molds – no baking required!
Xylitol and candy
Most people know not to give candy to puppies. Candy can cause a choking hazard, dental problems, diabetes, and obesity in pets. However, some candy and other foods can have an immediate devastating effect on puppies. Xylitol is an artificial sweetener used in candies, gum, peanut butter, and other items as a sugar substitute. Xylitol is toxic to dogs and can have fatal effects in 48 hours or less depending on the amount ingested. The pancreas excretes extra insulin when xylitol is consumed, and that in turn causes hypoglycemia, liver failure, and other terrible effects from not being able to metabolize xylitol.
What foods are safe for dogs?
When looking for treats for dogs for Valentine’s Day, follow a few tips to ensure you’re providing a delicious, safe treat. Stick to natural ingredients as much as possible. Sometimes canned, jarred, or bottled items can have additives that aren’t the best choice for puppies. Use food-grade supplies and baking molds in cute shapes like hearts, lips, X’s, or O’s. You can find fresh ingredients even if they are out of season at the grocery store to have more of a variety of flavors rather than only sticking to what’s in season.
Make your own puppy treats for Valentine’s Day
If you are making your own treats, you can choose among no-bake, bake, or frozen recipes. Here’s a list of some ingredients that are safe for dogs that can be used to make them tasty treats to show you care:
-
Oats
-
Whole wheat flour
-
Peanut Butter
-
Carob
-
Maple Syrup
-
Spinach
-
Watermelon
-
Carrots
-
Canned pumpkin
-
Apples (not the seeds)
-
Greek yogurt
-
Blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries
-
Coconut oil
-
Bananas
-
Eggs
-
Chicken, beef, and bone broth
Valentine’s Day dog treat recipes to try
-
“Chocolate” Cookies for Dogs by Gone to the Snow Dogs are baked treats containing various flours, carob powder, and peanut butter to create a delicious cookie-type treat.
-
Valentine’s Day Frozen Smoothie Treats by Camp Bow Wow combines Greek yogurt, frozen bananas, and various berries to create smoothies or frozen treats in cute molds.
-
Raspberry Peanut Butter Dog Treats from The Jewish Vegan uses 5 ingredients rolled into dough balls that can be kept round or shaped using molds.
If you don’t have a culinary bone in your body or are strapped for time, you can always visit specialty dog bakeries or support small businesses that make dog treats for Valentine’s Day. Pet pawrents can know that treats are made with tested recipes, exact measurements with quality control, and ingredients safe for dogs. They will also have more supplies than you may own to make fancy treats. Your puppy will definitely appreciate professionally-made treats as a gift to show how much you love them.
Valentine, I Dig You
A Pawrade puppy is one of the best Valentine’s Day gifts you can give to someone! It’s not just puppy love but a lifetime of affection. Our puppies are raised in a loving, caring environment with our trustworthy breeder partners, ready to come home to you. Skip the chocolates this year and bring home one (or three!) of our Pawrade puppies for sale. We’d love to help you cuddle up with your furry Valentine.
