I've seen buscuits made using beef broth, homemade chicken broth (had a chicken carcass and boiled it), vegimite (I'm Australian so it might be hard to find elsewhere) & cheese, turkey broth, tomato soup, seaweed (had nori sheets broken up in the biscuits)

If seeking something sweet for a dog treat: try adding some melted carob to the top. Carob is a nut that is a healthy and safe for dogs to eat and is also used as a chocolate substitute.

Then there are homemade wet foods like meatloaves using the combination of chicken mince, pasta (rice or other cereal), soups, mixed minced or grated vegetables, calcium powder (for puppies).

I've made pet food mixes for over 20 years ranging from meatloaves to biscuits including them for a range of things for puppies right the way through to the older set... my last dog making to the grand age of 16, they didn't mind mums cooking at all. I don't make much for cats but sometimes we make treats for the birds and then there are the products made to enhance the zoo animals like fruit in iceblocks for the bears or making pastes of various products and hiding them in hollow logs, toys or freezing them.

From the faccc and others who make treats for pets
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2350615/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7129348
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2350794/

*hugs*

Flavor:

Dogs fucking love molasses. No joke. It's no worse for them than peanut butter, and you need surprisingly little to get the amount of taste a dog will notice and want.

Just about any kind of meat-broth works as a flavoring, but it's best of you make your own, as onions, garlic, and salt are bad for animals.

Fish, especially salmon, is great for dogs. Dogs seem to really enjoy smoked salmon. I've had decent success with using bonito flakes (cheap, dried, smoked tuna flakes used in far more Japanese cooking than you'd realize) to make a broth that dogs enjoy--it's just like making tea, and if you add a little soy sauce (I use the low-sodium kind) and/or kombu seaweed it's tasty to people, too. Hell, the kombu is also good, and tasty, for dogs.

Marmite tastes good to dogs, in most cases, but you'll need to thin it out because of the salt content (and a quantity of onion extract that likely doesn't contain enough thiosulphate to be a danger if thinned out and if other onions are avoided in the diet) and avoid salt in the rest of the recipe if possible. Combined with molasses or cheese, they'll go crazy over it. Remember to use it in moderation, though. A tiny amount adds a lot of flavor, anyway.

Nutrition:

Surprisingly, mixing a little hempseed flour into the food (and I mean a little, about a teaspoon per cup of everything else at most) doesn't seem to upset them, and provides a lot of protein and fiber. A puppy I fed hemp bread (which was actually made for me and my girlfriend) to had seemingly limitless energy for the next few hours.

Oat flour, when added to dog treats and food, adds a lot of good, easily digested protein, and dogs seem to like the taste. If you want high ratios of it to the flour, or are trying to avoid gluten by substituting almost entirely oat flour, you'd need to add xanthan gum (which -is- made from plants, and has absolutely no side effects, in case you're worried about CHEMICALS like some kind of hippie--though anti-gluten vegan hippies eat it all the time) and experiment with quantities.

I could go on, but I'm about to go cook dinner for some humans.

I have heard about the molasses but I CAN NEVER FIND IT! I'm in the UK and I seriously have looked EVERYWHERE. I don't know if it has a different name here or anything but it is so frustrating.

My dogs go tits for fish, I'll defiantly try making a broth out of it.

I think vegimite has less salt in it, but I'll have to check that. Defiantly going to try it though! Especially with the cheese.

THANKYOUTHANKYOU <33
My dogs are going to love me 5ever.

I think in the UK, molasses is actually called "treacle" or more specifically "black treacle." Dark brown sugar is also safe and offers about the same flavor.

And yeah, fish broth is pretty sexy for flavoring things for dogs. Like I said, try bonito flakes, they're pretty cheap (once you realize how little it takes to make the broth) and not too hard to find in grocery stores or online. Roasted fish bones work, too, if you ever end up with any. Fish markets will often sell you their used bones (usually with heads and bits of meat still clinging to them) if you ask, for almost nothing.

I think Vegemite has more salt than Marmite, but both come in lower-sodium versions in some places (dunno about the UK), or at least have in the past. I think Vegemite has a little more onion in it, too, but I can't be sure, they're kind of obscure on their ingredients listing.

My girlfriend suggests that many dogs like apples, but not to use prepared apple juice or sauce, because chemicals from the seeds, skin, and core that are safe for humans can make dogs sick (not lethally, just sick).

She suggests buying whole apples (a good use for the bruised, less-pretty, or on-sale out-of-season apples you find at the store), peeling them, coring them, and only using the "meat" of the apples, which you can feel free to blender, mash for juice, whatever.