Homemade dog breath freshener
Banish your pup’s bad breath with this homemade dog breath freshener recipe. These easy to make treats with parsley and mint help to get rid of puppy breath. In just over 30 minutes, you can have freshly made healthy dog biscuits that not only help to freshen breath, they also ease an upset stomach.
I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.
You may also be interested in my banana dog treats and my peanut butter training treats recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my dog treat recipes in one place.
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Why you should make this recipe
- Quick & Easy – Ready from start to finish in about 35 minutes.
- Inexpensive – These fresh breath dog treats cost a fraction of what you would pay for store-bought.
- Make ahead – You can make the dough ahead of time and bake the next day. You can also bake these treats and store them in the fridge or freezer.
Homemade dog breath freshener biscuits
These quick and easy homemade dog treats for bad breath will help to get rid of puppy breath with mint, curly parsley and coconut oil.
Mint and curly parsley also aid in digestion, making these treats doubly good for dogs with sensitive stomachs.
Ingredients
You’ll need 7 ingredients to make these dog treats for bad breath.
- Old fashioned oats – You can substitute with quick-cooking, if that is what you have.
- All purpose flour – You can swap out with any flour that you like.
- Applesauce – Please make sure it is unflavored, no sugar added applesauce.
- Coconut oil – Provides healthy fats and has anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
- Egg – Provides moisture and structure to the dough.
- Curly parsley – This is the ONLY type of parsley that is safe for dogs.
- Mint – Peppermint or spearmint are best. Wintergreen and English pennyroyal are harmful to dogs.
How to make breath freshener treats for dogs
Most of my dog recipes are made in a food processor for ease. I use it to grind oats as well as mixing up the dough. This doesn’t mean you can’t make them if you don’t own one. You can mix everything up in a bowl and proceed with the recipe.
If you own a powerful blender, you can also use that to break up the oatmeal, or you can buy oat flour.
- The first step in this easy recipe is to grind the oatmeal in the food processor. As you can see in the photo, I didn’t grind it to a complete powder. I left a few whole pieces of oat to give it some texture.
- Once you’ve ground the oats, it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients for the homemade dog breath freshener treats.
- Turn the food processor on and let it run for a couple of minutes until your dough looks uniform.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to 1/8″ thick. Cut out with 2-inch cookie cutters.
If you have large dogs, you may want to make larger biscuits. Remember to add a few extra minutes when baking.
Making fresh breath dog treats at home is easy and you can make them for half the cost of store bought. This is also a great activity to do with kids.
Homemade dog breath freshener FAQ’s
If you live in a cooler, less humid climate, you can store these treats in a cute dog treat jar on the counter for a couple of days. Because I live in a warmer, humid climate, I store them in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze them and take out a few at a time, which is what I do most of the time.
Yes. I use old-fashioned oats, but you can use a quick cooking variety if that’s what you have. You cannot use steel-cut oats, as those are entirely different.
If properly stored, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, they will last up to 2 weeks.
Yep! Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
My list of all things dog includes some of the things I bought for Sugar. She was a pup who needed homemade dog treats for sensitive stomachs, because she had a lot of belly issues over the years.
Variations and substitutions
- Old-fashioned oats can be swapped for quick-cooking oats. You can swap out quick cooking oats for regular old fashioned oats. Do not swap out for flavored oatmeal. Those little packets are not good for your dog.
- Make drop-style dog biscuits. If you don’t want to roll out the treats, use a small cookie scoop. Then flatten the tops with a fork. The good news is this – your dog does not care if the treats are cute bone shapes or not. Your dog just wants a cookie.
- Chia seeds can be swapped for one egg. Combine 1 tbsp. chia seeds with 3 tbsp. water and let it gel for about 5 minutes before adding to food processor.
If your pup has allergies, making their treats is a great option because you know exactly what is in the food you are giving to your dog.
Helpful tools and equipment
This is what I used to make these homemade dog treats for bad breath:
- Bone shaped cookie cutters – This is the same set I have.
- Food processor – An updated version of the one I own.
- Rolling dowel – This rolling dowel is not tapered, which I like. It makes it easier to roll out the dough to an even thickness.
- Parchment paper – This is what I use. Sheets of parchment that are cut to fit perfectly inside the baking sheet.
- Baking sheets – These half sheet pans work great! They are heavy duty, they don’t warp and the parchment fits inside.
Check my list of recommended tools for making making dog treats.
More dog biscuit recipes
Looking for another homemade dog biscuit recipe? Most of these treats use only three or four ingredients, making them incredibly fast and easy.
- Pumpkin peanut butter dog treats
- Oatmeal applesauce dog treats
- Oatmeal pumpkin dog treats
- Banana pumpkin dog treats
- Soft pumpkin treats
- Peanut butter banana treats
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Homemade dog breath freshener treats
Banish puppy breath with these homemade dog breath freshener treats.
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned oats // 90g
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour // 180g
- 1/2 cup plain no sugar added applesauce // 127g
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted and cooled //28g
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup curly parsley, chopped *see note // 30g
- 1/4 cup mint, chopped // 7g
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F // 180°C // Gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Add oats to the bowl of a food processor.
- Let machine run for 2 - 3 minutes, until oats are almost flour consistency with a few big pieces left.
- Add flour, applesauce, coconut oil, egg, curly parsley and mint to bowl of food processor.
- Pulse a few times to break up herbs and move ingredients around.
- Run food processor for a few minutes until dough looks uniform.
- Sprinkle the countertop with a tablespoon or two of flour, then turn the dough out onto the countertop.
- Roll the dough out to roughly 1/8" (1/3 - 1/4cm) thick.
- Cut treats out with cookie cutter and place on baking sheet. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes, rotate tray halfway through.
- Cool completely before giving to your dog.
Notes
Recipe yields 60 2" treats. If you use a smaller or larger cookie cutter, or a different cookie cutter than the one I used, your yield will be slightly different.
*Parsley must be CURLY parsley, other varieties can be harmful to your pup.
Use only spearmint or peppermint, as other varieties of mint can be harmful to your dog.
For BEST results, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
60Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 30Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 2mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information calculated by a third-party company as a courtesy. It is intended as a guideline only.
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Nowhere in your recipes do I find Amounts of ingredients. Just a lovely photo of the ingredients in a food processor. This isn’t the only one – ALL of your dog treat recipes do not have ingredients listed. Just photos. What am I missing? Would love to try these for my dog.
Angeline, each and EVERY recipe on the blog has a complete recipe, with ingredients and amounts. Scroll down to the bottom of each post to find the recipe instructions.
Hi, I just realized that the oatmeal can’t the fast one minute kind. Why is that? Do you think it would be okay to try? Thank you.
Hi Mary, you can try it. The recipe won’t be exactly the same because the quick cooking oats get a little mushy. I’m sure your dog won’t care, but I wanted you to know 🙂
Is it ok to just use parsley? It’s all I’ve got 🙁
Hi Selena! Curly parsley only.
Can I add plain Greek yogurt in place of the coconut oil? My furbaby has pancreatitis and a fussy stomach, so we try to stay away from oils and fats.
Hi Melissa, Yes! You can swap out the coconut oil with yogurt 🙂
Hi,
How long do these stay good for?
Hi Chelsea, Because I live in a warmer, humid climate, I’d only keep them on the counter for a few days, then store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
You can also freeze them for up to 3 months and take out a few at a time, which is what I do most of the time.
My dog loves these and so do I! She loves mint and will avidly sniff anyone who has anything mint flavored. Now she has her own mint flavored treats. I’ve made these twice and increased to 1/2 cup the mint to use up what I had on hand and she was in heaven. As a time saver I divided the dough in two portions and rolled it out between the parchment. It helps to spray the top sheet with Pam. I used my pizza cutter to portion out treats after baking them. Easy peasy!
This is fantastic, Lissy! Thank you so much for the comment. I’m so happy your dog loves these treats and that they were easy to make 🙂 Rolling between parchment certainly can be helpful and make cleanup quicker! A pizza cutter is brilliant! Bravo!
Can you use canned pumpkin instead of applesauce? My corgis dont like applesauce.
Hi Katie, Yes you can substitute pumpkin, but it will change the look and texture of the treats. If you don’t mind that, carry on! 🙂
I only have chocolate mint, is it okay to use?
Hi Marri, you mean chocolate mint, as in the herb? I would advise against it.
Hi, out of curiosity instead of using the cookie cutters would you expect these to come out good using a mold? Also instead of the flour could I use all oat flour?
Thanks so much!
Hi Rosa! I think they would well in a mold, I’ve had a few people do it that way with good results. You can use all oat flour, but the consistency of the dough will be a little coarser. This might actually work in your favor if you’re going to use a mold 🙂
Please do report back and let me know what it went!
These treats are easy to make and the Schnauzer follows me all over the house for this treat. I did use 1 TBL of coconut oil and 1 of peanut butter and used 2 C of ground oats &1 C of gluten free flour in the same batch. Now they smell so good, I want to eat one.
My dogs breath is sweet and I don’t mind his kisses now. Great recipe.
Thank you so much, Robbynne! I’m so happy to hear that your boy liked the treats and now he doesn’t have stinky breath 😉
I love the idea of this! I always worry about the potential damage the preservatives and additives in commercial dog treats may cause in the long run!
I know homemade dog foods need to be carefully calibrated – can I replace the flour with with more oats, or will that skew the nutritional profile (or ruin the finished treats)? A member of my family has celiac disease, so we can’t have anything with gluten in the house…
Hi there! You can absolutely use all oats instead of flour. The consistency will be slightly different, but the recipe will still work! 🙂 Also, there are several dog treat recipes that ONLY use oats on the site, so if you are looking for more, they are here!
I just made 2 batches of these on standard recipe and 1 with peanut butter. I used all oats as one pup is allergic to wheat and all 4 pupsters loved them. I love knowing what is in them and I must say all 4 pupsters LOVED them. May need to make this a monthly Sunday am activity 🙂
Thank you so much! I’m happy you were able to make the recipe allergy friendly for your pups! They are certainly lucky to have you caring for them 🙂
Do you have the measurements in metric please I’m in the UK
Hel, the post has been updated with that information.
I made these treats and my dog loves them . I didn’t have applesauce, nor thought about substituting pumpkin, so substituted a half cup of a very ripe banana in it. (Normally, she would spit a banana out.) Plus, I added a tsp of peanut butter to make sure she would try the cookie and not be offended by the banana. I backed off on the parsley and mint a bit to see if she could tolerate the herbs. My pup did well without stomach upset!
I’m glad you could make the recipe to your (and your pup’s) liking 🙂
Could I substitute mashed ripe bananas for the apple sauce? Thanks in advance x
Hi Nicola, yes you can! xx
If I put these baked treats in a food dehydrator, will that extend the shelf life?
Hi Sharry, I haven’t done it myself, but others have and have had success with it. I would say yes, it would.