Dogs - STEM Challenge

Dog Treat Challenge

Have you ever wondered what’s inside a dog treat? What can make them healthy and tasty and why do dogs love them? In this STEM Challenge, you will be designing and baking your own custom dog treats. 

*Note, you don't need to own a dog to participate in this challenge, you can choose a friend or family member with a dog and bake these treats for their dog. 

Phase 1: Research 

Research different types of foods that dogs should and can eat, what they like, and what they don’t like. Can you find out what vitamine and minerals are in these ingredients? 

Make a list of healthy foods for dogs and unhealthy or toxic foods? 

Research different dog treat recipes. With this information, you can now create your own custom dog treat recipe.

Check out this link to learn more about dogs and peanut butter.

Phase 2: Calculate the calories of your dog treat recipe

Write out your recipe and then calculate how many total calories are in your recipe. 

For example, 1 cup of peanut butter (natural, no sugar) has around 1600 calories. You will need to discover and calculate this out for all of the ingredients and do some math!

Use the worksheets provided below.

Phase 3: Bake your treats

Roll and cut out as many evenly sized treats as you wish. Then bake them, or if it’s a no-bake recipe then place them in your fridge. 

Count how many treats you have. Then divide the total number of calories by the number of treats and you will know how many calories are in each treat. This is important in determining how many treats you can feed your dog a day. 

Phase 4: Calculate the serving size

First, you will need to do some more research to know how many calories your dog can eat each day. Check out the chart below with dog weights and recommended calorie intakes. 

You will need to know the weight of your dog. A great way to do this is to pick up that doggy of yours in your arms (if you can) and then stand on the scale together. Record this weight, then stand on the scale just by yourself and record this number. Subtract your weight from the combined weight to get the weight of your dog.

Treats should make up less than 10 percent of your dog’s total diet. 

Once you know the maximum calorie intake for your dog each day you can multiply by 10% and record the calorie range for the portion size of your treats. 

For example:

Total daily calorie recommendation - 1200

1200 x 10% = 120 calroies in treats

Determine the maximum number of treats (serving size) you can give your dog each day. It may be more than one treat or it may be half of a treat. It all depends on your ingredients and the size of your treats, 

Phase 5: Give a dog your treat 

Now it’s time to share one of your healthy and delicious homemade treats with a dog! 

Would you make any changes to your recipe for next time to improve the taste or consistency? Record your notes on the recipe.

Dog Treats Challenge Worksheets
*Remember: treats should not make up more than 10 percent of your dog’s total diet.

Don’t have a Live It Earth Library account yet? Click here to create your account today and get your first 2 months free!

If you’re a BC K-7 teacher, click here for your open access to Live It Earth thanks to a deal with Focused Education Resources.