Learn how to make healthy, chewy venison dog treats for your furry friend using scraps left over from deer processing! By making treats from trimmings like the rind, silverskin, and organs, you’ll add nutritious variety to your dog’s diet while reducing processing waste. Your dog will be thrilled, and you’ll love putting every part of the deer to good use!
Why You'll Love This Recipe:
Easy to Make: All you need are some venison scraps, a dehydrator, and some parchment paper and you're well on your way to making the best dog treats! If you're looking for tasty snacks for humans, try teriyaki venison jerky or smoked elk jerky!
Less Food Waste: We work hard for our harvests, so I love finding ways to reduce waste by sharing the scraps with our pups! Whether it’s the long strip of silverskin from your venison backstrap or if you’re not quite ready to tackle venison heart, your pups won’t mind—they’ll love it all!
Happy Puppers: These chewy treats are made with the best ingredients. They make great training treats, just for fun treats, or can be used for supplemental feeding.
Ingredients
- Venison Scraps: If you hang your deer for a day or more before processing, it will develop a dry rind on the outside that should be cut away before processing for human consumption. The rind is often thrown away, but it makes the perfect dog treats! Combined with silverskin, organs (liver, kidney, heart, etc.), and other scraps, you'll have plenty of treats to make! If you don't process your own deer, you can ask the processor to save these scraps for you!
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
Food Dehydrator: While you can dehydrate dog treats in the oven, a food dehydrator is best for making large batches.
Parchment Paper: Parchment paper is essential for keeping your dehydrator clean. It keeps the treats from sticking to the trays and also catches any rendered fat from the meat scraps. If you're making multiple batches, don't throw out the parchment paper! It can be reused several times.
Recommended
Food Dehydrator
I like to use a high-capacity dehydrator for big batches. This 10-tray dehydrator usually fits one deer's worth of scraps!
How to Make Venison Dog Treats
This recipe is perfect for venison scraps that are left over from processing. If you're not sure where to start with butchering your own deer, check out this resource on how to break down a venison hind quarter.
- Step 1: Save scraps from processing deer, elk, antelope, etc. If you don't process your own animals, ask your processor to save the scraps for you!
- Step 2: You can use just about any scraps to make dog treats. The rind removed after aging, silverskin, and organs (liver, kidney, heart, etc.) all work great.
- Step 3: Cut the scraps into pieces appropriate for your dog's size. If you have larger dogs, they can typically handle bigger pieces, while smaller dogs need smaller pieces. You know your dogs, so use your best judgment to find the perfect size!
- Step 4: Line dehydrator trays with parchment paper. This step is critical for easy clean-up! Place venison scraps on dehydrator trays in a single layer and place the trays in the dehydrator.
- Step 5: Turn the dehydrator on high (typically 155-165°F) and dehydrate for 4 hours.
- Step 6: Flip the pieces.
- Step 7: Dehydrate for an additional 4-6 hours, or until dried but still chewy.
- Step 8: Let the treats cool and transfer them to a freezer zippered bag or airtight container. Store in the freezer for optimal freshness.
Pro Tip
Cut scraps into strips as you're processing your deer to make dog treat prep super quick. For even more efficiency, place them on dehydrator trays while you're processing as well!
How to Store Venison Dog Treats
I like to store my venison dog treats in a freezer zippered bag or airtight container in the freezer. The quality is best if used within 6 months. But, they can also last until the next hunting season just fine!
The Ultimate Pup-Approved Snack
Homemade venison dog treats are always a hit with our furry friends! Leave me a comment and let me know how your pups like the treats! Scroll to see the enthusiasm from my sweet boy, Hatch. 🥰
Venison Dog Treat FAQs
Venison is the ideal treat for dogs. High in protein, collagen, B vitamins and more, venison is great for making healthy treats for dogs!
Wild game meat like venison is great for dogs. If you have scraps to spare, your pups will be thrilled!
In addition to several vegetables and fruits, pure protein like venison dog treats are great daily treats.
For the Humans:
Looking for delicious ideas for your venison? Try these popular recipes!
Did you try this recipe?
Let us know what you thought by leaving a comment below and sharing it on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Thank you!
Annie
📖 Recipe
Venison Dog Treats
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lb venison scraps (rind, silverskin, organs, etc.)
Instructions
- Save scraps from processing deer, elk, antelope, etc. If you don't process your own animals, ask your processor to save the scraps for you!
- You can use just about any scraps to make dog treats. The rind removed after aging, silverskin, and organs (liver, kidney, heart, etc.) all work great.
- Cut the scraps into pieces appropriate for your dog's size. If you have larger dogs, they can typically handle bigger pieces, while smaller dogs need small bite-size pieces. You know your dogs, so use your best judgment!
- Line dehydrator trays with parchment paper. This step is critical for easy clean-up!
- Place venison scraps on dehydrator trays in a single layer and place the trays in the dehydrator.
- Turn the dehydrator on high (typically 155-165°F) and dehydrate for 4 hours.
- Flip the pieces and dehydrate for an additional 4-6 hours, or until dried but still chewy.
- Let the treats cool and transfer them to a freezer zippered bag or airtight container. Store in the freezer for optimal freshness.
Notes
- If you hang your deer for a day or more before processing, it will develop a dry rind on the outside that should be cut away before processing for human consumption. The rind is often thrown away, but it makes the perfect dog treats! Combined with silverskin, organs (liver, kidney, heart, etc.) and other scraps, you'll have plenty of treats to make! If you don't process your own deer, you can ask the processor to save these scraps for you!
- While you can dehydrate dog treats in the oven, a food dehydrator is best for making large batches. My 10-tray dehydrator usually fits one deer's worth of scraps!
- Parchment paper is essential for keeping your dehydrator clean. It keeps the treats from sticking to the trays and also catches any rendered fat from the meat scraps. If you're making multiple batches, don't throw out the parchment paper! It can be reused several times.
- Cut scraps into strips as you're processing your deer to make dog treat prep super quick. For even more efficiency, place them on dehydrator trays while you're processing as well!
Kate says
Would this same process work for elk scraps?
Annie Weisz says
Absolutely!