Pig and Ox liver is one of the cheapest cuts of meat you can get in the UK. This is an easy way of turning it into a delicious, long lasting treat that you can give to your Bergamasco.
This isn't a recipe; It only contains one ingredient yet this is a simple method of turning liver into a dog treat that your furry friend will love - dried liver. I prefer to make my own treats as I like to know what my dog is eating and using liver this way has many benefits. It's cheap, nutrient rich and benefits your dog's health in a number of ways. In addition to that, by drying it, the liver treats last a long time and don't need to be stored in a fridge or freezer. You can also keep a few in your pocket without creating a mess. My Bergamasco absolutely adores them as a training treat.
Because liver is so nutrient rich, it should only be used in small quantities and is, therefore, ideal as a training treat or reward when your Bergamasco is behaving (apparently sometimes they do). I tend to make a large batch of these treats in one go which last a whole month.
Dried Liver Treats
Ingredients
Any sort of liver - I've found Ox and Pig to be the cheapest yet lamb will work too.
Equipment
I actually purchased a 6 shelf food dehydrator specifically to make dried dog treats although you can use the oven and some Air Fryers have a dehydrate setting. The food dehydrator model I use can be found here
Directions
Firstly you need to prepare the liver.
Remove the liver from the packaging and drain away any excess liquid.
Cut the liver into strips. I've found that 3cm x 10cm works well. Any larger, it takes longer to dry and can be fiddly to cut to size.
Place the prepared liver onto the drying tray or whatever implement you're using eg. oven shelf.
Place the liver in the dehydrator, oven or air fryer and cook for 10 hours at around 60 degrees centigrade.
TIP - The smell of cooking liver is not for everyone. My dehydrator is in my garage and I tend to put a batch on in the evening so it's ready when I wake up.
After 10 hours, check the liver is dried through (literally by poking it). You want the liver to be hard so you can snap it. If it's squidgy then it probably needs a little more time otherwise it won't store well.
If it is dry then the liver can be removed and chopped up into treat size pieces using a pair of scissors (it's probably best to not use you best grooming scissors!).
And that's it. Once cooked and chopped into treat size chunks all you've got to do is store it - I tend to use kitchen food bags or a plastic container. And one last thing, Hide them from your Bergamasco. Mine is a terrible thief and if I've left the treats in a reachable place, as soon as I've turned my back they're gone!
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