Dog Ice Cream you Can Make at Home

Written and verified by the lawyer Francisco María García

Last update: 27 December, 2022

When the temperature rises and the heat gets overwhelming, a cold and delicious homemade dog ice cream is a healthy option for your pet. Dogs enjoy these fresh desserts, as they have some beneficial effects for their  bodies.

How do you prepare a rich homemade dog ice cream, in a way that’s refreshing and healthy? This is a frequent question among dog owners.

It is important to remember that dogs shouldn’t eat the same ice cream that humans eat. Ice cream meant for people contains lots of lactose, excess sugar, and other harmful ingredients such as chocolate. If your dog eats your ice cream, he could experience an upset stomach, flatulence, vomiting and diarrhea.

Vegetable yogurt: a common ingredient

Many recipes to prepare dog ice cream use vegetable yogurt as the main base. Soy milk or coconut milk are very popular options for the base, but there are a few options.

Sometimes you just might not feel like taking the time to prepare dog ice cream. A quick alternative is to put a container of vegetable yogurt without sugar in the freezer for two hours. The vegetable yogurt can also be diluted with a little water — mix the two ingredients in equal parts together in a blender and then refrigerate it.

By using your blender, you can add melons, watermelon or mango juice to the vegetable yogurt. Before emptying the vegetable yogurt into the container, you can add pieces of apples, strawberries or peach, and then freeze the container. While most fruits can be mixed into the ice cream, it is best to prepare one flavor of ice cream at a time, so if your dog has a bad reaction to a fruit, you’ll know which one is causing the problem

A delicious homemade banana ice cream

An option that’s a little more elaborate is a rich banana ice cream with peanut butter and yogurt.

Start by pureeing one or more bananas. For each banana that you use, add a spoonful of peanut butter and one of yogurt until you get a nice consistency.

Next, put the mixture in the freezer, but do not leave it for a long time, since the idea is to just cool it down without losing its creaminess. You can include small pieces of whole banana in the ice cream.

Dog ice cream

So far, all the recipes we’ve shared are meant for dogs to share with their owners. However, the following is exclusively for dogs: cookie ice cream.

Using the vegetable yogurt as a base, add pieces of cookies to the yogurt and freeze the mixture. To make sure that the ice cream has a creamy texture, remove from the freezer every two hours.

Use a blender or a kitchen utensil to crush the mixture, and mix it all together well and then put it back into the freezer.

Pet owners should not overlook the fact that industrial products made for human consumption are usually not suitable for pets. Make sure that what you’re feeding your dog comes from specialized stores or from recipes designed for dogs.

Salty ice cream

Not all ice cream recipes for “man’s best friend” are based on yogurt. Often, dog ice cream is not as sweet as human ice cream or may not have sugar added. A “traditional” preparation of a salty dessert, which is regularly prepared by dog owners, is chicken ice cream.

To prepare a salty dog ice cream, first prepare a chicken broth, and then add pieces of chicken meat (not including the bones). Pop the concoction in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving to your dog.

As an extra treat, you can add pieces of low-salt ham or sausage on top.

Some tips for preparing your dog ice cream at home

Temperatures that are too low or too high can cause adverse reactions to dogs’ digestive system. To avoid complications, don´t feed your dog large portions, and train him to taste the dessert without wolfing it down in one gulp.

A handy tip is to use ice trays to make tiny portions for your dog, so he doesn’t eat the ice cream too quickly.

Before serving your dog ice cream, one option is to let it sit on a counter for 10 to 15 minutes, so that it’s not too cold. As with ice cream for people, this loss of temperature adds creaminess.

In some of these recipes, you can substitute vegetable yogurt for soy milk, rice, oatmeal, or other substitutes.