An Alternative to Golden Paste: Raw Turmeric Liver Treats

Are you looking for an alternative to golden paste for your dog? When Neeko became hesitant to eat her golden paste, I brainstormed and came up with a solution that works for us. Her golden paste didn't go to waste, I ate it without hesitating. I'll be sharing *our* recipe for a golden paste that actually tastes good later.

I won't go into the details about how good turmeric is for you, that is very well known, and it is easy to find plenty of documented evidence and studies showing it's benefits. I have written about and have been giving my dogs (particularly the princess) turmeric for a long time now, with various delivery methods. At first I gave it alone, then learned it is better absorbed with a fat. So I would mix it with salmon or coconut oil. I then made a golden paste that actually tastes good (to me, anyways.) Neeko, with her recent struggles, began refusing and eating around the golden paste, so I wanted to come up with an alternative.

Neeko has texture issues, so I decided a frozen treat was in order, as she typically eats stuff frozen that she won't eat thawed - like fish, organs, etc. 

I came up with what might be the most disgusting thing I've made to date.  Raw liver turmeric treats. I used all the same beneficial ingredients of golden paste, and combined them in a form that my dogs love, with the added bonus of raw liver.

Ingredients

1 lb raw liver. I used lamb liver from My Pet Carnivore, but pork, beef, or other liver would work.

1/2 cup organic turmeric powder. It's more cost effective to buy turmeric powder in the supplement aisle, as opposed to the spice aisle.

1/3 cup organic, virgin coconut oil. 

3 tablespoons peppercorns.

Method

I started by cutting the lamb liver into somewhat uniformly sized chunks, 1-2 inches in either direction. It's a pretty disgusting task, so I highly recommend these poultry shears I recently raved about on Facebook.

Toss them into a food processor. I'm a huge fan of my (older model) KitchenAid mini processor. Add in the coconut oil, turmeric, and whole peppercorns. The processor action will grind the peppercorns.

Pulse until well combined and of a smooth consistency. You may have to use a rubber scraper to scrape the sides a time or two. (There's a funny story about me offering the scraper to Bruce to lick. I didn't think that one through. He jerked it away from me and took off with it.) WARNING - turmeric stains. It stained the plastic housing of my processor blade. It still works fine, is just now a lovely yellow shade instead of white.

Divide mixture evenly into a freezer-safe silicone mold/tray. These are the molds I have. It helps to place the mold on a baking sheet BEFORE attempting to add the product.

Depending on the size of your molds, the treats may need to split the treats in half or quarters after freezing. My molds gave us 16 treats (with a small amount of leftover slurry) using the ingredients above.

They are not necessarily the prettiest treats.

Each of (our) treats contains:
1 oz lamb liver
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp coconut oil
almost 1/2 tsp black pepper.

The dogs all eat them willingly, which makes me happy.

Do you offer your dogs turmeric?