Oven-dried salmon skins offer a convenient and shelf-stable way to incorporate these nutritional benefits into your dog’s diet. The drying process helps preserve the nutrients in fresh salmon skins while providing a crunchy texture that dogs really enjoy.

However, it’s essential to consider portion control when feeding salmon skins to your dog, as they are also high in fat content. Excessive consumption may lead to weight gain or digestive upset in some dogs. From my experience, it’s not advisable to feed salmon like this to puppies – it leads to diarrhoea.

Both fresh and oven-dried salmon skins offer a plethora of nutritional benefits for dogs, ranging from omega-3 fatty acids for coat health to protein for muscle maintenance. Including salmon skins as an occasional treat or supplement to your dog’s diet can contribute to their overall health and well-being.

Method:

Lay salmon skins flat on oven trays (line with baking paper to collect all that lovely salmon oil, which can be added to dry food at meal times.)

Bake at 170ºC for one hour. Check salmon skins, if they are still soft, return to oven for a further 30 minutes.

I also find that the salmon in the top of the oven cooks more quickly, so rotating shelves after an hour is a good idea.

Draining off the oil!

Important Considerations:

  • Always consult your veterinarian before making any significant dietary changes, particularly where there are pre-existing health conditions or dietary restrictions.
  • As some commercial foods contain oil as an ingredient, check the label to see whether it’s in your dog’s food before giving more. Excessive intake of any foods can have adverse effects.
  • Ensure (where possible) that you use high-quality, organic products specifically formulated for pets (or better still, human grade ingredients) to avoid any potential adverse effects.
  • Introduce new foods gradually to avoid adverse effects such as gastrointestinal upset or diarrhoea.
  • I provide nutritional information purely as a helpful guide. Nutritional information on ingredients is obtained from the US Department of Agriculture’s FoodData Central site (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/index.html) and any nutritional information provided in recipes is based on an online calculator: calories and other information will vary based on brands, ingredients and other factors.
  • Check nutrient levels and recommendations for your dog’s weight, age and activity. For example this nutritional guideline produced by FEDIAF.