7 Frozen Dog Treats Your Dog Will Actually Lose Their Mind For (And Why They Matter More Than You Think)

There’s a particular kind of British summer afternoon — the kind where the kitchen tiles are warm to the touch, the dog has flopped sideways on them with the dramatic resignation of someone who’s just walked across the Sahara, and they’re giving you a look that says do something. You can’t change the weather. You can’t really explain to a Labrador why central heating exists in July. But you can open the freezer.

Frozen treats aren’t just a cute summer gimmick. For a dog — especially an older one — they’re a genuinely useful tool. They cool from the inside out, they slow down fast eaters, they give a bored, hot, slightly grumpy dog something to focus on for twenty minutes that isn’t your skirting board. And every single one of the recipes below uses things you probably already have in the fridge.

We’ve put them roughly in order of effort, from “I have ninety seconds” to “I am genuinely making my dog a sorbet on a Saturday.” Pick whichever fits the day.

A few quick rules before you start

Frozen treats are safe and brilliant — as long as you keep an eye on a few things.

• Stick to dog-safe ingredients. No chocolate, no grapes or raisins, no onions or garlic, no xylitol (it’s hiding in a lot of “no added sugar” peanut butters — always check the label), and no added sugars or sweeteners. Plain yoghurt, ripe fruit, unsalted broth, low-salt peanut butter — these are your friends.
• Treats are treats. Even the healthiest ones add calories. A good rule of thumb is that all treats combined should make up no more than 10% of your dog’s daily food. If you’re giving more frozen treats than usual on a hot day, ease off the kibble at dinner.
• Always supervise. Hard frozen lumps can be a choking risk, especially for greedy eaters who try to swallow things whole. Let things soften for five or ten minutes before serving, and stay nearby.
• And — really important — never give a frozen treat to a dog showing signs of heatstroke. Heavy panting, bright red gums, glazed eyes, stumbling, vomiting. A frozen treat won’t help and may make things worse by cooling them too suddenly. Get them into shade, offer small sips of cool (not ice cold) water, wet them with tepid water, and ring your vet straight away.

Right. With that out of the way — into the freezer.

1. Frozen carrot batons (the lazy classic)

You will not find a simpler treat than this, and most dogs go genuinely doolally for it.

Wash and peel a couple of carrots, cut them into batons the right size for your dog (knuckle-length for a Cocker, bigger for a Lab, smaller for a Yorkie), pop them in a freezer bag, and freeze for at least four hours. Hand one over five minutes after taking it out of the freezer so it’s not concrete-hard.

Why they work: carrots are low in calories, high in beta-carotene and fibre, gentle on tummies, and the gnawing action gives a bit of a natural teeth-clean. They’re also brilliant for dogs who are watching their weight — there are very few snacks you can give as freely as a frozen carrot.

2. Frozen banana and yoghurt blobs

The doggy ice cream that’s actually easy.

Mash one very ripe banana into 200g of plain, unsweetened Greek or natural yoghurt. (Check the label says nothing weird like xylitol or aspartame — supermarket own-brand plain yoghurt is usually the safest bet.) Spoon dollops onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, or pipe them into silicone moulds if you’re feeling fancy, and freeze for four hours.

If you want to gild the lily, stir in a small handful of blueberries before freezing. Most dogs love them, and they’re packed with antioxidants. A word on yoghurt: a lot of adult dogs are mildly lactose-intolerant, so start with a small portion and see how they get on. Kefir works beautifully here too and is often easier on a sensitive tum — particularly if your dog is already on a probiotic supplement and you want to keep things gut-friendly.

3. The frozen lick mat (the bored-dog secret weapon)

If you only learn one trick from this post, make it this one. A lick mat — one of those rubbery silicone things with grooves on it — is the single most useful piece of kit we can think of for a hot, restless, or anxious dog.

Spread a thin layer of something tasty across the mat: plain yoghurt, low-salt peanut butter, mashed banana, a tablespoon of wet dog food, soft cheese, or pumpkin purée. Press in a few extras — chopped strawberries, blueberries, tiny pieces of cucumber, a few of their kibble. Freeze the whole mat flat for two to three hours.

The slow licking does something genuinely lovely to a dog’s nervous system — it’s calming in the same way that humans find a long, slow exhale calming. It can take a fast eater twenty or thirty minutes to clear a frozen mat, and they come out the other side mellow rather than hyped. If your dog is the anxious sort, or struggles with thunder, fireworks, or general jangly nerves, this trick pairs particularly well with a few drops of hemp seed oil worked into their evening meal.

4. Chicken stock pupsicles

For the dogs who give yoghurt a doubtful sniff and want something meaty.

Take 250ml of unsalted, onion-free chicken stock (homemade is best, but a proper low-sodium one from the supermarket is fine — just check the label for onion and garlic powder, which sneak into almost everything). Stir in a small handful of shredded cooked chicken and a few finely chopped soft veg if you fancy — peas, carrot, courgette, a bit of spinach. Pour into silicone moulds, an old yoghurt pot, or even an ice cube tray, push a dog-safe biscuit or a hard carrot stick in as a handle, and freeze for at least six hours.

These are a serious treat — high value, full of flavour, perfect for breaking up a long, hot afternoon. They’re also brilliant for tempting a hot dog to drink more than they otherwise would, because there’s a lot of water in there.

5. Frozen Kong (the babysitter)

The Kong is, in our house, the only reason we ever finish a Sunday roast without a paw on someone’s knee.

Stuff a rubber Kong (or any other freezer-safe treat dispenser) with a mixture of mashed banana, a spoonful of low-salt peanut butter, and a few of your dog’s normal kibble. Plug the small hole at the top with a smear of peanut butter or cream cheese to stop it leaking, stand it upright in a mug in the freezer, and freeze overnight.

A frozen Kong will keep a determined dog busy for thirty to forty-five minutes. That’s enough time to eat a meal in peace, take a phone call, or — and this is the secret use — to give yourself a quiet half-hour on a hot day when neither of you can be bothered with anything else.

6. Watermelon and mint cubes

A surprise hit. Watermelon is roughly 92% water, naturally sweet, and almost calorie-free.

Take a slice of watermelon (rind and pips out — both can cause tummy trouble), chop it into small pieces, and either freeze the chunks straight onto a tray or blitz them in a blender with a tiny handful of fresh mint and pour into ice cube trays. The mint is optional but lovely — dogs seem to enjoy it, and it gives their breath a small holiday from itself.

Best on properly hot days, when a dog needs hydration more than calories. Two or three cubes is plenty for a medium dog.

7. Peanut butter and oat training bites

The most “effort” recipe here, but they keep brilliantly and they’re a fantastic high-value reward.

Blend one ripe banana, two tablespoons of low-salt, xylitol-free peanut butter, and three tablespoons of porridge oats into a thick paste. Spoon small (teaspoon-sized) blobs into silicone moulds — a chocolate-button mould works perfectly — and freeze for two hours.

These are small, easy to handle, freezer-stable for weeks, and absolutely brilliant for slipping into a pocket for training sessions in cooler weather too. They’re a bit more calorific than the rest, so use them as proper rewards rather than free treats.

A word about older dogs

Hot weather is harder on senior dogs than most owners realise. Stiff joints get stiffer in the heat because dogs lie around more, and a dog who’s already finding the morning walk a bit of a slog can really struggle when the temperature climbs past 25°C.

Frozen treats are a small, kind thing you can do — they encourage hydration, they give an arthritic dog something gentle to focus on when they can’t manage a long walk, and a chilled lick mat on the kitchen floor is genuinely soothing to lie next to.

If your older dog is finding the heat — or the rest of life — a bit harder than they used to, a proper joint supplement makes a real difference to how comfortable they are in their own skin. Our Senior Max Plus is the strongest joint formula we make — glucosamine, chondroitin, turmeric and Omega-3, manufactured here in the UK — and it’s the difference between an old dog who endures a hot summer and one who genuinely enjoys it. (If your dog is between two and eight, our Enhanced Adult Joint Supplement is the one to start with — keeping joints supple from middle age makes a real difference further down the line.)

The quietly important bit

A hot, bored dog is an unhappy dog. None of these recipes are going to change the world, but ten minutes of crunching a frozen carrot in the shade, or twenty minutes nose-down on a lick mat while you read your book, is a really nice afternoon to give a creature whose entire job is to wait for you to do things with them.

Whichever you try first, let it soften for a few minutes, keep an eye on them while they enjoy it, and have a glass of something cold yourself. Summer is short. Give them a good one.