33 - North Shore News - Sunday, June 11, 2000 T ran into a student of mine at the grocery “store the other day. She tapped me on the shoulder, as 1 was waist deep in the meat section, and asked how [ was doing. As I stood up with a tub of chicken and beef liver in each hand, Cazol began to tell me how she made her chocolate Lab treats the other day, following one of my recipes. “[ came into the kitchen to find Lucy (short for Lucerne ... the chocolate milk ... get it?) sitting in - front of the stove ina pud- -dile,” she said.”At first I thought she had piddled, and I gota little angry, bur then I realize she was sitting in a puddle of drool, her drool!” ». laughed as 1 pictured her “five-month old pup drooling “in front of the oven as the liver treats cooked inside. “Since most people pur- ~ chase fluorescent pink pres . tend: food thar smells like ~ chemicals as treats, I arrive to “all of my classes armed with “home-made morsels, And my - students will attest, nothing works better. at teaching a dog to come when it is called, basic obedience or party tricks than a home- made liver treat. Contrary to popular belief, giving your dog a home-made treat is nat spoil- ing it with “human food.” | doubt any human would want £0 cat a piece of baked, dehydrated chicken liver, so it can’t technically be consid- cred human food. Knowing that these treats are irresistible to dogs, and a part of the successtul way I teach a eecall, [ though: I would share one of my favourite (well, my dogs’ favourite) recipe to all of my readers. José’s Chicken Clusters I named these after the student who took my recipe and modified it just a touch. 500 g of raw chicken livers 1-2 tsp. of powdered garlic 1,5 cups of flour Handling chicken liver is a bit like handling oily Jell-O, _ and it ain’ pretty. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Cur the livers into smali chunks about 1.5 cm in size. Place them in a large mixing bowl. :. Ina separate bowl, mix together the powdered garlic and flour. - Pour flour mixture into the bow! containing the liver and stir until the liver is com-.” pletely dusted with the flour PETS Home-made treats won't ‘spoil’ your dog mixture. You may have to use your hands here. Now pick the liver chunks out of the bowl, give them a little shake and place them, individually, on the cookic sheet about 1 cm apart. Place the cookie sheet in the pre- heated oven and cook for one hour at 300 degrees. If your oven bakes hort, turn the tem- perature down a few degrees. The livers should come out of the oven a littl: crunchy on the outside, but softer in the middie, sort of like a chocolate truffle. Once cooled, place the treats in an open container in the refrigerator. If you cover the liver treats they will go bad, but if you leave the lid off, they will dehydrate fur- ther and retain the liver flavour Beef, lamb, turkey or pork liver can be substituted, if there are not any chicken liv- ers available ar the grocer or butcher. If you are at all squeamish about handling raw liver you can fortunately purchase a cooked liver product in most pet stores under a variety of name brands, But as my mother used to say, home- made is best made. The treats should only come out during training of new commands or tricks and occasionally when reinforcing an already learned one. Keep a small batch near the front door, and when someone comes to the door they can give a treat to the dog as an ice breaker. Wo rkshop Recreation i in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve (LSCR, formerly known as the Seymour Demonstration 7 Forest) The LSCR is one of cur region’s mos: yaks 2 natura! assets. The GYRD is developing ~ long-t rm LSCR managemeni plan to: * mainzain the capacity of the LSCR as a : ‘water reserve continue wildlife and forest management ‘research and demonstration activities. ° ‘provide more recreational! and’ ; " interpretive opportunities to serve a “ growing number of LSCR visitors * create a new land stewardship "approach that builds on the high ‘evel “of public interest and involvement. This is the fourth in a series of workshops on “the LSCR. This workshop will explore the . management of LSCR recreational uses and facilities. Annually, more than 300,006 people visit the LSCR to take part in nature "appreciation, hiking, running, cycling, in-line skating, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking, - horseback riding, climbing, research and educational programs. What recreational interests do you have in the LSCR? Do you have ideas for managing — recreational activities for the future? . Come take part in this workshop ' and have your voice heard. If your dog has a protein sensitivity or allergy, speak with your veterinarian before giving these or any treats to BC Bankers, Wayne Grown (left) ff ~_ and Gariy Segal (e'ght) visit 3 3 year o old Kayl Boase (front left) ae loya Naii (front rig at BC’ s $ Children’ $ Korcnersosee sae aad your dog. — Joan is the owner of Sierra K9 Training Academy. For advice or training tips, e- Humans’ names: Leoni and Melanie Bergon. Pets’ names and ages: _Chienski is an 18-month-old samoyed; and Furdie is a 16- year-old cat. Favourite activities: - Chienski Joves to chase balls, while Furdie’s favourite pas- time is hunting hair elastics. | Favourite ‘treat:,. Chienski ‘always enjoys chewing on a rawhide bone, and Furdie i isa mail her at < joan@sicrrak9 com>. Comments in the form of a letter to the editor are wel- come, NEWS photo Mike Wakefield sucker for cat treats. Pet tale: This is one: full household. —a. - veritable menagerie: altogether there’. : are five cats, one dog, four gerbils and a hamster. if you would like to appear. with your pet in Pet .Fause, please write to Terry Peters c/o the North. Shore. News, -1139 . Lonsdale. Ave., © . North. Vancouver, B.C., V7M 2H4, Or. send e-mail - - to . ‘We'd like to thank the banks and their employees for being one of our biggest depositors. - Giving a whole new meaniny to the term: * interactive banking,” .- loyees from banks across 8.C. have joined forces, working © tirelessly to support 8.C.’s Children’s Hospital. empl In recent years, 3.C. banks have