Canonical: https://coopersdogtreats.com/blogs/news/dogsters-vs-homemade-frozen-dog-treats # Dogsters Ice Cream Style Treats vs Homemade Frozen Dog Treats - **By:** Alex Willen - **Published:** 2026-08-24 **TL;DR:** Dogsters Ice Cream Style treats are the budget pick of the frozen dog treat aisle, four cups for about $2.98, roughly 87 to 96 calories per 3.5 fluid ounce cup depending on flavor. Our Pupsicle Mix is a freeze-dried, mix-with-water powder, $12.49 a jar for roughly 25 treats, around 20 calories each. Dogsters wins on price and zero prep, plus a dairy-free pumpkin flavor. Our mix wins on portion size for calorie-conscious dogs and a shorter ingredient list. Here's the label-by-label comparison. Dogsters makes small "ice cream style" cups for dogs, sold in grocery store freezers, not through its own website (dogstersicecream.com is a store locator, not a shop). It's the cheapest of the frozen dog treat brands we looked at while researching this category. We make dog treat mixes, so here's how a homemade Pupsicle actually stacks up against a Dogsters cup, on price, calories, and what's in each one. ## What's on the Dogsters Label Dogsters sells 4-count boxes, 14 fluid ounces total, 3.5 fluid ounces per cup, in six flavors: Nutly Cheese, Mintë Kissably Fresh, Cheesy Bac'n, Paw-Some Pumpkin, Chicken Woofles, and PB Barkin' Banana. Calories are published for some flavors: Mintë Kissably Fresh, Cheesy Bac'n, and Nutly Cheese each run 87 calories a cup, and Paw-Some Pumpkin runs 96. The Cheesy Bac'n label lists: water, cheese, sweet whey powder, maltodextrin, whey protein concentrate, guar gum, locust bean gum, soy lecithin, dextrose, calcium sulfate, caramel color, and natural flavor. The Dairy Free Pumpkin flavor lists: water, maltodextrin, pea protein, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, inulin, glycerine, guar gum, sunflower lecithin, xanthan gum, salt, two probiotic strains, and annatto for color, no dairy in that one. Marketing claims on the box: "vet approved," low fat, no artificial flavors or colors, and a note that it's "meant to supplement your dog's normal food regimen," not a meal replacement. Made in the USA. A 4-count box runs about $2.98, roughly $0.75 a cup, or about $0.21 a fluid ounce, the cheapest per-ounce frozen treat we found in this category. ## What's in Our Pupsicle Mix Our Pupsicle Mix is a freeze-dried, just-add-water powder. You mix it with water, pour it into a mold or ice cube tray, and freeze, about a minute of hands-on work. A 4.3 ounce jar is $12.49 and makes roughly 25 treats, around 20 calories each. The [Chicken & Sweet Potato](https://coopersdogtreats.com/products/chicken-and-sweet-potato-pupsicle-mix) flavor lists freeze dried chicken, whole wheat flour, sweet potato powder, and whole egg protein, four ingredients, no dairy in that flavor, and the whole line skips added sugar, salt, preservatives, color, and artificial flavors. ## Price and Calories, Side by Side | | **Cooper's Pupsicle Mix** | Dogsters (Cheesy Bac'n) | | --- | --- | --- | | Price | **$12.49 per jar (~25 treats)** | $2.98 per 4-count box | | Price per serving | **~$0.50 per treat** | ~$0.75 per cup | | Calories per serving | **~20 per treat** | 87 per cup | | Serving size | **Small mold pop, sized by your mold** | 3.5 fl oz cup | | Dairy | **None (Chicken & Sweet Potato flavor)** | Yes in Cheesy Bac'n, dairy-free Pumpkin flavor available | | Where sold | **Our site, Amazon** | Grocery freezer only, no brand website store | On raw price, Dogsters is cheaper per serving. But the serving sizes aren't close, a Dogsters cup is 87 to 96 calories in 3.5 fluid ounces, while a single Pupsicle is a small mold-sized pop around 20 calories. For a dog whose daily treat budget is 70 to 80 calories, one Dogsters cup uses most or all of it. Three or four Pupsicles fit the same budget with room to spare. ## Calories and the 10 Percent Rule The standard guidance is that treats should stay under about 10 percent of a dog's daily calories. For a 30-pound dog eating roughly 800 calories a day, that's an 80 calorie budget. An 87-calorie Dogsters cup essentially uses the whole thing in one serving, fine for an occasional treat, tight if it's a daily habit. Our Pupsicle treats, at about 20 calories each, leave room to give a few over the course of a day without blowing the budget. ## Making Frozen Treats at Home The steps: mix the powder with water per the jar, pour into a silicone mold or ice cube tray, tap out air bubbles, and freeze 2 to 3 hours. Pop them out and store in a labeled freezer bag for up to about 2 months. My dog Maple treats this like a countdown, she parks herself by the freezer the second the mold goes in, and while she is not a useful judge of flavor (she'd eat a shoelace if we let her), she's a good check that a batch actually set before we call it done. ## Flavor Options on Both Sides Dogsters spreads dairy across most of its lineup, with Dairy Free Pumpkin as the one clear dairy-free pick among six flavors. Our Pupsicle Mix line works the other way: Chicken & Sweet Potato and Turkey & Cinnamon are both dairy-free by default, Beef & Cheddar carries dairy on purpose (cheddar cheese powder), and Lamb & Spinach is our sensitive-stomach option built around a novel protein. Same idea as Dogsters, just a different flavor to reach for depending on what your dog needs to avoid. ## Where to Actually Buy Each One Dogsters is a grocery-freezer product. The brand's own site, dogstersicecream.com, only points you to a store locator, there's no way to order a box directly from Dogsters online. Our Pupsicle Mix ships from our own site or Amazon, and because it's a shelf-stable dry mix until you add water, there's no cold-chain shipping problem to work around. If your grocery store doesn't carry Dogsters, that's the whole workaround right there. ## Buy Dogsters If... - Price per serving is the priority, it's the cheapest frozen option we found. - You want zero prep and already see it in your grocery store's freezer case. - You want variety, six flavors including a dairy-free pumpkin option. - Your dog's calorie budget has room for an 87 to 96 calorie treat. ## Make Your Own With Pupsicle Mix If... - You're feeding a small dog or one on a tighter calorie budget. - You want a dairy-free flavor as a normal option, not the one "diet" variant in a six-flavor lineup. - You'd rather order online and keep a shelf-stable jar on hand than depend on a grocery freezer case. - You want to give a treat several times a day without eating into the whole calorie budget at once. ## The Cooper's Treats Approach Dogsters earns its spot as the budget option honestly, the price is real and the ingredient list isn't hiding anything alarming. We built the Pupsicle Mix around a different priority: small, calorie-labeled portions you make yourself, so a treat doesn't have to be a once-a-day event to stay inside a dog's calorie budget. If you want to try it, the [Pupsicle Starter Kit](https://coopersdogtreats.com/products/pupsicle-starter-kit) comes with mix and a mold to start your first batch. For more on the category, our [guide to dogs and ice cream](https://coopersdogtreats.com/blogs/news/can-dogs-eat-ice-cream) and our [roundup of the best frozen dog treats](https://coopersdogtreats.com/blogs/news/best-frozen-dog-treats) cover more of what's out there. *If your dog has had loose stools after a dairy-based frozen treat, whey or cheese is the likely cause, and Dogsters' Cheesy Bac'n flavor has both. Their Dairy Free Pumpkin flavor or a dairy-free option like our Pupsicle Mix is worth trying instead, and check with your vet if the issue persists.*