Homemade Dog Food

Homemade dog food is a scary proposition for most of us. How will we know if we are giving them all the nutrients they need?

Will we balance their protein, fat and carbohydrates correctly? What about vitamins and minerals? And calcium? (Dogs need about ten times what we do!)

Relax. It’s probably easier than you think. I believe the biggest reason we get scared over homemade dog food is that it puts the responsibility on us instead of the dog food company or the veterinarian or the friend who recommends a certain brand of dog food. So first, I’d like you to…

THINK ABOUT DOG KIBBLE MANUFACTURERS

Read those last three words again - "Dog Kibble Manufacturers". Now read "Homemade Dog Food". One of those does not make me feel warm and fuzzy. I expect my car to be manufactured, but not my dog’s food.

The reason the major dog kibble manufacturers make dog food is to make money. Proctor and Gamble make a lot of the cleaning supplies we use. They also make Iams dog food and Eukanuba dog food. Nestle Corporation doesn’t just make chocolate. They make Pixy Stix, Baby Ruth, Goobers, Gobstoppers, Laffy Taffy and all Purina dog foods.

By making our own canine recipes (whether we cook or just prepare), we not only know what's in our homemade dog food, we have the ability to feed a quality canine elimination diet to find and relieve canine food allergy symptoms. You might even get rid of something you never considered came from an allergen, like tear stains - which could be created by something as simple as the food coloring!

DO YOU GET ALL THE NUTRIENTS YOU NEED EVERY DAY?

Let’s get back to making our own food. The affects of everything good and bad are cumulative. If you are big eater of say, broiled low fat chicken or fish with a big green salad and once or twice a week you hit a fast food drive-thru for a big greasy burger with fries and a shake, do you totally ruin your health? No. If you eat mostly vegetables one day and pasta the next, do you worry about your protein, carb and fat ratios? I hope not because the name of the game is nutrition and variety.

THE VALUE OF VARIETY

By using different kinds of meats, vegetables and grains over time gives us and our dogs a variety of nutrients, and that adds up to good things. Seems to me as long as we keep in mind the general needs of mainly meat, followed by vegetables and grains and have a few additions (see supplements) we’ve got to be doing better than 99% of the kibble and can dog food out there.

Since homemade dog food in my house takes time every single day (my five dogs weigh a total of 440 pounds so preparing entire meals ahead of time doesn’t really work. I don’t have pans or a refrigerator big enough) I admit there are a few days here and there when I need a break from homemade dog food because the thought of cooking, chopping and measuring, honestly, make me want to scream.

On those days my dogs share a ten pound bag of chicken leg quarters, or five pounds of chicken leg quarters and 5 lbs of raw meaty bones.

And I admit, there were days I had no meat and no money for meat. If you have those days or need to lower your dog's protein, check out this low protein dog food recipe.

Before we move on to some actual recipes, read Dog Food Analysis and The Healthiest Dog Food Primer.

If you'd like to learn a simple process to change to a healthy dog diet and implement these recipes, read STEP ONE Healthy Dog Diet Guideline.

Once you and your dog are used to that, move on to STEP TWO The Road to Nutritious Dog Food.

After witnessing the effects of dog nutrition, you will probably want to move on to STEP THREE Making Your Own Dog Food - Raw and Home Cooked. Now we can move on to some actual recipes.

If you love to cook, try these cooked dog food recipes.

And by all means, check out canine probiotics and health supplements for dogs to help your dog be the best he can be.

When you need to reheat any cold or frozen homemade dog food, here's why you should NEVER use microwave oven cooking.

Other pages of interest:

Dog Food Analysis

Brown Rice for Dogs

Toxic Food for Dogs

Canine Diabetes Diet

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