My free raw dog food recipes are simple and rewarding. No scales or long ingredient list. I also share what common foods actually promote disease.
After living with dogs for 50 years (yikes!) and helping clients for
over a decade, I've found adding a few key supplements can take dog
health to a whole new level. I'm thrilled to share that my 75
pound Lulu is in her 15th year and still nuzzling me when it's time to
get up so she can run around the back yard. Yup, she runs without
soreness, arthritis or any of that stuff we attribute to old age.
As
the famous Charlotte Gerson was fond of saying: “The underlying causes
of disease are toxicity and nutritional deficiency. That’s it. And when
the body gets what it needs, it heals itself.”
Once you get used to it, it's simple and the difference in your dog will probably astound you.Before I get to the recipes, it's important to know what NOT to give your dog and why.
None of these are good for dogs. Period.
Yet many raw feeders continue to add them to their pups food thinking they are somehow needed. Either a leftover from commercial dog foods that pretend they have value when in fact, they are simply there to enable making those little nugget shapes.
or
Because some of these are good for humans who should eat a LOT of plant based foods.
What are they?
Grains including corn, oats, wheat, rice, millet, sorghum
High carbohydrate, starchy foods. Especially potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, peas, green beans, carrots
Simply put, they all cause inflammation, the precursor to all disease.
They are also converted to sugar, stress the pancreas and increase the chances of diabetes. I know this first hand.
The 9-year-old dog I had to give up in my divorce was put on a high grain/carb/starch diet and within 12 months she was blind and died shortly afterward of diabetes.
The 6-year-old I kept (and didn't feed those things) is now in her 15th year.
To top it off:
The following conditions can be caused or aggravated by these foods:
Sounds like most of what we visit the vet for doesn't it?
Biologically Appropriate Raw Food for dogs consists of:
Meat, organs, bones (and the various fats they contain), eggs, fish and stuff most humans don't eat like feet, green unbleached tripe, heads or whatever odd things you find.
As an odd example, I had a cat named Roscoe back when I fed kibble. He was an indoor/outdoor cat and had a thing for heads. He'd hunt in the nearby field and I'd find headless mice and voles on the porch. Interestingly, Roscoe made it 17 years before the side effects of kibble took him out.
You don't have to special order food online. I'm going to give you a few easy recipes from things at the grocery store to simplify your life. These are so easy to change up that one recipe can become 10 or more.
The first recipes are mixes you can make in batches and freeze in serving size containers. This is good for small dogs or those Type A personalities who like to have everything done in advance.
Other recipes and pictures are made daily and what I feed my Lulu. Because she's over 70 pounds I can keep 6-10 pounds of ingredients in the fridge and put them together at mealtime which I like. Makes me feel kind of creative.
And rather than making each meal perfect, I believe in balance over time. After all, I don't eat the perfect meal each time either. Do you?
Mix it well and store in fridge or freezer. It will look like a meatloaf. Easy peasy.
NOTE: This simple recipe lacks raw bone so add appropriate bone sized for your dog 3 to 4 times a week.
Bone contains minerals and are a good source of fiber for dogs and help keep those teeth pearly white.
Good small bones: chicken wings and necks (for a very small dog you can cut the wings and necks into 3 pieces and serve just one piece).
*Often chicken gizzards come in packages with hearts. Heart is wonderful but it is a muscle meat, not organ meat so adjust accordingly.
This is basically a smaller batch than above but it's also a bit more punch because we're using beef heart* as the main muscle meat so there are different nutritional components than the first recipe.
Let's go with a small batch here in case you have tiny dog or want to give raw a trial run:
Again, you can mix this up like a meatloaf and freeze in meal size patties depending on the chart.
Breakfast:
Dinner:
If the portions look too small, I'll add an egg or give her a bit more in the next meal.
Now let's look at how you can create your own using regular grocery store items without it costing an arm and a leg. (I mention that because it bugs the crap out of me when someone tells me they can't afford to feed raw. If I did it when I was on Food Stamps, anyone can do it.)
Now that I've been feeding raw for over a decade I don't need to measure and I can buy two or three weeks worth at a time at the grocery store. I check out what's on sale so I might get a big package of either:
Either of those cover the amount of bone she'll need.
For boneless meat there are often:
For organ meat:
Other good stuff:
I used to feed a lot more variety which included fresh green tripe, and everything my hunting son had left in his freezer for too long like duck, goose, lake fish, deer.
Sadly, where I live now the local raw feeders are paying $5.00 to $7.00 a pound. I'll show you a picture at the bottom so you can see the possibilities if you're willing to pay between $225 and $300 a month to feed a 70 lb dog.
My monthly cost is around $60 plus superior human grade supplements that balance out nutrients and much more.
Last raw dog food recipe picture and then we'll get to supplements. I don't know Michelle Short personally. We're in the same raw feeders group and when she posted this one I was so impressed, I wanted to share what you can do without a budget.
There's a few things in there I wouldn't bother with but it sure looks like a gourmet meal doesn't it?
I know this has been a very long page but I really want to help you get started on the path of health and longevity for your special dog.
The reason to supplement is that the body is amazing and able to self heal from many things if we keep it balanced and nutrition is just part of the package.
There are things to help the body that I won't do without for my Lulu so I use specific herbal supplements to keep her organs healthy and get rid of the sneaky toxins we all have whether we know it or not.
Learn more on this website at The Best Dog Supplements
Raw Dog Food Recipes to Raw Food
Important Notice
I sell NSP (Nature's Sunshine) herbs and supplements for your dog. While these are strictly tested and made for human consumption, I am the only one in the United States successfully using them for dogs for over a decade now.
To get proper doses for your dog you must purchase through me. I've spent a great deal of time learning the right combinations and doses per weight for your canine kid.
WARNING: DO NOT FOLLOWING DOSING DIRECTIONS ON THE LABEL. THEY ARE TOO POTENT FOR DOGS