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So you're cooking for your dog. How do you decide on the best diet for your best friend?
In the wake of the recent pet food recall, many pet owners are searching for nutritional guidelines for homemade dog food.
Ideas about dog nutrition continue to change. Years ago many believed that canines were carnivores but after many dogs fell ill from eating an all-meat diet, it’s been decided that they are omnivores, meaning that they need both meat and plant-based foods. Pet food companies formulated the perfect nutritional balance and turned it into a $15 billion dollar industry. However, there is much controversy on the optimal diet for our dogs. It seems there is a minimum of research in canine nutritional requirements..
Diets ranging from raw to premium meat-based kibble with everything in between including cheap corn-based kibble, canned dog food, and homemade diets containing all meat, or vegetarian, and even vegan are claimed by various ‘experts’ to be the best. Perhaps the best gauge is the dog’s health. If your dog gets good veterinarian health reports, is full of energy, and maintains the proper weight with a shiny coat and bright eyes, then his diet is probably sufficient.
Dogs require protein containing ten amino acids. Many commercial dog foods have a corn base which, even though it is protein, contains only four of these amino acids. The most popular diet, at present, seems to be one that is meat based and supplies a good quality protein such as egg white, chicken, beef, lamb, or fish with some carbohydrate such as wheat, corn, oats, rice, barley, or soy, including vegetables for energy, and vitamins, minerals, and fats. These ingredients can be found in premium commercial foods or can be easily made at home using human quality foods. When preparing homemade dog food, it is best to vary the recipes so that your dog gets an array of nutrients. If you want to try different dog food recipes, the recipe below may be a nice treat.
There are a few foods that can create serious problems for your dog. These should be avoided and include cooked as well as uncooked bones, chocolate, onions, macadamia nuts, garlic, avocados, mushrooms, grapes, raisins, and any spicy or greasy foods.
Since dogs have different nutritional requirements due to health issues and life stages, it is best to ask your veterinarian about the best food for your dog.
Doggy Fish Dinner
1 can of salmon (bones removed)
1 egg beaten
3 Tbsp cornmeal
1 potato
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 Tbsp peanut butter
Combine salmon, egg, and cornmeal and mix well, form into patties, and coat them with a little more cornmeal. Fry in a tiny amount of canola oil until brown on both sides. Chop patties into small bites and stir together with chopped and boiled vegetables. A spoonful of cottage cheese may be stirred in for moisture if desired. Finish off dinner with peanut butter as dessert.
Related Reading:
Onion Toxicity in Dogs
Pet Food Recall Questions
Homemade Dog Food Dangers
Homemade Dog Food Recipes
Homemade Dog Food Treats
Homemade Dog Biscuits
The Canine Good Citizen Test
The copyright of the article Homemade Dog Food in Dog Care is owned by Joy Butler. Permission to republish Homemade Dog Food in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Apr 16, 2007 8:11 PM
Joanne Southworth :
Has anyone started to make their own dog food after the scare with the
commercial food? I was wondering what ingredients you are using, and is
your dog happy with the food?
May 2, 2007 9:43 AM
alma roden :
How much do I feed my overweight Beagle from the homemade recipe to
continue his weight loss?
May 3, 2007 7:19 PM
Jason Michaelson :
John Miller's book has hundreds of dog food recipes and information on how
to cook for different sizes of dogs. I talk about it at my blog at
http://www.homemadehealthypetfood.com
May 26, 2007 12:08 PM
Linda Benson :
Hello,
I see you wrote this letter over a month ago but I have just
started to cook for my dog. The recipe I am using was formulated by someone
who is quite familiar with pet nutrition. So the recipe is customized for
the weight of my dog and his activity level etc. My dog is eating many
meats, including organ meats and vegetables. He is not eating any grains at
all. He is also getting the supplements he needs such as calcium,
probiotics, etc. Yes, he loves his food but he is a lab so he will eat
mostly anything. But right now , I am so much happier with this, for when
the contamination of the dog food came out, I was terrified to buy or feed
him anything. Hope you made out ok in whatever you decided to do
Aug 23, 2008 11:44 AM
Guest :
My dog is a huge golden retriever and he should weigh at the least 105 the
vet said. He had allergies we got him from a bad breeder we suspect. But
anyway we got him top of the line food this was the 6th we tried and he
wouldnt eat it he weighed 80 pounds and was dieing we didnt know what to
do. A 2 year old puppy dieing so we switched him to a home made diet. His
diet consists of 2 boiled chicken breats or 1/2 cups of raw meat, 1 cup of
minced veggies (carrots, cabbage.green and red peppers and cucumber) and
1/4 cup of yogurt twice a day. Hes a really big dog so smaller dogs wouldnt
need as much. It saved my dogs life. He has absolutely no grain in his diet
because thats what we think hes allergic too. Sometimes we will give him
fruit apples and berries and a little peanut butter. Hope this helps.
Molly
Oct 12, 2008 12:50 PM
Guest :
alma!!
try cooking healthy but the key to dog weight loss is
excercice
just try to make your dog move more , or something acivee,
i read a lil bit on a book i picked up at pets mart but didnt buy it
Dec 2, 2008 12:12 PM
Guest :
Hello all,
I started to make my own dog food after my 12 year old dog
was in agonizing pain and unable to defecate. Three trips to the vet, and
still it was unclear what the cause of my dog’s discomfort was. I noticed
after about a week, he really began to bloat, his stomach was hard as a
rock, and he had a lot of gas. I began making him some stews of rice and
lean meat. After 2 days of eating 'mama's bland cooking', his bloat
disappeared, his coat shined up, and his bowel habits returned to normal.
Maybe he was going to get better anyways, but as far as I am concerned, his
problem was dietary-and he seems much more happy and healthy since I
started to cook for him myself. He improved so much; I have decided to make
his food all the time.
Jan 19, 2009 3:32 PM
Guest :
We adopted a 6 year old golden retriever 3 years ago. He has chronic ear
problems that the vet thinks is due to allergies. We have started him on a
homemade diet of chicken, hamburger, salmon and veggies, mostly green
beans and carrots. We will not be giving him any corn or grains. Does
anyone have any suggestions for other vegetables or any doggie supplements
we should also be giving our dog to ensure he has a well balanced diet. Or
has any one had the same problem we have and have other suggestions that he
may be allergic to or any advice to put us on the right track?
Jan 24, 2009 8:02 AM
Guest :
A year ago my golden retriever came down with a very rare deadly diease. IN
my desperation to keep him with me we spent the last year
fighting
everyday for his health. Cooking became a big part of this.
I avoid
the big no's in a dogs diet and include everything else. Brown
rice
became a big part of this because you can mix many thing with this. Cooked
in V-8 juice or Tomatoe juice makes it very healthy. To
this add any
meat, berry, veggie. He loves it cooked in apple juice or
it is easy
to add any teas you would like to give your dog. Any flavor
he doesn't
like and you want him to have cover with meat broths. One pot is all it
takes. If I am in a hurry there is always some make up a
head of time
and I will just add it to a high quailty dry dog food. It is also an easy
way to add herbs to thier diet. He should of died,but
I believe this
diet is a big part of why I still have him.
Feb 24, 2009 8:42 AM
Guest :
I have had a sick dog for a while, the vet thinks it might be a food
allergy so I am now tryng to figure out the best way to provide proper
nutrition. I am almost sure that i will make her own food from now on, I
found out the food we were giving her had onions, and with her already
being sick it made it worse.
I wondering about food storage....
Mar 8, 2009 1:07 PM
Guest :
homemade food can only be left in the fridge for 3 days total . Anymore
than that divided into a days meal and freeze for the week. I am sure you
can freeze longer than a week but that is my suggestion until I get
clearance from the dvm. As for vegtables we use green beans carrots
zucchini or yellow squash if Zuccin. isnt in stock. We also use sweet
potato and white potato for starch . and vitamins if you are on home made
they need vitamins. And I make up treats with unflavored geltain and broths
which gives them what they are missing otherwise in cartlidge ect. Right
now I am giving an infant liquid multi vitamin till I can build up enough
supply of all the ones I need .
Apr 30, 2009 1:00 PM
Guest :
Terry Kash:
My Cocker was just recently tested and he has
allergies to beef, pork, barley and rice.
Does anyone have a
recipe that uses chicken or turkey that he might like?
He is
very picky and does not like many veggies. Maybe raw tomatoes and
sometimes cucumbers. No potatoes.
May 4, 2009 9:29 PM
Guest :
My dog is nearly 17, 29 lbs and in the last few months he was getting very
finicky about his canned dog food and basically stopped eating so at the
recommendation of my vet I switched him to beef and rice which has helped
him regain the weight he lost. Recipe: 1 lb beef or turkey, 1 cup uncooked
brown or white rice, 1 cup fresh veggies steamed and chopped, 2 t. canola
oil. 2 t garlic (check with your vet on this and 4 cups water. Put em all
in a big pot and stir occasionally as you let the water cook down.
Refrigerate food for no more than 3 days and freeze rest. Microwave 30-45
minutes. Btw my dog dances around the house as I prepare it or reheat the
portion. Happiness is...
May 28, 2009 5:36 PM
Guest :
I was homecooking for my dog and the only thing I forgot to add was
calcium. My dog ended up tearing his cruciate ligament. I now rotate his
homecooked with a high quality canned food to get the calcium he needs.
Jun 14, 2009 10:27 AM
Guest :
I have a st bernard and know what goes into regular dog food. I found a
kind made by the people who make sobe, but it is a little out of my price
range. Would it be cheeper to make his food myself? Or should i get the
other food for him?
Jul 7, 2009 4:19 PM
Guest :
Hi, my dog had hives and was just miserable. I started cooking my own
food.
twice a day she gets a mixture of 1/3c. organic cooked
hamburger, 1/3 c. brown rice, and a mixture of zuchini, squash, spinach,
peas and carrots,asparagus and red peppers chopped up small. 2tbsp of pro
biotic yogurt and 1tbsp of flax seeds. The hamburger is cooked with some
olive oil. The dog is crazy for it. Her fur is soft and shiny and she is
way more happy.
Jul 28, 2009 4:17 AM
Guest :
I think that sweet potato in the place of corn meal would be better.
it is a great carb and has WAY more nutuients than CORN MEAL (yuck).
Aug 26, 2009 6:13 PM
Guest :
I would appreciate any help from anyone. I have a 100 lb Shepherd Rottie
mix who is allergic to: chicken. cow's milk, egg, fish, lamb, peanut,
pork, rice, soy beans, sweet potato, venison and yeast. I'm trying to
finda dry dog food to buy or to make. Any suggestions?
Sep 4, 2009 10:09 AM
Guest :
GREAT RECIPE!!!
It took me 10 years to learn the value of home-cooked
dog food. Zoe, my 60 lb. lab, never enjoyed the dry food the pet stores
stock. I tried them all. She only ate when her stomach started making
hunger noises. All other times she would hold out for the minimal scraps
I'd throw her (terrible practice, I know).
Anyhow, I met a
nutritionist whose (large breed) dog was diagnosed with cancer at age 10,
and she was told the dog had only months to live. At that point, she
started cooking for her dog, AND THE CANCER WENT INTO COMPLETE REMISSION!!!
The dog died at age 16.
She shared her recipe with me, and here it is
with minor tweaks.
It's a meat & vegge loaf which freezes well.
Each pan is about 6 day's worth, and I make 4 pans at a time, freezing 3.
Here we go:
-Calcium is very important, so I crush calcium
pills. Zoe has hip issues, so I crush Glucosamine/Chondtroitin as well.
- Put 1 to 1.5 cups of washed rice in a big mixing bowl. Rice is just a
filler, but that's good for satisfying doggie appetites
- Using a food
processor, I pulverize the following and add to the mixing bowl
- 3
yellow and 1 green squash
- 2 handfulls of broccoli. Sometimes
cauliflower
- 1 or 2 cans of peas
- 3 or 4 large carrots
- 2 apples
- eggs as needed, to aid in the pulverizing, 6 or
so
- 1 potato & 1 yam
- spinach is also good, but I don't
use it
- early on in the process, add your crushed pills
-
flax seed oil does wonders for the coat
Once the mush and rice is all
mixed up, massage in the meat. I add a total of ~5 lbs chopped meat...
whatever's on sale. Usually ground turkey and/or beef. When I add chicken
livers to the mix, Zoe goes bonkers. Mix it all thoroughly, so it's of
uniform texture.
Now distribute into 4 baking pans, 9x13 or whatever.
Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
Cut into 12 equal pieces
before freezing. Also, if you're freezing it right away (while still hot),
be sure to cover with plastic wrap before tin foil... unless you like
aluminum in your food and Alzheimer's :/
I STILL USE COMMERCIAL DOG
FOOD, but I put the meat loaf on top.. If Zoe's still hungry, she'll eat
the dry stuff. I feed twice a day.
I've been cooking for just
over a year now, and the results are phenomenal. Immediately Zoe's mood
improved. She's a happier dog, and I feel great knowing she's eating good
stuff. Everyone who sees her comments how amazing she looks (she looked
great beforehand, but now she's radiant)
Enjoy!!
19 Comments
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