Do you make your own dog food?

Question

If so is it easy? I've found a quite a few recipes online and would like to give it a go but wondering how time consuming it is. My dog only likes a couple of types of tinned food and would like to give him a more varied diet.

Has anyone got any great, easy....and cheap recipes they use themselves?

Answer 1

Hi I feed my dog home-made food. I make it in weekly batches and I spend about 3 hours making it. You could make larger batches and make it once a month though. My dog is over 100lbs.

I start with his veggies. I use carrots, celery, apples, peas, and beets and then I put them through a food processor. Veggies are easier to digest that way. I will also add veggies to his meals from my dinners. Then I pick a meat, anything from samon to chicken to moose. I feed 3 fish, 2 bird and 2 red meat meals a week. I choose lean cuts and add any fats at meal time.

I then choose a variety of grains that cook in roughly 20 minutes. Buckwheat, amaranth, rice and teff are the usual grains for me. I only use whole grains i.e. brown rice. Mix the slop together and freeze into individual meals.

The steps for you need to be check out your dogs healthy weight (if obese) and then determine his activity levels. Then you can determine his caloric needs. Then figure out how much of each recipe you need based on that amount. You can use a site like nutritionaldata to find out the amounts in any recipe. Then take that to your vet and ask him what they think of ypur meal plan.

Dogs do need variety and people often misunderstand that because their dogs react badly to variety. This is because they are feed one thing all their life and their bodies aren't used to it. For instance it is not healthy for a dog to have only red meat but red meat isn't bad for them either they just shouldn't have it too often.

You must ensure that your dog B12 requirements are met. Dogs need more B12 then people. Once you have met their B12 requirement you can substitute grains and pulses for the meat and you will have healthier food.

Don't scimp on his veggies, in fact you can bulk up his food with as much as you and he can handle. I also make fresh beef liver to use as treats for the dog. I just boil the hell out of it and then stick it in the microwave until it is dried. Then I just break it into small pieces and feed away.

It is easy enough but it is work. I took a few weeks of just feeding ground meat, veggies and rice before I experiemented with other foods. My goal was to be able to just know how much of each type of food and make reciepes from there.

I have eaten his food before, it was good and I usually snack on his food while I am making it. In my defense it is good, healthy and he doesn't mind sharing.

When I travel I don't bother making up meals for him. I just feed a varitation of what I am eating suited to him. He needs different quanities of veggies, meat and grains; remember what I said about B12. He is a service dog and many times while in restraunts eating myself the owner will come out and ask if they can provide a meal for him. I give them basic instructions and they make up a meal for him. He loves it.

I love the freedom not to carry a bag of dog food on my travels. My dog is healthy, fit and his stomach has never been better. I stopped feeding comercial foods because they all upset his stomach but I have only had 1 stomach problem since the switch and that was when he ate about 1lb of broccolli when my dad fed him one night. I do provide a basic suppliment in case I am not meeting his needs somehow but it is easier then it looks and fun.

Good luck

Answer 2

I can surely understand why a person TODAY would want to make their own dogfood. There are more and more brands being affected by the recall and now even DRY BRANDS are coming into play in this debacle.

My suggestion to you is research the BARF (Bones and raw food) diet. Anytime you feed your dog raw or make your own dogfood it is going to be a little more pricey than buying it and definitely time consuming. I stopped feeding raw years ago from sheer lack of time it involves but now that the recalls are not seeming to end I may go back to it. You can also read all about the pros and cons of the BARF diet on the many sites available. There are people who hype up the negative and the positive - you have to search for those who take a pragmatic approach.

There are far too many dog food recipes to mention so I will just direct you to do a search on "dogfood recipes" on yahoo and you will find a great assortment for every budget and preference.

Answer 3

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!
I work at an animal hospital and I can't tell you how many times we get dogs in with dietary problems whose owners decided dry dog food wasn't good enough.
If you must make your own, boil chicken and rice. It's the best for their digestive tract in the absence of dry food.
And dogs do not need a varied diet. As a matter of fact, this is not good for them. They are not miniature people, please don't feed them like they are.

Answer 4

My dog is on a special diet cause he was over weighed. I feed him lots of vegetables and a handful of dried food mixed in he absolutely loves it. He used to turn his nose up at normal dog food, but now there is never a crumb left in the bowl.

Answer 5

If you plan to cook food you also have to provide vitamin supplements, otherwise you will create a vitamin deffiency

The page proves a links to a couple homemade foods near the top of the page and then goes on tho discuss supplement and give the amounts needed that can not be provided in sufficient quantity when feeding cooked http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/supplements.html

Answer 6

I like to make it as easy as possible. I have 3 containers in the refrig. One for raw ground turkey, one for cooked brown rice and one for thawed frozen vegetables. Oh and a carton of eggs. Rule of thumb is 40% protien, 30% starch and 30% vegetables, measure it out a few times then you will get to know what the amounts look like. Eggs are great protien source. I feed dry in the AM for convenience and this at night.

Answer 7

I have tried making dog food when my dog was young with liver, chicken etc but found it stunk the house out for days. Have you tried dried food with fresh veg like carrots sliced on the top.

Answer 8

This is what myself and mum were told by our local vet:

50% meat
25% vegetables
25% carbs (preferably rice or pasta not potatoes)

also to be included in the diet 2 raw eggs a week and raw liver

Answer 9

Both my dogs get raw food. Lamb bones, chicken bones and fruit and veg. Dogs thrive on this type of food and its much cheaper than ready made dog food.

Answer 10

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