Make Your Own Dog Food

Some pet owners want to cook food for their dogs, citing concerns with poor nutrients and possible contaminants in commercial pet food. This is not something to be taken lightly. Commercial dog food is generally safe and meets all the nutritional requirements for dogs, requirements which are not the same as for humans.[1] In order to make dog food that will give your pet the nutrition that it needs, you need to research your pup's nutritional needs and make a mix of meat, vegetables, and starches that will fulfill those needs.

Ingredients

Hamburger and Liver Meal

  • 2 lbs cooked hamburger or ground turkey
  • 1 cup cooked liver
  • 2 cups of cooked oats
  • ¼ cup blueberries
  • ½ cup brown rice cooked
  • ¼ cup wheat germ
  • ¼ cup brewer's yeast

Dog Meatloaf with Vegetables

  • 1½ pounds lean ground beef
  • 3 stalks celery (chopped)
  • 2 carrots (grated)
  • 1 apple (cored and diced)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 slices white bread (torn into pieces)
  • 1 cup regular rolled oats
  • 1 cup wheat germ
  • 6 ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1 cup of cooked green beans
  • 3 carrots (chopped)
  • 1 stalk celery (cubed)

Steps

Assessing the Nutritional Needs of Your Dog

  1. Check with your vet before switching to homemade dog food. Your dog may have specific nutritional needs that your vet can explain to you. Your vet may even have some great suggestions of key ingredients that will help your pet's health.
    • After you have been feeding a homemade diet to your dog for a couple of weeks take your pet to the veterinarian to make certain it is not gaining or losing weight. If weight loss or gain has occurred discuss the diet with your veterinarian to determine how your feeding should be adjusted.[2]
  2. Consult with an animal nutrition expert. If your veterinarian doesn't know about homemade meals for dogs, consult with an expert in animal nutrition. He or she will help you to construct a homemade diet suitable for your particular dog. This is vital if your dog has any chronic health conditions.
  3. Consider the caloric requirements for your dog. For example, puppies need more calorie and nutrient dense foods than adults, as their bodies are rapidly growing and forming their bones and muscles. Elderly dogs require fewer calories than adult dogs, as their metabolism has slowed.
    • Older dogs still need good quality food with plenty of nutrients. They also need more fiber to keep the food moving through their digestive tract properly.
    • Pregnant and nursing dogs need more calories to meet the demands of the pregnancy on their bodies.
    • Small breeds of dogs have a higher metabolism (on average) than do large or giant breeds of dogs. Therefore smaller dogs require a more nutrient and calorie dense food than the big dogs.
    • There is also a difference in foods fed between small breed puppies and large breed puppies. Large breed puppies are more prone to orthopedic problems and need careful balancing of nutrients such as protein, calcium and phosphorus in order to form their skeletal systems.
  4. Avoid giving your dog foods that are bad for it. Feeding your dog the wrong foods can make it sick; in some cases it can even cause organ damage to the point your dog could die. Under no circumstances feed these foods to dogs:[3][4]
    • Alcohol
    • Avocados
    • Candy, especially chocolates
    • Garlic, garlic powder, onions, onion powder
    • Grapes
    • Macadamia nuts
    • Mushrooms
    • Mustard seeds
    • Raisins
    • Salt
    • Walnuts
    • Yeast dough
    • Any foods made with xylitol, an artificial sweetener that is very toxic to dogs.
  5. Rotate the foods you make for variety and a balanced diet. Understand that dogs need a diet that consists of 40 percent meat, 30 percent vegetables and 30 percent starch. When feeding these diets you can also give your dog a vitamin and mineral supplement on a daily basis. This will help assure that your dog is getting proper nutrition.

Making Hamburger and Liver Meal

  1. Prepare the individual ingredients. This typical recipe for homemade dog food combines meat, vegetables, and grains into one meal. Crush the blueberries into a mushy fruit paste. Cook the hamburger, liver, oats, and rice.
    • Let cooked ingredients cool long enough so they can be touched easily. This will make combining the ingredients easier.
  2. Combine all ingredients. First put the beef, cooked oats, and liver in a food processor. The goal is to make a relatively smooth mixture but it can still have lumps. Then add the other ingredients, which should be easily combined into the initial mixture.
  3. Roll mixture into small balls, each about 1/4 cup. This will make portioning the food consistently easier. Put the mixture balls into the fridge once formed.
  4. Feed your dog. This recipe is meant to be consumed fresh. Feed approximately 1 cup of food for every 10-15 pounds of dog twice daily.
    • Keep cooked dog food in the refrigerator no longer than three days. Keep in mind that when you're using natural ingredients, the food spoils easily. You should just make enough food to last for a few days, depending on the shelf-life of the ingredients.

Making Dog Meatloaf with Vegetables

  1. Prepare to make dog food. Preheat your oven to 350˚F. Cover a large roasting pan with oil. Set aside for later use.
  2. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Make sure your hands are clean before combining. The consistency of the mixture will be chunky, but it should stick together due to the raw meat and eggs.
  3. Divide the mixture into four equal parts. Shape each part into a loaf. Place the loaves into the roasting pan from earlier. Then, cover the pan with a lid.
  4. Bake for 80 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. If you're using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should be 175˚F when finished.[5] Then allow to cool.
  5. Feed your dog. Feed 1/4 to 1/3 of a loaf per 10 pounds of dog.[6] This dog food can also be given alongside kibble, to vary and supplement your dog's diet.[7]
  6. Keep cooked dog food in the refrigerator no longer than three days. Keep in mind that when you're using natural ingredients, the food spoils easily so you must just make enough food that could last for a span of a few days - depending on the shelf-life of the ingredients.



Tips

  • Eggs and organ meat (such as liver, kidneys, etc.) are two foods that are both healthy and tasty to your dog.
  • Consider adding crushed eggshells to your dog food for their calcium and other nutrient content.
  • Be aware that not all human foods are beneficial to your dog. For example, regular consumption of bacon can easily lead to pancreatitis. Also, many dogs (like most mature mammals) are intolerant of dairy products due to the presence of lactose.
  • When you first switch to homemade dog food, mix your dog's old food into the new food you have prepared to keep stomach upset to a minimum. Do this over a period of a week.

Warnings

  • Cook meat before feeding it to your dog.
  • Purchase fresh human grade food and store and prepare it hygienically.
  • Always check with your veterinarian before you embark on any homemade diet to make sure it is appropriate for your dog.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/homemade-dog-food
  2. ↑ http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/homemade-dog-food
  3. ↑ http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/foods_poisonous_to_pets.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
  4. ↑ http://www.dogchatforum.com/foods-not-for-dogs.htm
  5. ↑ http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Doggy-Meatloaf-with-Vegetables/Detail.aspx
  6. ↑ http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Doggy-Meatloaf-with-Vegetables/Detail.aspx
  7. ↑ http://allrecipes.com/recipe/140483/doggy-meatloaf-with-vegetables/
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