When I tell people my dog gets homemade dog food I am often asked for the recipe. Since I have this website I decided this is an easy way to make it available to people.
So first the disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian or animal nutritionist. After 2 cancer scares with my dogs in a short period of time I began researching commercial pet foods and what I read horrified me. When you see “meat” in the ingredients list as opposed to “chicken” or “beef”, “meat” can actually be euthanized dogs and cats from overcrowded shelters! And as if turning our pets into cannibals isn’t bad enough, the phenobarbital used to euthanize these pets does not break down in the rendering process. Our pets are receiving quantities of this drug in their food to the point that vets began noticing it was taking more and more to euthanize elderly pets as they had built up a resistance to it. “By-products” can include feathers, beaks, hooves, cancerous tumors and literally feces (crap).
So after extensive research I began making my own dog food. I have been making this recipe since 2000 and 5 of my 6 dogs lived well beyond the average life span for their size and breed, the one dog that did not had a passion and talent for stealing leftover canned cat food and I did not know that allowing a dog to regularly consume cat food is very dangerous and potentially fatal to dogs. A small quantity on rare occasions is not a problem, if your dog gets some cat food, you don’t have to run it to the vet. But Bandit I allowed to eat leftover cat food nearly every day. He died of pancreatitis caused by the cat food despite a lengthy and expensive effort to save him.
I think the most important thing is for people to know what NOT to feed their dog. Your dog does not need spices added to their food and NEVER give your dog garlic or onion, even small quantities can cause death in dogs. Most people know not to give dogs chocolate, but they also should not be given avocado, grapes or raisins and macadamia nuts.
There have been times I was too tired between work and school to cook so I just had some of this stew after spicing it up a bit. Once I gave some to a friend for her dog which wasn’t feeling well. I put it in a cleaned container that had contained and was labeled “Lobster Bisque”. Before she could give it to her dog her husband ate it thinking it was lobster bisque and thanked her for bringing it home for him, that it was good.. It is less expensive than the higher quality dog foods and you know exactly what your dog is eating without all the preservatives.
Finally, I will ask if you are going to switch from commercial foods to homemade for your dog, please adjust your family’s diet to at least one vegetarian dish per week. Commercial food are made with meats that are not human quality. Switching pet foods to human quality meats will result in a higher meat demands, the animals slaughtered for consumption are just as sentient as your beloved dog. Let’s not increase the slaughter.
Daily Food Recipe – Chicken Stew
In a large crock pot I combine:
3 – 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups of grated carrots (I put through food processor)
1 1/2 cups of grated green beans (also through food processor) I use the bags of frozen cut green beans
1 sweet potato – microwave potato then fork crush and mix into crock pot
1 1/2 cups of white rice or brown rice or a combination of both
Fill pot with water to 1/2 inch from the top, cook for 6 hours on high, remove the chicken and shred back into the stew. Give everything a good stir, I then store the whole crock pot in the refrigerator, spooning out an appropriate amount for my dog for 2 meals a day, breakfast and dinner, warm in the microwave and serve.
This serves my 80lb dog 2 meals a day for about 5 – 6 days.
The same recipe can work with a beef roast, ground turkey or ground beef, or a turkey breast, just be sure to get all the bones out.
I usually put a 3 lb bag of carrots and 2 – 16 oz. bags of green beans through the food processor at once and store the extra in individual recipe size containers in the freezer streamlining the time to make the next few batches. I’ve got it down to the most time consuming aspect is washing the crock pot.
Other ingredients you can use to mix it up:
Broccoli
Apples
Blueberries
Peas