homemade dog food

Just look at that face.

That rotten face gets to eat home cooked suppers.

This little stinker has a very sensitive and refined palette. 

In other words, commercial canned dog food makes her barf on my rug.

Yeah.

And of course, I would rather give her a fresh, whole food based diet instead of refined and processed food anyway. So we have an understanding.


Here's what I feed my mutt:

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Homemade Dog Food Recipe

5 lbs. ground chicken meat (i get mine from a private seller who buys scrap meats from larger, organic distributors... It has all kinds of good stuff in it like tongue and liver and heart, oh my! That really is the good stuff for dogs. But if you can't get your hands on that kind of thing, do what I used to and just buy some kind of ground turkey or poultry. Some dogs might do fine on beef, but mine doesn't. Too fatty and rich. You can experiment with what works for your doggy.)

1 cup of uncooked oatmeal or brown rice

2 cups veggies ( I typically use a can of salt free green beans, a couple sliced carrots, and a chopped apple or two. You can add anything you have... Spinach, broccoli, kale, etc... Just don't ever feed dogs onions, grapes, or chocolate. But you probably weren't thinking of adding chocolate to your dog food so never mind.)

Combine all ingredients in a big pot, mix well and turn heat up on medium-high for a few minutes to get it all bubbling, then back heat down to low, cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes.

Let food cool, then divide into two containers. One for the fridge now, and one for the freezer. This way you don't have to cook it as often.

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For my 45 lb. lab mix, this all lasts about 10-12 days. I also supplement her diet with a small amount of kibble in the morning.

Some other things I like to feed her are coconut oil and sardines. I will give her a teaspoon or so of coconut oil on her food, and then I usually give her about one can of sardines (the kind in water, not oil) a week, one sardine at a time. Yes they are stinky, but they are so full of healthy fats for your pooch! And they are cheap, too!

Please note: This post isn't advice on how much or exactly what to feed you dog. Only you know what your dogs needs are. Ask your vet if this is a suitable diet for your dog. I found my vet to be very encouraging, and he was quite pleased that our Zelda Mae was getting home cooked food. 

Also, here's a breakdown of what this costs us:

5 lbs. meat - $10

1 cup oatmeal - pennies, we'll say $0.20.

2 cups veggies - $1.00-$1.50

Total - $11.70 x 3 = $35.10 per month

Extras:

Coconut oil - 1 jar at Aldi is only $4.99

Sardines - $0.75-$1.00 a can

Of course, cost will vary by the size of your dog.