Feeding Your Dog
In light of the recent (and ongoing) dog food recalls, this might be a good time to discuss cooking for your dog. It sounds like a huge commitment, but if you only have one dog or a couple, it’s really not that labor intensive. I feed home cooked food to many dogs every day, which primarily consists of just mixing up the already cooked ingredients. I do most of the actual cooking at times when I am in the kitchen doing something else, then I freeze it.Here is what I do in broad scope recipe:
The proportions I use are about 1/3 of each thing (meat, rice mix and veggies) - you can play with that. Most of these ingredients will last about 5 days in the frig. I always heat it for a couple minutes in the microwave - did I say my dogs are spoiled? My 20 lbs dogs get 1/3 to a 1/2 cup a day.
My dogs always have great blood work and beautiful shiny coats, but I will say they don’t much care for kibble or canned food after this. My own dogs have never eaten commercial foods. It’s nice not to have to worry about these recalls and know that they are getting good fresh nutrition. At the beginning of this adventure - 10 years ago - my vet tried to dissuade me from cooking. He said it would affect their teeth and it’s hard to get every thing they need in home cooked food. He said kibble cleaned their teeth!! Now, I love my vet, but there is no evidence to support this - its like saying cornflakes clean our teeth - just so not true!!! Now, he seems Ok with it. He's the one who told me to find a calcium source to include.
So I realize it looks like a lot of work. It’s really not since you do it all ahead and just throw it in a bowl at feeding time. It does take a little frig or freezer space.
- ground turkey: You could use beef, chicken or whatever you choose or find on sale. I buy 5 lb packages and freeze it.
- brown rice/barley: I get bulk brown rice and barley at Winco. You could use quinoa or some other grain, but they can be too expensive. I don’t recommend white rice - that is generally only good for a sick dog. I typically cook 40 cups at a time and freeze it in containers, but you won’t be cooking for as many dogs as I do. I use a basic rice cooker from Costco that has a setting for brown rice now, but initially I used the microwave for the rice. I used a microwave rice cooker I purchased at Wal-Mart and kept the extra in the frig.
- veggies: I don’t cook at all. I use whatever I’ve bought for myself or I found cheap that week - broccoli, carrots ($1.35 for 5 lbs), green beans (I use canned ones but rinse them-they are salty), spinach, kale - pretty much anything - dogs aren’t too picky. These I grind in 3 cup grinder and store in the frig. Sometimes I add an apple or squash - really depends on what I have around - it’s different every day.
- calcium: You will also need a calcium source - I use cottage cheese, yogurt or egg shells ground to a fine powder. I use my calcium source about 2 -3 times a week. Or sometimes they get hard boiled eggs all ground up.
- Olive Oil/Fish Oil: Drizzle a little olive oil and fish oil in each bowl- you could use capsules for that too
The proportions I use are about 1/3 of each thing (meat, rice mix and veggies) - you can play with that. Most of these ingredients will last about 5 days in the frig. I always heat it for a couple minutes in the microwave - did I say my dogs are spoiled? My 20 lbs dogs get 1/3 to a 1/2 cup a day.
My dogs always have great blood work and beautiful shiny coats, but I will say they don’t much care for kibble or canned food after this. My own dogs have never eaten commercial foods. It’s nice not to have to worry about these recalls and know that they are getting good fresh nutrition. At the beginning of this adventure - 10 years ago - my vet tried to dissuade me from cooking. He said it would affect their teeth and it’s hard to get every thing they need in home cooked food. He said kibble cleaned their teeth!! Now, I love my vet, but there is no evidence to support this - its like saying cornflakes clean our teeth - just so not true!!! Now, he seems Ok with it. He's the one who told me to find a calcium source to include.
So I realize it looks like a lot of work. It’s really not since you do it all ahead and just throw it in a bowl at feeding time. It does take a little frig or freezer space.