Homemade Dog Food

Definately going to try this out. Thanks Ditch Witch

 

@ditch witch I notice in both here and the other DIY dog food thread DIY Canned Dog Food | Survival Monkey Forums that the recipe was heavy pumpkin or squash based. My dog throws up when given too much pumpkin. Do you have any suggestions for a squash sub? Is there a mild squash that is easier on the stomach?

 

I would think either carrots or sweet potato would be a good alternative.

Great info here, thanks for all the time to post it up!

Couple things I've found researching my dogs food is that some smaller dogs, mines a lhasa, shouldn't be given any type of bone because of their jaw structure - so I avoid any bones in my end mix.


I have been feeding my dogs Arcana prairie mix for some time but its very expensive. Now that I only have the one dog I still buy a bag of it and keep a bowl that stays full in case he feels like he needs more. I have always free range fed my dogs (been lucky) so he is not prone to over eating.


I got interested in making my own food, not because their food was bad but mainly I wanted to know I could feed him a healthy meal without going to a store - SHTF being a worst case. Then it just kind of snowballed as it didn't take long to see some health benefits. He lost a few pounds and looks much better (though he has always been a beefcake, he just has more curves where he should and less where he shouldn't lol).


The raw ingredients I feed him cost about $18 for 2.5 weeks if nothing is on sale.

I would love some input from a more experienced person on my food - I know I am lacking calcium and some omega oils right now (part of the reason I keep buying a bag of dry food every now and then when its about gone). I have been adding one ingredient every time I cook as we have had food allergies with this one but never paid to diagnose which ones, just found a food he did well on and stayed with it.


I read and read online and the way that made the most since to me was not to absolutely stick with the same recipe but to mix it up occasionally - just like people they do not need 100% of everything they need at every meal.

I shoot for 30-50% protein as a minimum and the rest is root vegetables, dark leafy greens and some brown rice (both as a filler and to soak up any extra water in the mix while it cooks). Fats I keep to a minimum as he is 11 and not super active, so the chicken stock and some of the beef usually has some in it.


I do as an average:

Few lbs of lean beef
Few lbs of dark chicken meat (I like drumsticks for ease of cooking and separating) no skin
1ish lbs of chicken hearts
about 1 lbs of chicken livers (I try to stay at 1oz to 1 lb of other meat - I read too much or too little is bad)
2 small sweet potatoes
2 lb bag of carrots
1 bunch of kale leafs
1 bunch or spinach leaves
2 apples
2 bananas
1-2 cups of brown rice
Chicken stock from boiling the drumsticks

Everything gets diced up and tossed in a large crockpot except for the drumsticks. For those I just boil them in water till its easy to pull the meat off then I keep boiling the water down till its about the right amount to add to the crockpot.

I start the pot of chicken legs first and then dice everything else up and into the crockpot. Once I'm done dicing everything else, the chicken is done and I hand separate it when its cool enough too while the stock boils.

I feed him lunch and dinner at about 2/3 of a cup each meal.

Anything he won't eat in 4 days gets put in ziplock freezer bags (probably not the cheapest option but not bad for a small dog) and tossed in the freezer laying flat so that it thaws faster. When I have a day left of food in the fridge I pull out a frozen bag and let it thaw in the fridge overnight and its ready the next day.


I saw eggshells recommended but that whole process seems over complicated when you can buy it in powder form for cheap (and I can't have egg yolks and whites minimally). Also I'm looking for omega oils to add.

Any critiques are welcome!


P.S. Every time I make his food, what I really want for dinner is a good pot roast with veggies!!!! (but by the time I'm done with his stuff, I don't want to take the time lol.)

 

@Motomom34 you can use sweet potato instead of pumpkin or squash. I mostly use pumpkin because it's what I grow a lot of. And if sweet taters make 'em puke too, there's always rice.

@Joe13 Not sure if you are saying you can buy powdered eggshells or powdered calcium, but either way, whichever works for you, works. I do the processing thing with the eggshells because I have chickens so eggshells are sort of a freebie for me. As for the Omega oils, if you have a Sam's Club membership they have these big jars of salmon oil or krill oil pills for fairly cheap (cheaper than if you buy fish oil from a pet store anyway). They're in these gel caps that are easy to bust and drain the oil out of.

 

I have a little dog also and they seem to be more sensitive then larger dogs. I have switched his treats to a probiotics and that helps his vomiting issues. The treats are pricey. I was thinking that it would be cheaper to give him a teaspoon of plain yogurt but that has sugar.

 

We used plain Greek yogurt to help clear up a yeast issue in our dogs ear while he was on a food that flared his allergies.

I believe you can find it with no added sugar.