Healthy Homemade Dog Food

Homemade Dog Food

Many dog owners are frustrated with the low quality of commercial dog foods today. In some cases, these foods are actually making your dog sick. My German Shepherd Dog suffered from diarrhea, ear infections, itchy skin, and poor appetite. That was until I tried feeding him homemade dog food. He's now happier and healthier than he's ever been in his life. Homemade dog food offers healthier ingredients, no animal by-products, better taste, control over special diet ratios like extra fiber, better quality control, and a more natural diet. The trade-off is that it can be time consuming to prepare. Fortunately it is very cost effective when compared to the higher quality commercial dog foods available. You should always talk to your vet about any changes in your dog's diet to ensure that it includes the correct balance of protein, carbohydrates, fat and essential minerals and vitamins.

After some experimentation, I've come up with a method and recipe that works really well. I'm lazy and forgetful so to cook the chicken for the dog food I just take a frozen whole chicken out of the freezer and put it directly into a crock pot and let it cook for the day. Pretty simple. Later I cook up some brown basmati rice or peeled, mashed russet potatoes. I make big batches to last the week. You'll probably want to adjust my amounts for your individual dog since each one eats more or less. But these numbers are a good place to start.

The basic components of a homemade dog food diet are about 50% protein and 50% carbohydrates. A balanced and nutritious diet includes a small amount of fat which will generally be provided by the meat. Your best meat options include chicken, turkey, and pork. Rice or mashed potatoes make up the bulk of the carbohydrate component. A little bit of oatmeal and pumpkin are good sources of fiber. Eggs, no more than 3 a week, are a good source of easily digested protein and healthy fats. Cottage cheese provides some calcium. Calcium is a really important part of a dog's diet so you will need to supplement with a multivitamin. I use and recommend Pet-Tabs Plus. I like to mix a little bit of water in with the food to combine.

I like to use a basic recipe for most meals and then mix it up occasionally with a different meat or switching the carbohydrate portion:

25 lb Dog

3/4 c. chicken/turkey/pork

1/2 c. rice

1 T. oatmeal

1 tsp. pumpkin

1/4 egg

1 tsp. cottage cheese

1 T. water

1/2 multivitamin (Pet-Tabs Plus)

Annual Cost=$240.00

50 lb Dog

1 1/2 c. chicken

1 c. rice

2 T. oatmeal

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin

1/4 egg

1 1/2 tsp. cottage cheese

2 T. water

1 multivitamin (Pet-Tabs Plus)

Annual Cost=$465.00

75 lb Dog

2 1/4 c. chicken

1 1/2 c. rice

3 T. oatmeal

2 tsp. pumpkin

1/2 egg

2 tsp. cottage cheese

3 T. water

1 multivitamin (Pet-Tabs Plus)

Annual Cost=$688.00

100 lb dog

3 c. chicken

2 c. rice

1/4 c. oatmeal

1 T. pumpkin

1/2 egg

1 T. cottage cheese

1/4 c. water

1 multivitamin (Pet-Tabs Plus)

Annual Cost=$895.50

If you'd like more information about homemade dog food and a table with a detailed cost breakdown please visit my website. Happy cooking!