Homemade Dog Food

In case y'all want to know whether you should make your own dog food or not, the answer is... YES! Your four-legged friend will thank you, with increased energy, a silky-soft coat, a longer life, and reduced veterinary bills.

Here's how to do it.

Brown Rice (1 lb)
Kidney Beans (1 lb) or rolled oats
Frozen Veggies (whatever is cheap, try the mixed veggies) (1 lb)
Meat (whatever you eat is fine; I eat free-range beef and use that for the dogs as well; it is healthier than corn-fed beef you buy at the supermarket) (1 lb)

Soak the beans overnight in the fridge.
Cook rice and beans (one hour), I put them in the same pot, and the dogs don't seem to mind. :)
Throw in the veggies (ten minutes or so)
Saute beef in separate pan, then add to mixture.
Add rolled oats, if desired.

Now you're done with the food.

But you still need to make the nutritional powder.

2 cups nutritional yeast
1 cup lecithin granules
1/2 cup green powder or 1/4 cup kelp powder
1/2 cup bone meal or 1/4 cup powdered calcium supplement

You can get all this stuff at a nutrition store. Mix it. Sprinkle about a teaspoon over your dog's food each time you feed him.

Little Dog (15 lb) needs 1/2 cup 2x day.
Medium Dog (30 lb) needs 1 cup 2x day.

Adjust accordingly. It doesn't have to be exact each time.

Optional: Olive, Hemp, or Fish Oil, for their coat (omega-3 oils)

You can freeze a whole bunch and defrost in the microwave as you go, so you don't have to cook so often.

Your dog will thank you! This costs the same as premium dog food and is healthier for your dog.

The cheap version is this, in case you are too poor or too lazy to do all that work:

Brown Rice
Tuna

Mix. Feed. Supplement with veggies whenever you eat them.

If i ever get a dog ill definately use the recipe

I have been using the BARF diet for years with my shepherds and their health is great!

Bones And Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods

Check it out on the internet. This is what they are meant to eat, when you cook food it changes the molecular structure and inhibits parts of the digestion.

BARF Diet - Healthy & Natural Raw Food For Dogs & Cats, Pet Health Care Food & Nutrition Products Supply Online

Hey Humboldt215, where did you get your shepherds from?

I ask this because the first place I heard of the BARF diet is at leerburg kennels. I was interested in his dogs, but he no longer seems to breed.

Dylan;

From Slovakia. I am quite familiar with Leerburg Kennels I have purchased some of his quality leather leads and bite arms. The 1st pic shows 1 from Leerburg.

But no, I heard of the BARF diet from the euro breeders, researched it and was sold.

Tonights meal for example, will be 2 chicken thighs (raw with bone), a good squeezin of ground turkey (I buy the 6 lb tubes) and maybe a piece of chopped up broccoli (as wild animals do eat vegetable material in their prey {rabbits, etc})

I also give them organ meat, like beef heart and chicken gizzards, they love the cheap hamburger 27% fat

The only animal I dont feed my dogs is pork. And thats just because I dont buy it myself, cept for bacon & sausage. gotta luv them home made biscuits & gravy on weekend mornings.

It is super healthy for them and you can also hide the food and let them search for it, today I cut up some polish dogs and stashed them in cracks & crevices around the house, its great fun for them to search it out and get their reward.

dogs r0k

Man, those are some fine looking dogs! I like the looks of that black dog.

Do you breed them, or just have your personal stock? If you do breed I would be intrested in comming to see some dogs. I plan on starting a program with some working GSD or Mals. I am still in the research phase, so I'm not sure which I want to use yet. I had a GSD when I was younger, but she wasn't from a good working line.

Humbolt, the 4th pic is a great advertisement for the BAFR diet with the sunlight hitting the glossy coat on that black dog. Very cool thread and posts all around!