Homemade Food for Dogs - Earth Friendly, Green, Healthy

Some pet parents are now preparing their dog's food at home, instead of picking up kibble at the local grocer. Learn how to get started here.

More and more people are choosing to make homemade food for their dogs. For some, the change is about losing trust in pet food companies because of recalls. For others, it’s about digestive problems that just couldn’t be resolved any other way. Whatever your reasons, making homemade food for your dog is a great green way to go when it comes to dog food.

What’s Not Green About “Regular” Dog Food?

When you remove any element of pet care (or anything else, for that matter) from commercial production, you’re reducing your carbon footprint. Chances are, your dog food is manufactured across the country or worldwide. The emissions involved in transportation alone are worth conserving, and that’s not even considering the emissions involved in factory production. Meat and other ingredients must be raised and processed, and the packaging must be milled and printed.

What About Organic Brands?

Commercial dog food production's environmental concerns can be resolved simply by buying 100% organic brands. Certified 100% organic foods will not contain herbicides or toxic persistent pesticides, and the foods will not have been treated with irradiation. Organic manufacturers are also required to adhere to several other environmental best practices, as well as cruelty-free animal care.

Other reputable pet food companies, like Taste of the Wild, are not exclusively organic but on the greener side of commercial dog food. So, yes! Buy 100% certified organic products, or close to organic, whenever possible. Making your own is still going to be an even greener option.

To be on the greener side while still buying packaged dog food, you can opt for brands like The Honest Kitchen or Primal dog food. These brands, along with a few others, are 100% organic brands that take care of the environment while making their products.

While these brands are 100% organic, products like Taste of the Wild Wetlands Dog Food from the Taste of the Wild food brand are still on the greener side as they do take care of the environment but aren’t 100% organic. Hence, you can buy food from these dog food brands, too.

Potential Pitfalls to Homemade Food for Dogs

Many pet owners have had great success cooking for their dogs at home. There’s ample opportunity for success, and there are also some pitfalls. The most common mistake even the most loving pet owners might make when switching from a commercial brand to a homemade diet is not consulting closely enough with their veterinarian. It is always best to vet-approved homemade dog food recipes.

“The trouble I see regularly,” says Dr. Erica Mollica, DVM, of Carroll Gardens Veterinary Group in Brooklyn, NY, “is that owners have good intentions initially and follow a recipe exactly. Then, over time, they might find a dog dislikes an ingredient, so they omit it. Or one of the ingredients might become costly, so they use less of it.” These changes can take what was once a balanced diet into something that unknowingly creates a deficiency. She adds, “Most homemade diets off the internet are unbalanced.”

Dr. Mollica says the most common imbalances she finds in her practice due to homemade diets include overdoses and deficiencies, which mainly involve calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin B.

Your veterinarian should always be consulted when making a significant dietary adjustment for your pet. Consulting the vet will ensure that you are not feeding an unbalanced diet to your beloved dog.

Moreover, consulting with the vet will also help you detect any deficiencies caused to your dog due to the homemade food. Suppose your food recipe lacks essential vitamins. You can then give dog vitamin supplements to your pet like the PL360 Multi-Vitamin Soft Chew Supplement for Dogs, or use joint supplements for dogs so that your pet is always healthy and active.

Sample Components of Homemade Food for Dogs

Most successful homemade dog foods will include:

60%-80% whole protein like deboned chicken or beef chunks, including the skin and fat. Salmon and other proteins may also work.
5% - 10% vegetables or fruit, like carrots or blueberries, chopped very small or pureed
10% - 20% fiber-rich carbohydrates like sweet potato, rice, or oatmeal
A vitamin or other nutritional supplement
Parsley for fresh breath, eggs for added protein with the shells for calcium, or probiotics

Basic Preparation Guidelines for Homemade Dog Food Recipes

The ingredients above can be combined in the recommended portions, added to a pot, and heated until everything is cooked. You may wish to add some water for moisture. Some choose to puree everything in a blender, while others roughly chop all the ingredients until it’s a loose stew-like consistency.

Tips for Easy Preparation

Buy organic meats in bulk to save money.
Buy boneless meat, but keep the skin.
Sometimes your butcher may save you trimmings for free. It can’t hurt to ask!
Prepare up to a month at once and freeze portioned amounts in muffin tins, then pop them out and store them in baggies.

Basic Preparation Guidelines for Homemade Dog Treats

Treats can be even more fun to make at home than regular meals, as there’s more flexibility when the food items aren’t responsible for the bulk of your dog’s daily nutritional intake.

A simple meat jerky can be made by slicing raw chicken, beef, or another favorite protein into super-thin slices on the grain. An eighth of an inch works. You can even boil chicken for dogs. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Spray a pan lightly with nonstick spray, or line the pan with a Silpat. Then bake the meat slices for about two hours, or till they’re the desired consistency. Allow jerky to cool. Then slice with scissors into bite-sized portions. Store in an airtight container for a few weeks, or keep in the freezer for several months.

Preparing dog treats is easy, and the best part is that your furry friend will love it. This will allow for a better and much smoother transition to other homemade recipes. Abrupt transitions can lead to constipation, digestive issues, and even food allergies. In such cases, you will have to take your pet to a vet to get allergy medicine for dogs.

Be Sure You’re Doing it Right

Dr. Mollica advises that pet parents pay close attention to their dog’s energy and comfort levels, especially changes to their stool. Other indications that a homemade diet isn’t doing the trick might include “...muscle loss or atrophy, neurologic symptoms, weakness, or inability to raise the head and neck.”

Dr. Mollica says protein is vital, “but not the be all end all. Carbs, fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids are all equally important.” Nutritionally balanced supplements are a reasonable consideration, especially if homemade meals are served permanently.

Homemade Dog Food for Your Pet

Many pet lovers choose homemade dog foods rather than store-bought kibble. Others ask, why bother with homemade dog food recipes when it comes so conveniently packaged and ready to serve? For some, it’s a medical necessity. For others, their budget paved the way for home-cooked meals. And some folks just don’t trust pet food manufacturers or their regulators after recalls and pet deaths.

There are a dozen reasons for wanting to get off the kibble train, but once you’ve hopped off, in which direction should you walk? As with most dog food discussions, opinions vary widely.

Common Ingredients in Recipes for Homemade Dog Foods

An excellent place to begin is to determine which ingredients are safe and healthful for dogs and which are better left to humans. Dr. Janet Tobiassen Crosby, DVM, says, “A dog's diet should include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Just because something is good and healthful for us doesn't mean it will be the same for your dog. Some human foods may be toxic to dogs, so caution is advised.”

Common Proteins in Homemade Dog Foods

Just about any whole boneless meat: chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, pork, or duck will do, as will fowl or other poultry.
Poultry organ meat, like chicken giblets and chicken livers
Chicken skin and soft cartilage
Deboned fish, especially salmon
Eggs, including shells. Dr. Erica Mollica, DVM of Carroll Gardens Veterinary Group in Brooklyn, NY, says, “Typically, shells are added to promote calcium in the diet. Raw eggs have a high risk of Salmonella infection, which can cause bad diarrhea and stomach problems, so cooked is better.”

For the most part, bones should not be included in your homemade dog food. Unless you’ve read up on the BARF philosophy and are prepared to get your dog super-fresh bone-in meat, bones are not generally safe to feed to dogs.

Common Fats in Homemade Dog Foods

Ground flax seeds or flax oil: a source of Omega-3 fatty acids, great for skin and coat
Salmon: also a protein source, salmon is rich in Omega-3s
Chicken or other poultry skin
Safflower oil
Peanut butter: primarily for flavor

Common Carbohydrates in Homemade Dog Foods

Potatoes, both sweet and regular
Brown rice
Pumpkin
Wheat germ
Peas
Oatmeal: a good soluble fiber, in moderation

Other Common Ingredients in Homemade Dog Foods

Yogurt or other probiotics
Supplements: some may wish to add drops, powders, or pellets to their dog’s homemade food, either to help with current ailments or to add amino acids and other nutrients
Parsley: for fresh breath
Garlic: Some believe garlic should never be in dog food; others laud it for its anti-pest powers and other health benefits.

Sample Guidelines

Each pet owner will have to experiment to determine what will work best for their dog. Dr. Crosby says, “Some dogs might need slightly higher ratios of fiber if the stool is loose, or slightly more protein if the puppy is ill. Nutritionally balanced supplements are a good consideration, as they’ll help ensure that homemade meals are balanced and complete. Supplements are a good idea, especially if homemade meals will be served on a long-term basis.” It’s always best to work closely with your veterinarian when making significant changes to your dog’s diet.

Sample Homemade Dog Food Recipe: Brooklyn Mix for Dog with Diarrhea

A young couple in Brooklyn, NY, found their rat terrier mix was plagued with constant stomach problems, including persistent diarrhea. Their veterinarian suggested home-cooked meals until they could pinpoint the issue. Their doctor created basic recipe guidelines, which they followed. The homemade food worked so well that they never returned to kibble or alternatives. We asked them for their recipe:

“We don't follow an exact recipe, but we stick to these guidelines: 60% protein, usually chicken thighs and/or breasts with the skin, and sometimes chicken liver or something else on sale; 20% vegetables, usually sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, or potatoes; 20% oatmeal or rice; and we add a doggy nutritional supplement whose base is seaweed.”

They add all the ingredients to a pot with a bit of water and heat until everything is cooked and soft. They prepare up to one month’s worth of dog food at a time and freeze pre-portioned amounts.

Sample Homemade Dog Food Recipe: Boston Mix for Dog with Chronic Licking and Hair Loss

A family of four in Boston, MA had an aged golden retriever who began licking her paws till her bed was soaked with saliva. They thought it an odd quirk till she started licking her body raw. She began losing fur in patches. The family, already fearful of commercial pet food after a recent recall scare, tossed their budget kibble and started cooking their own food.

They combine about 75% chopped poultry with its skin and cubes of beef in a pot with about 25% chopped carrots, yogurt, blueberries for antioxidants, and a starchy vegetable. They also add glucosamine supplements to ease their aging dog’s hip pain. When it’s cooked through, they roughly puree everything and freeze several weeks’ worth of shapes in muffin tins. Sometimes they use fish instead of poultry (tinned tuna works, they report) or whole eggs, including the shells.

“Our vet explained that dogs don’t need to eat the same protein daily. There’s no reason not to shake it up,” they said. Their retriever's raw spots healed, the fur grew back, and in the end, they saved money on dog food overall.

Some Human Foods That Are Dangerous to Dogs

Onions
Raisins and grapes
Avocados
Chocolate
Artificial sweeteners
And some would say garlic, though it’s often included in foods, treats, and supplements

Criticism of Homemade Dog Food

The troubles with homemade dog foods are twofold. The most common pitfall is that pet owners don’t consult closely enough with their veterinarians during the transition process and end up creating deficiencies or overdoses in their dog’s diet. The other may be the time you spend making the food, which most practitioners try to limit by cooking plenty at once and freezing portioned amounts.

Problems with homemade food can lead to several conditions like diarrhea, constipation, allergy, etc. Hence, it is best to avoid giving homemade food to dogs if you find symptoms of any such problems. In that case, you will have to take your dog to a vet. The vet will examine the condition to find the root cause and prescribe dog medicine accordingly. For instance, if there’s no issue with the recipe, but your dog is not able to digest it, the vet may recommend Prozyme for aid with digestion. Similarly, if the vet finds allergic symptoms, he or she will prescribe dog allergy medicine.

Homemade Food for Earth Friendly Dogs By Lauren Leonardi on April 20 @ 12:00AM