Do you want to give your dog the highest quality food free from questionable ingredients? Do you want a natural way to improve their health and increase their happiness? Whether your dog is currently healthy or suffering from allergies or obesity, a homemade dog food diet could be the best gift you can give them.
Pros of Homemade Dog Food
- Healthier ingredients
- No animal by-products
- Better taste
- Control over ratios for special diets (e.g. extra fiber)
- Better quality control
- Can be cheaper than the “higher quality” commercial dog foods
- Lower salt—high in commercial dog foods but not part of a dog’s natural diet
- No more wasting meat from the freezer
Cons of Homemade Dog Food
- Time consuming
- More expensive than the rock-bottom cheapest commercial dog food available
- Inconvenient for traveling
My German Shepherd Dog has lots of allergies so we started feeding him a homemade dog food diet to help with his sensitive stomach, itchy skin, diarrhea (lots of fun!), and intolerance of the ingredients in commercial dog foods. Plus he hated the expensive foods the vet recommended and despite the higher quality, he continued to have the same health problems. If you have a GSD, you know how they can be almost as picky about food as many little dogs are. I’m not a veterinarian and I’m not trying to sell you an e-book. I’m just a dog owner who has researched the benefits of this diet for my dogs and played around with recipes and portions. I did try the raw diet with my dogs—they hated it, even after many attempts at easing them into it by gradually reducing the amount of cooking. I eventually came up with a homemade dog food recipe that works for my dogs and thought I’d share it with the online world since when I first started making homemade dog food there weren’t a whole lot of specific recommendations, just broad information. As always, check with your veterinarian before making drastic changes to your dogs’ diet. Most of them will be supportive if your dog doesn’t have a special medical obstacle and you address the specifics of what you will be feeding and how you will ensure a balanced diet that includes essential minerals and vitamins.
The way I make the dog food is by putting forth as little cooking effort as possible: I pull a whole chicken out of the freezer (buy several on sale and keep frozen for later) and stick it in a crock pot to cook for 4-8 hours. I started out boiling the chicken or baking it in the oven—way too much mess and hassle. So one day I couldn’t be home until dinner time but had forgotten to cook a chicken the day before so I pulled out the crock pot and just hoped it would work—I hadn’t ever tried cooking an entire chicken that was totally frozen solid in a crock pot before. Well, it worked! No more planning ahead to thaw the chicken out ahead of time and it’s a lot easier to clean up. One 5 lb chicken yields about 10 cups of meat if you’re really good about picking the bones and you count the organs that come inside—excellent nutrients there and the dogs love them. Depending on the size of the chicken, the size of your dog and how many little monsters you’re feeding, the chicken should last you at least a few days. I feed two dogs (one is 100 pounds and the other is 50 lbs) who go through one average sized chicken in about 3 days or so. The reason I use chicken is because it is cheap, it’s often on sale for even cheaper, and it’s lean—my sensitive dog can’t handle rich foods like beef. I occasionally throw in a little pork mixed with the chicken if we find some old meat in the freezer that no one is going to cook up for human consumption. The next part is even easier—I cook up a big batch of rice (I prefer to use brown basmati rice as the everyday calrose-type rice is too sticky for my dog to digest well) and save it in the fridge for the week. The way I start out with the size of portions is by using the basic idea that animals need to consume about 2% of their body weight each day in food to maintain proper weight and health. For making dog food I’ve found that my dogs do better at 2.25% so for the 100 lb dog I start out at 2.25 pounds each day. Your dog may need more or less, so don’t be too rigid in the numbers. The dogs like to have their menu mixed up every now and then so I have a few different dog food recipes on another page. This is the basic recipe I use based on the weight of the dog:|
Weight (lbs)
|
Meat
|
Rice
|
Oatmeal
|
Pumpkin
|
Egg
|
Cottage Cheese
|
Water
|
Annual Cost
|
|
|
10
|
1/3 c.
|
¼ c.
|
1 ½ tsp.
|
½ tsp.
|
–
|
½ tsp.
|
1 ½ tsp.
|
½
|
$106.50
|
|
25
|
¾ c.
|
½ c.
|
1 T.
|
1 tsp.
|
¼ egg
|
1 tsp.
|
1 T.
|
½
|
$240.00
|
|
50
|
1 ½ c.
|
1 c.
|
2 T.
|
1 ½ tsp.
|
¼ egg
|
1 ½ tsp.
|
2 T.
|
1
|
$465.00
|
|
75
|
2 ¼ c.
|
1 ½ c.
|
3 T.
|
2 tsp.
|
½ egg
|
2 tsp.
|
3 T.
|
1
|
$688.00
|
|
100
|
3 c.
|
2 c.
|
¼ c.
|
1 T.
|
½ egg
|
1 T.
|
¼ c.
|
1
|
$895.50
|
|
125
|
3 ¾ c.
|
2 ½ c.
|
1/3 c.
|
1 ¼ T.
|
¾ egg
|
1 ¼ T.
|
1/3 c.
|
1
|
$1,110.50
|
I have compiled a detailed breakdown of cost on another page that includes the number of cups daily, the equivalent in lbs for purchasing purposes, and the total cost of homemade dog food plus a comparison to the cost of feeding several different commercial dog foods.
The basics components of balanced and nutritious homemade dog food are protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fat. I use a rough formula of approximately 50% protein (which contains a small amount of fat) and around 50% carbohydrates (which contains a good amount of fiber) and extras (pumpkin, oatmeal, etc.). This ratio of essential ingredients is reflected in my dog food recipes listed above. Whenever you change your dogs’ diet, whether switching brands of commercial dog food or trying out ingredients for homemade dog food, it needs to be done gradually to allow the dog’s digestive system to acclimate. Impatience would result in diarrhea and gas. Your choice.
Protein
Proteins are the building blocks of all tissue. As we know, the most natural source of protein for dogs is meat. Some dogs can handle an all vegetarian diet and a vegetable protein source work fine for them. My German Shepherd Dog is not one of them. He needs meat. I’m actually a vegetarian but I make chicken for my dogs because that’s what they eat. Simple as that. Sometimes it’s weird buying chicken at the store and then picking the cooked meat, but I got over it when I saw my dog excited for dinner, cleaning his dish, and feeling good for the first time in 5 years.
The best sources of protein for a homemade dog food diet include:
- Lean Ground Beef—beef is a little richer than other meats
- Ground Turkey—ground meats don’t have as much nutritional variety as whole cuts
- Whole Turkey—awesome at Thanksgiving, plus really great price per pound seasonally
- Chicken Breast—doesn’t have very much fat so you’d need to add some
- Whole Chicken—cheapest and a very healthy primary meat
- Fish (Salmon, Halibut)—great healthy occasional meal but sooo expensive
I also add a little bit of cottage cheese for the protein content as well as the calcium—dogs need calcium. In the wild it was provided from the bones that they ate with their meat.
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Carbohydrates
While wolves may eat 90% meat for their diet, dogs don’t. Their domesticated life with people has adapted their diet to include a good amount of carbohydrates as well. They’re nutritional needs are now met by a mix of these components. Rice is the most common source of carbohydrates because it is filling, nutritious, provides energy, and it’s pretty cheap. Another excellent base that is healthy and can be substituted for rice if you prefer is peeled, boiled potatoes. I’ve used this as well and can tell you from experience that the dogs like it equally as well as the rice and it is a very cheap homemade dog food component. I prefer to use rice as it requires less prep work. If your dog is allergic to grains then homemade dog food is a great way to control what he/she eats.
The best sources of carbohydrates for a homemade dog food diet include:
- Rice—best all around source and very few allergy issues
- Potatoes—good but more effort to prepare
- Oatmeal—best in smaller doses as contains higher amounts of fiber
Fiber
There are two types of fiber: water-soluble and insoluble. All fiber-rich foods contain both types of fiber but they generally have a higher portion of one type. Vegetables, oats, and rice are good sources of water-soluble fiber, which slows digestion to allow for better absorption of nutrients from the small intestine. Bran and carrots are good sources of in-soluble fiber, which helps to bulk-up stool. Fiber is essential to proper nutrient absorption and the ever-popular subject of anal glands. Dogs that don’t have bulky enough stool aren’t able to express their anal glands when defecating. This can result in pain, scarring, and disease. If the dog isn’t able to regularly express their anal glands while doing their business, many of them will drag their butts across your clean carpets or lick until they “express” the glands themselves and interrupt your nice dinner with a rank, fishy smell that lingers. Just feed the fiber.
Each dog is different in the amount of fiber it needs. The easiest way to tell if your dog needs more fiber is by the consistency of its stools. Most dogs with runny or loose stools need more fiber. Once you start adding fiber to their diet, a little at a time, you should notice the stools getting bulkier. Always increase the amount of fiber gradually or you’ll just be asking for diarrhea. If you go too far and give too much fiber you’ll give them loose stools again. A good starting point would be 1 teaspoon of pumpkin (pure pumpkin not spiced pie filling). You may have to go up to 4 tablespoons or even a cup for your particular dog. Funny thing about pumpkin is that small servings of it are known remedies for both diarrhea and constipation in dogs. It helps regulate stool both ways around.
The best sources of fiber for a homemade dog food diet include:
- Psyllium husk powder
- Oats
- Oat bran
- Brown rice
- Wheat bran
- Buckwheat
- Pumpkin—probably the best fiber source and most dogs love the taste of it
Fat
Essential fatty acids (EFA) are also an important component of a well balanced homemade dog food diet. Fats are twice as high in calories as other foods and play the important role of maintaining a healthy coat and skin, optimizing brain function, and minimizing inflammation. Most dogs will get all the fat they need from the protein sources in the homemade dog food diet. Many commercial dog foods contain excessively high amounts of fat. Don’t be tempted to follow their lead on higher percentage of fat by adding canola oil or anything to the dogs’ diet unless your veterinarian recommends it for health reasons.My 50-pound dog has no special needs and gets an adequate amount of fat from the basic components in her diet. My 100-pound dog, however, has allergies and benefits greatly from added EFAs in the source of omega-3 fish oil capsules.
Whole, cooked eggs are an excellent source of protein and fat. Dogs, like people, generally digest eggs more easily than other protein sources and the fat from eggs is healthier than that from meats. Some dogs can’t handle very much egg in their diet so I’d recommend feeding one whole egg no more than 3x per week. You’ll know by the excessive smelly gas that they’ve had too much.
Don’t they need vegetables too?
Some people like to feed their dogs vegetables too but I’ve found that most of them aren’t easily digested by my dogs at least and I don’t think they are essential to a carnivore’s diet. Peas and corn are particularly hard to digest, at least for my dog. The exception to this is peeled, cooked potatoes and pumpkin. And of course, avoid specific fruits, vegetables, and people foods that are known to be toxic to dogs: grapes, raisins, onion, chocolate, raw salmon, xylitol (sugar substitute), garlic, mushrooms.
Minerals
Dogs need calcium and other trace minerals and vitamins to give them a truly balanced diet. They suffer the effects of malnutrition just as people do when they don’t get the right nutrients. I give my dogs Pet Tabs Plus. I buy them from Amazon.com because they have a good price plus free shipping. They are formulated to contain all the supplements your dog needs. Dogs don’t really need a whole lot of pricey special toppings on their food, but a good supplement like this is essential. Many supplements available do more harm than good, but Pet Tabs are a well-respected product. Also, do not add any extra salt beyond the small amount they’re getting from the Pet Tabs. Dogs aren’t horses.
