Here I am writing about dog food recipes when I don’t have a dog. I like dogs but I just don’t want to live with them. Instead, I have two rotten-spoiled cats. But my daughter has two dogs and we’ve had several conversations about dog food recently and I did some research into the subject to help her out.
Too Much Pet Food Comes From CHINA!
You don’t want to feed your pet or your family anything from China!!! This is because there is no quality control whatsoever in China. So food, cosmetics – anything that goes on or in a body – should be avoided at all costs. What you’re eating might be fine – but it might not. And goodies such as lead and arsenic routinely appear in their food supply. How will you know? You won’t so better safe than sorry.
Should I Make My Own Dog Food?
If you’re going to make dog food, the problem becomes the recipes you use. Many dog food recipes are lacking in all kinds of nutrients, especially the minerals zinc, calcium, copper and iron. It might surprise you to know that even veterinarians don’t always have great recipes. The school of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California tested 200 dog food recipes, many of which were written, used and recommended by actual vets. Their research found that most of the recipes were short on some essential nutrients.
What Does Your Dog Need?
Actually, what your pet needs isn’t very different from what you and I need.
1. Protein: personally I believe that our human need for proteins is vastly overrated and perhaps the same may be true for pets. But there’s no doubt that your dog needs lots of protein and it should come from animal meat, seafood, dairy or eggs
2. Fat: from oil or meat
3. Carbohydrates: like grains or vegetables – not cake and cookies
4. Calcium: from dairy or eggshells
5. Essential fatty acids: from plant oils, egg yolks, oatmeal or other foods
Of course, if your dog has some kind of physical problem he/she may need something specific for their condition.
Follow The Recipe Exactly
For example, cooking chicken with or without skin and bones changes are recipes and nutrient profile.
Or, some oils have certain fatty acids that others lack so the kind of oil can be very important.
Some foods are very toxic to dogs, like chocolate, grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, avocados and macadamia nuts.
Having said all had here are some recipes you might try
#1: Baby Beef Dog Treats
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
one egg
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 to 10 tablespoons of water
two small jars of strained baby food meat like beef, chicken, lamb or liver
Preheat your oven to 350°. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and knead for about 3 minutes. Roll mixture out so that is 1/2 inch thick and cut with bone shaped cookie cutters. Place these biscuits or treats on ungreased baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
#2. The Bad Breath Banishers
2 cups brown rice flour
1 tablespoon activated charcoal [get this at a drugstore – we’re not talking about the charcoal briquettes you used a barbecue in the backyard]
3 tablespoons oil
one eggshell
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2/3 cup low-fat milk
Preheat your oven to 400°. Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Mix the flour and charcoal and then at all the other ingredients. Drop teaspoons on an oiled sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
#3. Beef and Vegetable Balls
26 ounce jars of organic beef and vegetable baby food
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups of dry melt
1 cup of water
Preheat your oven to 350°. Mix all the ingredients and drop it on a baking sheet using a large spoon. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Store these balls in the refrigerator for up to five days.
#4. Beef Stew
1 pound of beef stew meat
one small sweet potato
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced green beans
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup of water
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil for frying
Cook the sweet potato until firm but tender. Slice the stew meat pieces into small chunks. Cook the stew pieces in the tablespoon of vegetable oil for 10 to 15 minutes or until well done. Remove the beef chunks from the pan, reserving the drippings. Dice the sweet potato.
Heat the drippings over medium low heat. Slowly add flour and water into the drippings while whisking to create a thick gravy. Add the meat, sweet potato, carrots and green beans and stir to coat. Cook until the carrots are tender which is about 10 minutes. Stew will store in the refrigerator for up to five days.
#5. Healthy Dog Treats
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups water
1 envelope of dry yeast
Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease 36 mini muffin cups or use paper muffin cup liners. Grind your oatmeal into a powder. Mix the oatmeal, flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Place banana, built vanilla and honey in the blender and process, adding water slowly. Pour the liquid mixture gradually in the bowl of dry yeast, spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake until done which is approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
If you try any of these dog food recipes we would LOVE to hear about your results.
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