Homemade Dog Food Recipes: Balanced & Easy-to-Follow

More and more dog owners are choosing to make their own dog food at home as news of recalls and knowledge on commercial dog diets is always changing. While homemade dog food is not the same as cooking a dinner for yourself or your human family members, dogs appreciate home-cooked food. Maintaining the health of your dog breed depends on some really strict guidelines.

Part of the reason homemade diets are becoming more and more popular is that their ingredients are under control, so dog food recalls are not feared. Many people also want to eat better and wish the same for their dogs. Some prefer homemade diets since they include entire food items, which are usually seen as better than commercial dry or wet dog food.

Not everyone finds home-cooked dog food to be ideal. Before you switch your dog to a homemade diet, there are several things to think about.

Make sure you come upon a full and balanced dog food recipe. Feeding your dog an uneven or incomplete meal is one of the most common errors one can make.measurement of components and proper dish preparation require time. Make sure your calendar gives you enough time to routinely cook your dog’s food correctly.

Check your budget to see if you can purchase the components for your homemade dog food. Though it usually costs a little more than kibble, homemade food is usually less expensive than commercially prepared fresh or raw dog food.

If your dog is finicky, you might have to find many recipes so you can periodically alter the food and keep your dog interested.

Dogs require food, like humans, to flourish. You can’t feed your dog your dinner because their nutritional needs are different. An insufficient or uneven diet can deplete dogs’ vitamins and nutrients.

Dogs need calories for energy. The life stage and activity level of a dog affect its daily caloric needs. Your doctor can help you determine this.

A homemade dog diet should balance protein, carbs, fibre, and fat. Food needs vitamins and minerals to be complete and balanced.

. At least 10% protein from chicken, turkey, fish, lean meat. Up to 50% carbohydrates, like rice, pasta, and potatoes (with fibre),. About 2.5–4.5% of the fibre comes from peas, green beans, and carrots.. At least 5.5% fat, usually vegetable oil.. Vitamins and minerals (dog-specific; BalanceIT.com is credible)

Talk to your vet before cooking for your dog. You can try recipes from your vet. It might be necessary to provide you with a referral to a veterinary or canine nutritionist.

Changing to homemade dog food calls for regular monitoring of your dog. Keep in touch with your veterinarian about any positive or negative changes you observe. Track your dog’s weight and body condition over time if you want optimum outcomes. At least once a week, weigh your dog; if you find unexpected weight loss or gain, call your veterinarian. Look for diarrhoea or vomiting your dog may have if she is sensitive to one or more substances. Tell your veterinarian about any other signs of sickness or note these ones.

Making a diet for your dog at home calls on you to use a thorough and balanced recipe. You and your veterinarian have selected a suitable recipe; now it’s time to get started.

Having a food scale, food processor, pots and pans, and containers or bags for food portioning would help you before you start.
Buy fresh, premium foods free of canned, seasoned, and highly processed additives.
Organize yourself in a spotless part of the kitchen devoid of foods your dog might find dangerous.
Sort the components. If precision calls for it, use a food scale.
Prepare foods as advised in the recipe.
Combine food and supplements thoroughly—ideally, use a food processor to combine components.
Put food in containers, then refrigerate or freeze it.
Generally speaking, food kept refrigerated will remain fresh three to four days. Frozen dog food tastes best within two months or so. Steer clear of giving homemade dog food straight from the freezer more than six months ago.
Many owners decide to cook food in quantity and then refrigerate or freeze it in pre-portioned containers. Although starting with lower portions can help you observe how your dog performs on the diet, this is a fantastic way to save money and effort.

Veterinarians have developed the following formulas, which can be used on healthy dogs in general:. Before giving your dog this or any other homemade diet, make sure to see your veterinarian.

Concerned pet owners may want to consider the following recipe for an average adult dog weighing 15 pounds that has no medical issues:. When fed as directed, this formula is balanced for prolonged feeding.

We advise you to weigh out these foods using a dietary gram scale until you are comfortable with the approximate volumes of each. Large bargain supermarkets and local grocery stores sell food scales. In order to keep your pet from selecting individual foods, mix them all together. If components of a handmade food that is nutritionally balanced are allowed to separate and the animal does not eat the full combination, the animal may consume an unbalanced amount of nutrients.

For an adult dog weighing 15 pounds (ideal weight), these are the cooked weights and daily amounts of each food item. Although the water content and cooking durations of final cooked weights vary, weighing these ingredients yields more precise results than measuring by volume.

Since this diet has roughly 1.51 kcal per gram when fed, a 15-pound dog’s daily energy need is estimated to be 443 kcal. As a result, the dog should consume about 300 grams of this food every day. A generic dog equation is used to compute the starting meal dose; however, it might vary by up to 50% depending on the specific dog. Simply adjust the amount fed to your dog’s weight and condition by adding or subtracting 25% to see if your dog needs more or less food overall. When the dog is on this diet, please weigh it once a week.

The recipe was provided by MSPCA-Angell with permission.

IMPORTANT: Please see your holistic veterinarian to make sure any dietary adjustments you make fit your dog’s present state of health before changing her diet. Before you start a diet, weigh your dog. Having a baseline and monitoring their weight will assist you in modifying amounts should they either lose or gain too much. Activity level, age, and general health condition will all affect the nourishment a dog needs.

8 ounces ground organic turkey thigh (boneless)2 tbsp. ground organic turkey organ meat (liver, gizzards, hearts)¼ c finely grated organic veggies1 tsp. ground raw sunflower seeds½ tsp organic coconut oil½ tsp. salmon oil

500 mg Calcium Citrate (*must include this!)

*Change ingredient amounts according on the weight and degree of activity of your dog. For a 20-pound dog with little exercise, the figures above represent that extreme exercise can triple a dog’s calorie requirements. Watch your dog’s weight and change meal sizes to fit calorie needs.

40 lb. Dog: Above amounts x 260 lb. Dog: Above amounts x 3

80 lb. Dog: Above amounts x 4

Blanch the vegetables and save. Under medium-low heat, gently cook the ground turkey thigh and organ meat. Turn off the burner after most of the meat has turned white, but leave some pinkish. Put blanched vegetables in a food processor or clean coffee grinder and pulse until they seem to be finely grained. After ensuring the mixture has cooled enough to eat, mix all the ingredients together and serve.

Food loses life power (vitality) when heated from the cooking process. While still offering a meal that pets can digest more easily than raw food, gentle, partial cooking will preserve more of the vitality of the food. Vegetables are better digested and their nutrient absorption is improved by blanching and finely shredding them.

A history of UTIs, struvite, or calcium oxalate stones in dogs should prompt you to seek advice from your vet.
Because of the strong correlation between dietary factors and urine pH, it is important to monitor your dog’s diet closely. Many drugstores carry pH strips for sale. Canines typically have a pH of 6.5.

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