How to Make Healthy Raw Beef Dog Food

Dogs were meant to eat a diet of raw meat more than cooked food.

Since the time dogs became domesticated animals, humans have sought to treat them as alternative humans, which not only includes having them live in our homes, but eating the same food we humans eat. However, since dogs are not human, allowing them to eat human food causes small problems for some dogs and major health concerns for others. While dogs should not be eating specific human food items including grapes, raisins, mushrooms and chocolate, they should be given a regular diet centered around raw food, particularly raw beef. A healthy raw beef dog food can be made at home.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Food Processor
• Butcher knife
• Raw meat
• Vegetables
• Storage Containers

Select Meat

1. Select the raw meat from a variety of sources, including beef, lamb, or even kangaroo. Select a small portion of muscle meat (six to seven pounds), preferably ground, and place in a large container. Select about a pound of organ meat. The meat of the organs (heart, liver, kidney or a combination of the three) should come from the same animal the muscle meat comes from.

2. Chop up the organ meat by hand with the butcher knife or use the pulse setting in the food processor to shred the organs and add to the ground meat mix.

3. Grate or grind two and a half pounds of vegetables (carrots, beets, spinach or any other vegetable with deep color, which signifies a richness in minerals) and add to the meat and organs. Combine all of the ingredients by hand, making sure they mix together well.

4. Add other items to change the flavor of the raw beef dog food in order to give your dog more variety in taste. Other items to add include apple cider vinegar, wheat germ, oil, yogurt, eggs (along with the shells), parsley, garlic and/or ground kelp.

5. Portion out the resulting mix and separate into storage containers (bags or bowls). Store the mix in the refrigerator if it will be consumed by your dog within a few days, or freeze some of it, so that it can be thawed and served at a later date. If your dog is an adult dog, the average feeding should range from two to three percent of his total body weight. Young dogs are more active and should be fed in portions closer to ten percent of their body weight.

Tips & Warnings

• Chuck roast is a good cut of beef to work with.

• Introduce any new food to your dog in small amounts at first.

• Dogs don't require as much taste variety in the food they eat the way humans do, so don't worry about Fido getting bored. If it tastes good, he will love it.

• Make more than you need for a week and store the extra food in the freezer.

• Don't feed your dog raw hamburger, as the potential for coming down with a food borne illness is not worth the risk.

References

• Canada: Basic Raw Dog Food
• Dog Obedience: Healthy Homemade Dog food Recipes
• Raw Food Life: Raw Pet Recipes