How to Cook Homemade Dog Food

Freeze extra dog food or store in refrigerator for three days.

Whether you have a picky dog, or you just prefer to make your own dog food, there are many benefits to homemade dog food. When you make homemade dog food chances are you are using better ingredients and you have more control over what goes into your dog's food. This makes homemade dog food ideal for dogs with digestive issues, allergies and other health problems. Plus, your dog will be happy with the fresher food you are offering him.

Things You'll Need

• 1 lb of meat
• 16 oz can sodium free vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• 2 jars baby food vegetables
• 2 tbs unsweetened plain yogurt
• Vitamin
• Stock pot
• Mixing spoon

Instructions

1. Debone and cut 1 pound of meat into bite sized chunks. You can use beef, chicken, liver or fish. If your dog has digestive sensitivities or allergies try lamb or duck, salmon or whitefish.

2. Pour one can of sodium free vegetable broth into a small stock pot. Add cubed meat. Place on the stovetop, bring contents to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover the pot and allow contents to simmer for 5 to 7 hours.

3. Place 1/2 cup of uncooked brown rice into your stock pot with the meat and broth. Bring contents to a boil again. Reduce heat to low and put the lid on the pot, leave on low heat until rice is cooked.

4. Remove the stock pot from heat once the rice is cooked. Place two small jars of baby food vegetables into the stock pot once the contents have cooled. Sweet potatoes, peas, carrots and green beans are good picks for dog food. Avoid corn and broccoli because they can cause digestive upset in some dogs.

5. Mix in 2 tbsp. of plain unsweetened yogurt. Mix all the contents of the pot until they are well-blended.

6. Store food in plastic food storage containers. Pre-measure serving sizes and store 2 to 3 days each in one container. Freeze all servings that will not be used in 2 to 3 days. Defrost as needed. Add a daily dose of powdered dog vitamin to each bowl of food when you prepare it, or give your dog a chewable multivitamin separately each day.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not feed your dog grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, chocolate, artificial sweeteners or artificial fats

References

• "Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats"; Richard Pitcairn PhD DVM; 2005
• Gourmet Sleuth: Homemade Dog Food Recipes

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Read this Article in Spanish