Homemade Dog Food

If you have a dog at home, you know how much joy and fulfillment it brings to your life. It is your duty as a pet owner to provide him with love and care and see to it that what you are feeding him is healthy and nutritious. The nutritious need of your dog depends upon his breed, age and general health. You should talk to your vet before you feed homemade dog food. A balanced diet should include proteins, fats, carbohydrates as well as vitamins and essential nutrients. You should also strictly avoid feeding certain foods to your pet like grapes, onions, raisins, chocolate, garlic, and artificial sweeteners. You should also refrain from feeding raw meat to your dog as this might contain bacteria, parasites and salmonella which will cause food poisoning. If you want to serve meat, make sure that you cook it in boiling water to get rid of these bacteria.

Making Your Own Dog Food

If you do not want to feed your dog commercial dog food and want to make it yourself, here are some recipes for doing so. The best thing about making your own dog food is that you know what goes into their meal and can tweak the recipes to include more carbohydrates or proteins.

Dog Food #1

Ingredients

• 4 cups salt less chicken broth
• 2 cups rice
• 1 can green beans, washed and drained

Method

In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the chicken stock to boil and then add the rice to it. Reduce the heat and cover the saucepan and let the rice cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Once the rice has been cooked, add the green beans and stir to mix. Cool this dish to room temperature before serving it in a doggie dish.

Dog Food #2

Ingredients

• 2 cups minced chicken
• ½ cup carrots, diced
• ½ cup green beans
• 4 cups rice
• 6 cups water

Method

In a large saucepan, place the carrots, beans, rice and minced chicken. Add the water until all the ingredients are submerged in it. Simmer this over low heat and stir constantly. When all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice and vegetables are tender, remove from flame and allow the dish to cool down. Serve two ladles of this mixture to your pet and keep the rest refrigerated for further use.

Dog Food #3

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups brown rice
• 2 large potatoes, grated
• 3 cups water
• 4 large carrots, grated
• 4 cups ground beef
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 8 eggs
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 ½ cups regular rolled oats

Method

In a large saucepan, add the rice and water and cook it uncovered for about 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat, and simmer the rice, covered for another 20 minutes until the rice is cooked, in a large bowl, combine the grated carrots, potatoes, chopped celery, ground beef and eggs. Mix all these ingredients together and add the rolled oats, olive oil and cooked rice. Now grease some muffin cups and fill it with this meat and rice mixture. Bake these muffins in a moderately hot oven for a few minutes until it is evenly cooked and cool them on a wire rack. These delicious muffin are healthy dog food and can be fed to your pet and the rest can be frozen for further use.

You can substitute the meat in these recipes for more veggies like broccoli and zucchini to have homemade vegetarian dog food. Whatever food you feed your pet, make sure that it has the right balance of nutrition so that your dog is healthy and happy.