If you feed your dogs manufactured dog food do you really know what you are feeding them? I recently came across a class action lawsuit that been filed against various pet food manufacturers, having read the details and done further research I decided that I couldn’t safely feed my dogs any manufactured food so I needed to research some healthy homemade dog food recipes. The priorities when looking for good recipes was to ensure that the food would be healthy, it would be quick to prepare and it would be cheap.
My first stop was my local butcher who I use every week. I explained to him that I was going to make my own dog food and asked him what he could supply that was cheap. He now happily provides me with a large bag of off cuts and meat that would soon be out of date every Saturday evening. I you don’t have a local butcher speak to the local supermarket and see what they can provide you with. You’ll often find that they drastically reduce prices on meat that will soon go out of date.
After sourcing the meat I then managed to source a supple of cheap vegetables from the local farmers market. Many farmers use to throw away misshaped or bruised vegetables at the end of the market, not anymore! The final ingredient I sourced was large catering packs of brown rice. The rice is very nutritious and helps to bind the food together.
Now that I have assembled all the ingredients it’s time to prepare the food. A really quick and simple recipe is to take 2 cups of cooked rice, 1 cup of meat which can be raw or cooked and a cup of grated vegetables, carrots and cabbage are good but try to avoid onions. Mix all these together with a small bit of lard or vegetable oil and feed to your dogs. I can guarantee that after only a few weeks on a menu like this your dogs will be fitter and healthier than before.
There are a few things you need to be aware of before you start to change your dog’s diet. Firstly their digestive systems aren’t as advanced as human ones so you’ll need to change their food gradually over a few days. Start by adding a small amount of your homemade dog food to your dog’s meal mixing it with the normal food. Over a period of three to four days gradually increase the amount of homemade food and reduce the manufactured food. Always ensure that you keep plenty of fresh water available for your dog to drink with his meals. Small dogs need only to be fed once a day while larger dogs should be fed twice.
By choosing simple homemade dog food recipes it is possible to extend your dog’s life span significantly and to save money. Why not try it for a month and see the improvement in your best friend.