Homemade dog food

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Cascadian

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We were starting to consider making dog food for many reasons. In looking for info here I found some stuff sprinkled through other threads. I thought having one dedicated to this might be useful to others as well. I saw references to dehydrating, canning, nutrition, recipes and others. From what I could tell Snappy, Rebecca and maybe some others have practical experience.
 
I supplement dry kibble with raw and canned dog food. The raw is the offal from chicken and rabbits as well as the chicken wings no one eats from whole chickens and the necks. I am a part of a few raw feeding groups on FB (only because of the rabbitry) and there are lots of homemade raw mixes listed there.

With this next batch of kits I will be dehydrating the ears and maybe the hides as treats for the dogs. I have seen other rabbit raiser feed the heads raw to their dogs on butchering day. Not sure I could go that far but it is a no-waste option if you raise meat animals.
 
This is a recipe from one of my cousins. As she says, she had been making it for seven years when she sent me this recipe a few years ago. She also says that she changes it up from time to time.

This will feed approx 2 /25lb dogs for 8 days
8 lbs chicken dark and light mixed
5 lg sweet potatoes
1 cp dried lentils ground
1T flax seed ground
2 hand fulls of spinach or parsley
1lg bag frozen green beans (My dogs only like French Cut
😀
)
1 lg bag frozen peas
Second lg bag of peas or peas and carrots Or 4 lg carrots
All meat can be ground first in processor or 2 lbs with greens and carrots in processor My dogs like chunks so it has evolved.
Bake before starting or night before Sweet Potatoes for 45 min @ 400 degrees. Turn off oven let sit.
Grind lentils and flax in coffee grinder.
Add water to bottom of lg frying pan with lid. Place ground lentils and flax in water. Low heat.
Cover lg pot water, frozen vegetables, and 6 lbs chicken, boil
In food processor grind 2 lbs chicken and greens / fresh carrots if using.
Add processed mixture to lentils and flax.
Add more water if needed.
Medium heat, cover cook until meat is finished. Stir often. 10-20 min.
On counter I have plastic containers ready Some are meal size, some are halves for snacks Approx 12 sandwich size 4-6 smaller
Twice a day I split one for both dogs.
Leave 6 in fridge, the rest in freezer.
Peel and Chop Sweet potatoes
Approx 1/2 cup lentil, flax, ground meat mix per serving
Portion out frozen vegetables until gone.
Cut boiled chicken into small pieces until gone
I have been doing this for about 7 years for Syd. Takes about an hour a week.
 
Thanks for the receipe, I can’t wait to do this once we get the kitchen built. So much better for the dogs.
Our dogs found an abandoned turtle shell in the pond, drug it out and ate it. 🫣
 
Thanks for the receipe, I can’t wait to do this once we get the kitchen built. So much better for the dogs.
Our dogs found an abandoned turtle shell in the pond, drug it out and ate it. 🫣
Dogs can get crazy about eating stuff. One time a number of years ago when I was walking Crosby , she found half of a dead and dried up garter snake. She would not let me get close to her to get it from her. We had a good laugh and were greatly entertained by this incident, but the dried up snake half eventually went into the trash.
 
Thanks for the receipe, I can’t wait to do this once we get the kitchen built. So much better for the dogs.
Our dogs found an abandoned turtle shell in the pond, drug it out and ate it. 🫣
I have this recipe typed out a little more clearly on my recipe blog. If you click on the title of the recipe, there is a print option at the bottom. Makes it so much easier to print it out and save it.
http://ritasrecipesblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/dog-food.html
 
from old timer ed i know who kept foxhounds and ore...dont tell me about corn...save it......this is shtf stuff from depression and more.

ed had a woodcook stove outside and ever so often he would fire it up and mix up cornbread batter and put in anything meat,fat,oil,fish etc. in with batter and bake it in these large sheet pans. let it cool and cut it in squares for a 'ration' to be give to hounds.

seen sled dog guys feed cooked rice often.i know one guy put up 'dog rice' just for feeding dogs. some probably know this guy. says rice labeled for humans wont be fed to dogs. this is to encourage folks to put up supplies for dogs.
 
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I have a few ponds and one is full of Brown Trout. I catch one daily and grind the entire thing like hamburger, add sweet potatoes roasted in the fireplace. That is the base and I add other veggies or scraps from my dinner into the mix.
 
I have a few ponds and one is full of Brown Trout. I catch one daily and grind the entire thing like hamburger, add sweet potatoes roasted in the fireplace. That is the base and I add other veggies or scraps from my dinner into the mix.
Nice!

That is better than my dream of stocking my pond with carp.

Ben
 
Where is @snappy1 for this thread?
I was being lazy. I will take a photo of the ingredients. I make an 18 qt roaster and a 6 qt crockpot/ cook overnight. Pressure can quarts for 90 minutes to be shelf stable.

Hope you can read my writing.
 

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I was being lazy. I will take a photo of the ingredients. I make an 18 qt roaster and a 6 qt crockpot/ cook overnight. Pressure can quarts for 90 minutes to be shelf stable.

Hope you can read my writing.

I think you are safe that no bot is going to be stealing your recipe. :rolleyes:

Ben
 
We just made them corn bread out of stale meal or corn mush. anyone know why dogs and cats love corn so much? table scraps made up the rest of the diet. we ate well for hillbillies.
 
We have an allergy dog. The vet says only duck and potatoes, it costs more to feed her than me. We have duck and potato kibble and the wife brings frozen ducks home from the store. We shred fresh duck meat and some potato chunks for an evening treat, right after her meds.
 
I was being lazy. I will take a photo of the ingredients. I make an 18 qt roaster and a 6 qt crockpot/ cook overnight. Pressure can quarts for 90 minutes to be shelf stable.

Hope you can read my writing.​
I tried to type this out. Please let me know if there are any errors.
Edited according to Snappy1!

Snappy’s Dog Food recipe

I make an 18 qt roaster and a 6 qt crockpot/ cook overnight. Pressure can quarts for 90 minutes to be shelf stable.

2 packages chicken livers, 1 pound each

2 large packages chicken breasts or thighs, 2 to 3 pounds each

2 pounds ground beef, browned

4 sweet potatoes, sliced

2 bags carrots, sliced

Frozen Broccoli- 1 large bag and 1 small bag

3 small bags frozen green beans

3 small bags frozen peas

# 10 can beans—kidney, black or

3 large cans refried beans

2 or 3 cans garbanzo beans

1 ½ pounds Brown rice

Chicken broth



Combine all, cook on high for 4 hours

Cook on low overnight

Pressure can for 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts
 
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Once you start feeding your pets like this ya can’t really stop. Some people have frozen rabbits delivered so they can thaw, maybe cook them for their pets. I bought some chicken livers t’other day to help kitty get back on the right track, it seems to be helping. Kitty had mostly stopped eating her kibble, was only getting a small amount of the one wet food because I thought she was still eating kibble.
Dog & kitty think it’s thanksgiving time.
With so many pet food manufacturers having recalls on their products, it’d make more sense to have our own homemade supply, for one reason.
A far away friend makes big batches and freezes it. She gave me her recipe, been feeling like I should do it. She’s got cats and dogs, same recipe.
 
from old timer ed i know who kept foxhounds and ore...dont tell me about corn...save it......this is shtf stuff from depression and more.

ed had a woodcook stove outside and ever so often he would fire it up and mix up cornbread batter and put in anything meat,fat,oil,fish etc. in with batter and bake it in these large sheet pans. let it cool and cut it in squares for a 'ration' to be give to hounds.

seen sled dog guys feed cooked rice often.i know one guy put up 'dog rice' just for feeding dogs. some probably know this guy. says rice labeled for humans wont be fed to dogs. this is to encourage folks to put up supplies for dogs.
One of the dogs I watch is a fox hound. He is such an interesting dog. I told his owner he could be on the autism spectrum with his strange behavior. He will fixate on something like a frisbee or a certain ball and bark and bark at it. If and when he sees city buses he loses his mind. One time he got away from his owner and chased one down the street.
 
Someone hit a deer in front of our neighbors property a while ago. She called us to see if we could use the meat. She really just wanted the carcass gone. We salvaged what we could but then used the really beat up (and clotted) parts for dog food. We ran it through the grinder and bagged it up and put it in the freezer in 5 pound bags. Yeah, it was kind of a mess. Every so often I'd get a bag out and cook it up for the pups. I just added regular rice and green beans to it. They went nuts over it. It was free and we were able to use an animal that just would have went to waste.

I really should figure out a way to feed the dogs entirely by myself, but it's a lot of work.

I'd also mention that when we get our cow butchered, I always ask for the parts that they'd normally toss like the liver and heart. Those are really good proteins for the pups. I also get the suet for the birds. When hubby gets a deer, we also save the heart. I usually cook them up in the crockpot, chunk them up, and add them to rice and green beans. I haven't had any complaints from the dogs yet and they are totally excited for dinner time.
 
2 chicken livers

2 large chicken breasts

I should have said 2 packages of boneless chicken breast or thighs- 2-3 pounds each.
2 one to two pound containers of chicken livers.
The rest looks about right.
I knew what I meant, it just didn't translate.
 
I should have said 2 packages of boneless chicken breast or thighs- 2-3 pounds each.
2 one to two pound containers of chicken livers.
The rest looks about right.
I knew what I meant, it just didn't translate.
Thank you. I've edited it. I may post it on my recipe blog as well, but I will give you credit, as much as I am able to, using your user name here.
 
One time neighbor friends with a butcher shop gave us a whole bunch of organ meats and raw tallow.. Organ meats people didn't want with there cut and wrap orders.. I boiled the organ meat on the outdoor wood HOBO stove, then ground it.. All was canned for chicken feed.. I'm sure a dog or cat would love that as a dressing on other pet food.. The tallow was used raw as chicken food, bear and other live trap bait...

I'm sure there are many recipes for homemade pet foods.. As well as homemade Milk Bone type biscuit recipes..
 
One of the new puppies that is on my care list now gets sweet potato treats like this. I am happy to have found a recipe, although it seems simple enough to figure out.

https://mybrownnewfies.com/2016/08/...tribes&amp&utm_term=433605280_13140908_506086

Directions​

  • Wash and dry sweet potatoes
  • Preheat the oven to 250° F
  • Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. (I ran out the other day and didn’t line my cookie sheets with anything and had minor sticking action BUT my cookie sheets are very well used 😉
  • Slice them up. I like to slice them on a cutting board. I slice the button first to give it a more stable base to cut. Be careful!
  • Lightly sprinkle the slices with Cinnamon
Bake for 2-3 hours flipping them over halfway through. Baking time is going to vary based on how thick you slice the sweet potatoes. If you use slice them thin using a mandoline, your baking time might be less. Just make sure to check on them regularly so they don’t burn. My dogs like crunchy sweet potato chews so I tend to leave mine in longer.
  • Allow chews to cool in the oven
  • Store in an airtight container for up to a week. Place in fridge if they will be around for more than a week.
  • And serve!
 

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