Keep your dog healthy and fit with this easy peasy homemade recipe – it’s cheaper than store-bought and chockfull of fresh veggies!
I never thought I would be one of those dog owners who made homemade human food for their pups. Not in a million years.
That’s when I started to do some research on homemade dog food, and I have been so amazed as to how many different kinds of vegetables dogs can have. And with the help of Balance IT, you can create so many different recipes for your pup!
Now the best part about making homemade dog food – just like making anything at home – is that you know exactly what is going into the dog bowl, and not any of that questionable gelatinous gunk from the canned food.
But it’s important to note that dogs have different nutrient requirements than humans for their proportional body size, such as:
- High-quality protein (meat, seafood, dairy or eggs)
- Fat (meat or oil)
- Carbohydrates (grains or vegetables)
- Calcium (dairy)
- Essential fatty acids (egg yolks or oatmeal)
Now this recipe here has a balance of 50% protein, 25% veggies and 25% grains, but the ratios can easily be adjusted to suit your pup’s breed and/or needs.
Once you’ve made your batch, you can divide them up into single servings, note the date, and freeze it. When ready to serve, you can defrost it in the fridge overnight and nuke it for 15-30 seconds. That’s it! Now who knew that making dog food would be this easy?
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 pounds ground turkey
- 3 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1 zucchini, shredded
- 1/2 cup peas, canned or frozen
Directions:
- In a large saucepan of 3 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add ground turkey and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the turkey as it cooks.
- Stir in spinach, carrots, zucchini, peas and brown rice until the spinach has wilted and the mixture is heated through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
I made all of my own dog food for my dog. She was much healthier because of it. (Traditional dog food gave her belly a rash). One important ingredient my vet had me add: Canned pumpkin. Very important when you are making your own food. Pumpkins are very rich in fiber and even adding two teaspoons of canned pumpkin in you dog’s food helps the digestion process.
This is the great information you shared with us. Some other thoughts…
You never force a sick dog to eat. If your dog is sick and not eating, you have to take him or her to the vet, find out what the problem is and have it immediately treated. Depending on what is wrong with your dog, the longer you wait to get it to a vet, the worse the dog will get and the harder it will be for the vet to be able to treat the problem. Emergency Vets are open 24/7. Look in your Yellow Pages under Veterinarians, find one that is open 24 hours (they are in there) and get your dog to the vet Today.
This is awesome! I will have to try it. Can you do a homemade recipe for cats as well? My cat is overweight and the vet recommends I put her on a prescription diet that is almost $50. We tried it, and she didn’t like it. I’ve tried cutting her servings down and she still isn’t losing weight.