Remember What Not To Feed Your Dog
If you do get creative, remember what foods your dog cannot have. Onions, raisins, and grapes can all cause kidney failure, so its best to stay away from them. Also, avoid garlic and only use potatoes without their skins.
If you use a wild-caught game in your dogs raw food, freeze it for three weeks or longer before using it. This kills any parasites. If you catch raw trout or salmon, freeze it for at least 24 hours, also to kill parasites.
Important Reminders In Preparing Dog Food
There are many things that you need to consider in preparing a DIY dog food for your pet. But here are 10 reminders that you should keep in mind when you are to plan or make food for your canine friend:
Whatever recipe you might want to prepare for your dog, you should prepare the recipe correctly by avoiding experimentation. Follow the recipe to the T, so to speak. Dont experiment by adding recipes, as it can cause unintended effects on your dog.
Be careful when swapping ingredients. Because there are some ingredients that may have the same flavor or taste, but dont have the same nutrition. Whenever you use ingredients in lieu of another, be sure it can be accepted.
For instance, olive oil should not be substituted for corn oil which contains essential fatty acids that are beneficial to your dogs health. Doing so could lead to him being fed with an unbalanced diet.
Invest in a food scale. This can help you in accurately measuring cups.
Dont add seasoning. Unlike many of us who cant cook without adding a lot of seasoning to their dishes, dogs dont need seasoning. As such, you dont have to use salt or pepper for your dogs homemade food.
Certain foods are considered dangerous and even lethal when given to dogs. Aside from onions, dont give chocolate, raisins, avocado, grapes, walnuts, and raw yeast dough to your dogs.
Why Is Raw Dog Food So Expensive
Commercially produced raw food products are more expensive than usual dog food because the price is inflated to reflect the quality of ingredients, the sourcing of said ingredients and the extra processing, packaging and preserving.
Making your homemade raw food may actually save you many in the long run if you buy and make food in bulk.
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Potential Drawbacks Of Raw Food Feeding
Feeding raw dog food isn’t the easiest thing to do, but it can be accomplished with the right information.
There are many positive aspects to this diet that improve the dog’s health, as witnessed by dog owners, but it’s not without its drawbacks either.
Just as there are many pet owners noticing positive health effects from raw feeding in their dogs, there’s about just as many people who dislike this diet and after trying it went back to commercial dog foods, or simply cooking homemade dog food meals that aren’t raw.
Maggie from OhMyDogBlog.com with raw feeding and why she doesn’t do it, and Meagan from Collared-Scholar.com shares her experience here.
In majority of cases, it all comes down a few same reasons:
Do It Correctly Discuss These Recipes With A Vet
Before changing a dogs diet, particularly if your pet has serious health conditions, always discuss this change with your vet. Show them this list of recipes, let them know what you plan to feed your dog and ask for their input on healthy variations.
There’s no healthy homemade dog food recipe that’s a perfect fit for every dog.
While these recipes can sometimes be a better choice than commercial diets, feeding this way can also be detrimental to your pet’s health if you’re not paying attention to the nutritional content of these meals and comparing them with nutritional requirements.
Well-balanced meals are key. For example, if your homemade dog food meal contains too many vitamins, it could cause vitamin toxicity. On the other hand, if it doesn’t provide the dog with enough nutrients, it will cause nutrient deficiency or malnutrition.
You must also know how much to feed your dog and what portions of these healthy homemade dog food recipes are appropriate, as well as what supplements you’ll need to include to make up for the lack of nutrients that your pet requires.
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How To Prepare A Barf Diet For Dogs
Raw food wont do your dog much good if you dont prepare it properly. Following are 12 best practices to ensure your pup gets the safest, most nutritious raw diet possible:
What Ingredients Are In A Raw Diet
The type of ingredients you include in your dogs raw meals depends on your dogs preferences. For example, some dogs may not like to eat fish, while others would prefer beef.
Because it’s tough to precisely balance every meal, strive for nutritional balance throughout multiple meals or days.
This is accomplished by providing your dog with an array of diverse ingredients.
Here are the most common ingredients included in raw dog foods:
- Lean ground meat and heart
- Raw meat organs
- Vegetables
- Fish oil
- Supplements of your choice
On another note, these supplements can be added to your dogs meals if its not getting the nutrients it needs from its diet or if it needs a dietary boost for better health.
Theres a lot of good supplements for a raw diet that can be added to your dogs meal. Therefore, always ask your veterinarian for advice before feeding your dog any vitamins or supplements.
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The End Result Of Quality Depends On You
A lot of dog owners fail to make properly nutritious homemade raw dog food meals for their pets.
This is often because they are misinformed or mislead by websites and so-called dog food specialists that dont know what they are talking about. It’s a very dangerous practice.
A few years ago the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association examined 200 homemade dog food recipes from websites and veterinarians alike.
Of the 200 recipes, only 9 matched the NRCs requirements for a high-quality dog food. You can find most of their studies online in AVMA library. Here’s a 2013 Stockman et al. study and here’s a 2012 Larsen et al. study.
Official Conclusion: Many problems with nutritional adequacy were detected, and use of the recipes could result in highly variable and often inappropriate diets. Many recipes would not meet nutritional and clinical needs of individual patients and should be used cautiously for long-term feeding.
The general consensus among veterinarians is that they are usually not supportive of raw feeding dogs, mostly because they do not trust pet owners to make the right choices.
Homemade Raw Dog Food Recipe #:
RAW CHICKEN QUARTER & VEGGIE MIX:
This is for a 100-pound Kuvasz dog. He gets this twice per day:
- 1/4 C. plain yogurt
- 1/4 -1/2 C. chopped or ground veggies
- A skinned chicken leg quarter with bone
- 3 ounces of chicken livers
If the chicken quarter does not have a lot of bone, sometimes Biggies owners will add a calcium tablet.
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A Meal For You And Your Dog
Love cooking for your dog but never have the time? Rocky Kanaka from The CWs SAVE our SHELTER, Dog’s Day Out and founder of The Dog Bakery, has a solution. This easy to make salmon meal for yourself can also be made for your dog.
This recipe is designed for those who want to eat healthy and want their dogs to eat healthy as well but are always on the go. This is also one of the most eco friendly recipes we have seen. Instead of tossing things we would usually not eat such as broccoli stems, the recipe uses these as a key part to the dogs delicious meal.
This recipe also has a bonus tip on what to do with that salmon skin that is usually thrown in the trash. I get asked a lot if salmon skin is okay for dogs. While it is not safe if consumed raw, due to unwanted parasites, cooking in the oven for 20 minutes to make a crunchy, healthy, limited ingredient, organic, high omega dog snack that may help with heart health and give them a great skin and coat is a big win! says Rocky.
And there is more, when you cook for your dog you are more conscious of what you put in your body. For all of those reasons and more we give this recipe four paws up!
Healthy meals are important for you and your dog but the best thing about this recipe from Rocky Kanaka is it allows you to take time out of your day to spend time with your family two and four legged! Read on to find out how to do it or watch Rocky has he demonstrates!
Homemade Raw Diet For Puppy
Preparing a raw diet for puppies recipe is different than a BARF recipe for adult dogs.
Puppies require more protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorus than adult dogs. Feed puppies 15% bone and less than 20% fat to make sure they get enough nutrients and minerals. Raw food for puppies need to include a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, water, and vitamins per AAFCO guidelines.
When your puppy is growing and developing, it is not advised to skip meals.
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Raw Dog Food Nutritional Guidelines
What does a balanced raw diet plan look like? The recommended guidelines for a BARF diet consist of 70% uncooked muscle meat, 10% raw edible bone, 10% vegetables and fruit, 5% liver, and 5% other organs.
A homemade raw diet plan should also follow the AAFCOs guidelines to create a balanced meal that supports life and proper function in dogs. AFFCO , and it states every dog meal should have 6 indispensable nutrients. These include protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water.
Your pups weight, health conditions, size, activity level, and other factors should be considered when making raw dog food recipes.
*If feeding the Prey model, this method typically consists of 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, and 10% organs . No veggies, fruits or dairy is allowed in this model.
Influencing Factors On Determining Feed Amount
Activity level
Be honest with this assessment. Is your dog mostly a lounger that hangs out inside all day with a few backyard jaunts or is it a truly active dog like a sporting breed that hunts, a working dog like a police K9 or your pal that goes hiking with you multiple times a week for hours on end?
Human tendency is to over emphasize/assess activity levels.
Adjustments for weight gain or weight loss
Simply put, does your dog need to lose weight? Gain weight? Maintain? The answer to those questions will help you figure out which end of that 2-3% spectrum you want to start with when starting a raw food diet.
Life stage
Notice I said adult dogs when referring to the 2-3% of body weight for food amounts. Puppies are an entirely different story as theyre quickly growing and need more calories to support that growth.
There are two approaches for feeding puppies:
- 2-3% of their expected adult weight
- 5-6% of their current puppy weight adjusting with the dog as it grows
Senior dogs shouldnt have drastically different needs than a middle-aged dog unless of course, activity level impacts them.
Pregnant dogs are something you should speak to your vet about in determining the best amount of raw food to support a healthy pregnancy.
Making her homemade raw dog food has just become a part of the weekly routine now.
Its a 30 minute weekly commitment that has made both her and I incredibly happy.
Prep Time:
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Fruits And Veggies Are Good
Some people find it surprising, but dogs arent actually obligatory carnivores they are omnivorous.
Even in the wild, canines dont just eat meat and will munch of things like berries.
Being a long lost relative of bears with a close DNA sequence, it’s not surprising.
Veggies and fruits provide vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, chlorophyll, flavonoids, carotenoids, fibers, and more.
However, this doesnt mean that they should be the main part of your dogs diets.
Muscle meat, meaty bones, organs and a bit of fat are whats essential.
Fruits and veggies are welcomed, but moderation is key.
Beef And Liver Homemade Dog Food
Ingredients:
- ¼ Tsp. turmeric
Directions:
This is one of the healthy homemade dog food recipes that takes a little work to prepare, but it will pay off when you see Fido enjoying it. First, boil the chicken in a large soup pot until cooked through. Set the liquid aside and let the chicken cool slightly. Remove chicken meat from the skin and bones. Shred the chicken meat, throw out the skin and bones.
Combine all ingredients together in the soup pot including left over chicken stock and stir. Cook on low until everything has cooked through. Cool before serving.
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Raw Dog Food Delivery Service
If you are a dog owner with a busy lifestyle and dont have much time to cook for your pet but wish your pup could enjoy the benefits of eating raw food, a raw dog food delivery service is for you.
BARF World is one of our favorite options and the best BARF diet recipes for dogs available in the market.
This raw dog food company is the pioneer of raw diets for dogs. They deliver Biologically Appropriate Raw Food straight to your door. Their formula is a balanced blend of raw meat, fruits, vegetables, organs, and bone. Plus, its supplemented with 4 other key ingredients.
BARF World states their food has helped generations of dogs become free of allergies, itchy skin and coats, digestive problems, obesity, and weight problems, among other issues.
All of their ingredients are USDA sourced, and their formulas are developed with the input of a veterinary nutritionist to meet the nutritional guidelines for dog food.
The best part of feeding BARF World is that you never have to worry about balancing ingredients, portion sizing,grinding, chopping, measuring, mixing, potential pathogens in raw ingredients, and all the risks and hassles involved in cooking raw dog food on your own.
In our experience, its a huge time-saver, and you can spend time on more important things like walks or training. We think its worth the cost after you add up the prices of all the ingredients youll need to cook a recipe and the convenience of it.
Can I Feed My Dog Raw Food From The Grocery Store
Raw meat from the regular butchery section will be perfectly fine to feed to your dog. If the food is approved to be safe for humans by the FDA, it will be good for your dog to ingest.
At the grocery store, you can also find commercially made and packaged raw dog foods. These can be a good option for those looking to feed their dog a raw food diet for the benefits but do not have the time or means to prepare raw food at home.
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Best On A Budget: Organ Patty Cakes
Organ minces are generally cheaper than meat chops. This is because organ parts are normally grounded and sold in bulk as refuse parts. However, due to the fact that organs dont contain bones nor cartilage, you cannot use it as a substitute for lean meat/bone. Also, you should not offer it to your dogs as an everyday meat replacement. Instead, this should be used as a delicious treat or variety option.
Dogs That Shouldnt Eat Raw Dog Food
According to Dr. Doug Knueven, a holistic medicine specialist who consults for Natures Variety says raw diets do not suit all dogs.
Since raw foods are normally high in protein, they are not appropriate for dogs with kidney or liver problems. Too much protein stresses these organs, which can aggravate these conditions. Dr. Knueven also states that dogs on chemotherapy or immune-suppressing drugs should be restricted from eating raw food.
If your dog is suffering from pancreatitis or digestive problems, its recommended to start with a fresh homemade dog food diet like Nom Nom before switching to raw.
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Extra Tips When Following Raw Dog Food Recipes
As you plan and make your dogs raw food, here are some extra tips to keep in mind:
- Know how much raw food to give your dog. It should be about 2-3% of your canines ideal body weight per day. You can increase this a little for very active dogs. If your dog is pregnant, talk to your veterinarian for ideal quantities.
- If the recipe calls for a bone meal, always get it from a grocery store or other food-related retailer. Never get it from hardware stores or garden centers as it could contain chemicals and fertilizers to stabilize it. To avoid issues, always read the label to confirm that your chosen bone meal is just the bone meal and nothing else.
- Try incorporating your dogs omega-3 supplements into their meals.
- When you buy organ meat for your dogs food, try to get enough for a few batches at once. You can chop or grind them, put them in a labeled bag, and freeze them. This saves you the hassle of buying organ meat as often, especially if you dont eat it yourself.
- Try to choose meats with a fat content of 10-20% .
- Always buy the highest quality ingredients that fit your budget.
- If you want to give your dog raw food but dont have the time to prepare it yourself, you can buy it. Just beware that pre-made raw food for dogs will be more expensive.