Homemade Dog Food

Dog food can be expensive and tedious to buy. There tends to be an unbalanced nutrition in common dog foods. Generally there is a lot of corn or other grains and very little protein or healthy fats. Making dog food at home can be much more rewarding for you and your dog.

When preparing your dog’s meal, you must think about cover all bases of nutrition. You want to have a balanced meal that provides enough calories and also has enough what your dog needs. Make sure that you give your dog the right amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Below are some suggestions of what you can add to your homemade dog food.

Proteins – Our main source of protein is raw eggs. Yes, raw from the backyard coop. He goes crazy over them. Shells included, crushed up. For smaller dogs, one egg a day would be enough. But Samson is quite the big boy, so two eggs a day does it for him, though sometimes I do only give him one. Raw eggs not only help your dog get its necessary protein, it also helps tremendously in making their coat shiny and beautiful.

Other proteins include meat, beans (he loves beans), seafood and some dairy. You can feed your dog raw or cooked meat, however, you should never mix them. If you choose to do raw meat in your dog’s diet, it must strictly be a meal of raw meat. A dogs body processes cooked and raw meats differently — giving them to your dog in the same meal can cause more harm than good. Strictly raw, nothing cooked (including other things like veggies and oatmeal).

Fats – This can certainly come from the meat that you give your dog. You can also use oil, but we choose to just use drippings or fat from the meat.

Carbs – Grains such as rice and oatmeal are a great base for your dog food, and carbohydrates are necessary to keep your dog’s energy levels up to par. We tried brown rice several times, but his body did not digest it &mdash it came out the same way it went in. Therefore, oatmeal is our go-to grain. His body digests it easily, and there are lots of good things that oatmeal does for the body and the coat.

Vegetables – This goes along with the “carbs” section, but I like to treat it separately. Take this time to really dive into what veggies your dog might like, each dog is different. Samson loves carrots and peas (cooked or canned). Vegetables are a necessary part of the diet, though not as necessary as proteins, fats and carbs. I always suggest doing more of the top three, and then sprinkling a thin layer of veggies over top.

Calcium – Egg shells, certain dairy (yogurt, cheese, limited raw milk).

Fatty Acids – This is kind of an “eh” category. Your dog will be getting most of these from the other things that you’re giving in the homemade dog food. Fatty acids come from egg yolks, oatmeal and some plant oils.

Source: MotherEarthNews

Here is one idea for a good mixture of dog food:

-2 cups of cooked oat meal (steel-cut oats)

-1 cup of kale or spinach

-1 to 2 cups of cooked meat

-1 raw egg (with the shell)

-1 cup raw yogurt

 

Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.

 

 

 

Via:  survivalist


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