is homemade dog food healthier

Cooking for Your Dog: Dos & Donts of Homemade Dog Food

Dog nutrition can be tricky, especially when considering cooking for your pets. Which human foods are safe for dogs to eat? How can you ensure your homemade food will meet your dogs dietary requirements? There can be a lot of questions to answer. Additionally, there arent many sources that offer safe, healthy information on how to prepare meals for your dog at home.

Jennifer A. Larsen, DVM, MS, Ph.D., and Joe Bartges, DVM, Ph.D., board-certified veterinary nutritionists and diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Nutritiontouch on the pros and cons of cooking for your dog.

Should You Cook Your Dogs Food?

Is cooking dog food at home really better for your pup? While there may be claims made to that effect, theres no hard scientific evidence to support it. Owners are told by many sources that homemade food is superior to commercial products. However, there is no proof to support this claim, says Dr. Larsen.

Larsen cautions dog owners to be aware of fearmongering within the pet food industry. This is often driven by myths about ingredient quality. While there are no scientifically-supported benefits to homemade diets, whole ingredient-based diets are better in the long term. Commercial foods are made to be complete and balanced, adds Dr. Bartges, albeit not the most exciting of meals. Think of it as eating the same highly processed food for every meal, day after day, for years, he affirms.

Put that way, feeding your dogs a variety of whole foods makes a lot of sense. In fact, there are a multitude of reasons why you might want to prepare homemade foods for your dog, according to Dr. Larsen and Dr. Bartges. These include gaining control over your dogs diet, appeasing picky eaters, combatting food intolerance issues, concern over food recalls, or simply for the bond-building joy of preparing a home-cooked meal for your dog.

Common Mistakes When Cooking for Your Dog

When it comes to cooking for your dog, there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to sourcing recipes and ensuring that youre using dog-safe ingredients:

Not Using Trusted Sources

There are many inadequate, and sometimes dangerous recipes, available to owners, says Dr. Larsen. There are now many studies demonstrating that most of these are not balanced. Some of these may cause deficiencies in your dogs diet, while others may lead to an excess of certain nutrients. To avoid encountering unhealthy or dangerous options Dr. Larsen and Dr. Bartges recommend avoiding generic recipes from books or online sources. Some so-called nutrition experts are without proper training, and may do more harm than good.

Larsen and Bartges also suggest consulting BalanceIT.com, a site run by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, to help create a semi-individualized diet.

Not Preparing Balanced Meals

When you dont prepare balanced meals that are individualized to your pets needs, it can come at a cost. Nutrition deficiency (or excess) can lead to diseases, such as malnutrition or obesity, and can ultimately be fatal.

Each of the [approximately] 40 essential nutrients required by dogs has a specific role in the body. When they are provided in inadequate concentrations, the function is not optimal and suffering may result, explains Dr. Larsen. Similarly, nutrient excesses can also cause illness. While the impact of an unbalanced diet may be mild and not even noticed or attributed to the diet by the owner, these problems can also be very severe, and pets do not always survive.

Relying on Multiple Diets to Create Balance

Our study and my clinical experience has demonstrated that this approach is very unlikely to address problems since so many recipes share the same deficiencies, cautions Dr. Larsen.

Using Unsafe or Unhealthy Ingredients

There is a wide variety of unhealthy and unsafe foods to avoid when preparing meals for your dog. Potentially toxic ingredients are of special concern, including chocolate, xylitol, avocado, grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, and macadamia nuts.

The above list isnt exhaustive and other potential issues can arise if youre not careful about ingredients. So make sure to always be aware of which foods are safe for dogs. Additionally, cites Dr. Bartes, a certain type of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy has recently been reported in dogs eating homemade diets that are grain-free, legume-based, and high-fiber.

Not Following Recipes

Most general recipes provide vague instructions for ingredients or preparation. This leaves the owner to interpret what type of meat to use, or which supplement product to buy, warns Dr. Larson, of the potential difficulty in following dog food recipes.

Rather than improvising, its important to run any questions by a veterinary nutritionist. That way, youll be able to understand the impact that alternative ingredients might have on your dog.

Understating the Impact of Dietary Changes

Ideally, when you go about creating a custom recipe for your dog, itll be under the guidance of a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. Factors like your dogs eating history, weight, and overall health should be considered. To make sure the food youre introducing is having the desired impact, youll want to monitor your pets health for changes over time.

An Alternative to Home Cooking

Home cooking isnt for everyone, though, and it doesnt have to be. Cooking for your pet is a process thats demanding on your time, labor, space, and finances, says Dr. Larsen. Another option to provide your dog with whole ingredients is to get carefully prepared ready-made meals. There are commercial foods that can be purchased that contain whole ingredients that are pre-cooked. Which is very close to cooking, notes Dr. Bartges.

So, while you might think that cooking for your dog is better for their health, it can be just as beneficial to purchase pre-prepared food thats made with the same principles in mind. Whichever method you choose, just to make sure you are always catering to your dogs individual health and nutrition needs.

Healthier Homemade

Socrates (Socs) with Brother Baxter

Because Socrates Needed It

From puppy-hood, my grand dog Socrates has been plagued by severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. In his first months it generally, but not always, was associated with objects he had eaten. As he matured, objects became less involved and we tried different commercial, premium diets with no success. However, he always responded to my home prepared meals. One afternoon my son and daughter-in-law rushed him to the hospital where I worked. Socs had explosive vomiting and diarrhea and had become dehydrated in a very short time. After much testing and exploratory surgery it was evident that Socs had no foreign bodies or underlying medical problems. We had to conclude that he simply could not tolerate any commercial dog food. I needed to come up with a long-term homemade diet that was nutritionally complete. This was not as easy as I expected. I was introduced to homemade dog food during my second year of veterinary school. Dr. Donald Strombeck, our veterinary gastroenterology professor and the god father of homemade dog food, introduced us to the wonders of cottage cheese and boiled white rice for our patients. He taught that a bland diet with limited ingredients allowed the intestines, liver and pancreas a chance to rest and heal from various conditions. He also taught that providing limited ingredients in a diet helped diagnose conditions, particularly allergic conditions. To this day the critical care unit at the University of California Veterinary School Teaching Hospital in Davis has a ready supply of cottage cheese and boiled white rice. But such diets are not nutritionally complete. They dont need to be because they are generally used for a short period of time. So how was I going to help Socs with a permanent homemade diet? I devised a program that allowed me to analyze homemade recipes offered online and in books. Most of the recipes did not contain the necessary amino acids and fats. The vitamin and mineral recommendations for these recipes were vague, suggesting any childrens or adult vitamin mineral supplement and any bone meal formula was OK. But every vitamin and mineral company has their own formulas that are all different. There are 5 major brands of bone meal and each one has a different amount of calcium and phosphorus. What this means is that different choices of supplements would result in very different amounts of vitamins and minerals in the diet. There is no way to know whether a recipe would contain everything a dog needed. And that was exactly the problem I encountered. I could not find a human vitamin/mineral or calcium/phosphorus product that would ensure Socs received all of his daily nutrient needs. Turns out, Im not the only one coming to this conclusion. In the last 5 years, 3 veterinary research studies from the UC Davis nutrition group found that 95% of homemade dog and cat food recipes on the internet or published in books lacked one or more essential nutrients. If I wanted to be sure that Socs meals were balanced, I had to formulate my own supplements and recipes. Because in my clinical practice the most common question I get is what should I feed my dog, I wanted to share Socs healthy solution with other dog owners so they could also feed the best, healthiest and easiest homemade dog food. Healthier Homemade was born.

20 Most Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes

When done right, healthy homemade dog food can offer your pet well-rounded nutrition. It's particularly beneficial for special needs dogs, like those with kidney or heart disease, obese dogs, and liver issues.

Try some of these most healthy homemade dog food recipes below to spice up your pet's diet.

Discuss These Healthy Homemade Dog Food 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.

Know also what supplements you'll need to include to make up for the lack of nutrients that your pet requires.

MORE RECIPES: 50 Best Homemade Dog Food Recipes

20 Most Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes

1. Turkey, Rice, and Greens Dog Food

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. ground turkey
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 shredded carrots
• 3 cups chopped spinach
• cup peas
• 1 cups rice
• 1 shredded zucchini

Directions:

Cook the rice according to package directions, as you have to do with a few of the other healthy homemade dog food recipes on this list. Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the turkey. Crumble the cooked turkey, then stir all ingredients together. Cook the food until the spinach is wilted and the mixture is heated through. Cool before serving.

SIMILAR: Ground Turkey and Lentil Dry Dog Food

2. Tapioca and Egg Dog Food

Ingredients:

• 3 whole chicken eggs
• Calcium carbonate dosed as directed.
• 1 Tbsp. chicken fat
• 2 cups cooked tapioca
• Multi-vitamin and mineral tab. dosed as directed.

Directions:

Hard boil the eggs and allow them to cool completely. Add the chicken fat to a skillet and combine all ingredients while heating. Dice the hard-boiled eggs, and add them to the pan. Stir until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Allow cooling completely before serving.

3. Salmon and Broccoli Dog Food

Ingredients:

• 2 portions salmon with skin
• 1 head broccoli
• 3 potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 1 squash
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Chop your broccoli, squash, and carrots and steam until cooked. Shave potatoes and bake in the oven until cooked through. Cook salmon in 1 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet. Once everything is cooked, allow it to cool and mix together well before feeding.

4. Beef, Beans and Veggies Dog Food

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 cups rice
• 1 cups squashed diced
• 15 oz. drained/rinsed canned kidney beans
• cup peas
• 1 cups carrots chopped

Directions:

Add all ingredients and 4 cups of water to a slow cooker. Stir. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 hours, stirring periodically. Turn off the heat and stir. Let cool completely before serving.

5. Meat Muttfins for Dogs

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 cups rice
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 8 eggs
• 2 grated potatoes
• 2 chopped celery stalks
• 4 grated carrots
• cup olive oil
• 3 cups water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F and grease 36 muffin cups.Add rice and water to a saucepan and cook according to package directions. Let rice cool completely. Mix together carrots, potatoes, beef, celery, and eggs and stir well. Add the other ingredients and mix. Spoon mixture into muffin cups and cook for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool before serving.

WATCH:Grain Free Homemade Dog Food

Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes

6. Muttloaf Dog Food Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (lean is best)
• cup cottage cheese
• 1 cups rolled oats
• 2 eggs
• 1 cups shredded mixed vegetables

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.Using your hands, combine all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Grease a loaf pan and gently press the ingredients into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool then slice before serving.

7. Chicken Cake for Dogs

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. minced chicken
• 1 cup rice
• 1 egg
• 1 apple
• cup corn
• cup peas
• cup carrots

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 340F. Cook the peas, carrots, and corn on the stove until tender. Peel the apple and chop. Cook rice according to package directions. Use a potato masher to mash the vegetables. Add the egg to the vegetables WITH shell and mash completely.

Mix the chicken apple together in a clean bowl and combine thoroughly. Add cooked rice to the vegetable mix. Grease the cake pan and layer half the chicken mix in the bottom of the pan.

Layer 2/3 of the vegetable mixture over the chicken. Use the leftover chicken to make another layer. Top the cake with the leftover vegetable mix. Cook for 35 min or until cooked through. Cool before slicing and serving.

SIMILAR: Best Homemade Dog Food Recipe with Chicken and Rice

8. Salmon Scramble for Dogs

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. cooked skinless, boneless salmon
• 2 eggs
• cup chopped spinach
• 1 tsp olive oil

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Cook salmon and spinach in the skillet until heated. Break eggs into the skillet and stir while cooking for 2 mins. Mix together, remove from heat and allow to cool before serving.

9. Chicken and Greens Skillet Dog Food

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. chicken breast sliced.
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 handfuls green beans
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 2 zucchinis chopped

Directions:

Cook the quinoa according to package directions then set it aside to cool. Add chicken slices to a skillet and cook until browned. Add vegetables to the skillet and stir. Mix in the cooked quinoa. Allow cooling completely before serving. This is one of the simplest healthy homemade dog food recipes to prepare.

10. Turkey Egg Meatloaf for Dogs

Ingredients:

• ground turkey
• cup rolled oats
• 3 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 raw eggs
• cup peas
• cup chopped carrots

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the carrots, turkey, and peas in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the raw egg and oats and mix with your hands to get a loaf-like mixture. Grease a loaf pan and spoon half the ingredients into the pan. Add the hard-boiled eggs to the center-line of the pan then cover with remaining ingredients. Cook for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Cool completely before slicing.

Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes

11. Chicken and Rice for Tummy Aches

Ingredients:

• 2lb. ground chicken
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 3 peeled, diced carrots
• cup canned butternut squash
• 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed

Directions:

Cook chicken thoroughly in a skillet. Drain chicken fat and set aside. Blend eggs in a blender with a shell then stir into the chicken. Cook chicken and egg mix until cooked through.

Add 2/3 cup chicken mixture, 2 tbsp. carrots, 1/3 cup rice, and 1/3 cup chicken broth to blender and puree. Mix leftover chicken with carrots and rice in a large bowl. Stir in puree until combined thoroughly. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out round portions. Allow cooling completely before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

12. Beef and Liver Homemade Dog Food

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. ground beef
• 3 oz. finely chopped liver
• 4 cups rice
• 2 beaten eggs
• 2 cups chopped mixed vegetables
• 9 cups water
• cup rolled oats
• 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
• cup milk
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Add the water, rice, and oats to a large saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in the remaining ingredients and reduce heat to low. Cook 20 mins or until water has absorbed completely. Spread the mixture in a container to cool. Once cool, cut into servings and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

SIMILAR: Homemade Ground Beef Dog Food Recipe

13. Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner for Dogs

Ingredients:

• cup cooked diced white meat turkey (NEVER use deli meats)
• cup plain mashed potato
• 2 whole eggs
• cup steamed vegetables of your choice

Directions:

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a saucepan. Whisk the egg into the mashed potatoes. Stir potatoes, veggies, and turkey together to mix. Cook in the pan while stirring until eggs are cooked thoroughly. Cool thoroughly before serving.

14. Homemade Winter Stew for Dogs

Ingredients:

• l beef stew meat
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 potato
• cup chopped carrots
• cup flour
• cup water
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Bake the potato chunks until firm but tender. Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook beef through. Set cooked beef aside and add the water and flour to the skillet. Stir while heating until you get a gravy. Mix in the rest of your ingredients into your gravy and cook until heated through. Allow cooling before serving.

SIMILAR: Beef Stew Homemade Dog Food

15. Turkey Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 25lb. ground turkey
• 1 cup rice
• 2 cored/seeded apples chopped
• carrots peeled, chopped
• peas

Directions:

Another of the most healthy homemade dog food recipes, this Turkey Chicken Casserole is easy to prepare. Add all of the ingredients to your slow cooker and cover with water. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Turn off heat and stir thoroughly. Allow to cool and mash slightly before serving.

Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes

16. Homemade Doggy Omelette

Ingredients:

• cup cooked salmon fillet sliced
• 2 eggs
• diced green pepper

Directions:

Add a little olive oil to a skillet and heat on medium. Whisk the eggs before adding to the heated skillet. Cook slightly before adding the salmon and peppers. Fold the egg in half and cook until cooked through. Remove from heat and cool before serving.

RELATED: 20 Pros and Cons of Homemade Dog Food Recipes

17. Doggy Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients:

• ground beef
• cup cored, seeded apples grated
• cup honey
• 2 Tbsp. Omega oil
• 1 Tbsp. parsley flakes

Directions:

One of the easiest healthy homemade dog food recipes to prepare, you simply use your hands to combine all of the ingredients together thoroughly for this one. Break ingredients into small pieces and roll into meatballs. Cook through in a skillet or bake in the oven until cooked. Allow the meatballs to cool completely before serving.

18. Healthy Sardine Cakes for Dogs

Ingredients:

• 2 x 3.75oz. cans sardines in water
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 cups plain mashed potatoes
• 1 egg
• 1 Tsp. dill seed
• Tsp. ground eggshell
• 1 Tsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. parsley

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drain the sardines completely and chop. Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Use your hands to make cakes out of the ingredients. Place the cakes on the baking sheet and bake for 10 mins on each side or until golden brown. Allow cooling before serving.

SIMILAR: Egg and Rice Homemade Dog Food

19. Healthy Chicken and Turnip Greens

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken leg quarters
• 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
• 12 oz. pureed carrots
• 8 oz. pureed peas
• 8 oz. pureed squash
• 18 oz. chopped turnip greens
• Tsp. ground eggshell
• 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 leftover chicken stock and stir. Cook on low until everything has cooked through. Cool before serving.

20. Low-Fat Shepherds Pie Bites for Dogs

Ingredients:

• ground beef
• 1 1/3 cup plain mashed potatoes
• cup peas
• cup peeled, chopped carrots
• cup breadcrumbs
• Tsp. ground eggshell
• 1 Tsp. parsley
• cup shredded low-fat

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed. Divide mixture between 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 30 minutes or until cooked through. Cool before serving.

WATCH NEXT:Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipe

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