I have made every effort to simplify the process of making your own homemade dog food. You won’t need any fancy gadgets or gismos. If you have decided to go the raw dog food route mixing the ingredients is similar to mixing meatloaf. To make most of the homemade dog food recipes you will need something to mix the ingredients in and a pot to hard boil the eggs and cook the white rice.
I personally clean my kitchen sink and mix the ingredients in the sink. This makes clean up a breeze. I just suds up the sink with some “Dawn” dish washing liquid, scuba and let it go down the drain. Quick and easy.
For more details on how to make dog food click the links below.
- Tools needed to make dog food
- Storage of finished dog food
- Clean up
Feel free to post comments and questions.
There are no links to click… ???
Jen,
I’m not sure why you are not seeing the links. The links are yellow gold throughout the site. Click here to view the “easy homemade dog food recipe”.
My 9 1/2 yr. old female Black Lab has been having ear issues & chewing her paws for the last 6 years & we have spent a fortune on vet bills & various food trials including the raw salmon. She got food poisoning from the raw salmon & that vet bill cost another whopper.
I am now looking at making her food at home. Your recipes look simple. Can you tell me why the raw seems to be preferrable? Is there some nutritional value lost in the cooking?
Elaine,
Yes there is some loss by cooking the raw meat. The digestive enzymes in the meat are destroyed. The supplement “Dinovite Liquid”, I recommend, does contain digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion. Even the easy cooked dog food recipe is so much better than dry kibble. Try whichever you are more comfortable feeding your dog.
Is it OK to switch back and forth from your cooked and raw food recipes?
Thank you,
Michelle
Michelle,
I’ve not had any problem switching between the easy raw recipe and the easy cooked recipe. Switching back and forth between kibble causes bad digestive upset.
My 8 year old Border Collie is highly allergic to everything. Food wise he is allergic to chicken. He is also allergic to his heartworm and flea meds. He is just miserable most of the time.
I have been feeding him the vet’s recommendation of Royal Canin’s potato and duck, which is very expensive and he doesn’t even like. It is always hard to get him to eat, but lately he won’t eat almost at all. I have spent over $500 at the vet’s over the past 2+ weeks on tests and the only thing we know is his urine is high in protein. He had been forming crystals also, but the check today was clear for that. The vet is doing 2 more tests but has no real suggestions for what to feed him now. What recipe would you recommend for him? I would prepare anything that would help him. Thanks!!!!!
Ginny,
Try the yeast starvation dog food recipe, click here to view. This dog food recipe can help your dog on different levels. It has limited ingredient, eliminates carbohydrates and has nutritious supplements.
Cheeba is my dog, a little 12” jack russel who threw up her whole few helpings of food until two tablespoons of blood came out as a grand finally. She seems chiperie this morning. I’m concerned about a recall on dog food also this morning but the word recalls have not panned out to tell me a thing? What advise do you have for me?
Dale,
I would suggest feeding the easy cooked dog food recipe or the easy raw dog food recipe. Both dog food recipes are far better than kibble.
IS IT GOOD TO FEED MY DOGS COOKED OATMEAL TWICE A WEEK?THEY SEEM TO BE GETTING FATTER,AND COATS ARE LOOKING BETTER,BUT IS IT GOOD FOR THEM.
Sal,
It’s not bad bud feeding them raw meat would be much better.
i would like to use fresh steak and chicken legs/thighs, do they need to be ground up like mush? is there a way to do it so it turns out more like a chopped platter with some kind of gravy? or just other variations of the same?
Marci,
Wether to grind or not depends on your dog and situation. I have fed a full kennel of dogs whole chicken leg thigh quarters without incident. The medium sized dogs 28-40 pounds crunched the bones with no problems. The small dogs 10-18 pounds had a little trouble. Feeding this way is best done outside because the chicken can get dropped and make a mess. My dogs would eat it in around 1 to 2 minutes.
There are benefits to grinding. Uniformity of end dog food. All dogs can eat it. Less messy.
I purchased a Weston meat grinder. I bought the largest one they have for a little over $700. It makes short work of chicken bones, a real time saver.
My 7 month old Doberman puppy has Demodex mange. She is on Ivermectin 1cc po sid and Cephalexin 500mg po bid. I am a veterinary technician so I know the benefits of antibiotics for secondary infections but I need to boost her immune system to help with recovery. She has lost about 50% of her hair. Do you suggest a homemade diet for dogs with mange?
Jessie,
There has been a study that suggest dogs with generalized demodex have zinc deficiencies. I would suggest the easy raw dog food recipe. The dog supplement Dinovite Liquid has a highly absorbable form of zinc called zinc methionine. The zinc will help if his immune system is compromised by a zinc deficiency. Curing demodex takes some time and often looks worse before it gets better.
I have a 3 year old Yorkie. A little over a year ago, he started having skin issues (let me add that we moved to GA about two years ago)…itching, chewing on his feet, smelly, sores, scabs…at one point he looked like a giant scab. I’ve had him to a couple different vets, they’ve said he has a yeast infection in his ears (I think it’s spread to his body), they gave me ear drops and special shampoo….I’m also guessing maybe he has allergies, too. Do you think switching to the yeast diet you have listed and then continuing with your other diets afterwards, that it will clear up his skin and smell? I feel bad because he starts smelling so bad a couple days after getting a bath that we don’t love on him as much because he stinks 🙁 I’m at a loss and don’t know what to do for our little Andre.
Kelly,
I would plan on feeding the yeast starvation dog food for quite a while if he is that bad. It may take 6 months to start turning him around.
I have a 9 year old dauchand and 2 year old lab/retriever I am going to begin to make food for them and I wanted to know what to start with for each of the dogs. I dont know if I have to do something different with each one because of the age difference.
Trina,
Start off with the easy cooked dog food recipe. It is fine for all ages of dogs.
Ed,
My dog has been suffering with skin disorders for the last 3yrs…He is now 4yrs.
The vet never told me about a Raw diet!..He tells me he has to have cortizone shots and antibiotics,but nothing really helps!…Should I start him on a raw diet?
Anne,
I would start him on the easy raw dog food recipe and see how he does.
My dog ( Rocky ) doesn’t want to eat his food that often and we feel sad and we don’t know what to do or what to feed him.
Sophia,
It’s sad when a dog doesn’t like what he’s eating. Try feeding Rocky the easy cooked dog food recipe or the chicken and rice dog food recipe, He will LOVE either recipe! This will make YOU happy:)
Hi Ed, was just reading thru your website and I’m definitely going to start my Chipin on this diet! I have one question for you. I bought a protein powder to add to her kibble and it’s called ‘Instinct Raw Daily Boost’ which is a powder supplement made of real chicken and turkey. It was very expensive. Could this take place of one of your additives to the raw meal? Well, in place of until this can is all gone?
It sounds like it is just the meat portion, this may be hard to incorporate into the homemade dog food recipe. Maybe start with homemade after you finish out the kibble and daily boost.
Can I add fruits and veggies to the recipes? What are your thought on sweet potatoes occasionally instead of rice?
You can add fruits and veggies but keep in mind dogs are carnivores so they should not be the majority. Sweet potato is fine but again in moderation.