When we tell people how we make our dog’s food and the other ways we take care of them, people sometimes look at us like we have three heads. They say our dogs are spoiled. We say that they are well cared for. There is a difference?

Dog people

Dogs are a special “breed” … totally intended pun. We take care of our dogs as if they were our children and, in some cases, they could be too. You only want the best for your little four-legged friends, and sometimes it includes making things yourself rather than buying them pre-made. Dog food is something that is hotly debated among veterinarians, dog owners, pet store owners, and manufacturers alike. From kibble to raw diets, from cans to bags, manufacturers are adding vitamins, vegetables, fillers and all kinds of additives to make their food “the healthiest food money can buy”; but is it really? Special breeds need special care, so is all dog food good for all dogs?

Special foods

Check the shelves and you will see food for senior dogs, inactive dogs, puppies, and overweight dogs. There’s a lot of nutrition, a lot of energy, high prices … what happened to the old-fashioned dog food? I hesitate to even remember what my uncle’s farm dog ate every day and lived to old age. Trust me, my uncle didn’t like buying dog food. I’m pretty sure they bought whatever was cheap and a lot. Any sacrifice made on the farm, of course, would produce discarded items. Cats, dogs, and any other pests on the farm could fight over the remains. My aunt threw leftovers into the yard that nobody cared about. Oddly enough, this is probably what kept the old farm dog healthy. Raw meats and fresh vegetables.

There is your recipe

The question of how to make homemade dog food is relatively easy to answer. All you need to do is look at the lives dogs led in the past when they ran in packs. They would kill for their food, eating it raw and ingesting the already digested fruits and vegetables that their prey had eaten. From 60% to 80% of your dog’s diet should consist of raw meats. Their systems are adept at handling bacteria that our bodies cannot tolerate. Rabbit, eggs, duck, turkey, lamb, chicken, beef, fish, venison, ostrich, and even emu are especially good meats for a dog’s nutritional needs. Cooking them destroys their natural vitamins.

The same goes for your vegetables. Fresh is best, but many vegetables should be blanched to aid digestion and reduce gas tendencies. These vegetables should then be ground in a blender or food processor that simulates the already digested fruits and vegetables of the prey that they would eat in the wild. Some fruits are very tasty for dogs due to their natural sugars, but some should be avoided.

We joke from time to time that our dogs eat better than we do. And sometimes they do!