It all started when I noticed we were out of dog food after coming home from a shed hunting trip. I had heard of people making homemade dog food recipes before and decided to look into it more. We have two dogs, Bridger, an Australian shepherd, and Daisy Mae, a Weimaraner/bull terrier mix. Both of our dogs have sensitive stomachs which made me nervous, but I decided to do it anyways.
As I researched more on homemade dog food recipes, there are five main things dogs need in their diet aside from water. These five things are proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. So I started searching online, but you should also talk to your vet.
This is the homemade dog food recipe we tried:
Protein
We had old, freezer-burnt elk burger in the bottom of the freezer. When cooking, it didn’t smell like something I wanted to eat, so we decided to try it out in the dog food as a protein. To make it go further, we also added scrambled eggs and cooked kidney beans as other sources of protein. Kidney beans also have different vitamins and minerals in them.
We have thought of different ways to obtain enough meat for the dogs to sustain them through the year. Luckily, Montana has road kill salvage which can be great for dog food! When using road kill, most of the time the majority of the meat is still in great condition and a salvage tag is very easy to get. And this doesn’t take away any meat from our general season. We can also get up to 12 turkey tags state-wide. Ground turkey happens to be a great protein for dogs!
Fruits & Vegtables
Next thing we knew we needed were fruits and vegetables. We started simply with carrots, corn, green beans, and apples. Since then, we have added sweet potatoes, peas, celery, and spinach. We typically cook everything aside from the apple chunks. Be sure to chop all these up small enough so your dog doesn’t choke. There are tons of great websites out there that have lists of foods that are good for your dog and not good for your dog. You can formulate what your dog needs and how much to add based on different research and talking to your vet.
Grains
We also use what we refer to as “filler.” Filler is typically the bad stuff that food companies put in their dog food. But for us, it’s really just grains. Grains get a bad rep in the dog food industry, but are great for your dog's diet – in moderation. We use grains like white rice, brown rice, and quinoa. We usually just use our rice cooker which makes it quick and easy to make big batches.
Oils
I usually add a bit of olive oil and coconut oil. Olive oil is great for your dog's skin and coat. We love to use it because Daisy has an itchy coat and Bridger has a ton of hair. Coconut oil has a ton of benefits for your dog. Since I live in Montana, raw coconut is difficult to get my hands on, so coconut oil is perfect. Coconut has things called Medium Chain Triglycerides or MCTs. Some vets believe that MCTs can help with digestive disorders, aid in digestion, and improve mental function and brain energy in older dogs. It also helps get rid of their bad doggie breath!
