Home made dog food

There was a thread on here recently about dog food and someone brought up that they make their own dog food. I’m hoping to get a little more info on that and maybe where to buy some meat to do this. Is there anything else you put in the food for more nutrition?

I have a 13 year old lab that is now rejecting her kibble dog food so I’ve been buying bargain bin meats from the super market to cook for her. This has been kind of a PITA because I can only get 1-2 days worth of food. I’ve also been scouring through my freezer getting rid of some older frozen fish that I’ve been holding onto.

Try the normal stuff for her but pour melted lard on it or bacon grease

Have you tried the fresh dog food they sell at grocery stores, Blain’s etc.? It is kept in a refridgerator and must be refridgerated. I had an aged dog that wouldnt eat much. She did take to this though and it prolonged her life. It comes in tubes and resenbles Liver Sausage. They make cat food too.

Jeremy wrote:

Try the normal stuff for her but pour melted lard on it or bacon grease

Tried beef tallow and lard. Nothing.

robby wrote:

Have you tried the fresh dog food they sell at grocery stores, Blain’s etc.? It is kept in a refridgerator and must be refridgerated. I had an aged dog that wouldnt eat much. She did take to this though and it prolonged her life. It comes in tubes and resenbles Liver Sausage. They make cat food too.

I’ll look into it but I obviously want to be cost conscious. My dry dog food is costing about $75 per month so a little more than $2 per day. Should be pretty easy to compare. Thanks for the tip.

Gil,
We’ve done ground beef and rice. If she doesn’t take that, then there’s issues.
Have you talked to your vet?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Gil,
We’ve done ground beef and rice. If she doesn’t take that, then there’s issues.
Have you talked to your vet?

That’s what the vet recommended. She eats it but I’m just trying to find something that comes in around $2 a day or better if possible.

She went in to the vet about 3 weeks ago with an illness and determined it might be some kind of bacterial infection. She took antibiotics and stopped eating altogether for a few days. Vet said to give her hamburger and rice for a while until she feels better and resumes eating the dog food. Well, she still won’t eat the dog food.

I’ve been buying chicken, hamburger, cube steak and other cheap cuts that end up in the bargain bin. It’s working but I can’t get enough to go past a day or two. I would like to have food ready for at least a week at a time.

I been using chicken . What ever is on sale . Simmer 4 thighs a half a chicken or so n big pan . I debone it and save juice n old cartons or Tupperware . I put some of each on her food . She eats good now .

Salli grinds up chicken backs and necks for boomer. Course ground. They get 40 to 60 pound boxes from a restaurant supply store in st paul. Bonus head in the box once and a while. Boomer doesn’t mind. They freeze up the ground in plastic containers that hold 4 to 5 days food. Grind up about 2 months worth at a time.

Dog poop in the back yard drys and turns to powder in about 3 days. I have scooped poop in years.

Mike, with the chicken bones in I assume you serve it raw?

The wife and I have been making our own dog food for a few years now. We get all of the meat for free using a craigslist ad asking for peoples freezer burned meat. Within a few days we get so much of it for free we have to take the ad down. Below is the recipe we use. Its important to use non cured or seasoned meat i.e. no sausages, sandwiche meat, cured foods…

Thaw the meat and grind everything listed below together then form into paddy’s and freeze. When time to serve just grab one out of the freezer and give to the dog. Our dog has back problems and was overweight and since switching to this his energy levels have gone way up and hes slimmed down quite a bit.

90-95% non seasoned raw meat
5-10% organ
Bone meal
Turmeric
Crushed egg shells
Fish oil
Add a few eggs to the mix

I see ads in craigslist looking for freezer burned free meat so they can use it as dog food? Might be an option? I have some freezer burned meat but it’s only 6-10 lbs……. I’m in se Mn if you want it.

crappie55369 wrote:

The wife and I have been making our own dog food for a few years now. We get all of the meat for free using a craigslist ad asking for peoples freezer burned meat. Within a few days we get so much of it for free we have to take the ad down. Below is the recipe we use. Its important to use non cured or seasoned meat i.e. no sausages, sandwiche meat, cured foods…

Thaw the meat and grind everything listed below together then form into paddy’s and freeze. When time to serve just grab one out of the freezer and give to the dog. Our dog has back problems and was overweight and since switching to this his energy levels have gone way up and hes slimmed down quite a bit.

90-95% non seasoned raw meat
5-10% organ
Bone meal
Turmeric
Crushed egg shells
Fish oil
Add a few eggs to the mix

Excellent. This is perfect. Thanks! Do you serve raw?

Looks like I should probably get a meat grinder or a better food processor. My food processor is tiny, like 2 cups.

Yup its served raw. Its frozen of course so not too gross to handle. Dog doesnt seem to mind that its frozen either he usually wolfs it down in a minute or two. We usually grind enough to last 2 months. We feed him twice a day

I bought my meat grinder from cabelas a few years back. It wasnt the cheapest model but not the high end one either. If memory serves it was around $100-$150. Anything in that range will do I would think.

Our 12 yr old Lab is slowing down too. Doesn’t always eat kibble right away. The vet suggested canned pumpkin and she eats it readily. Just stir a dollop into the kibble.
Good and good for her.

When my dog wasn’t eating (meds for lymes) I would add beef stock to his food,he would sure gobble that up !!

Maybe try adding a bit of plain yogurt too.

biggill wrote:

Mike, with the chicken bones in I assume you serve it raw?

Yes raw.

I used to pick up road killed deer for my pup. Grind into burger. Contact your local PD to get on the call list.

Antibiotics will wipe out anyone’s (including our pets) naturally-occurring gut flora. Try adding in a probiotic designed for dogs. After a week or so, it should bring them back to normal. The homemade food is also a great idea. I have two Vizslas that have various issues over the years. Boiled rice/hamburger or chicken is their “chicken soup.”

Get rid of Kibble, it’s all grain, try a good quality food that is grain free.

I use Diamond grain free Whitefish and Sweet Potato. 28# bag is about $40

Made a huge difference in my dogs coat, less itching and shedding as well.

I’d hesitate to feed raw chicken to a dog that hasn’t been well because of the potential for salmonella issues.

icenutz wrote:

Get rid of Kibble, it’s all grain, try a good quality food that is grain free.

I use Diamond grain free Whitefish and Sweet Potato. 28# bag is about $40

Made a huge difference in my dogs coat, less itching and shedding as well.

I agree with all of this. My dog has been on Fromm grain free for the past decade. Unfortunately she won’t eat it anymore.

Bassn Dan wrote:

I’d hesitate to feed raw chicken to a dog that hasn’t been well because of the potential for salmonella issues.

This is a very popular thing to do. I believe that healthy dogs have the ability to kill off salmonella so it isn’t an issue.

A prior vet I had wanted me to switch her to a raw chicken diet. A guy at work has been feeding his dogs raw chicken for a decade without issue.

Our dog is very picky (spoiled) due to the FW and will not eat his food alone, so we dress it up. Relatively cheap options include the hamburger/chicken and rice already mentioned, canned pumpkin or squash puree, shaved carrots, sweet potato, apples, and eggs. Obviously any fruit needs to be balanced so as to not feed too much sugar. It’s amazing how cheap eggs are when you consider the nutritional value. The pumpkin puree and sweet potato are good for fiber and complex carbs

My Brittany’s are picky eaters also. In the fall we save all the trimmings from deer and cook in a big pot, with water, on the grill, add a few beef bullion cubes for flavor. Put these in cool whip containers or similar and freeze. Can get 2-3 days out of each container. When this is gone I switch to canned dog food, usually Alpo or Sams club because it’s cheapest. 65 cents a can and get 2 days for both dogs. Failed to mention, I mix this with whatever dry dog food you normally feed. I am using Purina High Pro right now. So they aren’t getting much nutritional value from the deer or canned food, just makes them eat the dry.

Our dog has formed a pack with the neighborhood dogs, and they hunt their own meals.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Our dog has formed a pack with the neighborhood dogs, and they hunt their own meals.

Haha the local “dog pack”

In all seriousness though, make sure you verify the ingredients of a dog food before you decide to try a new one. Some grain free pet foods have been showing a direct link to cardiac issues in dogs. And raw pet food has a very high risk for pathogens like salmonella. Salmonella may not be an issue for a healthy dog, but if handled improperly, you might get yourself sick in the process.

gimruis wrote:

And raw pet food has a very high risk for pathogens like salmonella. Salmonella may not be an issue for a healthy dog, but if handled improperly, you might get yourself sick in the process.

This is false. Dogs are not at a high risk to become ill from salmonella.

biggill wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
And raw pet food has a very high risk for pathogens like salmonella. Salmonella may not be an issue for a healthy dog, but if handled improperly, you might get yourself sick in the process.

This is false. Dogs are not at a high risk to become ill from salmonella.

I didn’t say they were at high risk to become ill from salmonella. I said the handler of the raw pet food could get it (that would be you).