Food for Thought #2

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How was THAT for a long weekend?! Okay the weather here wasn't that spiffy until later yesterday but we made the most of it any way. Good friends and good eats! However the holiday weekend is officially OVER and we have sooooo much work to to do but it's all good.

It's 6am and looking pretty ready to rain outside so not sure if I'll be taking the dogs out for a walk this morning. Hope so. There's supposed to be thundershowers here all day today which is kind of cool.

I thought I'd post a second dog food recipe this morning, change things up. When feeding your dog, VARIETY IS KEY. There are so many good protein sources out there, so many good fruits and veggies packed with vitamins and antioxidants and even some grains with great minerals and vitamins. I didn't include any grains in the first recipe because there were sweet potatoes and they are a starchy vegetable. Your dog doesn't need carbohydrates at all. You dog can convert everything he needs from the proteins and fat BUT, BIG BUT that's not to say that dogs can't benefit from carbohydrates. There are numerous peer reviewed journal articles of studies that proof dogs benefit from the nutrients found in some carbohydrates especially the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The typical kibble contains some 80 - 90 percent carbohydrates or protein from carbohydrate sources like wheat gluten rather than animal sources. And there are some kibbles that do much better than this. We are of the belief that a proper balance and variety of lots of different ingredients will keep your dog healthy and happy.

Dog Food Recipe #2

• 2 lbs ground chicken or turkey
• 1/4 lb chopped kidney
• 1/4 lb chopped heart
• 1 lb green beans
• 3 ripe chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup berries
• Calcium supplement

Ground Chicken or Turkey - As typically found in the grocery store.

Kidney - Any type will do and you will need to chop these up and cut out the centre "core".

Heart - Again, any type will do.

Green Beans - Frozen or fresh

Tomatoes - All will do, just make sure the total amount of tomato comes to the same as three large tomatoes

Oats - rolled oats, any thickness or cooking time. Quick oats have just been cut thinner to cook faster.

Berries - MMM! Any single or mixed berry will do. Frozen or fresh. We like the darker berries like blueberries and saskatoon berries. The richer the color, the more antioxidants.

Calcium supplement - Dogs need 800mg - 1000mg of Calcium per pound of food cooked. This is approximately a 4.5 pound recipe, therefore you need 3600 - 4500mg of calcium. Large egg shells have approximately 2000mg of calcium. You can either add 2 large dried eggshells, just make sure they're mashed up. OR you can dry the egg shells then grind them with a coffee grinder or magic bullet. OR you can purchase bone meal or calcium supplements, crush and add to the mix. If you are purchasing calcium supplements, avoid those with Vitamin D.

Mix all ingredients together into a casserole dish or small turkey roaster, cover and cook at 325 for one hour. When it's done, if your dog is 40 pounds or over, put food into a tupperware to cool and put in the fridge. If your dog is smaller, split the food into two tupperwares, cool, freeze on and put the other in the fridge. DONE.

This recipe has oatmeal. Oats are a great source of energy, good fats, fibre and contain the mineral selenium which acts like and antioxidant to protect cells from damage caused by pollution and UV light. Oats have an additional health benefit called beta-glucan. This compound helps slow the rate of digestion and helps to regulate blood sugar.

It also has tomatoes. Technically a fruit, tomatoes add an extra special nutritional boost by supplying an antioxidant called lycopene. Ongoing research suggests that this maybe more powerful than beta carotene in fighting free radicals (bad things that attack body cells).

Feeding - Vets will recommend that when switching foods to blend them over 3-4 days, increasing the amount of new food and decreasing the amount of the old food as the days go on. This may be necessary for some dogs that have always been on the same kibble or type of food for years. You'll likely find in the future that you'll be able to switch up your dog's food without incidence but for now, blend the foods for 3-4 days. Be sure to mix the food well so the cooled fat isn't sitting all in one spot to avoid feeding a lot of fat at one serving.

AGAIN BEWARE, your dog will try to convince you he needs more food because he's IN LOVE his new food. Stick to about 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 times the kibble you were feeding of the home made food. Take note of your dogs appearance daily. Is she putting on weight, loosing weight or looking good. Adjust their amount of food accordingly however do not make huge adjustments from one day to the next. If you need to feed less, decrease the amount by 10% for a couple of days until you see weight loss then stay there until the weigh loss stops. If your dog still needs to loose weight, decrease the amount by another 10% and stay there until more weight is lost then stops. If you need to increase the weight, you can increase the meal by up to 20% but be very careful of the gain. Most healthy dogs should look fairly lean without noticeable fat around their hips and stomach area. You should be able to feel the spine and see the beginnings of the last ribs at the top of their back.

We have two 50lb dogs so when we make this food we cook 4 times this recipe size and put half in the freezer. Feel free to make the recipe as large or as small as you need to work best for you and your dog. We keep the food in the fridge for up to five days. Having said that, dogs can handle far more bacteria than we can and food can stay in the fridge longer but we've just worked it out that whatever we package to stay in the fridge usually lasts 5 days.

Let me know what you think.

DANA- We'll get biscuits to your area soon. At the moment we are absolutely sold out but a nice big batch is coming through the bakery as we speak.

Have a great day!

Bonnie

Comments

[Kal Barteski]

I can't wait to TRY this recipe. Perfect timing - Crash is almost out of food! Where is the bets place to get HEARTS and kidneys?

[Debbie Strange]

hi Bonnie:

I've been meaning to ask this for a long time...what is a reasonable number of "Lucky Dog Biscuits" to give Daisy on a daily basis? Looking forward to Saturday!

love,
L&D&D

[Shayla Vokey]

i never made the food... had a tumble and broke my finger! i hope to make some for them by the end of the month, i need to spoil miller, that's when he goes for his surgery!!
and out of my curiousity... do we need to give stella and miller the lime disease vaccination?
not sure if this is your area, but any advice would be nice!