[nagdu] Home Made Dog Food

[Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)]

Wonder if you could make food the way youw ould for a human baby, just
no need to mush it up? I say this because you need to be careful with
spices with babies too or so I've been told. Make sure you know what
foods are toxic for dogs, and leave those out but maybe you can use baby
food ingredients as your model? You do want to make sure you get enough
veggies in the dog's diet. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 1:16 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Made Dog Food

I'd leave out all the seasonings, especially the salt.
I read somewhere that dogs can't eat members of the onion family, and
that
includes garlic, but on the other hand I've seen dog treats featuring
garlic, so I'm confused on that one.

There are a number of books about homemade dogfood on Bookshare, and
some
at NLS, which you seem to know about.

I tried feeding Echo a raw diet for a while, but she could not adapt to
it.  But I have friends who feed raw and have been very successful with
it.
I thought about the cooked dogfood alternatives, but the truth is that,
after a hard day's work, I can't always bring myself to cook for the
humans, and I sometimes wish we had a simple bowl of kibble for
ourselves.
It could also be a bit of a hassle while travelling. (Although, in my
wild
college days, I sometimes failed to pack extra dogfood and fed Glade a
plain hamburger, which she thought was EXCELLENT!)
Tracy

> Hi all,
>
> I sent the following message to the Blind Cooks list yesterday, but
> realize
> that maybe it was best sent to you fellow guide dog lovers.
>
> I'd love to hear about your experiences of cooking for your dogs.
>
> "Just thought I'd fess up to having made eight quarts of doggie stew
> yesterday.
>
> I'm running low on Canidae kibble, and can't afford the 40+ pound bag
and
> the taxi fare to schlep anything heavier than 15lbs home until next
week,
> so
> I'm experimenting with home cooking for Alvin.
>
> Like most guide dog owners, I've made my share of post-tummy-upset
bland
> diet mix, combining white rice, cottage cheese, a little egg, and
maybe
> some
> canned tomato.  But this is the first time I've cooked up a batch of
> vittles
> for a healthy dog.
>
> This is what I did, with food already in the house.
>
> I put a little olive oil in an eight-quart stock-pot, sprinkling it
with
> seasoning salt and garlic powder. In this I browned about 4 1/2 pounds
of
> lean ground beef and ground turkey, mixed.  Finding this too bland for
my
> taste upon sampling, I added a packet of very mild taco seasoning.
Then I
> added a standard can of diced tomatoes,a large package of sliced
frozen
> carrots, and a smaller package of frozen, French-cut green beans.
Using
> the
> tomato can, I added four cans of water and two cans of thoroughly
rinsed
> white rice.  Stirring, I brought all of this to a boil, covered it,
then
> let
> it simmer on very low heat for about 20 minutes.  Then I went to taste
> some,
> figuring that if Alvin had to eat it, I'd better like it too.
>
> When I turned off the heat and lifted the lid, I found all the water
> absorbed, and all the ingredients incorporated.  Nothing was stuck to
the
> pot.  My kitchen had a nice aroma throughout.  The finished product
was
> more
> bland than I'd want human food to be, and a little more starchy than
I'd
> hoped, owing to the white rice, but not at all unpleasant.  If I do
this
> again, I'll use brown rice and vary my veggies.  Because it's not
soupy, I
> plan to pack this mixture into serving-size food storage bags and
stack
> them
> in the fridge and freezer.
>
> Alvin and I went to a concert last night, following an afternoon of
work
> downtown, so I brought kibble along for dinner and didn't serve my
> creation
> until breakfast this morning.  Stews
> are best served the second day, anyway, aren't they?
>
> Alvin seemed to think so.  Heated just a little to take off the
> refrigerator's chill and sprinkled with a quarter-cup of Canidae
kibble
> for
> crunch, I set Alvin's morning ration before him and got rave reviews.
A's
> tail wagged merrily as he ate, and he licked up every last trace
before
> surrendering his bowl to be washed and filled with water for a
refreshing
> drink.
>
> It's great to be appreciated!
>
> My inspiration for this effort came from the Three Dog Bakery cookbook
and
> from The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs.
>
> Do any of you cook for your canines?"
>
> Elizabeth
>
>
>
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