[nagdu] Home Made Dog Food

[Cindy Ray]

I guess the way I see it, the finer dog foods have the balance that dogs need, though I know in some circles that is controversial, too. I am lucky to cook for me, let alone the dog. LOL.


On Sep 24, 2010, at 12:22 PM, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) wrote:

> 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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> 
> 
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