Good grub fer yer critter: Simple (and cheap) homemade dog food 101

Making homemade dog food is cheaper, more healthy and (relatively) simple.

You have a darling little pup who looks up at you with big brown eyes full of trust.

You also have a wallet that looks mighty thin.  You know that feeding your critter the best food will help maintain his good health. So what can you do to feed him, without having to live in your car?

Years ago, I read a book called Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats by Richard H Pitcairn, DVM, PhD. and Susan Hubble Pitcairn.   Since then I have fed my crew (five dogs now) using the recipes and advice in this book. All five of my critters, knock on wood, are still healthy and lively and I live in a house not a car.

My disclaimer: All my pups came to me healthy. If your pups have any kind of illness or condition or even if they are healthy like mine, always check with your vet. I also encourage you to get Dr. Pitcairn’s book and read it!

Dr. Pitcairn recommends a diet of meat, whole grains and occasionally some vegetables along with a fairly simple concoction called Healthy Power along with a couple of other vitamins. You vary the recipes so overall everything is balanced.

Healthy Powder (don’t be intimidated by the weird looking list. This will last a LONG time):

2 cups nutritional yeast (get at health foods store, comes in a canister like oatmeal)

1 cup lecithin granules (health food store again)

¼ cup kelp or alfalfa powder (health food store again)

4 tablespoons bone meal powder (health food store, be sure to get the kind labeled for human or animal consumption. NOT the kind in garden supply departments)

1,000 milligrams vitamin C (get tablets at, smush the tablets between two spoons or against the counter. Be sure to get the unflavored kind).

Mix all this together in a container and keep in your refrigerator.

After you make up the Healthy Powder, the recipes themselves usually take only the amount of time the grain takes to cook.

This one literally takes 15 minutes to cook. Note that this isn’t word for word-I rewrote it without Dr. Pitcairn’s options to make it really simple:

Doggie Oats:

5 cups old fashioned oatmeal

3 pounds of turkey (ground or chopped)

1 cup cooked carrots

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

10 cups water

Bring all of the above to a boil using a big pot with a lid. As soon as it boils, turn the heat off, put the lid on, and wait 15 minutes. Then:

Add 1,000 IU vitamin E (find capsules in any grocery, health food or big box store)

6 tablespoons of Healthy Powder

4 teaspoons bone meal

Mix it all together using a very sturdy spoon! You will get a workout! Store in refrigerator and freeze what your pup won’t eat in a few days.

When you feed your critter, think of the size of their stomachs. (This is my thought, not Dr. Pitcairn!). I know when I look at those big brown eyes I usually put a lot more on the plate than they should be eating. If you look around at most pets these days, you will see I am not the only one!

For a little dog, I just give a half cup twice a day.

For a medium dog, about ¾ cup twice a day.

For a larger dog, maybe 1-2 cups twice a day.

My caveat is that I also provide a high quality dry food in case they want to eat more throughout the day but honestly they seldom eat the dry as this food tends to satisfy them very well.

Some folks disagree with this practice and only feed once or twice a day. My opinion? I think either is fine except where you have a “gobbler” dog that tends to eat their whole meals in one gulp. I get a little anxious regarding the possibility of that dog developing food insecurity because they know food is only coming one or two times a day. Even scarier is the possibility of getting “bloat” which is a dangerous and often fatal condition where their stomachs twist, with one of the known causes being eating their food too fast.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/bloat

For dry food, again my opinion:

1. I do a little research. Look at the label on the back. The first ingredient listed should be simply chicken, beef, fish or something to that effect. NOT “chicken (or beef, fish) by products” or “chicken (or beef, fish) meal” which is simply whatever is left over from the carcass such as beaks, feet, intestines, etc. It’s hard to find without those ingredients somewhere in the mix but I try not to buy brands with those listed first. These brands will be more expensive than most but your dogs will eat less of it (they will be satisfied with less because it will have more of the nutrition they need) and will be healthier in over time (less fillers, questionable ingredients, artificial flavoring, etc). Just like people, when we eat junk, we crave more junk. Vicious cycle.
2. I vary the brands. I figure if a dog food manufacturer has some ingredient that can harm my pups over time, I lessen the chances of anything harmful building up in their systems. Also, I personally like variety in my diet (I mean I like bananas but I certainly don’t want to eat them every single day) so I figure they do as well. Some people object to this and feed their dogs the exact same food every day, every year saying that changing their food may upset their stomachs. I just have not experienced this myself with my five dogs. However if you are concerned, you can certainly change over slowly by mixing the old food with the new over a couple of weeks and gradually changing all the way to the new food. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
3. I always keep lots of fresh water next to their dry dog bowl. Like people, sometimes they aren’t actually hungry, but are thirsty. I really like to use a water fountain made for dogs (and cats!) that filters their water. They like to drink from the fountain too so perhaps it gets them to drink more water. This is really important to do if you only feed dry food because obviously they aren’t getting much in the way of liquids from dry as they would from wet food.

Good food equals long life!  You just made your pup very happy and healthy with homemade dog food!