Homemade dog food

Yup.  You read that right.  I've lost what little bit of my mind I've had and decided to switch to homemade dog food.  Now please, give me a moment to plead my case.

This guy here

This guy is Travis.  He is our first-born.  He is known as a farter...a stinker...someone that can clear a room within seconds.  I've been googling Travis' belly issues for a while, looking for some sort of relief from the stench that was taking over my living room, my bedroom, and generally, my life.  Google insisted that it was the soy in his diet.  Now we are already on some sort of ultra-sensitive, all natural dog food because he is also allergic to pretty much everything else, so the idea of switching to an even more expensive dog food did not tickle my fancy.  So instead, I googled homemade dog food.

Apparently, there isn't all that much to it and it seemed not only comparable to buying plain dog food (not the extra ultra organic kind), but also rather healthy for the pups.  I'm rather adventurous, so I thought, what the hey, let's give it a whirl.

This month's recipe:

• 2 cups rice
• 8 cups water
• 2 lbs chicken
• 2 cups cut up carrots
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of cinnamon

This makes enough food to last 2 dogs for about 1 week (we're still giving Cailey a little bit of the other dog food mostly because we have it left over).

Boil the chicken until it's not pink anymore.  It doesn't take very long.  Then cut it up into little pieces.

In the meantime, boil the rice along with the carrots (or whatever veggie you choose as long as its safe for dogs (here's an e-how).  You want double the water that you would usually eat to make it softer and easier to digest for your pup.

It'll be super squishy and the carrots should be nice and soft as well by now.

Mix the whole thing along with the chicken, some salt (just a bit), and some cinnamon (this one's a recommendation by my mother-in-law who has to cook for her dog with an ultra sensitive belly too).

This is a pretty big bowl, so it shows you how much food that just made.

I use this half-cup measuring cup to feed the doggers (mine are about 18 pounds each and therefore get about 1/2 cup 2 times a day).

 I divide the whole thing into 2 containers and then freeze half of it.  Each container lasts about 3-4 days and I pull out the frozen stuff about a day before I run out.  I learned this trick from my mom-in-law as well.  She's rather smart about these things! And very resourceful.  Her recipe is just a tad different, but I don't have all those ingredients so I just go with what I have (as long as it's safe for dogs! Don't forget to double check). 

Looks kinda appetizing, doesn't it?

So we've been doing this for about 2 weeks now and so far I've learned the following:

• My dogs actually like to eat.  They never ate before - they would just pick at the dry kibble here and there which was kind of stressful especially if we were in a rush to do something.  Now they sit at the edge of the kitchen (they're not allowed unless I invite them in) and drool until the food is served and they get the "ok".  Then they eat.  All of it.  Within a minute or two.  It's amazing.
• Travis is capable of not farting 24/7.  My house actually smells pleasant.  It's amazing.  I forgot what life is like when I'm not constantly gagging or wiping away teary eyes from the stench.
• By my calculations, I'm actually saving money!  We shop at BJ Wholesale Club and I bought all the ingredients in bulk.  I did the math and this will cost us about $45/2 months while our dog food that makes Travis gassy is about $53/2 months.

Next month I'm thinking of giving another recipe or two a whirl, and I'll be sure to post those in case you decide that this is something you might want to try.

As for those interested, here is my mother-in-law's original recipe which was recommended to her by a vet!

This is for a single batch (I make double).

• 1 cup rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 big sweet potato or butternut squash

Cook until rice and potato are done.
Boil 2.5 lbs of chicken then cut up.

Add

• 3 teaspoon turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Mix all together and freeze in bags of 3-4 cups.

I'll do everyone a favor and won't post this under Eating Like The Kings so you don't accidentally make this for dinner.