I'm devoting this post to my picky little Crestese. Yup, that's him in the above picture as a puppy. He's so darn cute, that's why I put up with all of his shenanigans. Well, this little cutie is definitely hard to please when it comes to meal-time.
I have tried many different brands of kibble, wet food, Moist and Meaty, you name it. He either refuses it right away, or eats it for a short bit, then refuses it. I generally end up having to force it on him or give the food to family and friends with dogs. I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating and costly that can get.
I know some of you are saying, "Well, leave the bowl down for a bit, if he doesn't eat it, pick it up. Do that for a day or two and he'll be ready to eat. Dogs don't starve themselves." Wrong! Been there, done that. This dog will starve himself. He is very adamant about what he likes and what he doesn't like. No matter whether I mix the kibble with the wet food or what.
So I finally I got fed up. I was worried about my little boy becoming an anorexic. So I commenced to Googling. Yes that's right, I'm a Googler. I can't get enough of researching, especially when it's about something as important as this. So anyway, I came across homemade dog food recipes. There were tons of them. I said to myself, "he would love this!"
I did notice people talking about important vitamins and minerals that dogs need. So I kept that in mind while reading the ingredients of these recipes. Some of these recipes were deficient in proper nutrients for the dog. I was a little disheartened by this news, but I wasn't willing to give up yet. So more Googling took place and I found that there are many things you can do to add vitamins and minerals to your dog's food. That perked me up a bit, knowing that there were ways that I could add supplements to make his food more complete.
So I decided to take on the challenge. I was inspired by some of the recipes I found online, but ultimately created my own. Guess what?? Drum roll please....... HE LOVES IT!! I am going to share the recipe with you in case you'd like to try it. Keep in mind, I am still working on perfecting the vitamin and mineral supplementation. But we are well on our way.
Ingredients:
*Chicken - I had 5 lbs of chicken thighs on hand, but you could use pretty much whatever chicken you have.
*3 Cups of Rice - I had white rice on hand. But you can also use brown rice.
*Frozen Peas and Carrots (little bag) - You can use fresh, but frozen is fine.
*Frozen Green Beans (little bag) - You can use fresh, but frozen is fine.
*Frozen Broccoli (little bag) - You can use fresh, but frozen is fine.
*1 Can Pumpkin - Not pumpkin pie mix. Make sure it says 100% pumpkin on it.
*Ground-up Eggshells for calcium - Calcium is extremely important for dogs.
Here's a link on how to do this:
http://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/diy-eat-eggshell-powder/28465
***Make sure there are no seasonings such as garlic and onion, which can be toxic to dogs. Read your labels for safety.
Directions:
(This is just the way I did it. I'm certainly no Gordon Ramsay lol, so if you have a better way, by all means go for it. In addition, you don't want to add much seasoning, if any, to this recipe. It's not very good for your pup. If anything, a pinch of salt maybe for it's iodine properties).
*Fill a large pot with water.
*Place the chicken in the pot with water. (I left the skin on for extra flavor. But I took it off after it was cooked).
*Cook with cover on it, till completely done and tender. I cooked it about 1 to 1 and a half hours.
*Once done, take the chicken out and set it aside till it cools.
*Keep the chicken juice in the pot for flavor. If you need to add water to it that's fine. Now put your frozen veggies in and cook until very tender.
*Once those are done, strain them out of the pan. Be sure to save some of the broth to pour over your whole mixture after.
*Now cook the 3 cups of rice. 3 cups of uncooked rice makes 6 cups of cooked rice. So this is a good balance for the chicken.
*While the rice is cooking, begin mashing up or mincing the veggies. Your pup doesn't chew his/her food as well as they should. So they need help in the breaking down process of digestion. Therefore, they can get all of the important nutrients from the veggies.
* Remove the skin/fat off the chicken and peel the chicken off the bones. Do not allow your dog to have the chicken bone. Chicken bones can splinter and harm your dog.
*Chop or mince the chicken up. This depends on the size of your dog and what he/she likes. My dog is small, so I did cut the chicken fairly small.
*Once your rice is cooked and cooled. Mix the rice, chicken, veggies, can of pumpkin, 5-6 teaspoons of ground-up eggshells, and some of that leftover broth you saved together in one big bowl. The best way to get a really good and even distribution is by using your hands to thoroughly mix all ingredients equally.
*Now store your recipe in Ziploc bags or plastic storage containers. I chose to store 1/2 cup servings in Ziploc bags. That serving size is acceptable for my size dog. You may have to research to see what size is good for your dog.
So that's it! This recipe gave me about a month's worth of food for him. Not too shabby huh? I do give him daily vitamins and some supplements along with this meal to make sure he's getting most of what he needs. In addition, I am still going to alternate with a bit of regular wet dog food so that he still gets some of the necessary nutrition from that. Not to mention it will keep things exciting for him.
Oh and no worries about the teeth. I know people say that the kibble helps to remove tartar and keep the teeth clean. He still gets dog bones and I'm going to be adding more tooth-brushing times and tartar removing products to his regimen. I'm not sure if I have everything all figured out yet, but I'm sure I'll get it 'down pat' very soon.
In closing, Homemade dog food is believed to be a healthier choice over commercial dog foods. I know this is disputed by some, so I won't even start on that argument. I'm just glad that my boy seems to be enjoying it and is no longer starving. When he's happy, I'm happy. I just hope it lasts.
~Hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any recipes, suggestions or experiences you'd like to share, please leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by.~
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