K9pawz

I just mixed up the dog's food for the next month. I feed the smaller dogs raw food, the bigger one gets a mixture of kibble and raw. I have had a few people ask how I mix up the dog's food. I don't have an exact recipe but I will give a general overview of how I make the food. I am by no means an animal nutritionist and this mixture works for my pets, If you use this, you are responsible for making sure your animals are getting the vitamins and other nutrition that they need.



I have 2 dogs that eat 1/4 a cup of raw a day each so these number s work for me. I don't really measure, I just kind of eyeball.

Notes:

• I often will find cheap steaks and or chicken pieces and will grind them up in place of the ground version below. 
• Veggies Try different veggies. Frozen is good, fresh is better but a pain to work with. canned lose a lot of nutrients. I use frozen. Check online to make sure the veggies you pick are ok for your dogs. Do not go veggie heavy or the dog may not eat it. 
• For the stock, any kind works but dogs naturally prefer meat flavor.
• Read here on nutritional needs for dogs

Pre-setup

Prepare about 3 cups of plain white rice and allow to cool. do NOT use minute rice or anything like it. you want real rice.

Step 1

1 Can of real pumpkin
8 oz of salt-free stock beef/chicken/vegetable
½ to 1 pound chicken livers hearts and giblets (You can also use beef liver)
2 12 oz packages of frozen veggies (Research to ensure the veggies are safe for dogs.)
1 container plain yogurt
4-6 eggs
2 cans of crushed pineapple Optional
Bone Meal
Dog Greens

I put the vegetables into my Vitamix and blend them to a fine grind then add them to a decent sized mixing bowl. Note I do this because my dogs sort out the vegetables and won't eat them if this is not a problem for you, just add them whole or in larger chunks, I then add the eggs, shells and all, into the Vitamix and blend them till the shells are crushed. Not too long, just keep an eye on it to see the shells are broken up. I will add this to the bowl of fine ground vegetables. I will add my yogurt,broth and pumpkin to this mixture. With smaller dogs, I blend the chicken livers, hearts, and giblets but larger dogs won't need this, you can just cut them to a nice size and add it to the meat mixture below. I will add 2x 20 oz crushed pineapple to this mixture. I do this because my dog has coprophagia which means he basically eats dog poop. The pineapple helps to prevent this.I will add my bonemeal and Dog Greens at this time also. I don't really measure them I just add maybe a 1/4 cup of bonemeal and a splash of dog greens. The dog greens will turn everything super green in color if you add too much, it won't hurt the dog but it will remind you not to do it again. Give this a good stir or use a mixer with a dough or meat hook. It may be watery that is fine.

Step 2

2 lbs Higher fat ground beef
2-3 pounds ground chicken or turkey or both
2 pounds ground pork
2-3 cups cooked plain white rice


Pour all the meat into a large bowl and using a mixer with a dough or meat hook stir the meats together until they are well mixed. If you did not blend your hearts and livers etc in the above step, add it now, Add the rice and allow it to mix in really well. you should not see clumps of any one type of meat or rice. When it is well mixed pour the vegetable mixture you prepared previously into the meat mixture while continuing to stir. You want your meat mixture wet but not sopping. you should be able to make a very loose meatball with the meat, it won't hold it's shape but it will form the meatball. that is the perfect texture. Fill your Containers and place in the freezer, keep one out to feed your pooch When thawing the mixture please do so in the refrigerator to ensure that the meat does not start growing bacteria. This means you will need to take the food out to thaw at the very least one day before its needed. If you are taking out more than one container do not stack them or some may not thaw.

Storage

Glad Freezerware disposable containers size small. We use 8 of these but again the container and size will depend on how much you make and how quickly you use the food. We find that the food starts to get 'ripe' after 3 days so we never take out more than a 3 day supply at once. One of these containers is exactly 3 days for my two dogs. The containers can be washed and reused. we are still using the first ones we got, which was about 10 to 15 uses ago as of this update, and they are still going strong.  I can not say for sure how long they will last.