Rex Trulove
One of the necessary expenses that are incurred when a person has a pet dog is dog food. There are many kinds available on the market ranging in price from expensive to very expensive. Many of these contain corn, which isn’t particularly good for dogs. When you buy a bag, though, you don’t have much choice about what is in it. Thankfully, it isn’t very difficult to make your own healthy dry dog food and you have control of the ingredients.
This dog food isn’t dirt-cheap, but it is much less expensive than the brand name dog foods and the recipe can be doubled or tripled easily. Although this is for dogs, it is actually edible for people, too, though I wouldn’t make any for the family to munch on.
Dog Food Ingredients:
1 pound hamburger or ground meat
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup powdered milk
1 can beef broth (this can be the low sodium variety)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon coconut oil or lard
½ cup cooking oil
1 ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups dog-safe vegetables (carrots, broccoli, spinach, pumpkin, green beans) cooked and finely diced
Dry Dog Food Instructions:
1. In a frying pan, heat the lard or coconut oil and brown the ground meat in this.
2. While the meat is cooking, mix the flour and instant milk in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl or blender, beat the eggs, vegetable oil, broth, and Worcestershire sauce.
4. Mix the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and add the ground meat and chopped vegetables. As all of this is mixed together, it should produce a thick, moist, lumpy, sticky dough.
5. Turn the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. It should be about a half-inch thick.
6. Bake this at 200° F for a half-hour. remove from the oven and cut in bite-sized pieces. A pizza cutter can be used for this, but a knife works just as well.
7. Return the dog food to the oven and cook for another hour. Turn off the oven and let the food cool completely. This can take an hour or so.
8. Remove the dog food from the pan and break it apart along the cut-lines. Put it in an air-tight container and refrigerate.
This dog food is much superior to name brand kibbles and it isn’t as expensive. Dogs usually like it, too. It will keep for about a week in the fridge and for about 3 months if it is frozen. Since it isn’t difficult to make, a lot of dog food can be made up so you have plenty on hand for when your four-legged fur-baby is hungry.
-
Do you have or have you had a pet dog?
-
Yes
-
No
-
I do not have any dog. but I like pet dogs.
We’ve had pet dogs almost continuously for over 30 years now.
No I don’t have any pet dog right now
It is hard for me to imagine not having a pet dog or cat anymore.
I love the recipe i will try this and see if my dogs like it as much as I do.
Please be sure to let me know if they do or not.
No pets here, but your recipe sounds good for our little friends.
They sure seem to like it. A peanut butter version can be made, too.
My chef bigle called buffy eats everything he gets.
She steals ice cream from her grandchildren.
He’d probably love this food, then
Of course, she doesn’t choose. She eats absolutely everything, fruits, vegetables, does not choose food.
It would eat fast and loose.
The Beagles are known for being voracious.
We’ve never had a beagle, but we’ve had other dogs that seemed constantly hungry and that would eat almost anything.
Thanks for this incredible share Rex. I use doctor Backer’s recipe but will certainly give this a try.
It is certainly better than brands like Friskies™
Can you give a recipe for cat food too? Or can I use the same one for my cat? This looks very interesting and if I had a dog I would try it for my dog.
It would work for cats, but you’d want to omit the veggies. Cats require more meat than dogs. I’ll try to remember to write up a recipe specifically for cats in the next day or two. I assume that you are thinking of dry cat food, correct?
Yes, I have a half a bag right now, but I really don’t know what ingredients are in it and it is a bit expensive here in Israel. Do you have a cat or a dog?