How to Make Healthy Dog Vegetable Stew

With all the reports of tainted pet food, many people are going to cooked or raw diets for their pets. A healthy vegetable stew for your dog is easy to make from basic ingredients. This is not meant to be his total diet, of course, but a healthy supplement to his regular diet.

Things You'll Need

  • Two cans of mackerel
  • Two or three sweet potatoes (cubed or grated)
  • Two or three bunches of dark green, leafy vegetables, chopped fine
  • Three or four cups of winter or summer squash, chopped or grated
  • Leftover vegetables
  • Two cups of rice (optional)
  • Freezer containers
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Instructions

  1. How to Make Healthy Dog Vegetable Stew

    • 1

      Combine all the ingredients (except for the canned mackerel) in a large pot, with sufficient water for cooking. It is up to you whether you want to chop or grate the vegetables. Grated vegetables will probably be easier for small dogs to eat, while chopped and cubed vegetables are fine for larger dogs. If you have leftover cooked or raw vegetables, chop them up and add them, too.

    • 2

      Use plenty of dark green, leafy vegetables. Dark greens have been found in some studies to prevent or retard the growth of some cancers (like bladder cancer) in dogs. The most economical of these vegetables will usually be chard, kale, dandelion and mustard greens.

    • 3

      Cook the vegetables and greens for about 45 minutes, or until simmered down and very mushy. Dogs cannot digest uncooked or partially cooked vegetables, so they have to be well done.

    • 4

      Add rice if you wish. However, kibble already contains a lot of grain, so if you feed your dog a kibble diet, there is really no need to add more grain. Either white or brown rice can be added.

    • 5

      Drain the excess water from the mix. Drain the liquid from the canned mackerel. Mackerel is added for taste and because it contains calcium and high amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids, which are very good for your dog's skin, coat and joints. There is no need to cook the mackerel, because it is already cooked and tends to make your house smell fishy if you simmer it on the stove.

    • 6

      Let the dog stew cool off. Now you can spoon it into freezer containers. Depending on your dog's size and how often you feed it, this batch can last for weeks. Just feed this to your dog as an addition to his regular diet. Depending on the size of your dog, a spoonful to a cup per day will be a healthy supplement.