Since the time dogs became domesticated animals, humans have sought to treat them as alternative humans, which not only includes having them live in our homes, but eating the same food we humans eat. However, since dogs are not human, allowing them to eat human food causes small problems for some dogs and major health concerns for others. While dogs should not be eating specific human food items including grapes, raisins, mushrooms and chocolate, they should be given a regular diet centered around raw food, particularly raw beef. A healthy raw beef dog food can be made at home.
Things You'll Need
- Food Processor
- Butcher knife
- Raw meat
- Vegetables
- Storage Containers
Instructions
Select Meat
Select the raw meat from a variety of sources, including beef, lamb, or even kangaroo. Select a small portion of muscle meat (six to seven pounds), preferably ground, and place in a large container. Select about a pound of organ meat. The meat of the organs (heart, liver, kidney or a combination of the three) should come from the same animal the muscle meat comes from.
Chop up the organ meat by hand with the butcher knife or use the pulse setting in the food processor to shred the organs and add to the ground meat mix.
Grate or grind two and a half pounds of vegetables (carrots, beets, spinach or any other vegetable with deep color, which signifies a richness in minerals) and add to the meat and organs. Combine all of the ingredients by hand, making sure they mix together well.
Add other items to change the flavor of the raw beef dog food in order to give your dog more variety in taste. Other items to add include apple cider vinegar, wheat germ, oil, yogurt, eggs (along with the shells), parsley, garlic and/or ground kelp.
Portion out the resulting mix and separate into storage containers (bags or bowls). Store the mix in the refrigerator if it will be consumed by your dog within a few days, or freeze some of it, so that it can be thawed and served at a later date. If your dog is an adult dog, the average feeding should range from two to three percent of his total body weight. Young dogs are more active and should be fed in portions closer to ten percent of their body weight.