Going to the dogs
Forget commercial dog food and make your own
By Jim Dixon
April 3, 2007
The recent recalls of millions of pounds of moist pet food containing wheat gluten, spurred by the kidney failure and death of cats and dogs across the country, exposed one of the dirty secrets of the industry. From a single plant in Canada, the formerly relatively unknown Menu Foods was churning out pet food and selling it under dozens of different names, from high-end labels like Eukanuba and Iams to budget house brands for the Winn Dixie, Save-A-Lot, and Publix supermarket chains.
Now, other companies are also recalling their pet food.
It’s unclear what, exactly, has contaminated the food; the New York Times has reported that both a rat poison and a fertilizer have been detected in laboratory tests. But whatever the outcome, pet owners are justifiably worried about their animals’ food supply.
Our household includes a pair of pugs. But Marty and Carlo weren’t affected by the recall, and it wasn’t just because they lived on dry kibble. For the past five years, I’ve been making their food from ingredients available at the corner supermarket.
I wasn’t motivated by a need to improve their diet. The boys had been eating one of the better brands of kibble and, according to the vet, were doing just fine. But Carlo, the younger of the pair, was prone to a mild form of canine dermatitis.
Every few weeks he’d break out in a hot pink rash, and we’d slather him with an expensive prescription ointment. It got rid of the rash, but it wasn’t a cure. Our vet told us that the rash was a self-inflicted bacterial infection that resulted from Carlo licking himself too much. She said he probably had a food allergy that made him itch.
Great, we thought. How do we deal with that?
It turns out that corn, soy, and wheat, common ingredients in commercial dog food, are also common dog allergens. Switching to a kibble made from rice helped a little, but didn’t solve the problem entirely. After yet another session with the skin ointment, I started thinking seriously about finding something better.
And then I landed on the idea to make it myself.
I learned that a balance of protein, grain, and plant foods is necessary to meet canine nutritional requirements. The grain for our dogs, obviously, would be rice. Carrots provided plant fiber and complex carbohydrates. Finding a source of protein took longer, since it needed to be both affordable and relatively easy to prepare. One day at Safeway, while looking for Häagen-Dazs, I stumbled onto pug protein in the form of frozen ground turkey.
At first I cooked everything in a single pot. I’d brown the turkey, then add diced carrots, rice, and water. I’d let it cook very slowly, covered, until the rice was done. Since my goal was to keep preparation and cleanup simple, this seemed to work. But if I wasn’t paying attention, the rice would stick. And cutting up the carrots took more time than I was willing to spend.
After tweaking my approach a few times, I finally landed on a method that’s simple and quick, even if it does require a little more cleanup. I brown the turkey in a heavy skillet with a little olive oil. There’s not much fat in the turkey, so it tends to stick, and the oleic acid in olive oil is good for dogs. And a cheap supermarket olive oil works just fine.
I no longer bother cooking the carrots. I grate them in the food processor, which takes about a minute. And I cook the rice using the Italian technique for making riso in bianco, which means adding rice to boiling water, turning off the burner, and covering the pot for about 15 minutes. You do need to drain the rice, and that means washing a colander, but the rice never burns.
I can’t provide a detailed nutritional analysis of my homemade dog food. But the vet was impressed by how good the dogs look. She did recommend a multivitamin, but noted that the boys’ weight was down (pugs will eat everything and, like the rest of us, tend to be obese). Carlo’s skin problems disappeared, and the coats on both of the dogs are softer. They even smell better.
It costs about $6 weekly to make their food, less than the premium-grade kibble they’d been eating. After several years on their homemade diet, both dogs are fit, happy, and as energetic as pugs ever get. They still shed, a notorious pug trait, but not quite as much.
The only drawback is that Marty, always an enthusiastic eater, has become even more so, barking impatiently if I don’t get the bowl on the floor quick enough.
Jim Dixon writes about food from Portland, Oregon. Check out his blog, Real Good Food.
Also on Culinate: More thoughts on healthy food for you and your pet, and an interview with a pet-food guru.
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There are 19 comments on this item
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1. by shelly on Apr 6, 2007 at 2:30 PM PDT
Cool! How long does it keep in the fridge?
2. by jdixon on Apr 6, 2007 at 6:07 PM PDT
The recipe fills 2 Nancy’s Yogurt 2 qt containers, and the boys go through that much food in about 8 days. I used to freeze one, but I’d always forget to thaw it in time, so now they both go in the refrigerator. Doesn’t seem to go bad over the week.
3. by anonymous on Apr 7, 2007 at 3:41 PM PDT
I have been making dog food (as a result of the recall), too. I created three recipes and have been alternating. One is 2 parts cooked chicken, 4 parts brown rice, and 1 part green peas. I cook the rice and the process it all slightly in the food processor, along with an egg. I then bake it like a meat loaf. The other two combinations are tuna, whole wheat pasta, mixed veggies--held together with a little cream cheese and egg (also baked). Or, oatmeal, egg and a little bit of bacon for flavor (cooked on the stove top). I have read that vegetables and whole grains are good, that onions are iffy and garlic is excellent. I think the only things to stay away from are grapes, raisins and chocolate.
4. by Loulou on Apr 7, 2007 at 11:44 PM PDT
Great recipe ideas. I started making my own dog food last year but gave up when I had to go out of town for a couple of weeks. I found our dogs became more impatient too! They wanted their bowls, NOW!
5. by anonymous on Apr 9, 2007 at 5:53 PM PDT
hmm. we should try this on crickey!
6. by anonymous on Apr 10, 2007 at 6:45 PM PDT
In point of fact, Menu Foods is a Canadian company, but the food was manufactured in the United States.
I lost my cat to the tainted food, and if I ever get another, it’ll only get a homemade raw diet.
7. by Beri on Jul 5, 2007 at 4:36 PM PDT
Posting this a little late, hope you still check back on this article. Obviously, the pugs are doing great with their dental hygiene on this diet, but do you have to take extra care with their teeth and gums since this is mostly a wet food diet? Thanks, Beri
8. by jdixon on Jul 5, 2007 at 10:01 PM PDT
Beri,
We give the boys greenies and other teeth-cleaning treats, but they still need an occasional trip to the vet for their teeth. It’s difficult to get back to their molars to clean them, and they really hate it.
Jim
9. by sue on Jan 5, 2008 at 4:50 AM PST
What quantity do you give them of the chicken,rice,carrot mixture a day?
I have been boiling chicken and mixing some wholewheat bread with it to bulk it up a little. Will add carrots next time
10. by jdixon on Jan 5, 2008 at 9:49 AM PST
We feed a half cup in the morning, the same in the evening.
Jim
11. by anonymous on Jan 24, 2008 at 10:52 AM PST
I do the same, but once every week and a half. I cook a whole bag of rice in a large pot, Boil a bag of chicken breasts with no bones, and boil 3 large bags of chopped carrots. I let them cool and then combine the whole lot with concreted chicken broth made from bullion cubes. Lastly I use my vacuum sealer, and individually seal around 25 bags to keep in the back of our freezer. This allows us to microwave our dog’s food on the go lasting a week and a half. I takes an hour to prepare and seal, but in the end; It’s nice to have quality food for our dog on hand.
12. by anonymous on Apr 10, 2008 at 1:47 PM PDT
Help. I’ve been doing all of this for 2 years now and someone just told me to research dog’s digestive system. They said I will see that they can’t break down the grains (like the rice I cook). sure enough, I do notice that all the rice comes out whole in my dog’s stool. Is he getting the nutitional value of the rice?
13. by Kami on Apr 12, 2008 at 6:28 PM PDT
oats or millet are better substitutes. Stay away from, corn, wheat, soy.
14. by Bob on Apr 25, 2008 at 9:37 AM PDT
I would love to do this but my boys go through about a dozen cups of kibble a day. That would mean restaurant sized production every few days and their own freezer. I love my Pyrs but I’m not gonna convert my kitchen to full time DF making. ;(
15. by Pita on Apr 26, 2008 at 10:12 PM PDT
Have been feeding my dog home-cooked for several years, and her teeth are great - the plaque from the kibbles is no more, and her coat and health are good. She has dropped weight to a nice amount. 3 cups a day of equal parts of:cooked brown rice, cooked meat and mixed veggies; with added kelp and vitamins. She is 70 lbs. A bit of a chore, but worth it (to me). The Great Pyrs would be tough!
16. by anonymous on Apr 27, 2008 at 9:32 AM PDT
We have a pomeranian mix who has been on medicine for siezures for 8 years, she is now 10.the vet gave me this recipe for her.(sometimes preservatives can cause siezures the vet says.) She seems healthy, and very active with regular check-ups and teeth cleaning.2 cups white rice 4 cups water. cook as directed. lightly brown 1/4th pound hamburger.2 slices white bread crumbled, and 2 boiled eggs chopped. mix all together.I freeze this in portions.He recomended fresh carrots, unsalted green beens,fat free cottage cheese and vitamins.I have added lean chicken to her diet. she digests the rice and never has gas.she’s only 7 lbs.I got on this site to ask if brown rice is good for dogs.
17. by JC on Jun 17, 2008 at 12:57 PM PDT
In the nearly four years we’ve had our terrier mutt, we’ve always fed her homemade food and thankfully she’s the picture of health and, I think, the most energetic dog at the dog park. Usually a quick-seared ground beef hamburger, cut up and mixed with brown rice and a vegetable. Sometimes the protein is ground lamb, calves or beef liver, fish or an egg, or plain roast beef cold cuts. (Chicken and turkey give her diarrhea.) The meat we buy in one pound packages and divide up into about 6 portions and freeze, taking it out daily to thaw. The brown rice is usually leftover from our last Chinese takeout meal -- it seems to keep much better than what we cook ourselves. The vegetables we boil in batches to keep 3 or 4 days in the fridge. She also gets a doggie vitamin, and we add fish oil to some of her meals, which has helped her coat. It might sound complicated, but once you’re a little organized with the ingredients, the prep time for the meal itself is five minutes. Of-course it would be much more challenging with a big dog.
18. by anonymous on Jul 2, 2008 at 9:52 PM PDT
My yorkie age 6yrs. has allergies, was feeding him rabbit and potato,he was doing ok still scraching a little but, not as bad. This diet sounds great and my yorkie loves vegestables and fruits. My question about this diet is, does it make the stool loose ?
19. by jdixon on Jul 3, 2008 at 5:50 AM PDT
anon #16:
We’ve switched to brown rice because it provides more nutrients
anon #18
No loose stools from the pugs. And the carrots actually make the poop stand out in the yard so you’re less likely to step in it.
Jim
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