I talk an awful lot about trying to be healthy, eat healthy, get healthy, etc., on this site. I’m sharing things like different types of diet plans, different recipes, different products, and activities that I do.
But one thing that I haven’t done is talk about how I improved my dogs diet and extended their life.
I had a sweet Pitbull for many years you’ve probably seen often on my site. His name was Louis aka Louie. He would do pet reviews for me. He did have a problem in that at one point he was very overweight. I was quite concerned for him and he had a lot of issues with his skin, and allergies, and was just a mess.
So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I changed his dry food to grain-free and I started cooking for him.
In a matter of weeks, his skin was doing so much better. His itching, scratching, and allergies seem to be under control. In a matter of months, he ended up losing over 20 pounds.
When the vet saw him he was astounded and asked what the heck I was doing. So I told him and he said you just added three to five years to your dog’s life. Lou passed away at 14! So he was right.
Ever since then, I’ve been cooking for my dogs easy healthy homemade dog food and it has changed their lives. Check out the video.
I currently have a shepherd and a lab. The shepherd did not do really well on the grain-free food Lou was eating, so I switched her back to high-protein kibble. The lab seems to be doing fine on that as well.
But what I supplement their kibble with is fresh cooked homemade dog food. Here’s what I do.
Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes
There are basically three different ways that I prepare food for them.
Scrambled Eggs
The first is simply scrambling an egg and then adding that to their bowl then mixing it with the dry food.
Eggs are extremely good for dogs and it does wonders for their coat. Plus eggs are loaded with all types of other nutrients dogs need!
Chicken and Veggies
The second way I cook for them is by cooking chicken, usually chicken thighs with the skin on. I will boil that for about 40 minutes or so.
Once the chicken is cooked, I pull the meat out to cool and I dump a bag of frozen veggies into the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, scoop out the veggies, and then mix the two together for their meal. Six thighs shredded out with the veggies will usually last my dogs about 5 to 6 days.
Turkey and Veggies
I also will get ground turkey with high fat content like 85/15 and brown it in a pan, then add in the mixed veggies as well. The juice from the meat will cook the veggies and my dogs are in hog heaven.
I usually end up rotating these three meals and all of my dogs have had great results on this.
Sometimes I add in rice depending on what I have cooked at the house. But most of the time it’s just meat and vegetables.
The veggies I use are cheap, frozen 1-pound bags of peas and carrots. Sometimes I also add a little butternut squash, frozen, or mixed vegetables, also frozen in the 1-pound bag.
I do try to be careful on the frozen veggies to not have a lot of corn because that can upset their delicate tummies. You can also add Chia Seeds or Flax seeds for fiber and Fish Oil. The fish oil, I add as a supplement as needed.
Overall, it takes maybe 10 – 15 minutes a week to get everything pre-cooked. The eggs I cook as I need them before serving.
The Results:
The results of cooking for my dogs are great. My vet is highly impressed with their health. Their coats are shiny and soft. Their weight is maintained. You do have to cut back a little on the dry food if you are mixing in some wet food. You don’t want to overfeed them.
Another great aspect is it’s much cheaper to cook for them once a week than it is to purchase crazy expensive dog food with questionable ingredients.
I hope this helps you and your favorite furry friend. We owe it to our dogs to take care of them the way we try to take care of ourselves. We owe it to them and it’s an excellent way to show our love back.
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Hi! I’m Chris! Just a Midlife Wife sharing about life’s journey; screaming and kicking through it while supposedly aging gracefully…
Focusing on healthy living, low carb & keto, things I am loving right now, and life in general.