I appreciate every pet owner who makes homemade fresh food for the doggy babies instead of giving them cancerous kibble. 🙏❤️🌍🐶🙏

Sorry for your loss, they are ours for a moment but we are their whole lives ❤

I’ve been making home made dog food over 30 years. I have one dog who lived 19 years, and a couple who made it to 17. Dark meat is more nutritious than white meat, organ meats are more nutritious than white meat. Avoid peas and lentils there are studies that show it can cause heart disease. Spinac is easy to add to hot food without cooking. Thank you for this video, cooking for dogs is admirable.

Not quite a year ago, our Australian Cattle Dog began to have some food issues. He would pass on breakfast often, eat some grass trying to settle his tummy. We fed Blue Buffalo from the very first days, no issues until then. My Vet, says, switch food to something else that your comfortable with... okay.

A few years back, all those pets died from Chinese ingredients, if you remember. I've always fed USA made food. Purina Pro was good, so we went from Blue to Pro and really, no improvement. Found this channel, immediately went to making our own. I've commented in the past about nutrition, meeting his needs, even added some daily multivitamins to his diet, additional things in the food, like fish and olive oil, powdered the egg shells for better absorption (you need to do that if your using egg shell) and his picky eating was gone! Wolfed it down, and we thought issue solved.

Anybody who knows dogs.. knows an ACD is an active monster. Walk, run, jump, ride the truck, tractor, ATV, follow me everywhere, we went to the woods, camped in tents, fished in the boat, hunted in out-of state places. Caught flying frisbee's, chased a furry squirrel attached to the end of a fishing pole for hours.

Nov 4th, we noticed his lymph nodes were swollen. We had been hunting, both of us had been bitten by ticks, 1 on me, 2 on him. Removed within hours of coming inside. Unfortunately, a CT scan showed i had cancer and testing for my buddy was inconclusive for tick borne illnesses. More testing and finally 3 weeks later, he was positive for Lymphoma. $2000 worth of testing.. we said good-bye 3 weeks ago.

Why does this happen...
Genetics, chemicals in your yard and your dogs food... thats it! The over processed food the majority of us are convinced is good for our 4-legged kids! It isn't good, even the great stuff is over-processed, heated beyond the temperature to kill bacteria, super heated to carcinogenic levels.. excuse the pun.. dog shit!The dog food companies sell crap, advertise real ingredients, made for balanced diet.... bla,bla bla!

I will never feed store bought dog food again. I'm not convinced about the packets either, from the same people who make bad dog food... but how much is too much?

That's for you to decide. If i eat lunch out with the guys, $30 for one meal.
An extra $10 a week for my 4-legged buddy.. I'm skippin lunch!

If its not good enough for you, its not good enough for the dog either. Your dog, takes 10x the amount of wear and tear as you do, and in a shorter span of time. Sleep on the floor, walk barefooted, can't sweat, expected to run when called, drink stale water, use the bathroom on command while everyone is watching. And then.. after a hards days work.. eat shitty food.

Not at my house, never again. I'm good with the rest of that stuff, just not the food! 😮

Pet owners who make their own dog food—that’s love. ❤🐕

I’ve been making homemade dog food for my dogs for many years. I’ve had Rottweilers and German Shepherds, breeds with an average lifespan of roughly 9–13 years depending on the breed and individual dog. My own dogs have commonly lived around 14–16 years.

Do I claim homemade dog food is the sole reason? Of course not. Genetics, veterinary care, exercise, weight, environment, and plain old luck all matter. But based on my experience, I’m convinced that good nutrition has been an important part of keeping my dogs healthy.

So, here is what I do.

First, I don’t cook everything to death. Some foods need to be cooked for safety and digestibility, but I prefer to keep unnecessary cooking to a minimum.

I used to rotate chicken and hamburger, with salmon occasionally thrown in. With the price of hamburger these days, chicken wins. 😆 I can get about 10 pounds for roughly $8 at Walmart. Salmon is now a rare treat—mostly because if I forget to thaw it and have to use the microwave, my house smells like something died at the fish market. 🤣🐟

THE RECIPE

10 pounds chicken

I boil the chicken for approximately one hour. Chicken should be cooked to a safe internal temperature; don’t intentionally leave poultry raw or undercooked because of the bacterial risk to both your dog and the humans handling the food.

9 cups white rice

I use approximately 12 cups of the chicken broth to cook the rice.

Ninja Foodi: Pressure Cook on HIGH for approximately 13 minutes.

And save that chicken broth! There is no sense throwing away something you can use in the batch.

28 ounces pumpkin puree

Use plain 100% pumpkin—no pumpkin-pie filling, sugar, or spices.

18–24 boiled eggs

I break these down in my high-powered Ninja blender.

I also use eggshell as a calcium source, but calcium is one area where you need to be careful: too little and too much can both cause nutritional problems. If you are formulating your dog’s diet yourself, especially for puppies, talk with your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist about the proper calcium-to-phosphorus balance.

MY EGGSHELL TRICK 🥚

I save the shells from eggs I eat.

Once I have a couple dozen or so, I heat them thoroughly, dry them completely overnight, and then grind them into a very fine powder with my Ninja food processor. A good blender works too.

No waste—and no peeling boiled eggs just to throw away the shells. 😎

Turmeric — approximately 2 ounces per batch

I sprinkle it throughout the mixture so it is evenly distributed rather than concentrated in one area.

I buy the large container at Walmart because it is considerably cheaper per ounce.

Coconut oil — up to 1 cup

I pour it over the hot rice so it melts and distributes easily.

But this is something I would introduce gradually. Coconut oil is extremely calorie-dense and can cause digestive problems in some dogs.

For a new batch, I’d start closer to 1/4 cup, see how your dog tolerates it, and adjust from there. Dogs with weight problems, pancreatitis, sensitive stomachs, or other medical conditions may need very little—or none at all.

Moderation is the key.

Dinovite vitamin and mineral supplement

I’ve used Dinovite for about 25 years. For a batch this size, I use approximately 1½ cups, but follow the manufacturer’s current feeding directions for your dog and the amount of food you’re making. www.dinovite.com

If you don’t use coconut oil, Dinovite also sells LickOchops, an omega fatty-acid supplement. Drizzle it over the food and my dogs think somebody opened a five-star restaurant. 😂

VEGGIES & FRUIT 🥕🥦🫐

I mix these into the batch without cooking them:

Frozen peas and carrots — 36 ounces
I use three 12-ounce bags. I avoid canned vegetables because I don’t want the added sodium or unnecessary processing.

Frozen broccoli, cauliflower & carrot medley — 24 ounces
Two 12-ounce bags.

Frozen sweet potato — 10 ounces
One bag.

Frozen blueberries — 16 ounces
One bag.

I generally avoid blends containing a lot of corn. Corn itself isn’t poisonous to dogs, but I prefer peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and blueberries in my recipe. Corn tends to pass straight through.

ABOUT THE CHICKEN BONES ⚠️

This is one area where I want to be very clear.

Never feed your dog whole cooked chicken bones. Cooked bones can splinter and can cause choking, obstruction, or gastrointestinal injury.

I have historically dried leftover chicken bones completely and ground them into an extremely fine powder for use as a mineral source. However, I would not recommend that someone simply copy this step without knowing the calcium and phosphorus content of the entire diet.

Ground bone can supply calcium and phosphorus, but more is definitely not better. Excess calcium can create serious nutritional problems, particularly in growing large-breed puppies.

For most people making homemade dog food, a properly measured calcium supplement or a recipe formulated by a veterinary nutritionist is a much safer and more predictable way of balancing calcium than estimating an amount of homemade bone powder.

In other words: don’t eyeball the calcium.

PORTIONING & FREEZING ❄️

I use Great Value quart-size freezer bags and divide the batch into individual meals.

For my approximately 100-pound German Shepherd, I use about 1½ cups per bag as a starting point.

And then I watch the dog—not just the measuring cup.

If she starts looking like she swallowed a sheep, I cut back. 🐑🤣

As my dogs get older and become less active, I reduce the portions. For an older dog, I may feed approximately one cup twice per day.

There is no universal “cups per dog” formula because calorie requirements vary tremendously with the dog’s size, age, activity level, metabolism, reproductive status, medical conditions, and the calorie density of the finished recipe.

Watch their body condition and adjust accordingly.

HOW MUCH DOES IT MAKE?

Not counting cooking time, I spend roughly an hour or so putting everything together.

I average approximately 36 meal bags per batch.

At two meals per day, that gives me about 18 days of food for one dog.

Then everything goes into the freezer, and I pull meals out as needed.  I thaw in the microwave...but just enough to thaw...I don't want to double cook. 😂

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE

This is my personal recipe and method, developed from many years of feeding my own dogs. I’m sharing what I do—not prescribing a veterinary diet for everybody else’s dog.

Homemade feeding can be excellent, but “fresh” does not automatically mean “nutritionally complete.” Dogs need the right amounts and ratios of protein, fat, essential fatty acids, calcium, phosphorus, trace minerals, and vitamins.

That becomes especially important for puppies, pregnant or nursing dogs, seniors, and dogs with kidney, liver, pancreatic, diabetic, digestive, or other medical conditions.

If you want to make homemade food your dog’s primary diet, I strongly recommend having your recipe reviewed by your veterinarian or a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.  Too much calcium can be harmful...I would just be careful.  This is a big batch...so you are likely ok...just be 100% certain.

After all, if you’re willing to spend an afternoon boiling chicken, pulverizing eggshells, measuring pumpkin, mixing vegetables, filling 36 freezer bags, and cleaning a Ninja Foodi afterward...

Yeah.

That dog is probably pretty well loved.❤❤ ❤❤

I am so so sorry for your loss RIP sweetheart ❤️

I too have been making my pups (4) food in an Instant Pot. The Vet Nutritionist I spoke to 7 years ago told me that rice is too high in the glycemic index. I use Pearl Barley. For protein they get ground beef and turkey along with a pre made mix of Organ meats. Beef or Chicken heart, beef liver, chicken gizzards and some salmon belly.  I also only use Virgin Coconut Oil and I add Calcium & Vitamin Supplements. Based on what you said, I think I might cut down the cooking time but that being said, after the cooking part is done I give the mixture a stir and then fold in 6 eggs and the frozen veggies. Broccoli spears, Butternut squash and Sweet potato. That way I maintain as much of the veggie nutrients as possible and it helps cool down the mixture for packaging in the Tupperware containers.  And yes my Pyre gets to clean the Instant Pot Bowl! BTW, I do not use a food processor as the meat is already ground but I do use a melon ball tool to make little meat balls that provide a chewable thing for the pups.

Sorry  for  your  loss 😢

I cook on Sunday for 7 days. I steam my dog's meat; 2 days ground beef, 2 days ground turkey, 2 days fish (it could be sardines or tilapia). Every other week I replace 2 meats with an organ meat (beef liver or gizzards). I steam 4-5 days of sweet potato and 2-3 days of white potato or rice. She gets mixed vegetables with a little cruciferous veggies like broccoli or cauliflower added in small doses -she gets diarrhea and or very gassy if she eats too much of that. Every 3 weeks I make homemade beef bone broth in my slow cooker using beef neckbones and fresh veggies like carrots and string beans.  She gets 3-4 ozs of the bone broth every day in her food for joint health. We discovered she was allergic to chicken by a process of elimination over a period of about a month. She had rashes everywhere and she was constantly licking but she's doing much better now

Hey Buck, love you rodeos; we actually have been following your method, making our own dog food for about a year now.  We use all organic ingredients: turkey (instead of chicken), green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, rice, peas, turmeric. Also liver (up until recently).  We do everything on the stove; takes about 1/2 day to prepare and makes about 7 days of food.  Your recipe was checked out by our vet; she said the recipe is fine, the kilocalories were spot on.  We have an 85lb pitty mix names Samara who absolutely loves it. Kudo’s Buck, well done good and faithful servant.

I cook a whole turkey in the oven & tear it apart. Hard work but worth it. Add brown rice, carrots, eggs, misc veg & olive oil. I also grind the bones & egg shells for calcium boost.  Then freeze in individual baggies.

Thank you I love watchin your videos and I learned a lot cooking for my dog.:face-red-heart-shape:

Easiest homemade dog food recipe I have found. Bonus points for using the instant pot! Thanks for sharing!

Virgin organic Coconut is what he should use … sunflower oil is toxic

I pressure cook too, I big pack of thighs and 1 drumstick pack, I put 1 pound of carrots on top of the chicken and cook on high 15 mins, the whole cycle takes about 90 minutes, I take 1 pound bag of French green beans outta the freezer and put it into a large bowl , on top goes the deboned  chicken , smash the carrots up , sprinkle some egg shell powder over it and mix well, the vitamins and coconut oil go in to each meal as I make it. There’s plenty of information out here to create your own recipe . I also give her a can of sardines every dinner time with a half cup of the chicken meal. My batch lasts 7 days and I just leave it in the frig , no need to freeze it , when you make it fresh it keeps fine for a week. I keep the chicken broth from the pressure cooker too and use that for each meal , I warm it up and use it to melt the vitamins and coconut oil in her bowl before the food goes in. You come up with your own system, don’t worry about getting it wrong, anything you do is better than the poison that’s sold as “food” even the so called Better Brands. I buy the chicken when it’s on sale .99 a pound , once in a while I get a top round and cook it in the crockpot, shred it up and freeze that in portions for something different for her. It doesn’t cost much more to feed your pet real food, their health and wellbeing are worth it right !

Im 82, do not have a food processor. I bake or boil chicken, then pull apart. If boil i save broth.
  Buy frozen peas, carrots, green beans, brown rice, cook liver and chop in tiny pieces with scissors.

Sable is the star 🌟  of the show  ,she is such a sweetheart!!!  Thanks for loving and taking good care of her, the tail wag and the look she gave you says she appreciates all the food and love.😊❤😊

So sorry for your loss❤
Thank you for demonstrating this recipe.  My dog is around 16 lbs.
He is a rescue from Mexicali.
I look forward to making his food.
Bless you❤❤❤

Thank you for showing us how to make an easy recipe for dog food. I was looking for one, because my dog does not want to eat her dog food anymore, she.wants my food.

Sorry you lost your cat, the food looks great, one addition i'd make especially for any older dogs or dogs with joint problems is powdered bovine collagen :) no more expensive joint supplements !