Homemade Dog Food

 Why We Started - Cooking Homemade Dog Food

I would like to share an experience we had with our 5 pound Pomeranian named Big Shot. He was all black except for white paws and a white chest surrounded by black in the shape of a Bat Man shield. We originally called him Bat Man but when it became obvious that he thought he was pretty hot stuff we decided to call him Big Shot.

Big Shot was a finicky eater and did not want to eat the commercial dog food we bought him. As a result, we began supplementing the commercial dog food. Big Shot would look forward to dinner time with all the great smells. For a long time we would trick Big Shot by adding gravy from our prepared meal to his dog dish. This satisfied him as the gravy added flavor to his meal. He would gobble it down as fast as he could. At least he would gobble down all the dog food that had been covered by the gravy. This seemed like a good answer to the problem of Big Shot's finicky eating as we had not previously thought of cooking homemade dog food.

It was not a good long term answer since he became very reluctant to eat any commercial dog food product at all. He had quickly grown accustom to the smells and tastes of human foods. When Big Shot became so finicky that it seemed he would starve himself to death, rather than eat the dog food that was in his dish, I decided I had to know what his food tasted like so I took a small amount and ate it. This might sound gross to the non-pet owner but after that experience I knew why he was refusing the commercial dog food.

Veterinary Quality Dog Food or Homemade Dog Food

For a short time I went to our veterinarian to buy "specially" prepared commercial dog food. Big Shot grudgingly ate most of the brands available from the veterinarian. I observed that after he had started consuming the food from the veterinarian the dog droppings in the yard were considerably less than they had been. When I mentioned this to the vet I learned that there was less filler in the higher quality dog food than what we had purchased at the store. Big Shot would eat these custom commercial dog food brands, but he still preferred human table scraps.

Dog Food Secrets - Dog Food Recipes - Dog Treat Recipes

Homemade Dog Food Recipes

It was around this time that we learned about special dog recipes we could prepare. We acquired these recipes and began making homemade dog food for Big Shot. This satisfied Big Shot's finickiness.

The recipes were specifically designed for a dog's special needs. The homemade dog food fulfilled Big Shot's nutritional requirements and avoided those things that humans frequently eat, which are dangerous for dogs to consume. The homemade dog food recipes were the answers to our problems.

Problem Homemade Dog Food - Preparation Time

It only took about ten minutes to prepare the homemade dog food but at times it was inconvenient because we were busy with other things. Yet Big Shot was a member of the family whom we all loved. When we were too busy to prepare a meal for ourselves, we would often toss a "TV" dinner in the microwave. From this experience the answer came to us, mass produce dinners for Big Shot. That solved our problem when time was at a premium. We prepared a larger quantity of his meals, sealed them and placed them in the freezer. When it was time for Big Shot's meal we would get it out of the freezer and warm it up. He would have a good nutritional meal at the same time as the family. This homemade dog food satisfied Big Shot's want for human smelling food as well as providing his nutritional needs.

The Best Dog Food vs. Commercial Dog Food

In March of 2007, another incident reinforced the reason to prepare homemade dog food. A Chinese company sold wheat gluten to a Canadian company who manufactured high quality veterinarian commercial dog food. The wheat gluten from the Chinese manufacturer was tainted. Many dogs and cats died and the health of many other pets was seriously damaged by consuming the tainted pet foods.

We Love Our Pets - We've Chosen Homemade Dog Food

We love our pets. Why not control the things we can control? Preparing nutritious homemade dog good is one of the things we can control. Homemade dog food does not have fillers that are found in commercially made dog food. It is made with highly nutritious food products. This food is filled with love, dogs enjoy eating it and are, of course, much healthier.