Homemade Dog Food for when TSHTF

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Trying to figure out how to make dog food. You know, feeding my puppy and then dog if I was totally self-sufficient and had to provide for my dog without buying anything that I didn't grow.

I found a recipe online that says it's for "occasional use" ... egg, chicken, sweet potatoes, egg shells, yogurt, and fish oil.

Have the eggs.
Have the chicken.
Kinda have the sweet potatoes.
Have the egg shells.
Might not have access to yogurt later.
Might not have access to fish oil later.

Does anyone have a recipe they use for dog food? Wet or dry? Anything different for puppies?



ETA Link: http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/la...HomemadeDiet&gclid=CPzZ2fmnwKoCFSMEQAodmTTc5g

 

[Wifezilla]

You might be able to use purslane if the fish oil is for omega 3's. Go look outside. I bet it is all over the place in your field. It grows like mad here. The ducks love it.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Good idea. I'll have to figure out what it looks like, first.

Wonder ... would "guppies" work as a source of fish? not for humans because they are so small, but since they reproduce so quickly, could I have a big fish tank of guppies and put a couple in each batch of dog food?

 

[so lucky]

I think purslane looks like a succulant house plant. Fleshy little leaves. I have some of the cultivated purslane that has the beautiful blooms, hot pink. Hard to tell that from the weed purslane growing near it. I wish my chickens would eat it. Dried and chopped up in dog food it would be indistinguishable from other greens, probably.

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Thanks. I'll look around for it.

What else can be added to homemade dog food? To give him all the nutrition he needs.

 

[sufficientforme]

My SHTF dog food is I keep two boxes of dehydrated dog food (Honest kitchen is the brand) that is the equivalent of just under 40 lbs of dry food and 50 pounds of rice on hand for them. In a true long term emergency they would have to eat from our food supply along with raw meat. You could keep vitamin supplements for dogs on hand to ensure they are getting enough also.

 

[DianeS]

The nutritional needs for dogs are very similar to the nutritional needs for humans.

If you're feeding cooked food, the basic recipie I know is 1/2 protein, 1/4 carbs, 1/4 greens. And vary each of those often so that your dog gets the full variety of nutrients he needs. (One single recipe can't have everything in it for dogs, just like it can't for humans.) Chicken/barley/carrots one night, Beef/oats/green beans the next night. Cottage cheese/bread/beets the night after. Etc.

Here, the dogs often get whatever I'm eating that day, in their own proper proportions.

Avoid onions, grapes/raisins, and chocolate. Anything else you eat is fine. Do your best with basic recipies, and add whatever else the individual dog needs - extra oils for an itchy or dry coat, extra fiber in the carbs for potty problems, etc.

I am not familiar with the recipies for feeding raw foods. I know you need fewer greens with raw meat, but beyond that I don't know.

 

[freemotion]

Chicken backs or wings, raw.

Veggies at least a couple times a week, whatever we have. Kefir. The rare treat. Eggs, cooked for Gunnar and raw for Biscuit, in moderation. No grains.

Simple-simple, an cheap. If I needed to go totally ss on my dogfood, I'd raise rabbits and not replace the pet dogs when they.....er......go. I'd switch to a farm dog that hunts.

 

[Wifezilla]

Great suggestions people! I heard about the backs and wings. Lots of raw feeders use those. As for a good hunter, I wish i could have cloned the Irish Setter we had as kids. She hardly ever touched her kibble. We would take her hunting and never have to fire a shot she was so fast. Every spring she lived on baby bunnies. Gruesome, but this was the most SS dog EVER!

 

[pinkfox]

i do whats called prey model raw or franken prey...
right now i only raw feed occasionally (about 2-3 times a week) but once i get my own meat supply well be going 100% raw.

i personally dont like "home cooked" canines wouldnt have acess to fire over which to prepare their food, they eat it raw, meaty and bleeding with the bones sitll crunchy and intact...
they have a specific stomach ph and differnt bacteria in their guts so they can process raw meat (and even bad and decaying meats in times of need)
and cooking kills most of the good stuff.

i also dont like other methods of raw feeding, because 1: there too complex, 2: dogs cannot process raw plant/vegatable matter (they cant digest cellulose) 2: its alot more work.

generally canines (wild or otherwise) would only eat plant/veggies/fruits and grains in 1 form (unless trying to vomit) and thats already chewed, partially digetsted and super mushy INSIDE the stomach of whatever critter theyve found.
so in order to add them to most raw diets you either have to cook them alot because again dogs cant digest any cellulose, its why they eat grass to vomit lol, in which case as we know, bye bye any nutrients, or you have to weigh them out and blend or grind them to make a mush that resembles the partially digested mush that would be in the preys stomach.
this goes for grains too, dogs wouldnt eat carbs, they dont need them and would only consume them if they were within the stomach of their prey.

so the way i feed i pick a critter...
its a little harder fo rme as my dogs are so tiny, however baby rabbit and quail are perfect...
lets say todays meal is quail...i buy de-featherd quail, no head no feathers no feet (mostly because these are messy and typically even in wild canines the skull, feet, and feathers/fur would be spat out and left.
each dog and each cat gets a small quail, they get everything thats inside the quail too (i dont gut them) they eat everything, guts (green tripe) bones, skin, flesh.

because my dogs are so small finding apropriate prey can be hard, thats where franken prey comes in...the idea being to feed a whole prey animal (stomach intestines, organs, meat ect) over a period of time that would be biologically apropriate to the size of the dog...
so say i give a chicken to my dog, one day he might get wings and organs, the next neck, the next a breast with ribs, the next a back ect...
or i could give chicken wings one day and a turkey neck the next, ect mixing meat would be fine as long as over whatever perido of time the meat balances out into a "prey" item including organs, stomach ect.

i hope that makes sense.

the nice thing about prey model is its VERY easy once you get the hang of it.

alot of people are "scared" by raw because of the salmonealla risks ect...but in reality as long as your dog is introduced carefully to raw meats and is healthy their gut flora and fauna is much different than their own and its VERY unlikely for a healthy dog or cat to get food poiening.


i started using the prey method with my dogs and cats when i started working in the zoo...after feeding the wolves, hyena, red fox, coyotes, african wild dogs, fennec foxes ect ALL the same basic diet in prey model form...it just kinda clicked that despite being domesticated mentally, our pet dogs are biologically no different than any other of the canine species in the world...