Canine nutrition ponderings

I spent a good amount of time in the kitchen yesterday; I love baking and cooking.  I was making dog cookies and food.  Normally I make dog food on a daily basis but it is a nice change for me to  just be able to pull it out.  So, every so often I make batches and throw it into the deep freeze.  I also had not made cookies in a long while so I needed to make them as well.  With ingredients from one end to the other, it wasn't long until my kitchen looked like a tornado hit it.

When I cook, I rarely use a recipe; either for the humans or dogs.  If I do go recipe searching it is typically for an idea more than the actual recipe.  Over the years I have discovered what works and what doesn't as far as feeding my two.  All dogs are different; they have their own tastes, preferences and what sits right and doesn't on their stomach.  There are also a few foods to steer clear of when feeding dogs and if you are ever wondering, look it up.  A wealth of information can be found here on the internet if you simply look.  The main foods not to feed your dog are, chocolate, onions, grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts, avocado and caffeine in any form.  

The cookies I made were just thrown together as I pondered what to add.  They turned out great; both Luke and Elsa liked them.   When I make cookies I like them to be on the dry side which gives them a longer shelf life.  Luke prefers moist type cookies filled with butter, shortbread like.  So I make many different types, variety, variety.  I cannot promote variety enough with feeding dogs.  But cookies are just that, cookies.  They are not a main food item so don't worry if they have a few ingredients in them that are just for special times.  The recipe for yesterday's cookies is:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup garbanzo bean flour

1 cup oats

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup pumpkin

1/2 water

Throw in a mixer and mix well.  Roll out to 1/4" thickness (I use brown rice flour to cover surface so it doesn't stick).  Cut into whatever shape you like and throw into the oven.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 min. and then turn oven down to 200 and leave for an hour to dry.  That's it.  

The food I made was in meatloaf form.  I make all sorts of different food; again, variety, variety.  My dogs eat RAW and cooked food; Luke's favorite by far is RAW beef.  RAW is one of the easiest and most convenient things to feed your dog.  When feeding your dog, think protein; for my dogs, it makes up 2/3 or more of their diet.  I toss in veggies, all different types.  Arugula, green beans, spinach, cabbage, brussel sprouts, you name it.  Sometimes sweet potatoes, oats or organic rice are tossed in but just a small amount.  Ground egg shells are also added. 

I made three different meatloaves yesterday.  One was beef, another beef and turkey and the last was beef and sardine, mmmmmmmm.  I can barely stand to add the sardines; but they are very good for the dogs.  Luke is not a fish fan; no, he is like his Momma and prefers halibut or any other extremely mild fish.  So I sneak in the sardines, salmon and other fish when I can.  They also get added fish oil to their food now and then.  They eat coconut oil on a regular basis and chia seeds as well.  

Eggs are a great source of animal protein as well.  Both raw and cooked.  I often throw a raw egg in their food for a change.  Elsa really enjoys eggs which is great; Luke is more of a sneak it in guy.  If you feed eggs, try to buy free range organic which are by far the best for your dogs and you. 

Don't get bogged down by fear when it comes to feeding your dog.  Think variety, think protein based diet.  Before dog food was invented what the heck did people feed their dogs?   Food, just real food.