How to Make Your Own Dog Food

One thing I have found about harvesting deer, is that you wind up with a fair amount of scrap meat, that you probably aren’t going to want to eat.  There is nothing wrong with this meat, aside from the fact that it has a fair amount of gristle, which gives off a noxious aroma and instills the meat with the ‘wild flavour’ a lot of people talk about distastefully when they discuss wild game.  My uncle usually feeds these bits to the coyotes that scream as soon as the sun goes down, but I prefer to feed it to Rosie, my parents’ bitch.

For the non-hunters out there, you will be happy to know that you can substitute any meat including beef, pork, or even chicken in this recipe.  You will find that you will save a fair amount of money, and you won’t have to deal with the vomit-inducing smell of the canned food we regularly feed our canines every morning.  As you will see, this recipe is also a healthy one: and tasty too.  I will confess right now, that I sampled some of Rosie’s breakfast this morning, and I had to stop myself from eating it all up.  Here is a list of the things you will need for a dog’s breakfast.

• 3.5 lbs ground meat (like I said above, any meat will work)
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 lb. mixed carrots and peas
• 12 egg whites
• 6 egg shells
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can of fish (I use pink salmon)
• 2 Tbsp.of herbs such as chamomile, or rosemary
• 1 tsp. of ginger or cinnamon
• 1 cup of white rice (will make approximately three cups of cooked rice)
• 2 sheets of Aluminum foil
• 1 length of paper towel

Step 1

Pierce sweet potato several times with a fork (pretend you hate the root vegetable) and wrap in oil covered aluminium foil.  Preheat oven to 350, and place potato in oven for 45 minutes or until soft.  As you wait for the potato to bake, you can do the following steps.

Separate the egg whites, yolks, and shells.  Place six of the shells on a lightly oiled piece of aluminium foil, wrap, and bake for seven minutes.  You will not need the egg yolks for the dog food: I drank mine down with a shot of gin.

Brown the ground meat in a frying pan, removing the excess grease as you do so.  If you are good at multi-tasking, you can also cook the rice, in the same pot as the peas and carrots (this way, the rice is infused with flavour).

Once the rice, peas, and carrots are cooked mash them down to the consistency of baby food, then allow them to cool.

Take the eggs shells out of the oven, place in a mortar and pestle, and crush them into dust.  Later, you will sprinkle the shells into the final product for calcium.  They will give your dog’s coat a wonderful sheen.  You can use the remaining shells for yourself. You can walk on them if you like; I have even heard that some people ad a bit of crushed egg shell to their coffee!

Once the meat is browned, place on a paper towel to remove the remaining excess grease.  Grease is the enemy of a dog’s heart and bowel movements.

Layer the rice/veggie mix, meat, and egg whites in a large pot– sprinkle with egg shells and herbs.  By now, your sweet potato should be baked.  Place it outside for five minutes and 47 seconds to cool, then remove the skin and mash, just like you did with the rice/vegetable mix.  Once mashed, place the sweet potato in the pot with the rest of the stuff.

Now is the time to add the fish.  Many people use mackerel, but I love my dog, so I use pink salmon.  Open the can and throw that stinky stuff in the pot.  Cook on medium heat until the egg whites are cooked, then allow the concoction to cool for approximately one hour and thirty-eight seconds (this is important).

You will now want to divide the concoction into meal-sized portions.  My mom had the great idea of putting it into Tupperware (TM) hamburger containers, which are easily stacked in the fridge (where the food will keep for forty eight hours) or freezer (where it will keep for several months).  We used wax paper, so it wouldn’t stick.

Your dog food is now ready!  If your dog is anything like Rosie, they will love it!  And in a pinch, it makes a great meal to go for yourself!  Enjoy!