DIY dog food is becoming more and more popular. I joined that trend over a year ago, and take pride in what we feed our dog. I’m not going to lie, it takes time to prepare and definitely takes a toll on the wallet, but our dog is like our child. We love her dearly.
I suppose I should offer some background information on Lincoln. I’ll warn you now. If you decide to follow my blog, you’ll definitely hear about her often. What can I say she stole our hearts, so why not share her cuteness with you? Lincoln is a lab/boxer mix. She’s a rescue dog. She actually came from Villalobos. You may recognize that name from the popular Animal Planet tv show, Pit Bulls and Paroles. She’s a great dog, however she’s riddled with allergies. We had been researching cooking methods, recipes, etc but were lingering on officially switching over for quite awhile. For me the final decision came after watching a documentary called Dog Fooled on Netflix. If you have any animals at all it’s worth watching. You may be disgusted and infuriated after watching, but it’s eye opening.
I would say the pros of making your own dog food are simple. You have more control over what your dog is consuming. You don’t have to trust labels that are misleading, and falsely believe that what you are purchasing is good for your dog when it may possibly contain harmful ingredients. It also forms a deeper bond. You’re preparing their meal just like any other family member.
The cons of making your own dog food in my opinion are pretty straight forward as well. It’s time consuming. Like cooking anything else, you are chopping and prepping pounds of ingredients at once and then cooking them. This took hours and hours when I was cooking everything on the stove. The instant pot has made the process easier. It still takes time though. The other con is that it can be pricey. For anyone that has attempted clean eating, you know it’s expensive. It shouldn’t be so pricey to buy vegetables, but this is the world we live in.
Now let me cut to the chase. Below are the ingredients and instructions for the dog food I prepare.
INGREDIENTS:
3 large chicken breasts (you can substitute chicken thighs if you wish. There was a better deal on breasts today, so I went with those)
4lbs carrots diced
5lbs sweet potatoes cubed
4lbs green beans (I have been buying frozen as it’s more cost effective)
Just recently I have started to mix in riced cauliflower to her food. I wanted to slowly introduce this as I wasn’t sure if it would make her gassy. So far there have been no issues.
These are the ingredients minus the chicken which is cooking in the instant pot.
Here’s a glimpse of where the cooking happens. Everything will be made in the instant pot which makes for easy cleanup.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place chicken breast inside instant pot on rack. Add 1 cup of water to bottom of instant pot. Lock lid into place and push seal closed. Cook times seem to vary greatly for instant pot directions. I like for her chicken to be tender and pretty much fall apart when I’m cutting, so I cook on high pressure for 15 minutes and then do a quick pressure release. Once the chicken is done, I remove it and allow to cool on cutting board before chopping. Now fill pot to full level with chopped veggies, plus one cup of water, and cook on high pressure for 7 min followed by a quick pressure release. I usually have to make 3 batches of veggies. As each individual batch cooks and is removed from the instant pot, I pour it into a strainer to remove the extra fluid. Once it’s cooled enough I have this HUGE tupperware bowl that I dump everything into and stir until all ingredients are mixed well. I then separate into smaller batches and place in freezer safe containers until we need them.
Because this is incredibly lean I also make eggs which we add at each feeding and sometimes the occasional apple. She LOVES apples.
Ladies and Gents… Here is the finished product.
I am NOT a licensed professional. Please consult your veterinarian before following this recipe, as just like humans all dogs are different and may respond differently to different diets. So far this diet works well for Lincoln. Her coat is soft and shiny and I have better knowledge of what she’s consuming.
If you’re interested in shopping for an instant pot I found good deals on Amazon currently. You can click the image below to see what they have to offer. I could go on and on about how much I love my instant pot, but I’ll save that for another blog post. If you make your dogs food and use a different recipe, please feel free to share your recipe in the comments. As always thank you for visiting the blog. :)