Explore Trough Creek State Park with us! Join our family, including our adventurous dog Meatball, as we hike over suspension bridges, visit the iconic Balancing Rock, and discover picturesque spots along the creek. Perfect for hiking, picnicking, fishing, and camping, Trough Creek is a must-visit destination near Lake Raystown. Read more about our weekend adventure!
Read MoreOutward Hound Slow Feeder Dog Bowl Product Review
Hello my name is Lincoln. Even though I am completely spoiled and fed on a regular basis, I eat every meal as though it’s my last. Inhaling every last crumb in record time…..
Because of Lincoln’s eating habits, we decided to purchase a slow feeder dog bowl. Our concerns were growing that she’d choke on her food or worse. Aside from feeding her a small piece of food at a time, we couldn’t seem to stop her from scarfing down her food. Then this glorious dog bowl came into our lives. I decided to do a product review, because this item is a MUST HAVE if you have a speed eating dog. For the full review, please watch the video below.
I hope you find this review helpful. As promised, below is a link for the specific feeder we purchased. If you would like to purchase one or learn more, simply click on the image and you will be lead to the product on Amazon. You may also be wondering what the delicious looking food was in her dog bowl that was featured in the YouTube video. That is my homemade dog food, and the recipe was featured on the blog not too long ago. If you missed that blog post you can read it here.
Feel free to comment below if you found this review useful and make sure you click the little heart to let us know you visited the blog post. Stay tuned for more product reviews in the future. If you own a business and would like for me to do a product review please contact me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Instant Pot Homemade Dog Food
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.
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.
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. :)