2 lb. cubed stewing beef, mutton or lamb (avoid ground hamburger especially because of potential bacterial contamination): or one whole chicken, or half of a small turkey cut into small pieces, ideally organically certified.
4 cups of COOKED whole grain brown rice (or barley, quinoa, amaranth, rolled oats, or rice pasta noodles) or 4 cups of chopped potatoes.
Pinch of salt
1 T. wheat germ
1 T. cider vinegar
1 t. brewer’s yeast
1 T calcium citrate/ or lactate, or human-grade bone meal
1 T unsweetened, shredded coconut
Ideally, all ingredients should be Organically Certified.
Combine all above ingredients. Add water to cover ingredients, simmer, stir, and add more water as needed until meat is LIGHTLY cooked. Overcooked meats lose nutrients and can form harmful byproducts. De-bone chicken parts and do not feed cooked bones since they can splinter and cause internal injury. The recipe should be thick to be molded into patties (add oat bran or rice or buckwheat flour to help thicken).Mix well into the stew while it is still very hot, a cup full of blueberries or chopped apple, and 1 cup of either grated broccoli, cabbage ,collard greens carrots, sweet potato or yam.
Then when cooled off add 1 T. vegetable oil (flax seed oil* or safflower oil), 1T. organic butter or coconut oil and 2 T.organic plain “live” yoghurt or kefir. And 1 t. Spirulina or Chlorella, 1 t. powdered ginger and 1 t powdered turmeric.
Serve 1 cup full of this recipe for a 30 lb. dog twice daily. Freeze the rest into patties and store in the freezer. Serve thawed, or frozen to gnaw on outdoors in hot weather.
For variation, you can use 2 cups of organic cottage cheese, plus 1 cup of well-cooked lentils, chick peas (garbanzo beans), lima beans or other pulses, or a dozen organic eggs as meat alternatives. Don’t forget, lightly cooked, or if organically certified, raw calf and beef liver, heart, ‘green tripe’ and kidneys are good sources of animal protein and other essential nutrients. All pet food ingredients, ideally, should be organically certified. (Note: some dogs are allergic or hypersensitive to some foods, especially soy, beef, eggs, wheat and dairy products.).
T = Tablespoon
t= teaspoon
Also give the dog a daily multi-vitamin and muti-mineral supplement with one of the meals, such as a good quality human ‘one –a day’ supplement equivalent, crushed up in the food, calculating one half of the human daily dose for a 50 lb dog: one pediatric/baby one a day for toy dogs, or a specific dog product such as Animal Essentials Multi-Vitamin and Mineral supplement. For dogs under 30 lb, and for over-weight and less active dogs, use half the amount of rice or other carbohydrate in the recipe. When the food has cooled, put daily portions in food containers in the refrigerator, where it should be good for 3 days. Put in the freezer if you have small portions for a small dog.
This recipe ( minus any bones) can be put in a food processor and fed raw.
--TRANSITION YOUR DOG GRADUALLY ONTO THIS NEW DIET—MIX INCREASING AMOUNTS OF YOUR DOG’S NEW FOOD WITH DECREASING AMOUNTS OF THE OLD FOOD OVER A 7-DAY PERIOD TO ENABLE ADAPTIATION AND AVOID POSSIBLE DIGESTIVE UPSET.
IT IS ADVISABLE TO VARY THE BASIC INGREDIENTS FROM BATCH TO BATCH YOU PREPARE EVERY 1-2 WEEKS TO PROVIDE VARIETY AND TO AVOID POSSIBLE NUTRITIONAL IMBALANCES., ALSO, MONITOR THE ANIMAL’S BODY WEIGHT EVERY MONTH INITIALLY SO AS TO AVOID EITHER OVER-FEEDING OR UNDER-FEEDING, BASED ON THE AVERAGE DOG CONSUMING ONE CUPFULL OF THE FOOD TWICE DAILY PER 30 POUNDS BODY WEIGHT.
I advise, since obesity is so prevalent in companion animals today, weighing the animal at weekly intervals when being put on a new diet and adjust the amount being fed according to any decrease or increase in weight down or up from the optimum weight determined by your veterinarian.
--NOTE: DIFFERENT ANIMALS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NUTRITIONAL NEEDS ACCORDING TO AGE, TEMPERAMENT, AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH STATUS.*** Large dogs require less food per pound body weight, so adjust according to appetite and weight gain, and especially if deep-chested and prone to bloat, give 3-4 smaller meals per day.***
Keep teeth clean by getting dogs, especially toy breeds, used to a daily brushing. The best and safest natural tooth-cleaner is a raw, scalded (to kill off bacteria) 3-4 inch piece of beef shank/soup/marrow bone, or thin strips of scalded raw beef heart or shank meat—the tougher the better!
NUTRACEUTICALS/HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS: Ginger and turmeric are two examples of such that have a diversity of beneficial digestive, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer pharmaceutical/therapeutic properties. I would also add a little cinnamon for dogs with diabetes and high blood pressure (often associated with kidney disease) and oregano, or thyme and sage, and cumin or fenugreek for those with digestive/dysbiosis issues. I would give a pinch in the food for habituation and acceptance then increase to about one-half teaspoon daily of each for a 30-40 lb dog. A tablespoon daily of aloe vera gel or cooked Jerusalem artichoke and chopped canned pineapple will also help the gut microbiome and digestion. Older dogs with cognitive/dementia issues can benefit from 1 tablespoon per 50 lb of coconut oil in their food daily. Many people are surprised how many good medicines they have in their own kitchens, such traditional wisdom—Hippocrates urging let our food be our medicine and our medicine our food—is anathema and taboo and heretical to the legal pharmaceutical industry.
For more information on holistic dog care, see my books The Healing Touch for Dogs published by Harper Collins and DOG BODY, DOG MIND published by The Lyons Press.For details on the health risks of manufactured pet foods, see NOT FIT FOR A DOG: THE TRUTH ABOUT MANUFACTURED DOG AND CAT FOODS, by Drs. M.W.Fox, E.Hodgkins, and M. Smart, Quill Driver Books, Sanger CA 2008