Homemade food for a picky dog

My 1.5 y-o Bloodhound/Boxer, Sammi, became very picky with her food after she somehow hurt a muscle in her neck. For about a week she couldn't bend down to eat, so I hand fed her. Even then she didn't want to eat much. This began her picking at her food & dropping it in piles all over the house. So, the recipe below is finally one that she gobbled up & actually licks her bowl clean! Of course my 4.5 y-o Beagle, Jade, likes the food too. She will eat anything :) If you have a sick pet or picky pet, then this might get them to eat!

Ingredients:

2 packages chicken gizzards/hearts
 1 Lb. ground beef
 6 jumbo eggs
 2.5 Lb.'s white rice
 1 Cup uncooked, chopped kale

Directions:

 1. In a large pot with a lid add a few cups of water, turn on medium heat, add gizzards/hearts, ground beef, eggs (crack open & no shells unless your dog likes the shells), & kale. I usually sprinkle with some salt, but that is optional. Cover.
 2. Stir occasionally, mixing the ingredients together really well.  Cook until meat is brown.
 3. Dump this mixture into a large mixing bowl, but leave the juice in the cooking pot.
 4. Cook the rice in the juice & add water.
 5. Mix all in the large mixing bowl & portion out into bags or containers to store in the fridge.

 This makes 4-5 days of twice a day meals for both my dogs. I feed Sammi the calorie amount for an 80-lb dog because that is her weight. She is also still growing, but you have to factor the calories of treats into their daily amount as well. I feed Jade the amount for a 20-25-lb dog even though she is over 30-lb's. She is extremely inactive indoors.

When you serve the food what I do is plop it into a bowl & microwave for a minute. I mix it all up in Sammi's big bowl & then spoon some into Jade's bowl. They eat it all within a minute or two! Before I couldn't even get Sammi to eat 1 whole meal of kibble per day & it would take her all day.

Silly Sammi Pics :)

Here are just some fun pics I captured of Sammi, my Bloodhound/Boxer Mix. I didn't get any of Jade, my older Beagle, but that is due to her antisocial behaviors. She's a strange little Beagle!

Keeping an eye on the new bag of food I just bought

                                               Not amused with the humans :)

Ginger & Beef Flavored Dog Treats

I made two different batches of these treats- one batch for my smaller Beagle, Jade, and another batch for my large Bloodhound Sammi. Jade's treats have a lot of ginger in them to calm her tummy and her general anxiety, while Sammi's treats just have a sprinkle of ginger. Too much might upset her sensitive system! Here are the recipes:

Jade's Treats:
2 C whole wheat flour
1 large egg
3/4 C low-sodium beef broth
sprinkle of baking soda
2 Tbsp ground ginger

Sammi's Treats:
2 & 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 large egg
1 C low-sodium beef broth
sprinkling of baking soda
sprinkling of ground ginger

Mix wet ingredients in a bowl and dry ingredients in another bowl. Mix together well & knead witha spatula. Roll out on a floured surface & flour the rolling pin. Cut shapes & poke holes with a fork. Bake at 375 for 20-25 min per baking sheet (or until hardened). Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Store in airtight jars. I feed 2-3 treats to Jade per day and 1-2 treats to Sammi (her treats are a much larger shape). Enjoy!

 

DIY Cute Dog Food Canisters

This project was inexpensive and fairly easy. You'll need: old Christmas popcorn container(s), metallic silver spray paint, black spray paint, & a stencil (I printed the words and cut them on paper). I used Cambria font size 300 and Edwardian script font size 275.

Best Dog Bed for a Large Dog or Multiple Dogs!

I have been brainstorming ways to fashion together a big enough dog bed for my Bloodhound and Beagle to sleep on, and my hubby came up with a great idea when we were at the thrift store. We bought 2 baby crib mattresses for a total of $18.50 and 2 fitted sheets for $13.25! It's the perfect solution because they are very firm, waterproof, and large enough. The fitted sheets add a layer of comfort plus they will be easy to wash! I just thought I should share this great idea! Here is a pic below and some other fun pics of my dogs :)

Homemade Dog Food

I used to make food for my Beagle back when she first came to live with us about 3 years ago, but then I got away from that. After spending so much money on store bought kibble for my Beagle, Jade, and our Bloodhound Mix pup, Sammy, I have decided to revisit homemade cooked dog food because it is inexpensive and so healthy!

Sammy has been with us since May 2012, and she was just 12 weeks old and a timid, bone-thin 16-lbs riddled with fleas and hookworms :( However, with a lot of love she is now nearing 11-months old and about 75-lbs! She is actually still thin looking because that is the way God made her, but she is so much more healthy :) She eats so much! Homemade food is a good way to spend less on food for the dogs, while giving them even better nutrition.

A good, quick recipe is ground beef, rice, and hard boiled eggs. Cook all ingredients separately, then mash all together in a bowl, and store in the fridge. I got about 5 days (2 meals a day for both dogs) with a 3-lb roll of ground beef, 3 cups rice (cooked it yields a larger volume), and 6 eggs hardboiled. You can use any cut of meat on sale at the grocery though, as well as, canned tuna in oil (about once per week), sweet potatoes, and easy-to-digest veggies like green beans and carrots cooked of course. White rice is best to use because it is easier for them to digest. Dogs have a very different digestive tract than we do. There are certain foods that can be toxic to dogs, including but not limited to, grapes, raisins, chocolate, garlic, cooked bones, etc.

Here is a picture of Sammy and Jade when we first "acquired" our sweet and feisty Sammy Pants. After that is a more current pic. . .big difference! Today they are eating fish, white rice, hard boiled eggs, and oatmeal.

Sammy & Jade April 29, 2012

Sammy, Boo, & Jade October 2012

Healthy Ginger Dog Cookies

Ingredients:

Steel-cut Oatmeal (ground to flour in blender)
Beef Broth, low-sodium
Ginger
Ground flax-seed
Baking Powder
Butter, unsalted

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, knead, roll out, cut shapes, bake at 375 F. until slightly hard. Let cool and store in an airtight container.