I have made my own food for the dogs since 2018. They have always been in perfect condition. As fat is almost double the amount of calories per weight to protein and carbohydrates, and is also taxing on the pancreas I keep the fat contents down under 10%. I strive for 2/3 animalia (meat, eggs etc), 1/3 veggies and 2-3% cereal. That seems to make the dogs healthy and happy. As my dogs never have been able to eat bones without trying to swallow them I add calcium as a supplement to their food. Had they been able to chew raw bones I would have given them bones and not any calcium supplement.
I am no expert. This works for me. The source of my information comes from
- Dr Karen Becker’s book “Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats”
- Videos and articles by Anne-Li Strand at https://naturbalans.se (swedish)
- Books and posts by Susanne Håkansson at https://hundmatskocken.se/ (swedish)
- Lecture by Åsa Sjöberg at https://www.humlebyns.se (swedish)
Chicken stock
I like to include home-made chicken stock in my dogs’ food. It is a good source of collagen and calcium.
- Add 1 kg of chicken wings or chicken drumsticks to a croc-pot
- Add 0.5 liters of water
- Add a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
- Set it on high until it is up to temp, then switch to low and let be for 8 hours
- Strain through a sieve.
- Cool the liquid, dispose of the solids
- Skim the fat from the top once it has hardened.
Recipe
- 2 kg minced beef, 5% fat
- 1,8 kg chicken hearts, coarsely chopped in food processor
- 150 g liver (often chicken, sometimes pig)
- 1 kg semi-thawed broccoli, coarsely chopped in food processor
- 1 kg semi-thawed above-ground veggies (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower), coarsely chopped
- 600 g semi-thawed root veggies (red beets, carrots, parsnip, soft potato, potato), coarsely chopped
- Chicken stock (makes about 500 g – 700 g)
- 8 eggs
- 4 dl oats
- 4 tablespoons psyllium husk
Mix everything (I find the following order easiest eggs, chicken stock, oats, husk, chicken hearts, minced meat, veggies) and plop into a baking pan (or two). Insert into a 150°C oven for 1 – 1.5h.
Once cooled I add a blend of supplements.
- 70 ml Naturbalans Supermix (a herb mix)
- 70 ml Naturbalans Kalk & Mineraler (natural calcium)
- 15 ml Naturbalans Ren i mun (for dental hygiene)
This makes over 7 kg food. Kimchi gets 130g of this 3 times per day.
Stats
89 kcal / 100g
69% animalia
29% veggies
2% cereal
11% protein
3% fat
3% carbohydrates
Portion
To give me a hint of how much to give I count calories. That is not very exact but gives me a ball-park of how much. Ultimately I monitor their weight and body figure and adjust the food give accordingly. Say Kimchi (a female foxterrier) is to have 350 kcal / day. For the above recipe that would be
89 kcal / 100g * 350 kcal = 393g per day
393g / 3 times per day = 131g per meal
I divide up into meals in boxes and freeze. When making for multiple dogs different colors of lids for different individuals, as they have different meal sizes.
Fredrik Rambris 