Poor Mickers!

[angrybeaverclub]

I came home over lunch today to let the girls outside to pee, and Mickers had had an accident. Luckily, she's smart enough to go on the tiled part of the house when she gets diarrhea, and even more luckily, it only happens once or twice a year when she picks up a bug from somewhere or grabs something off the ground on our walks before I can stop

Comments

[falcongirl]

Don't touch it - buy chicken cut for stir fry strips :)

We only did it for stomach upsets, because my dogs were ex police dogs that wouldn't touch anything but one type of food.

I do have a recipe for make-your-own dogfood, though. Dogs need a mix that's high protein, medium carbs, medium starch/roughage.

Here's what we used to do:
Buy whatever type of meat is cheaper - Beef or chicken or turkey - don't use pork, and realize that liver/kidneys/hearts are better nutrition-wise than breast meat or steaks. If you can find a butcher, you can usually get the innards way cheaper than regular meat. Eggs and tofu are also great sources of protein.

Vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash are good, stay away from peas/beans/broccoli (although cauliflower is ok). When in doubt, go with root veggies. Dogs don't need fruit, but an occasional banana or apple can be a nice change - no citrus, not ever.

Brown rice, pasta, wheat germ, potatoes or oatmeal works as the carbs/starch.

Brewers yeast, garlic, and yogurt or cottage cheese will add both natural flea repellent and calcium.

The recipe I'm most familiar with is:

1lb meat
1 c plain yogurt
1/2 an acorn squash (about a cup and a half)
2 carrots
1/4 c. brown rice
1 banana
2 hardboiled eggs
5 T. wheat germ
1 t. brewers yeast
1/2 clove garlic.
2 capsules Vitamin E squished into food

Put meat, chunked and de-rinded squash, carrots, rice and garlic in a pot. (If you have a crockpot, throw it all in there on low and go to work, it'll be done when you come home) Cook until everything falls apart. Let it cool. Mix in yogurt, smashed banana, wheat germ, cut up hardboiled eggs, Vit. E and brewers yeast. It'll be gloppy. If you want to add kibble-style food to it (note: You can't feed them just this kibble, it lacks nutrients), here's a recipe:

2 c. cooked chicken or turkey, shredded.
2 T. grated hard cheese (parmesan, romano, etc)
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 T. oil
2 T. brewers yeast
2 beaten eggs
2 T. fresh parsley

Throw in blender or food processor until it's pulped. Roll into small balls or drop in thumbnail-sized blobs on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about half an hour, or until browned and hardened. Store in airtight container in the freezer. Add to gloppy food or give as treats.

Soft food can and should be frozen until ready to use, unless you make it in small enough batches that you can just refridgerate it. It'll stay good for about a week in the fridge. I used to pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it, then dump them into ziplocks. That helped me control how much food the dogs got per feeding.

Hope that helps!
-T

[angrybeaverclub]

Wow! That helps tremendously! My sister is also thinking about moving over to a feed like this for her beagles (six of them, currently). I appreciate the exact recipes, and I also have a large crock pot, so this will make it much easier for me.

And I love the stir fry strips tip!

Thanks so much, T.

[falcongirl]

No problem :) You can get creative - dogs will usually eat anything, and making your own food is much better for them than anything you can buy. Just don't feed them pure glop or their teeth will get bad quick. Beef marrow bones help with that too.

Oh, another thing you could do is buy chicken thighs - those cook down to dog-bite size pieces, usually.

Are you near Orlando? I can't remember - if so, can I borrow you as someone cool to hang out with for a friend who moved down there and is miserably surrounded by yuppies?
-T

[angrybeaverclub]

I'm in St. Pete, which is a couple hours from Orlando.