Reviewed: May 15, 2012

This is not a bad basic recipe, but there are a few things not addressed. I have been making my own pet foods for several years now, and while the protein to carbohydrate ratio in this is not bad, there are no organ meats to provide added essential nutrients (I would throw in a couple of chicken hearts and livers), there is no calcium source (a couple of tums with calcium would do), and no table salt to add iodine. Also, dogs do not chew as humans do, and their bodies will not break down vegetable matter as well as ours can, so all vegetables should be well pureed so that your dog can get the maximum nutritional value from it. It should also be noted that while many well cooked, pureed veggies are fine for your dog, onions, raisins, garlic, grapes, and even tomatoes should be avoided, because they contain naturally occurring ingredients that can cause various health problems in your pet. I would also prefer to see a little more fat in this recipe for a normal weight dog, their bodies need more fat than ours do. My dog is on a 35% meat, 15% fat, 40% grain (always rice, corn and wheat are allergens) and about 10% vegetable matter diet, and he does very well. This recipe is good in principle, it just needs a few things added :)

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Reviewer:

lemontreestudios

Reviewed: May 14, 2012

I just started making dog food because we tried to upgrade our dog food and he quite eatting and wouldn't eat his old brand. Was I happy when he ate and carried his empty dish around the house! I learned many good tips and will try roasting egg shells and grind them to a powder for calicum. I have not ground the veggies but will in the future. Who knew dogs have small intestines? Bone meal and punkin were good suggestions. I have been picking dandeline leaves and adding that in the pot. I did celery too and my husband wants to know why the dog is fed better then he is! Thank you for all the good tips. I have one for you, when I told my vet the dog spits out his pills she told me to wrap it in sandwish cheese and he won't even know he ate it. I doubted she was right but she was. the dog needs calicum cottage cheese and yogart will work for that but fish oil or vitimens will be wrapped and gobbled up for sure.

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Reviewer:

soldonpatti

Reviewed: May 6, 2012

My dog loves this recipe. I take the veggies and the drippings from the pan (from browning the ground turkey in a bit of olive oil) and puree them with roughly 2 egg shells per recipe (for calcium.) I cook the rice separately, and stir all the ingredients together in the end. I've done a ton of research, and as stated before, this is a great base. You could do this with beef, chicken, venison, or lamb as well.

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Reviewer:

Michael

Reviewed: May 5, 2012

Just food for thought: What dogs ate in the wild and what "nature" provided only needed to keep them alive long enough to reproduce. I doubt any of them lived to the old ages our pets manage. So much for the value of "natural" diets. Same goes for humans.

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Reviewer:

Jec

Reviewed: Apr. 27, 2012

A couple people mentioned that they add garlic powder to the recipe, NEVER GIVE A DOG GARLIC! I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Onions too, even in powdered form they are extremely TOXIC... to dogs.

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Reviewer:

GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN!

Reviewed: Apr. 17, 2012

I have been making this recipe in my crock pot. I will often put in chicken breasts or thighs...left over vegetables..brown rice.. Put all the ingredients in and let it cook all day with a bit of water. The rice turns soft. I always mix it with a high quality dry food to give them the nutrients. They love it and my chubby one has lost weight on it!

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Reviewer:

goldendoodles!

Reviewed: Mar. 29, 2012

I think this is a really nice base recipe, but that tweaking it a little is a good idea. I stuck with the brown rice and ground turkey, but left out the rosemary, as I don't think it's necessary. For vegetables, I added diced sweet potatoes, which I boiled and then mashed afterward for easier consumption. For calcium, I added a couple spponfuls of fat-free, plain Greek yogurt. My 10 year old Chihuahua-Jack Russell mix went wild over this. You can also substitute the ground turkey for boiled chicken breast, which can be shredded after cooking.

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Reviewer:

hanajane

Reviewed: Mar. 19, 2012

I made this for my 10 year old girl. She loved it! She spent as much time licking the dish clean as she did actually eating her meal. I will be feeding this all the time now due to more reports of harmful ingredients in more pet treats & food. Thank you for this great recipe!

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Reviewer:

katie

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Living In: Manchester, Missouri, USA

Reviewed: Feb. 28, 2012

Having rescued a very malnourished dog who does not like commercial dog food, I thought I would try to make my own. This was the first recipe I tried and she loves it. I do vary it depending on the ingredients I have on hand, and sometimes just make the rice and veggie mixture, then add canned chicken or poach a chicken breast in broth. Make a batch once a week and put into separate ziplock bags for easy use.

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Reviewer:

Ginaskinner

Reviewed: Feb. 10, 2012

Good recipe. I started making my dogs food 4 years ago. I went the raw route. I like everyone's comments. I've done the research too. I finally invested in a powerful grinder. I wanted to stress the calcium that has to be added. The egg shells are great and I still add them when they eat beef etc when I can't grind the bones of most poltry and rabit. They all get raw meaty bones, fish oil, prozyme, kelp, and ester c. I very the ground vegetables. Cale and collard greens are high on the list. Carrots, apples, blueberries, cranberries, greenbeans. I also switch back and forth between brown rice and Quinoa. The toxic foods were already mentioned. Thanks.

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