Hey friend, do you have dogs? Yeah, me too. Actually, I’ve got three… three chihuahuas. For years I bought dog food started out with dry and then we started buying refrigerated dog food with meat and veggies. The dogs liked that food but it is expensive! That got me to wondering if I could make the same thing for a lot less money. Now, this is probably true for anyone who wants to put a little time and effort into sourcing product and then creating the product, ie: dog food.

You can watch a video here of me making dog food.

Protein in Dog Food

I have several chickens in the backyard and get plenty of eggs and they are good protein. I also knew dogs needed some meat in their diet. We have market chickens on the homestead and I keep all of the organs such as heart, liver, and gizzard. (Now you know I love my dogs if I’m willing to clean a chicken gizzard for them!) I also cook whole chickens and break them down and cut them up for the girls. This next Spring we will be ordering some turkeys and plan on having some turkey meat I can grind up for them.

Vegetables in Dog Food

I am no veterinarian but I think vegetables are important to my dog’s health as they are to a person’s health. Now, if you want to add veggies to your dogs food please do some research because there are veggies that are toxic to dogs. I add sweet potato, carrots and green beans. Most of the time I use carrots and green beans from the garden. I started using these because they were available without me having to buy anything but also because I knew they were healthy for my girls.

Creating the Food

To save time I have seen a lot of people use their Instapot to cook their dog food. I don’t have one of those so I boil the veggies and the organ meat. Scramble the eggs and chop everything very small. Remember, my girls are little and old. You know the bite size that is right for your dog. Now, serve.

I feel so much better making dog food for my chihuahuas. I know there is nothing added that can be harmful for them. They eat so much better which fills their bellies and keeps them as healthy as possible. By the way you got to meet each of the girls in picture. Top picture is Chi and me, she is 15. Second picture is Lola, she is the boss and her job is to walk with me to the bathroom. And the third picture is of Honey Bear, she lives up to her name. She is a honey.

I hope you try making some dog food and then decide if it’s something you can do long term for your best friend. Leave a comment and let me know if you are going to try and I’d also love to see a picture of your dog.

Here is to your homesteading dreams,

Shawn