Recipe Chicken and Sweet Potato Dog Food

The Late Night Gourmet

The Late Night Gourmet

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I ate dog food today, and I don’t mind admitting that I liked it. It was a bit bland, but otherwise it was tasty, and I can't blame my dogs for liking it, too.

Over the years, I've tried giving my dogs a variety of dog foods, from the crappy, low-end ones that I realized soon are not good for them, to a higher end product produced by a service called The Farmer's Dog. The dogs loved what they provided, and I was happy about that, except for one thing: it was costing me about $50/week to feed my two 25-pound pugs. We used to joke that they're eating better than the people in our house.

But, I've been making their food using variations of this recipe for a while now. When I posted the ground chicken on the "what did you cook" thread, I used it for the first such recipe. Since then, I've alternated ground chicken with ground turkey.

Everything in this recipe is natural: chicken or turkey, sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots. That's it. And, doing it myself cuts down the cost considerably. At this point, I am paying maybe $15 a week, which is comparable to feeding them cans of Alpo (which isn't a particularly great commercial brand).

One important point: DO NOT ADD SALT. I mentioned that this makes a bland recipe, but it's exactly what dogs need. Per the pets section of Web MD, feeding dogs excessive salt can result in dehydration and sodium ion poisoning. Don't do that to your dog (and don't give them pretzels or other salty snacks, for the same reason).

Ingredients

3 pounds ground turkey or chicken
2 pounds sweet potatoes
12 ounce bag frozen peas and carrots
DO NOT ADD SALT!

Directions

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, then shred them. You can chop them, but it will take a lot longer. Microwave shredded sweet potatoes for 1 minute on High.

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2. Add ground chicken or turkey to a large pan on medium heat, breaking up any chunks. Brown on all sides. Drain the grease, then return the meat to the pan.

3. Stir in sweet potatoes thoroughly to fully coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas and carrots. Cook for another minute or two, then remove from heat.

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4. Allow to cool somewhat, then serve. Store most of it in freezer-safe containers, and defrost as needed.
 
I've made dogfood for my dogs in the past, and my ex-wife made dog treats for them.

We researched what was good and bad for dogs first, although, when my dog Casey was 17 years old and in her final weeks, and wouldn't eat, I gave her all kinds of food that's not good for dogs, beacuse she would eat it. I tried the same thing with Teddy, but he barfed it back up. Casey died of old age, Teddy died of cancer. I think that may have been the difference.

Anyway, our dogs loved the treats my ex baked for them, and they were healthier than treats from the pet store.

But, like you said, not really suited for the human palate. We tried the dog treats, and they were not good, but the dogs loved them. As for the dog food I made, it was bland, but not bad tasting. Just very bland.

I think sweet potatoes may have been in the dog treats. Not sure, but it sounds familiar.

CD
 
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Our GSD Vito was a Wedding gift from a very good friend, this was back in 1993.
At the time, I asked our Vet what foods I could make for him, and give him a healthy diet.
She told me to just buy the commercial foods :headshake:
Granted, this was back in the days where the WWW wasn't so great, but I did research and came up with a great diet for him.
He lived to be 12 years old, that's kinds old for a GSD.
 
caseydog said:
But, like you said, not really suited for the human palate. We tried the dog treats, and they were not good, but the dogs loved them. As for the dog food I made, it was bland, but not bad tasting. Just very bland.

I think sweet potatoes may have been in the dog treats. Not sure, but it sounds familiar.
Click to expand...

Hey...dog treats: great idea! I might not have time to cook as often for the humans in my house, but I will make time for my dogs. :laugh:
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
View attachment 90663
I ate dog food today, and I don’t mind admitting that I liked it. It was a bit bland, but otherwise it was tasty, and I can't blame my dogs for liking it, too.

Over the years, I've tried giving my dogs a variety of dog foods, from the crappy, low-end ones that I realized soon are not good for them, to a higher end product produced by a service called The Farmer's Dog. The dogs loved what they provided, and I was happy about that, except for one thing: it was costing me about $50/week to feed my two 25-pound pugs. We used to joke that they're eating better than the people in our house.

But, I've been making their food using variations of this recipe for a while now. When I posted the ground chicken on the "what did you cook" thread, I used it for the first such recipe. Since then, I've alternated ground chicken with ground turkey.

Everything in this recipe is natural: chicken or turkey, sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots. That's it. And, doing it myself cuts down the cost considerably. At this point, I am paying maybe $15 a week, which is comparable to feeding them cans of Alpo (which isn't a particularly great commercial brand).

One important point: DO NOT ADD SALT. I mentioned that this makes a bland recipe, but it's exactly what dogs need. Per the pets section of Web MD, feeding dogs excessive salt can result in dehydration and sodium ion poisoning. Don't do that to your dog (and don't give them pretzels or other salty snacks, for the same reason).

Ingredients

3 pounds ground turkey or chicken
2 pounds sweet potatoes
12 ounce bag frozen peas and carrots
DO NOT ADD SALT!

Directions

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, then shred them. You can chop them, but it will take a lot longer. Microwave shredded sweet potatoes for 1 minute on High.

View attachment 90662

2. Add ground chicken or turkey to a large pan on medium heat, breaking up any chunks. Brown on all sides. Drain the grease, then return the meat to the pan.

3. Stir in sweet potatoes thoroughly to fully coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas and carrots. Cook for another minute or two, then remove from heat.

View attachment 90664

4. Allow to cool somewhat, then serve. Store most of it in freezer-safe containers, and defrost as needed.
Click to expand...
Very easy to make and cheaper than I thought it would be, thanks for posting! I just made this last night for my 6 Year old Pug, he was having issues with bag food and I figured why not try this, I was wondering how much you feed your dogs? Mine is about 25 lbs also. I started with about 11oz a day divided into 2 meals.
 
We have had the pugs on dry Science Diet, the appropriate formula for their age and activity level for years. A couple of months ago, I started cutting down on their morning kibble by half and replacing with Fresh Pet. The cat too. Boy oh boy has there been an increase in their appetites and their skin and coats have better textures.

I haven't had to make chicken and rice for upset tummies since I started the Fresh Pet either.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Is fresh pet raw or cooked food?

Kate’s a great name for a dog!
Click to expand...
It’s cooked but made from extremely high-quality ingredients. I think it’s even rated as safe for human consumption.

It comes in either a soft kibble or a tube, like lunchmeat, and one thing you’d notice right off the bat…the stuff actually smells good.

Kate’s name…I’ll try and keep it short, but she sort of fell into our laps unexpectedly. We were on a waitlist with English Setter Rescue, and our requirements were so specific, we were told to expect a 2-3 year wait, but they called us just a couple of days later, saying they had a dog that met every last one of our requirements.

Only problem was, we had to take her as-is - no vet checkup, no included spaying, no nothing. In exchange, they waived the $150 adoption fee, but we had to get her that weekend, and she was three hours north of us.

Turned out, she’d been living wild for a couple of months and had wandered into the foster home of an Australian Shepherd rescue, and the woman running that was leaving posthaste because her dad was dying and she had to get back to her home.

We were rolling up there, thinking, “She’s an English Setter, but the Llewelyn variety, so that’s Welsh, she needs a good English or Welsh name…Margaret/Maggie…no, too Thatchery…Gwen/Gwendolyn/Gwenyth…possibly…”

When we got there, the woman was understandably in a hurry, so she pretty much threw the dog in the car, wished us luck and left us when two comments:

“Oh, yeah, she’s got diarrhea, so watch out fer that, and…I don’t know if you’ve thought ‘bout names, but I’ve been callin’ ‘er Kate, and she seems ta like ‘at.”

So…Kate it was!

2021-01-03 103401-558983.jpeg
 
TastyReuben said:
It’s cooked but made from extremely high-quality ingredients. I think it’s even rated as safe for human consumption.

It comes in either a soft kibble or a tube, like lunchmeat, and one thing you’d notice right off the bat…the stuff actually smells good.

Kate’s name…I’ll try and keep it short, but she sort of fell into our laps unexpectedly. We were on a waitlist with English Setter Rescue, and our requirements were so specific, we were told to expect a 2-3 year wait, but they called us just a couple of days later, saying they had a dog that met every last one of our requirements.

Only problem was, we had to take her as-is - no vet checkup, no included spaying, no nothing. In exchange, they waived the $150 adoption fee, but we had to get her that weekend, and she was three hours north of us.

Turned out, she’d been living wild for a couple of months and had wandered into the foster home of an Australian Shepherd rescue, and the woman running that was leaving posthaste because her dad was dying and she had to get back to her home.

We were rolling up there, thinking, “She’s an English Setter, but the Llewelyn variety, so that’s Welsh, she needs a good English or Welsh name…Margaret/Maggie…no, too Thatchery…Gwen/Gwendolyn/Gwenyth…possibly…”

When we got there, the woman was understandably in a hurry, so she pretty much threw the dog in the car, wished us luck and left us when two comments:

“Oh, yeah, she’s got diarrhea, so watch out fer that, and…I don’t know if you’ve thought ‘bout names, but I’ve been callin’ ‘er Kate, and she seems ta like ‘at.”

So…Kate it was!

View attachment 117042
Click to expand...
Beautiful, piebald, one of my absolute favourites.
 
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