Homemade Dogfood

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My grandfather would pressure cook chicken (bones and all) and feed it to his Saint Bernards. He would also toss them things like possums and raccoons (and once, a whole deer carcass that someone had hit up close to his house)

I dunno about the science behind it (and this was 30odd years ago) but he swore whole cooked chicken including bones was good for them, so about once a month he'd make them a batch)

Those Saints would leave no trace of smaller critters, the only deer bones they ended up not consuming were the skull and femurs and maybe the hips. Ribs, spine, hide, everything else they eventually chewed up and swallowed. (Someone hit a deer or whatever out in front of his house, he fed it to them, Grandpa was practical)

He always joked (or was he joking...) that he could get rid of all of the bodies that way. Wait till they were picked clean and ax the bigger bits and even those would be gone the next day.

When I first watched that show Tiger King I was like "yep, Carol Baskins definitely fed hubs 1 to the tigers" cause if a Saint can do it, a tiger could do it twice as fast.
 
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I have been grinding the scraps for the deer and elk we harvest for out dog that we got 9 years ago. He's a mutt about to turn ten. He always had a lot of puppy in him but is now starting to be an adult dog. This past year I have started adding the hearts and livers into the grind. Read somewhere that organ meats are pretty important to his diet. He gets a 1/2 cup-ish of his dry food in the morning, and a 1/4 lb of the meat plus sprinkles of his dry on top. And, yes, when I put that small amount on top of the meat I always yell out sprinkles. I don't cook the meat, as I figure no one is cooking the meat for the coyote or wolves.

I have also started to keep all of the pike I catch and once I get enough I'll be adding some fruits and veggies to it. All will go through the grinder and that will be his breakfast. Of course with, "SPRINKLES!!!"

I have talked with his vet and agrees whole heartedly that this is a much better diet than you can buy anywhere, and has no problem with the raw aspect of it. I'd add an egg now and then, but they just cost way too much.

Oh, I used to give him bones but stopped. He started choking on one a few years back. That bone ended up splintering and go caught in his throat. It had also been frozen. I still give him a few bones when we process a deer or elk, but no frozen bones anymore.

Whatever is left from processing an animal that doesn't go to us or the dog goes to the coyotes, bob cats, mountain lions, and probably a lone wolf or two. Not that I've seen a wolf that I can swear by, but they are in the state and spreading.
 
My grandfather would pressure cook chicken (bones and all) and feed it to his Saint Bernards.
I give Lucy raw chicken wings occasionally, but not Bailey. He's 12 and I've had most of his teeth pulled due to decay. I've always heard never give a dog cooked bones, but not sure what a pressure cooked chicken bone would be like...
This past year I have started adding the hearts and livers into the grind. Read somewhere that organ meats are pretty important to his diet.
I've read a ton about dog nutrition and what's good for them and raw organ meat is excellent. Because beef live is the easiest for me to get, I give mine some of that every morning with their other food...
I have talked with his vet and agrees whole heartedly that this is a much better diet than you can buy anywhere, and has no problem with the raw aspect of it.
Raw is very good for dogs. We have to remember that before they were domesticated, they ate everything raw...
Oh, I used to give him bones but stopped.
Only bones I give Lucy are raw chicken and fish. Raw chicken wings are a special treat for her, but I've also given her raw chicken legs, too. She has no problem with them. Both of my dogs will get raw meat of all kinds whenever I'm prepping for supper. They know when I'm standing at the counter, what's coming...😄

For reference, Lucy is 37 lbs. and 5 years old. Bailey is 12 and 30 lbs.
 
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So... I'm going to make this as written this weekend. Just waiting for the quart containers that Mr. Bezos says will be here Friday. Biggest I have is a 20 quart pot unless you count the steamer pot which is yuge. Also, I saved the receipt to do a cost comparison but I'll be damned if I can find it. I probably tossed it not paying attention. Anyhow, a few weeks ago I took Thing #1 to the vet because he was getting fat quick. Figured I'd be getting the business about my dogs diet and exercise but that would have been much preferred to what went down. Short story is he was diagnosed with right side heart failure and was full of fluid, not fat. They called in a mobile ultrasound guy who had quite the badass setup. They drained 2400+ ml of fluids out of him, and he's now on 4 meds for life (one is generic viagra sidenafil something) and now seemed to be the time to change his diet for the better, vet concurs as does a good friend who had a dog with CHF also. Said the diet made a huge difference. So, since they drained him and put him on a million pills a day he is as happy and energetic as ever and isn't filling back up which is the big concern and what the meds are supposed to prevent. This recipe ticks apretty much all the boxes from everything I read inre dog nutrition and vitamin / mineral requirements. Thanks again for posting this and I'll let ya know how it turns out info. I have no worries about either dog not liking this... they are serious chow hounds.
thank you so much for your suggestion
 
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Next time I think I'm going to run the meat and non-frozen veggies thru the kidney plate just to save some knife work.
I made another batch yesterday and used my grinder. I learned that apples don't grind well. My grinder turned them into apple sauce or apple juice. I even tried grinding them with a carrot or potato. Made a mess, but in the end, I was able to use them anyway. Next time, I'll cut them up like before. Carrots and sweet potatoes went through with no problems...
 
I made another batch yesterday and used my grinder. I learned that apples don't grind well. My grinder turned them into apple sauce or apple juice. I even tried grinding them with a carrot or potato. Made a mess, but in the end, I was able to use them anyway. Next time, I'll cut them up like before. Carrots and sweet potatoes went through with no problems...
Thanks for the heads up...Good to know! My thought was to use the kidney plate.. what did you use? I'm going to make a batch this coming weekend. Looks like the original batch of 14 quarts is going to last me just shy of 2 months. I have 4 quarts left in the freezer and a half in the fridge. I mix it with their kibble twice a day as I'd be making this every few weeks if I fed it to them as their primary food source.
 
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My thought was to use the kidney plate.. what did you use?
I have a dual grind setup and I started with the ¼", or 6mm, along with the required kidney plate. I realized that wasn't going to work so I switched it out for a second kidney plate. It could be the apple variety, I used Gala this time. A firmer apple such as Granny Smith might work better, but I always buy the cheapest apples I can find which tend to be Red Delicious and Gala, both are on the softer side...
 
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I have a dual grind setup and I started with the ¼", or 6mm, along with the required kidney plate. I realized that wasn't going to work so I switched it out for a second kidney plate. It could be the apple variety, I used Gala this time. A firmer apple such as Granny Smith might work better, but I always buy the cheapest apples I can find which tend to be Red Delicious and Gala, both are on the softer side...
Gotcha. I don't have a dual grind setup. I'll see how it works out on Saturday.
 
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