By now, most of us health foodies, have learned that opting for whole/made from scratch food is the best way to reap the benefits of a nutritionally dense, enriching diet. We know that buying packaged foods is unhealthy because they are full of chemicals, fillers and additives that are bad for our health. But have you ever read the ingredient list of your pet food? It's full of unhealthy fillers that most nutritionists would label BAD: soy, corn, white rice, potato starch+ These grains and vegetables are not only empty of nutritional value, but they are biologically inappropriate for canines.
After watching Pet Fooled I realized that I have to make the same healthy choice for my dog as I have for myself. Now, when I say the same healthy choices I mean made from scratch/fresh/organic. I think some people take this notion a bit too far and try to feed their dogs human super foods like flax and chia seeds, but come on--seeds are for birds! Dogs share about 99% of their DNA with wolves, and what kind of diet do wolves have? Strictly protein. Wolves living in the wild eat meat. Fresh, wild-caught meat. If you want to add in a dog superfood give them some Bone Broth or beef/lamb/pork bones or cartilage (no bird bones though, as those can shatter and cause harm).
Now, if I were a little more rich, I would be buying grass-fed, organic meat for my dog and feeding it fresh and raw. But I can barely afford quality meat for myself so I have economized with this simple 2 ingredient dog food that I have come up with after some trial and error with my FurBaby. All you need is sweet potatoes and ground meat; I like to use turkey. Yes, sweet potato is a filler, but it is a nutritious root and I include it because a small amount of cooked meat did not seem to satiate my dog for the whole rest of the day til dinner. If it were more affordable I would just give him a larger quantity of meat-only, but I have to be really frugal and sweet potato is cost effective.
Also, when first transitioning your dog to this, you might need to add a little bit of cooked white rice, just for the first week or 2 (to keep the upset stomach at bay) while your dog gets used to this new food. I do find that when feeding super fresh raw meat to my dog, his stomach does not need to adjust at all, so if you're interested in going full raw, just make sure you do your research and read all the safety guidelines, but I personally believe that is the most healthy and natural food a dog can eat.
Also, be aware of your dog's dental health, certain breeds (including my little Pom) are advised to eat dry food instead of wet to prevent tooth decay. Since the meat diet is wet food, you would have to brush your dog's teeth every day to keep them living longer and healthier and to save yourself the expense of a $400 dental cleaning!
Recipe
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 2 pounds fresh ground meat (I have a 10-pound dog, depending on your dog's size you will need to increase the ingredient amounts while keeping the same ratio)
- Fill a medium pot with water and boil the potatoes for about 20mins until almost cooked
- Add the meat and cook another 5-10 minutes until it looks fully cooked and there is no pink
- Strain the mixture, mash the potato and mix/mash the mixture together so that the potato is evenly distributed throughout the meat
- Separate into portions, refrigerate 4-5 days' worth and freeze the rest
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