How Do You Make Raw Dog Food At Home?

Although feeding raw food does not need cooking, it does necessitate research, preparation, time, effort, and patience.

The recipes you pick must give your dog the proper nutritional balance for its size, age, and activity level. A diverse diet made up of high-quality foods is the greatest approach to attain this aim. 

Let’s take a look at how you can make this delicious diet for your dog in the comfort of your home.

Is a raw diet good for your dog?

We search for diets that incorporate ingredients that are simple to digest and promote our pets' long-term health, but there is still a major blind spot for pet owners when it comes to knowing what's truly in their dog's food, especially in overly processed diets.

By removing the mysterious chemicals and synthetic additives from your dog's diet and replacing them with highly digestible nutrients from fresh, raw foods, you can regain control of its nutrition.

Moreover, feeding your dog a raw food diet has several health benefits. These are some of them:

• Leaner, more muscular build
• Teeth that are cleaner
• Fresher breath
• Less body odor
• More energy
• Improvements to the skin and coat

Making raw dog food at home

When it comes to preparing raw meals, you must start from the beginning. Protein, fat, carbs, and vitamins are all included in most dog foods. It's up to you to figure out how to reintroduce that well-balanced raw dog food diet at home.

While it may appear complicated at first, there is a formula that makes meal planning considerably simpler. While it does not guarantee optimal nutrient concentrations within the diet, it does help in mimicking an ancestral wild diet. 

Many dog owners all around the globe utilize the 5:1:1 recipe. The ratio of components in the recipe is healthy. Five parts bone-in meat, one part fresh organ meat, and one part fresh vegetables should make up your dog's diet.

Here’s a general way to prepare a raw meal for your dog:

• First, take any minced or diced meat of your choice.
• Secondly, choose a meat organ of your choice and mix it with the minced meat.
• Then, grate fresh veggies into it.
• Make sure the measurements are about that 23% meat and 13% vegetable.
• Then mix these ingredients and add fish oil to make your dog’s meal more nutritious.

What ingredients are in a raw diet?

The type of ingredients you include in your dog’s raw meals depends on your dog’s preferences. For example, some dogs may not like to eat fish, while others would prefer beef.

Because it's tough to precisely balance every meal, strive for nutritional balance throughout multiple meals or days.

This is accomplished by providing your dog with an array of diverse ingredients.

Here are the most common ingredients included in raw dog foods:

• Lean ground meat and heart  (eg. beef heart)
• Raw meat organs( eg: beef liver)
• Vegetables 
• Fish oil
• Supplements of your choice

On another note, these supplements can be added to your dog’s meals if it’s not getting the nutrients it needs from its diet or if it needs a dietary boost for better health.

There’s a lot of good supplements for a raw diet that can be added to your dog’s meal. Therefore, always ask your veterinarian for advice before feeding your dog any vitamins or supplements.

Best raw food for dogs

Here’s a list of the best raw food you can include in your canine’s diet:

• Chicken 
• Beef 
• Venison 
• Duck 
• Salmon 
• Kale 
• Apples 
• Sweet potatoes
• Pumpkin 

Learn more about the best raw food for your dog and its nutritional advantages.

How much homemade dog food to feed?

You'll have to do some research and studying if you want to start cooking raw dog food at home.

Before you can figure out how much raw food to give a dog, you must first understand the nutrients that its body requires.

Here are a few factors that will influence how much raw dog food you can feed your pet:

• Age 
• Breed
• Size 
• Activeness level
• Medical history 
• Environmental factors

Nonetheless, the general rule of thumb when feeding your dog raw is that you should feed it around 2-4% of its body weight. So, for instance, if your dog weighs 23 kg, you should feed it around 453.59 g. This is only a starting point, closely monitor your dog’s weight change. 

Is it cheaper to make raw dog food at home?

Making your dog food can help you save money on conventional dog food. However, it's vital to evaluate the work required to prepare the meal in a commercial facility. Hence, doing so at home may be difficult. 

The safety of feeding raw meat to your dog is another hot topic of dispute. We've long been taught that bacteria found in raw meat may be hazardous to humans, so it's natural to believe that your dogs are in the same boat

For example, Salmonella, E. coli, and listeria are among the germs that can be detected in raw meat. It's crucial to remember this while working with raw meat.

Therefore, it will be wiser to consider the advantages and disadvantages and determine what is best for you and your canine.

We would recommend you to get a pre-prepared raw meal. This meal usually comes frozen or fresh and requires no or very little preparation other than heating. Hence, this will save you time and the challenges of how to handle raw meats safely. 

You can try Petcubes’ Raw Dog Food that comes in chicken, beef and more tasty delights. Our meals are made with premium ingredients that are highly nutritious and beneficial for your pet’s health.

Can I add vegetables to my dog’s raw meal?

Vegetables in the dogs’ diet can be beneficial. It is also a fantastic way to keep your dog healthy while also lowering costs and avoiding additional trips to the pet store.

Dogs also require a diverse range of organic foods and nutrients to maintain a healthy diet. Fibre, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and phytonutrients present in vegetables are not found in meat. 

It's critical to feed your dog a variety of veggies since each type has a unique set of nutrients. For example, corn and potatoes provide them with energy-giving carbs as well as minerals and fibre. 

However, it’s worth mentioning that the enzyme responsible for breaking down plant cell walls is absent in dogs. As a result, we must provide them with puréed or gently boiled plant materials. That way, they'll be able to digest it properly and absorb all of the nutrients.

Conclusion 

Raw foods are high in good fats and carbs. Making raw dog food at home allows you to carefully regulate the amount of fat in each meal, which helps you keep your dog's weight even more.

Reviewed by: 

Dr Francis Cabana

Dr Francis is one of the top wildlife nutritionists in Asia. Originating from Montreal, Canada, he left at 21 to pursue his Masters and subsequently a PhD in wildlife nutrition at Oxford Brookes University. Instead of taking the path of common animal science to learn about farm animals, or through the veterinarian space and taking a certificate in nutrition, he took the road less travelled to dive deep into the world of animal ecology, metabolism and nutrition.