Thanksgiving Treat Dog Food Recipe

This lens was chosen as Lens of the Day on November 20th, 2009 and $1,000.00 has been donated to the Humane Society of the United States!

Thank you Squidoo!

My dog Sydney is half Australian Shepherd and half Belgian Shepherd (Tervuren type). I trained her to be a Hearing Ear dog and she has been a wonderful companion over the past 13 years. There is much more to her story, which I plan to write about at another time, but for the purpose of this lens, I will explain some of her eating and food issues and how I wound up making her food for her.

When she was about nine months old, she started scratching her ear and shaking her head so we took her to the veterinarian's office to find out that she had an ear infection that was fungal (yeast) in origin. We left with ear drops and after about a week, the infection went away and our puppy was back to her normal bouncy self. Three months later, the same thing happened again. Another visit to the vet, more drops. Lather, rinse, repeat. Since it appeared that this was an allergic reaction, (to what, we had no idea, but it was thought to be environmental, like grass or pollen) the vet added antihistamines to the treatment regimen. We started taking the large bottle of drops home so that we could treat at the first sign of symptoms.

Fast forward ten years. Yet another infection, yet another (expensive) trip to the vet. This time, we ended up in the exam room with a new veterinarian and she asked us if we had ever considered the possibility of this being a food allergy. No one had ever suggested this to us before so we decided to try a limited ingredient formula using a new protein source (rabbit). After we recovered from seeing the price tag, we loaded up on some dry food and some canned food and went home with a strict warning about feeding only the prescription food. No other treats allowed. This was a sad, sad day for Sydney because she loves her cookies and extra treats (rewards for doing her Hearing Ear work). Especially her favorite, freeze-dried chicken strips. This becomes important later on.

Dog nutrition is rife with controversy and differences of opinion. There are debates and outright battles over the proper way to feed dogs. My husband and I have both always had success with free feeding so that is what we do with Sydney. She has a food bowl that is always full of dry food ready for her to eat when the urge strikes. We have never had issues with her weight (aside from when my son was a toddler and Sydney was enjoying the high chair buffet) so it seems to work for us.

Well, Syd is a bit of an odd duck at times. She self-regulates her food intake by only eating when someone is in the room "watching" her eat. Seriously. We never considered this to be a problem except that she would invariably vomit yellow, foamy liquid (sorry if this grosses you out) once or twice a week. After doing some research (the internet is a wonderful thing), it appeared that she was doing this because her stomach was empty for prolonged periods of time. We have a busy schedule with a child, rushing out the door in the morning and sometimes not coming home until later in the evening, and apparently she was not eating at all while we were gone from the house. When we were home, she would gulp down food as fast as she could. So, we came up with a plan to feed her each morning, and in order to entice her to eat her morning meal, we started adding a small amount of canned food to a handful of kibble in a separate bowl. It worked like a charm. No more funky yellow stains on the carpet to clean up. It was a win for her and a win for us!

Ok, back to the food allergy story. After about a month and a half of feeding the rabbit food, things seemed to be going well. No problems with her ear so far. Sydney was eating the food, but her interest seemed to be waning slightly. Sometimes she would leave some in the bowl, or even not eat it at all. Meanwhile, languishing in the pantry was a bag of freeze-dried chicken strips that we had just bought prior to switching her food. One day, I forgot about the moratorium on treats and gave her one of the strips. She was ecstatic and played with it for five minutes before eating it. But, blammo, three days later she started scratching her ear and shaking her head. AHA! Chicken is the culprit!

We have now eliminated chicken entirely from the foods she eats and she has only had three additional infections in almost three years. This may still seem like a lot, but she was having them about every three months before this. So, this is a tremendous improvement. And, we have been able to trace those three infections back to some sort of chicken consumption. We do a lot of label reading now. Do you know how many dog food products contain chicken? A majority of them, even so-called non-chicken flavors. You would think a food labeled as being "beef stew" flavor would not contain any chicken. At least I did, and I was wrong. To me, this really drove home the importance of reading food labels. It is amazing (and sometimes disgusting) to see what kind of products the food manufacturers expect us to feed our dogs.

Since then, we have been able to switch Sydney from the prescription dog food over to kibble that is made with venison or fish with sweet potato supplemented with her morning bribe of canned food in whatever chicken-free flavor we can find.

As of September, 2009, Sydney is the ripe old age of 13. She is still very active and loves to play with her non-squeaky toys. Over the summer, we started noticing that she was wobbling a bit when she was walking and sometimes she would yelp when trying to get up from a lying down position. We made an appointment to take her to the vet and the vet suspected a spinal issue so suggested taking some x-rays. After the doctor viewed the x-rays, Sydney was diagnosed with spinal stenosis which is putting pressure on her spinal cord causing pain. She is now taking Metacam and Tramadol for the pain and seems to be feeling much better these days. I am also doing physical therapy exercises with her as well.

You may be wondering what this has to do with my making dog food. Trust me, it does, stay with me just a bit longer. Sydney is a bit of a delicate flower. She doesn't like being messed with...she doesn't like to be brushed, she hates the exercises. She really hates being medicated. The Metacam is a liquid given in a syringe and the Tramadol is a pill. She receives both each morning. She knows the routine. Breakfast is served each morning around 7:30 a.m. She typically follows me down the hall into the kitchen and waits for her bowl to be prepared (rough life, eh?). So, around the second or third week of her medication regimen, I would reach up into the cupboard for the medication and prepare the syringe and turn around. No dog. She is GONE. Adios.

This is great fun for me. I am on a tight schedule...mornings are not my friend. My tween is probably complaining about something or other (because his life is so difficult, right?). I am trying to coax an uncooperative dog out from the side of the bed. Yeah. Canned dog food isn't even helping. She just looks at me balefully from the floor. Enter, the ultimate bribe: hot dogs. She would do just about anything for a hot dog. So, I start hiding the pill in a chunk of hot dog and that works. I hate giving her hot dogs because they are full of nitrates and chemicals I don't really want her to have, not to mention the fat content. But, I don't know what else to do to get her to take her medicine consistently with a minimum of turmoil. She does not respond well to just shoving a pill down her throat. So, for me, the hot dog was the lesser of two evils.

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One day this past summer, I received an email from my sister-in-law asking if I was interested in taking a dog food making class through her local community education program. I said sure and ponied up my money for the class. A few weeks later, we attended the class and received a booklet of information about dog nutrition. In the class, the instructor demonstrated the process of making the food. It smelled great and seemed fairly easy from a preparation standpoint. She gave each of the students a portion of the already prepared food and we went our merry way.

The next morning, I opened up the container and let Sydney have a sniff. She was very interested and sat there patiently waiting. But, the true test was when I reached up to get the medication. When I turned back around, wonder of wonders, she was still sitting there next to me, with her nose twitching madly. I hid the pill in a little gob of food and she gulped it down! I prepared her breakfast bowl and she raced me to her feeding area! I was thrilled, but figured that her interest would wear off after a few days. Happily though, it has been a couple of months now and she is still loving her food. She also seems to have more energy and a spring to her step that she didn't have before we switched to this food.

Ingredients:
6 lbs ground turkey
1 lb sweet potato
12 oz green beans (fresh)
16 oz carrots (fresh; baby or regular)
6 oz whole cranberries (fresh, in the bag)
12-15 garlic cloves (peeled and trimmed)
2 TB Nutritional Yeast
2 TB ground flaxseed
1 tsp eggshell powder (see below for explanation)

Cooking Directions:

Cook the ground turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. Or, if it is easier, divide the turkey into two pans. Stir frequently and break up large chunks. Cook until liquid runs clear and the meat is no longer pink.

While the turkey is cooking, you can start steaming the vegetables. This is a multi-phase process because of the variable cooking time for the different vegetables. I start the longer cooking ones first and add the quicker cooking ones in stages. I like to cook all of the vegetables in the microwave using one bowl to save on dishes. Microwaving times may be variable depending on the power of your microwave, so the times listed below may be different for you. Just make note of what works for your microwave for the next time.

First, peel the sweet potatoes and cut into medium sized chunks. Cook in microwave (or other steaming unit) for 4 minutes. Add the carrots (if you are using baby carrots, you can cook them as is; if you are using regular carrots, wash them and remove the tops). Steam the carrots until they just start to become tender (about 5-6 minutes in the microwave). Once they start to become tender, add the green beans and cook until all of the vegetables are soft and mushy. It is better for them to be slightly overcooked than undercooked so if one type of vegetable is not fully cooked, it is okay to cook the whole group longer to finish them. Set aside to cool.

In another bowl, microwave the cranberries with a small amount of water (approximately 1-2 tablespoons) until they pop and become soft enough to mash, approximately 2-3 minutes. Be sure to cover them, because they can spatter when they pop. Set aside to cool.

Once the cooked vegetables and cranberries have both cooled enough to handle, puree them along with the raw peeled garlic cloves using a blender, food processor or hand masher until they are a smooth consistency (small lumps are okay). Depending on the size of your blender or food processor, you may have to puree the vegetables and cranberries in batches. If you use a blender, you may have to add a small amount of water to allow it to puree.

In a *large* bowl, combine the turkey with the pureed vegetables, cranberries and garlic. Sprinkle the nutritional yeast, ground flax seed and eggshell powder over the mixture and mix again until they are thoroughly incorporated into the food.

Once the food is sufficiently mixed, you can portion it into smaller containers and freeze it for later use. The full recipe makes about 16-18 cups of food. Base the size of your storage containers on how much you will feed your dog in a week (or less). This will depend on whether you want to feed your dog this food exclusively or use it as a supplement to kibble as we do. I divide the food into approximately 2 cup portions and use between 1/4 and 1/3 of a cup per day. If you have a smaller dog, you may want to use smaller containers for freezing. The food will stay good in the refrigerator for about a week.

You can make eggshell powder by grinding up clean, dry eggshells in a coffee grinder or by using a mortar and pestle. Eggshells are made up of calcium; one shell can provide approximately 1,800 milligrams of calcium. The next time you make eggs, just rinse out the shells and put them aside to dry.

Bone appetit!

Please discuss your pet's nutritional needs with your veterinarian before making any drastic changes in what your dog eats. I am not a veterinarian and cannot make any recommendations. I only present my experience with Sydney and this food. She appears to be healthier and happier, but that is only based on my observations of her appearance and behavior.

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There are different opinions on the nutritional needs of canines. The general rule of thumb seems to be about 50% carbohydrates with a minimum of 5-6% fat and 10% protein. These needs also vary depending on the life stage the dog is in. Nursing females and puppies have different requirements than typical adults do. If you would like to learn more, the two links below have more extensive information about dog nutrition.

Your Dog's Nutritional Needs
This link opens a .pdf booklet written by The National Academies that discusses the different facets of nutrition and how the different elements (proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc.) are utilized by dogs. The file requires Adobe Reader.

Dog Food Standards by the AAFCO
This page has a table listing the recommended proportions for nutritional elements.

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I created this lens for the Squidoo Thanksgiving Cook-off for two reasons.

First, even though it is dog food, it seems to fit the Thanksgiving theme because it uses turkey and cranberry.

Second, I am grateful to have finally found a food that my dog enjoys that will enhance her health and make her happy. She plays a very important role in my life.

None of these foods are good for your dog, but some are potentially lethal. Especially dangerous foods are listed in bold face.

Pork
Onion
Pepper
Sugar
Tomatoes
Dairy (except yogurt)
Raisins and grapes
Chocolate
Xylitol (sugar substitute found in many sugar-free gums)
Avocado
Nuts, especially Macadamia Nuts

For a more extensive list of foods and plants that can be dangerous to your pets, visit this page Healthypet.com.

I want to point out that garlic seems to be getting a bad rap on the internet as being dangerous for dogs to consume. Please read this page for more explanation. Garlic does contain the same dangerous chemical as onions, but in much lower proportions such that your dog would have to consume an extreme amount of garlic for it to be dangerous. Garlic has tremendous health benefits so it is a shame to dismiss it out of hand.

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This picture reminds me so much of Sydney and how empathic she is with our family. She definitely feels any emotional turmoil in her environment.