Dog Raw Food Diet- Alternative to Canned Wet Food

I made some delicious homemade dog food because I have exhausted my wet food coupon stash!  It's actually kinda fun to throw random healthy stuff in a food processor and know that no matter how weird it may taste to us, it will taste delicious to your LOVES!!

I used BARF raw diet sample pack for dogs.  I used 1 patty and 4 patties come in 1 sample pack.  Go to your local Natural Pet Foods store that has freezer storage capabilities they should have BARF diet.  BARF.  Or go HERE and see where the store nearest you that sells them is.  Most of these stores will have free samples to give you to try.  Keep in mind that this is RAW food and needs to be stored properly i.e. Frozen.  Only defrost it on the morning that you intend to use it by placing it in the fridge.  DON'T leave it out as to avoid any bacteria build-up.

Also, keep in mind that if your dog has been eating processed kibble for their entire lives, their stomach may not react well if you switch from a 100% kibble diet to a 100% raw diet.  I would recommend placing a tablespoon of the raw diet on top of their kibble and keep increasing the amount of raw and decreasing the kibble every day very slowly until you have reached 100% raw if you intend to feed them ONLY raw food.  I only use this raw mix as a supplement and as an alternative to canned wet food.  It's nice to know what actually goes into my dog's food!

Another alternative is to use Nature's Variety Raw food, they come in nuggets so that you can defrost a smaller amount if needed.  Go HERE to get a coupon for $3 off!! I have used these before too and the dogs love them!  I didn't use them this time only because I ran out :-(

Here's my recipe:

• (1) BARF patty defrosted
• (1/4 cup) Organic 0% fat plain yogurt (if you use another type, make sure it has no sugar!!)
• (2 Tbsp) Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil
• (1 Tbsp) Smuckers Organic Peanut Butter
• (3/4 cup) Organic Butternut Squash diced up (in tupperware with red lid)

If you do use Stonyfield Yogurt be sure to sign up for Stonyfield Rewards to get FREE stuff!   They also have coupons on their website that you can stack with Whole Foods coupons to get a nice deal on their yogurt.  Even better if your Publix accepts Whole Foods coupons!

You can also throw in other things you many have in your fridge like clean spinach leaves or  carrots but I would try to make the majority of the mix a protein so if you add more veggies be sure to add more of the BARF raw diet too!

From time to time, I will also put in some vitamins or supplements.  Some supplements I add in are:

- Fish Oil (great for senior dogs)

-Acidophilus (for when they're having stomach issues)

- Coconut Oil (great for their coats and stomach!)

- Glucosamine (great for joints of senior dogs)

- Baby Aspirin (for arthritis in senior dogs)

This mix is PERFECT to mix in whatever medicine your vet gives you to feed your LOVES especially when they're giving you a hard time eating it on its own.

Put all ingredients in food processor!

Mix in a little extra veggies if the mix is too liquidy

And it's done! This is like crack for dogs! They LOVE this stuff!

From a savings point of view I only spent around $1.50 (overestimate) on this batch and it yielded enough wet food topping for about 2 weeks.  The cost was so low because the BARF raw food was a free sample and I only used minimal amounts of the other ingredients.  I only used  about 1/5 of the organic butternut squash I bought at $1.99.  Even though it's enough for 2 weeks, I don't keep it for this long but I have 2 dogs and 2 foster dogs so this only lasted a few days but if you were only to feed one dog, this would last around 2 weeks.  Try to only make enough raw mix for a week or less so it doesn't spoil!  Remember it's raw meat in there!

The great thing is that most of the ingredients that are added in with the raw food is stuff you may already have and don't have to buy uniquely for your dogs!  With that said, here are some things you should NEVER feed your dog...

• Garlic
• Chocolate
• Grapes & Raisins
• Avocado
• onions
• Coffee, Tea and other caffeine sources
• Macadamia Nuts
• Sugar
• Peaches & Plums

NOTE:  Some dogs may not react well to lactose but I have NEVER had an issue with my dogs.  Just like humans, dogs can also be lactose intolerant so before you give your dog a fat scoop of heavy yogurt, give him just a taste and see how it goes.  I don't think you should have any problems since even people who are lactose intolerant (like myself) don't usually have problems with yogurt due to the live probiotics within them that aid in digestion but it's always best to test the waters first!!


Try it out and let me know how it goes!