Dog Food for a Crowd!

Boundaries? We hasn’t any!!!

As most of you know, I cook for my dogs; they are after all my furbabies!  Here is their favorite recipe which I make weekly.  It is very easy to add those nutrients your dogs need.  The recipe as it is provides good fat, wonderful protein, lots of Vitamin A, E and C as well as calcium.

7 lb beef heart trimmed to 1/4″ of fat

12 eggs blended with shells

1 lg can pumpkin

2 Tbs Kosher salt, coarse grind

2 10 oz boxes of spinach

2 cups cooked old fashioned or scotch oats

1 C Olive Oil (EVOO, or Fish, or Flax seed) 1

Loosely chop heart into 1/2″ pieces.  Smaller if you have small dogs.  Place in a very large roasting pan.  Blend eggs with the shells, pumpkin, oil, and salt until quite emulsified and then pour over the heart in the pan.  To the pan add oats and spinach lightly mixing by hand or a large spoon.  Bake at 425F for 90 minutes.  Cool completely and portion to your dogs serving size.

General Rule of Thumb for portions:

1 – 2 % of body weight for inactive dogs

2 – 3 % of body weight for moderately active dogs

3 – 4% of body weight for very active dogs.

Troy, our Mastiff Cross (130 lbs) gets 14 oz am and pm which is 1.5% of his total body weight.  His idea of activity is thinking about walking to his food dish.  He has knee problems so we keep him lean but not skinny.  You can’t see his ribs but he has a nice waist.

Axle, our Pit Bull (80 lbs) gets 14 oz am and pm which is 3% of his total body weight.  He is quite active, runs around the yard, pounds on the staffy from the time they get up until the time they go to bed with brief vigorous naps in between.  He is less than 20% body fat, lean, thick, and tremendously strong!  His muscles absolutely ripple when he walks.  There is NO jiggle anywhere but no ribs either.

Gus-Gus, our Stafforshire bull terrier (50 lbs) get 9 oz am and pm which is about 2% of his total body weight.  He and the Pitbull thoroughly trounce each other every day with vigorous naps in between.  By the time we go to bed, he is passed out from the activity.  He is square like a good staffy should be, but there is no jiggle.  He too ripples when he walks!

8:30 pm and all is well with the world

Cookies for the Doggies

Pumpkin is GREAT for digestion in dogs, or so I’m told by a veterinarian.  However trying to get them to eat it off the spoon, well rather difficult.  Here’s a fabulous recipe which hides the pumpkin but gives a treat!  I found this on another blog but have adapted it to my dogs taste!

1 C canned pumpkin

4 eggs

3 tsp kosher salt

4 1/2 C Garbanzo bean flour  (brown rice flour works as well; don’t’ use wheat or corn flour, they are not well tolerated and could be an allergen for many dogs!)

Garbanzo flour to knead (about 1 C)

Whip together pumpkin, eggs and salt; turn mixer down to 2 or 3 and then slowly incorporate the flour until you have a sticky stiff dough.  Flour your hands and scoop out about 1/4 C of the dough.  Knead just enough flour into the dough to handle.  Make snakes of the dough about 1/2 ” in diameter and then cut snakes into 1/2 ” links.  Press lightly each link with your thumb or fingers.  Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.  Cool Completely before feeding or storing.  Make well over 200 dime sized treats!