Early last year our family rescued a young dog who came to our home in Goa after injuring herself in the community where we were living which was still operating as an active construction site. We took her to the vet, had her stitched up and brought her home. I started her off with very basic store-bought kibble puppy food.
It was inexpensive, it was easy and it was all I had really known from having a dog when I was younger. Later when we took her to our home in Bangalore we met a couple of pet parents that recommended homemade dog food and I thought that sounded reasonable. Of course homemade is going to be better than store-bought, isn’t that the rule for almost all processed foods whether it is for us or our four-legged friends? I started looking into the different providers and found that there are quite a few available in Bangalore. We tested out three and stayed happily with one for a few months.
WHY HOMEMADE FOOD?
We decided to move back to Goa over a month ago and when we got here I realized that we were spoiled for choice in Bangalore as there are no homemade dog food providers here, but instead of putting her back on kibble I decided to try to make it at home myself. I started off by googling different recipes and by trying to copy the different ingredients given in the dog food that I was purchasing in Bangalore. What I found is that making it at home is fairly easy. It is also a lot more cost-effective and apart from the financial savings I truly know what it is she is eating every day.
I know it is fresh and I know they are great ingredients.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO GET STARTED
*This is a recipe that should allow you to feed a 10kg dog for about one week. In this recipe, I combine chicken and fish but you can modify it to be only chicken or only fish. You can also add different types of lentils or vegetables – play with the recipe, it is hard to go wrong!
1 large pressure cooker
2 chicken breasts boneless
250g chicken liver
100g fish boneless
1 cup chickpeas (large)
1 cup chickpeas (small)
1 cup black eyed peas
1/2 cup red rice
2 medium sweet potato
3-4 medium carrots
1 medium slice of pumpkin or squash
1 packet spinach
PREPARATION
I take all of the items and put them into a large pressure cooker cutting the vegetables into large pieces. I add enough water to almost cover the ingredients and then I cook it on high for four whistles. I wait for everything to cool down and I pour the extra broth out of the cooker (I save that to give her with her breakfast). I then make certain to shred the chicken and fish and mix it completely throughout the mixture. By originally using lentils in their dry form they will now be soft enough to eat but not turn into a paste. The mixture should be chunky and you should be able to easily distinguish what it is your dog will be eating. And that’s it! This recipe is super easy and can be modified to add different types of meat or vegetables. Please make sure to always check online before adding to make certain it is something that your dog can eat.
One thing to make a serious note of is that dogs should never eat cooked bones (unless they are in paste form) so make certain to always use boneless meat when preparing your dogs food. It is also a good idea to move to a new diet slowly, start with replacing ⅓ of their current daily meal with the homecooked meal, then moving it to ½ of their daily intake after 3-4 days, and then completely by end of the week.
GOOD VEGGIES FOR DOGS
Here is a quick list of good veggies for your dog:
Pumpkin
Squash
Sweet potato
Potato
Peas
Carrots
Zucchini
Green beans
Celery
Corn
Spinach
LOCAL HOMEMADE DOG FOOD PROVIDERS IN BANGALORE
DOGGILICIOUUS
One of the first providers in Bangalore – order raw bones and broths along with your dogs daily meal. I ordered the Chicken Chow Chow for our girl and we also sampled some broth and raw lamb bones.
PAWFECTLY MADE
This provider has fully biodegradable packaging and a unique website allowing you to customize weekly meal plans. Our girl tried almost every type of meal available through Pawfectly Made and I found out that our Goan lady loves the fish options!
www.pawfectlymade.com
