Now that our dog is 16 years old, we indulge him. We feed him a lot of organic people food. I’m quite sure he likes this much better than regular dog food.
I’m convinced that giving our healthy people food is good for him. He’s still fairly energetic for his age, and he gets around pretty well. He has no trouble going up or down the stairs. Fortunately, he can still jump on his favorite piece of furniture. Sometimes it takes him a couple of tries. But he loves to relax on the living room couch. (I keep it covered, so he doesn’t ruin it.)
Real Food Recipes for Dogs
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With some notable exceptions, such as onions, garlic and chocolate, dogs can eat pretty much what we eat. However, if you’re concerned about your pet’s health, feeding him real food should be a priority. Real food means it’s made without questionable chemicals, transfats or preservatives. I’d even take it a step further and say healthy meals should not include genetically modified ingredients, now linked to cancer in lab rats.
Of course, before you make any changes to your dog’s diet, make sure to run this idea by your vet. This is especially important if your dog has digestive issues, or is advanced in age. Your vet can advise you what foods to avoid, as you embark upon a real food dog diet. There are even some good resources on what to feed your dog, including a cookbook called Feed Your Best Friend Better: Easy, Nutritious Meals and Treats for Dogs.
There are some foods that shouldn’t be given to any dog. Here is a partial list. Talk to your vet for more specifics.
- Chocolate
- Onions
- Garlic
- Avocados
- Cinnamon
- Anything sweetned with xylitol. But this shouldn’t be an issue if your making real food dog meals.
- Raisins and grapes
- Dairy Products
- Macadamia nuts
- Stone fruits
- Dough that contains yeast.
- Junk food
Healthy Homemade Food Recipes for Small Dogs – and Big Dogs
If you need inspiration about what to cook for your dog, here’s a book you might like. It might be useful if you plan on making separate meals for your dog. Since we eat a lot of real food in our house, we’re able to give him our table scraps, or put aside an extra serving for him. But if you need ideas, this book might be helpful.
Real Plans for Dogs
I cook nearly all of my meals from scratch. That’s because I have pain nerve inflammation. I manage to keep this under control with clean eating, so I can live a normal life. We eat mostly organic food. Our dog is the recipient of organic table scraps. We do feed him high-quality canned food too. But he eats a lot of people food, which he prefers.
Raising my dog, I learned that canines don’t do well on a diet of kibble. This is not natural. It’s not what they’d fine in the wild, and it’s nutritionally deficient. We did find a brand made without grain. This was high quality kibble, and our dog did really well on it for a year or so. (Actually, I think putting him on a grain-free diet is the reason he’s still with us. He was clearly starting to fail.) We kept him on this kibble while we all adjusted to the reality that regular dog food wasn’t cutting it. He needed something better. Then, I finally realized that a little bit of dog food and a lot of grain-free people food is what would work.
I know first hand that cooking healthy isn’t always easy. Sometimes you get into a rut, and you start making the same things over and over again. Or, you may not even know where to begin. If you’d like help with ideas, and with coordinating your healthy menu, Real Plans can help. This is a clean eating meal planning service that gives you an itemized shopping list. It’s designed for once a week shopping, to spare you from repeated trips to the grocery store. The shopping list comes with corresponding recipes. You also have access to live chat, as you negotiate the clean eating learning curve. If’ you’d like more information, click on the image below.
