Howl's Homemade Dog Food

Ingredients:

2lbs of meat (chicken thighs, ground beef/chicken/turkey, pork tenderloin or any combination of these are all good choices)

2 cups of brown rice or barley

6 cups of water

2 fresh large carrots, cleaned and diced

1/2 package frozen peas

In large stockpot, start cooking meat, let it cook until partially cooked through and then you can begin to break it up a bit (if using chicken thighs, I find these are more likely to easily shred/fall apart at the end of cooking so don't worry too much about them now. OR if using a large whole cut of meat like pork tenderloin, once its partially cooked through, remove from pan and cut in half so it will continue to cook thoroughly, then closer to the end of rice cooking you can remove these big cuts and dice them then return them to the pot).

Add rice and water to the pot, bring to boil, add carrots, lower to simmer and cover. Allow to cook until rice has absorbed all liquid which will be 35-45 minutes. The last 10 minutes of cooking, add frozen peas. 

Once done, remove from heat, allow to cool partially, transfer to large plastic bowl, allow to cool a little further then put in fridge or freezer. Keeps in fridge for 7-10 days.

Howl's Food Portions:

Twice Daily, approximately 7am and 5pm:

1/2 cup kibble from Trader Joe's blue bag

~2/3 cup homemade food (from recipe above)

Big dollop of goat's milk yogurt or lowfat cottage cheese (if feeding away from home, he can also have any cow's or sheep's yogurt as long as it's free from any added sugars or fruits). 

Mix to combine and set on floor. Ask Howl to "Wait", then "Make Eye Contact", once he does that you can release him to eat with an upbeat "OK!"

Other Notes on feeding:

If in a pinch and there is no homemade food, substitute 1/2 a can of unsalted, waterpacked, tuna or salmon in place of the homemade food for each meal. (But this is not a long term option, try not to do this for more than 4 days at a time)

And always beware, even though this may seem like Howl eats a lot of "people food" all of these foods have been researched to be safe for him. It always surprises me what foods are poisonous or not good for dogs. IF you decide to give him any kind of "people food" treat, please google it first. Grapes, onions, chocolate, and caffeine are very bad for dogs, for example. In general though Howl really doesn't prefer any foods other than meat from offering hands (sometimes a piece of cooked plain potato or a slice of cheese will also entice him, and he always salivates for freshly baked bread).