How to Make Vet-Approved Homemade Dog Food | Healthy Paws Pet Insurance (2024)

Key Takeaways

  • You can make homemade dog food with human foods, but it must have the right balance of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals to be healthy.
  • Vets generally don’t recommend making your own raw dog food because of the risk of bacterial contamination or possible public health risks.
  • Consult with a vet or veterinary nutritionist to make sure a homemade diet works for your pet.

Table of Contents

For dog owners, it’s only natural that you question what’s in your pup’s food. Sure, it says “chicken” on the bag, but what does that actually mean? If you’ve been questioning store-bought food, or would just rather have more control over your dog’s diet, there are homemade options that can meet your dog’s nutritional requirements. Your vet can steer you in the right direction for preparing homemade dog diets, and you should always ask about the suitability of a particular veterinary-endorsed diet for your dog.

The Benefits of Homemade Dog Food

Making your dog’s food at home may offer some benefits over commercially available diets. If you’re making your dog’s meals yourself, you have the freedom to purchase the freshest, highest-quality ingredients available. Home cooking can also be a good option for dogs with food allergies or other dietary sensitivities. When you know what ingredients your dog reacts to, it’s simple enough to avoid them. Dogs who struggle to eat enough food (because of illness or extreme pickiness) may eat more of a homemade diet. Dry kibble tends to be the least appealing to dogs. Wet foods are better, but a homemade diet can prove to be truly irresistible.

How to Make Vet-Approved Homemade Dog Food | Healthy Paws Pet Insurance (1)

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Before You Start Cooking: Homemade Dog Food Needs to be Balanced

Your homemade meal should contain protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Make sure you weigh your dog frequently to verify they stay a healthy weight. Take your dog to the vet before starting the homemade diet so your vet can determine your dog’s ideal weight and you can discuss what recipes are appropriate for your dog.

Protein

When a dog eats protein, their body breaks it down into its building blocks called amino acids, which are then reassembled into the proteins they need. Proteins play many roles in a dog’s body, including:

  • Building and maintaining muscle, skin, hair, nails, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage
  • Producing enzymes, hormones, and disease-fighting antibodies
  • Acting as a source of specific nutrients, like nitrogen, that are used to make other molecules

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) puts together standards for dog food. The AAFCO minimum protein percentage for dog food is 22.5% for puppies and 18% for adults and seniors on a dry matter basis. Reporting nutrient percentages on a dry matter basis takes into account the differing amounts of water present in various types of dog food (canned versus kibble, for example).

Fats

Fats in the diet are an excellent source of energy and make food taste good. Essential fatty acids play important roles in the body and have to be present in the diet because a dog’s body can’t make them from other substances. For example, omega-3 fatty acids, like those present in cold-water fish oils, can reduce inflammation.

The AAFCO crude fat minimum percentage on a dry matter basis for puppy foods is 8.5% and for adult and senior dogs it is 5.5%.

Carbs

Carbohydrates aren’t an essential part of a dog’s diet, but they still can have many important roles such as:

  • Providing energy
  • Reducing the need for protein to be used as an energy source (freeing it up to be available for its other roles)
  • Promoting normal gastrointestinal function (especially fiber)
  • Supplying specific nutrients that can be used to make other molecules

AAFCO does not set standards for the amount of carbohydrate in dog foods since it is not considered an essential nutrient.

Vitamins and Minerals

Only small amounts of vitamins and minerals need to be provided in a dog’s diet, but without them, dogs can quickly become very sick. To make things even more complicated, too much of certain vitamins and minerals can be just as dangerous as too little.

Now let’s look at some vet-approved homemade dog food recipes that provide a good balance or proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

Vet-Approved Recipe #1:

Massachusetts’ MSCPA-Angell Animal Medical Center provides sample recipes on its website for dogs weighing 15, 30 and 60 pounds.

For a 15-pound dog:

  • 3 ounces of chicken, dark meat, cooked
  • 1 1/3 cups of white rice, cooked
  • 1 tablespoon of mixed vegetables, cooked
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
  • 1.5 black scoops Balance IT Canine vitamin, mineral, and amino acid supplement

For a 30-pound dog:

  • 4.5 ounces of chicken, dark meat, cooked
  • 2 cups of white rice, cooked
  • 1.5 tablespoons of mixed vegetables, cooked
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil
  • 2.5 black scoops Balance IT Canine vitamin, mineral, and amino acid supplement

For 60-pound dogs:

  • 8 ounces of ounces of chicken, dark meat, cooked
  • 3.5 cups of white rice, cooked
  • 3 tablespoons of mixed vegetables, cooked
  • 3 to 5 teaspoons of vegetable oil
  • 4.5 black scoops Balance IT Canine

Directions

  1. All proteins, carbohydrates, and vegetables should be thoroughly cooked, allowed to cool, and then weighed.
  2. Combine all ingredients and mix them together well. Make sure the supplements are mixed thoroughly throughout the food.
  3. This recipe provides one day’s worth of food. It can be prepared in the morning, divided into multiple portions for the day, and refrigerated until mealtime.

MSPCA-Angell AMC notes that the supplement, Balance IT® Canine, mentioned in these recipes is not optional. Leaving it out will produce a diet that has many nutritional deficiencies

Vet-Approved Recipe #2:

Founder’s Veterinary Clinic of Brea, California, offers a sample recipe for 20-pound dogs that you can half for 10-pounders or double for 40-pound canines.

For a 20-pound dog:

  • 1/4 pound of cooked, skinless chicken
  • 1 cup of cooked brown rice
  • ½ to 1 cup of peas and carrots
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (they recommend Udo’s Oil 3-6-9 Blend)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of potassium chloride (a salt substitute).
  • 250 mg calcium citrate
  • Daily multiple vitamin/mineral supplement (either a vet-recommended supplement or ¼ of a human adult dose)

Allowed substitutions for this recipe include boned fish, lean ground turkey, beef, or lamb as a protein source and potatoes, yams, or pasta as a carbohydrate. As always, the supplements mentioned in this diet are not optional.

Directions

  1. All proteins, carbohydrates, and vegetables should be thoroughly cooked, allowed to cool, and then weighed.
  2. Combine all ingredients and mix them together well. Make sure the supplements are mixed thoroughly throughout the food.
  3. This recipe provides one day’s worth of food. It can be prepared in the morning, divided into multiple portions for the day, and refrigerated until mealtime.

Vet-Approved Recipe #3:

The following recipe was created by Balance.it, for a 9 year old, spayed female dog who weighs 50 pounds. The Balance.it recipe generation tool allows pet parents to create nutritionally complete homemade dog foods for healthy pets using ingredients of your choice.

For a 50-pound dog

  • 13 7/8 oz chicken breast, skinless, boneless, cooked, roasted
  • 5 ¼ teaspoons canola oil
  • 1 3/10 mL Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Pet Liquid
  • 1 ½ cups sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, without salt, flesh fed only
  • 3/4 cup spinach, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt
  • 11/16 teaspoon Morton iodized salt
  • 5 teaspoons Balance IT® Canine (2.5 g/tsp)

Directions

  1. All proteins, carbohydrates, and vegetables should be thoroughly cooked, allowed to cool, and then weighed.
  2. Combine all ingredients and mix them together well. Make sure the supplements are mixed thoroughly throughout the food.
  3. This recipe provides one day’s worth of food. It can be prepared in the morning, divided into multiple portions for the day, and refrigerated until mealtime.

The Balance.it generator will also produce recipes that use human vitamin and mineral supplements rather than Balance IT® Canine, but they contain many more ingredients and are harder to prepare accurately.

What About Raw-Diet Foods?

Gaining popularity is the raw food diet, also known as the Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, or BARF, diet. The concept was developed by an Australian veterinarian, Dr. Ian Billinghurst. BARF’s philosophy states that “the diet a dog evolved to eat — over many millions of years of evolution — is the best way to feed it.” While you might find some veterinarians recommending homemade raw foods for dogs, similar to what ancient canines ate, that’s not the view of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The AVMA, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, don’t recommend raw dog food, in part because of the risk of bacterial contamination or possible public health risks.

Always Get Your Vet’s Approval

If your dog suffers from medical issues, you will need to adjust certain veterinary-endorsed diets. Ask your own vet about your dog’s specific nutritional needs as well as for a recommendation for a certified veterinary nutritionist. The three of you can find a homemade diet that meets your pup’s dietary requirements. Whether your dog has specific medical problems or not, you should always tell your vet that your dog eats a homemade diet because they will need to see your dog more frequently to continue to evaluate the diet and to monitor for nutrition-related health problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best ingredients to put in homemade dog food?

Start by focusing on the protein source in your homemade dog food. Human-grade beef, chicken, turkey, egg, lamb, fish, rabbit, and tofu are all good options. Then round out your recipe with healthy fats and carbohydrates (vegetable oil and brown rice, for example) and vitamin and mineral supplements.

Do vets recommend homemade dog food?

It is not easy to prepare a healthy homemade dog food that is safe for long-term feeding. Therefore, most vets recommend that pet parents feed high-quality, commercially available dog foods instead.

What is a good grain to add to homemade dog food?

Many grains can be included in healthy homemade dog food. Good options include barley, pasta, millet, oats, potato, sweet potato, white rice, and brown rice.

What ingredients should not be in homemade dog food?

Do not include the following ingredients in homemade dog food as they can cause health problems: chocolate, macadamia nuts, grapes, raisins, xylitol (a sugar substitute), onions, garlic, chives, cooked bones that haven’t been ground up, and raw bones, meat, fish or egg.

What should the top 5 ingredients be in dog food?

Healthy homemade dog foods include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

How to Make Vet-Approved Homemade Dog Food | Healthy Paws Pet Insurance (2024)

FAQs

What is the vet approved ratio for homemade dog food? ›

A good recommendation is 40% protein, 50% vegetables and 10% starch. Some dogs cannot handle high amounts of protein, though, so it is important to visit your vet to determine the best ratio to suit their dietary needs.

What do vets think about homemade dog food? ›

Without the proper guidance, homemade pet food may lead to nutrient deficiencies or excesses that could negatively impact your pets' health. This is why AAFCO-compliant pet food is more generally recommended to dog parents and cat parents.

How do I make sure my homemade dog food is balanced? ›

What are the essential ingredients for homemade dog food? In general, a nutritionally complete homemade dog food recipe should include: At least 10 percent protein, such as chicken, fish, turkey, or lean beef. Up to 50 percent carbs, like rice, pasta, and potatoes (also a great source of fiber!)

What is the 25% rule in pet food? ›

The 25% Rule

The named ingredient(s) must comprise at least 10% of the total product by weight and at least 25% of the product by weight not including the added water. Additional descriptors, such as “dinner,” “entrée,” “platter” and so on, appear in the name.

What is the 95 rule for dog food? ›

The 95% Rule

At least 95% of the product must be the named ingredient, for example, “Chicken for Dogs,” or “Salmon Dog Food,” must include at least 95% of chicken or salmon, respectively. In addition, this main product must be at least 70% of the total product when counting the added water.

Do dogs live longer with homemade dog food? ›

Indeed, the statistical study showed that dogs fed with industrially processed food live an average of 10.4 years, while dogs fed with home-made food can reach an average age of 13.1 years. Increased lifespan is just one advantage of feeding your dog a raw food diet.

What ingredients should you avoid in homemade dog food? ›

There is a wide variety of unhealthy and unsafe foods to avoid when preparing meals for your dog. Potentially toxic ingredients are of special concern, including chocolate, xylitol, avocado, grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, and macadamia nuts.

What should be the number 1 ingredient in dog food? ›

The best dog foods will always have meat as the top ingredient, and you should look for recipes that emphasize real animal proteins, rather than just meat meals. Because your dog's food should have more meat than any other ingredient, it's vital to choose a meat source that will benefit your dog's health.

What are the best ingredients to put in homemade dog food? ›

Good homemade food for healthy dogs includes all the vitamins, calcium, proteins and minerals your pet needs to stay healthy. You can add ground beef, chicken, lamb or venison, as well as vegetables, such as zucchini, carrots, parsnips, beets, yams, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes.

How many times a day should a dog eat homemade dog food? ›

Though there's no hard-and-fast rule to how often a dog should eat, twice a day is generally a good place to start. However, more important than feeding frequency is meal portion size. Portion size may vary based on breed, age, and health condition, and settling on the right amount can be tricky.

What supplements should I add to homemade dog food? ›

Here are some supplements that many people find helpful for their dogs:
  1. Joint supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin to support joint health.
  2. Coconut oil for a shiny coat, to help ease digestive problems, and to help with unpleasant body odors.
  3. Folic acid for healthy metabolism and red blood cell production.

What percentage of ingredients should be in homemade dog food? ›

Most nutritionally sound commercial diets include protein, carbohydrates, fats, and other minerals and vitamins in specific proportions. Your dog food should take into consideration the following ratio of 40% protein, 50% vegetables, and 10% starch.

How much homemade dog food should I feed my dog per day? ›

There are other ways to calculate how much to feed. For example, Dr. Judy Morgan, a nutrition expert and one of our favorite podcast guests, recommends feeding a dog about 2-3% of their body weight when using homemade food, and I think that's an excellent place to start.

What is the portion size for homemade dog food? ›

As a general rule, the serving size for a portion of homemade dog food should equal two to three percent of an adult dog's body weight.

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