Homemade Dog Food Recipe | I’m a Holistic Herbalist-Here’s What I Feed My Dog

So today I'm finally sharing one of the most requested videos I have ever gotten, my homemade dog food recipe. I've actually been making my dog's food for almost 20 years now and it all started because of my last dog Rex. When Rex was around 11 or 12 years old, he started getting sick. So I took him to the vet and I was basically told he's just getting old. But at that time, I was not ready to accept that. So I started researching. I went down this rabbit hole of nutrition, herbs, and holistic health. Now, at that time in my life, the idea that food could actually influence health was completely new to me. I grew up in a very medical family. So a lot of doctors, nurses, my grandfather was in pharmaceutical sales. So this wasn't really a lens that I had ever been taught to look through. But the more I researched, the more this idea that food could be medicine came up. So I started making my dog Rex's food from scratch and the changes I saw in him were incredible. He had more energy, he felt better, and he lived many more happy years. That experience completely changed the direction of my own life. It made me wonder if food, nutrition, herbs could make that much of a difference for my dog. Could it do that for me? Now, at this point in my life, I was sick and I was suffering from a wide array of ailments. But that question is what eventually led me into studying herbalism and holistic health. And I healed myself from all of those ailments that I once suffered from because I saw the remarkable changes in my dog Rex after making his, his dog food. He's one of the biggest reasons I am the person I am today. So this recipe isn't just dog food to me. It's where my entire holistic journey began. Now, before we jump in, I do want to mention a few things. This recipe that I'm going to share today, isn't the exact same recipe I make every single time. I rotate proteins, vegetables, and herbs depending on you know what's in season what's on sale and what works best for my dog at the time now my current dog Ivy is what we lovingly like to call an itchy kitty so i usually stick to proteins like pork or tuna because chicken and beef seem to make her itchiness a lot worse now you can certainly use chicken and beef if those are proteins you feel is right for your dog i used to make Rex's food using organ meat like chicken liver. It's super healthy, but it will make your house smell like barf. Now, if you're just getting started with homemade your dog's food, one resource I really recommend is the website Balance It. It's a great tool for making sure you're meeting your dog's nutritional needs while you're learning. And one more important note, this video is meant for healthy adult dogs. Personally I would not formulate a homemade diet for a growing puppy because puppies have very different nutritional requirements and they grow really fast. All right so let's make some dog food. Okay let's start with everything you'll need. So I use a cutting board and a four quart casserole dish although by the time I'm done it's usually piled well over the top. You'll also need some sort of oil like olive oil. For today's batch I'm using about two and a half pounds of ground pork blueberries broccoli mixed bell peppers green beans sweet potatoes organic oats a can of chickpeas and a can of black beans. Today I'll use the whole bag of broccoli but only about half the bag of bell peppers and green beans and only half the bag of sweet potatoes. Most of these items came from Trader Joe's because it's one of the more affordable places I found a shop for this. You definitely don't have to use every ingredient exactly the way I do. You can also swap out the sweet potatoes for a large can of canned pumpkin if you'd rather not chop vegetables. I've made it both ways. I'm also adding a little organic oats today. Ivy does really well with them, but if you prefer to keep your dog's food grain-free, you can absolutely leave them out. For herbs, turmeric and ginger are my two staples. Ivy has arthritis and a few other musculoskeletal issues. So I like adding herbs that support a healthy immune response. If I happen to have fresh herbs like parsley or dill in the refrigerator, which I often do, I'll chop those up and throw them in too. I'm also adding a small amount of organic yellow maca powder. Maca is a really nutrient dense root that is very rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. I like using it because it's traditionally used to support vitality, muscle health, healthy immune function, and just overall wellness. Now that being said, I do want to give one important disclaimer. Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's right for every dog. Maca can cause sensitivities or allergic reactions in some dogs so if you've never used it before please introduce it slowly and always use a high quality organic product from a trusted source i've been making homemade dog food for almost 20 years i'm an herbalist and i know what works well for ivy but please keep in mind that every dog is different i also want to mention supplement powders because i think they're a great option especially if you're just getting started with homemade dog food the website balance it makes one specifically designed to help fill in any nutritional gaps and i think it's a fantastic resource for beginners personally i don't use a supplement powder anymore because ivy is such an itchy pity and i found that certain ingredients can trigger her allergies instead i supplement separately with things like a high quality fish oil and depending on what she needs at the time a few other targeted supplements. That's simply what works best for her. All right, let's get everything chopped up and start cooking. First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Starting with half the bag of sweet potatoes, I dice them up, spread them into my baking dish, throw some turmeric over it, and pop them into the oven for about 15 minutes. I like giving the sweet potatoes a little longer head start since they take longer to cook than everything else. They don't need to be fully cooked because they're going to go right back into the oven later with everything else. After about 15 minutes, I take the dish out and add my chickpeas and black beans, including the liquid. That extra moisture makes it much easier to mix everything together. Next goes in the ginger followed by a little organic oats. Then I add in the ground pork, breaking it up really well before I start mixing in the vegetables. Once that's combined, I toss in the broccoli, blueberries, half the bag of bell peppers and green beans. I give everything one final mix and back into the oven it goes for about 30 or so minutes or until the pork is cooked and the vegetables are tender. After it comes out of the oven and cools slightly I stir in the yellow maca powder. One thing you don't see me do in the video is add in some olive oil once everything has cooled down. I prefer adding it in after cooking rather than heating it and it's a nice source of healthy fats. Meanwhile, if you could hear what's happening off camera, you'd hear Ivy whining. She knows exactly what's cooking and she knows she gets to lick the casserole dish once it's cooled off. This recipe makes about nine-ish days worth of food for Ivy. I keep the next few days in the refrigerator and portion the rest into containers for the freezer. Now just remember to pull the frozen containers out about a day and a half or two days before you need it because it takes a while to thaw out in the fridge. I've been making homemade food again for almost 20 years now and it's something I genuinely feel good about. Ivy is over 14 years old and every time she goes to the vet they're impressed by how well she's doing for her age. Now of course nutrition isn't a guarantee. We can't control everything life throws at us but after watching what happened with Rex and now seeing Ivy thrive all these years later, I truly believe that what we feed our animals matter. I also know that homemaking food isn't realistic for everyone and that's okay. We all do the best we can with the time, budget, and resources we have. But if you've ever been curious about making your dog's food from scratch, I hope this video gives you the confidence to give it a try. Our dogs give us so much during their lives and for me this has always been one small way to give a little of that love back. Let me know in the comments if you give this a try or if you've tried a different recipe before. I love swapping ideas and as always have a good week.