Cooking For Your Dog

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Cooking for your dog can be fun!

Not only can you control the ingredients that go into the food, but as with human foods, you can experiment with different recipes.

However, do be aware that not all human foods are safe for dogs (e.g. onions). For more information, see Dangerous Foods For Dogs

Most dogs will enjoy tasting whatever you concoct or whatever recipe you find. Note that some foods such as carrots actually release more nutrients when cooked.

People who are proponents of raw food diets, (see Canine Raw Diet: Make Homemade Dog Food) say that uncooked food is best because the nutrients are not altered by cooking heat.

And, of course, dogs’ digestive systems are still geared toward what they would eat in the wild; namely, freshly killed animals.

The consensus appears to be, however, that organic or home grown foods (or at the minimum foods deemed fit for human consumption) that are lightly cooked to minimize nutrient loss are still far better than many commercial dog foods.

Despite the recent pet food recall, pet foods are apparently still not regulated as stringently as human foods and may contain parts of diseased animals, feces, rancid fats, antibiotics etc. They often also have unnecessary and/or harmful additives such as filler grains, salt, preservatives and sugars.

Methods of cooking for dogs to minimize nutrient loss include:

• Steaming vegetables
• Using a minimal amount of water for cooking vegetables
• Cooking vegetables and fruits unpeeled
• Using the cooking water from steamed vegetables in your dog's meal
• Using vegetables that are as fresh as possible or else frozen vegetables rather than canned products
• Partway poaching eggs or placing eggs in their shells in boiled water for only 5 minutes
• Cooking red meats in a non-stick frying pan till they just lose their red color (except pork, which should be thoroughly cooked till it looks grey to avoid trichinosis)
• Heating chicken in seasoned water to the boiling point then letting it simmer for an hour or more till done, rather than vigorous boiling
• Avoiding using high heat for a prolonged period

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