How to Cook for Your Dog

Another great Two Minute Dog Advice tip from Wendy with how to cook for your dog.

With the recent pet food recall I received more than 200 emails asking me to help with cooking for your pet. For those of you who do not know, I have written 4 cookbooks, 3 of them being doggie cookbooks, called, “No Barking at the Table I & II”. And the new revised “No Barking at the Table III”, due out this summer. The most important consideration when cooking for your dog is there are many food types that dogs cannot have - for example, chocolate, onions, raisins, grapes, just to name a few.

I stress in all my books and I want to stress it here, please consult with your vet first before cooking for your pet. I know the recent pet food recall scare has invoked fear in all of us, not knowing what to feed our pets. But going directly to a human food diet, can be stressful on your pet’s system and not necessarily a healthy alternative. I am a firm believer in Kibble, as it offers a balanced diet for dogs, and helps to clean their teeth in the action of a hard crunchy food.

Once you have approval from your vet, you can start to incorporate cooking for your pet. There are a few popular ideas out there. One of them is the RAW Food Diet. I am not personally a big fan of the raw food diet but, with that being said, I do know a lot of people that follow it and have great success with it. Again, with any other diet, the RAW food diet will take some research and working closely with your vet and your breeder.

When creating a balanced diet for our dogs, we need to consider what’s important in their diet: protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, vitamins, a small amount of salt, and fat (preferably olive oil fat). Normally, without this pet food recall, in my cookbooks I suggest that the food and treats that I offer should not be more than 10 to 15 % of your dog’s daily diet. With the recall, if you are considering totally cooking for your pet, you will have to consult with your vet to determine the proper portions and mineral supplements needed. Each dog is different, so consider the age, weight and how much exercise your pet receives.

• Proteins can be lamb, ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, ground pork, and fish.
• Carbohydrates: brown rice, white rice, potatoes, pasta, sweet potatoes. *Vegetables: carrots, green beans, broccolis, sea kelp, pumpkin, squash, just to name a few.

One of the things I find so funny, is when you travel around the world you find that different cultures feed their dog different foods. For example, when I was in Japan, researching my new book, “your pets around the world”, the dogs’ main food source is fish. In contrast, Italy sells 40 pound bags of pasta in the pet store. I have come to find it is truly a cultural lifestyle.

Today’s recipe is one of my favorites, one that I make at least once a month. It will freeze beautifully, and you can add everything but the kitchen sink to it. The name of the recipe is “Little Man’s Loaf”. Not only does this recipe have a little extra protein boost in it, when you slice it open it’s very pretty.

1. Preheat oven to 350˚
2. Silicone Mini Loaf Pan (you can find these at Target or any cooking supply store, my loaf pan has 12 mini loaves).
3. Large Glass Mixing Bowl
4. 12 hard bowled eggs (without shells)
5. 3 raw eggs
6. 2 pounds of ground lamb
7. ½ pound of ground beef
8. 2 cups of cooked brown rice
9. ¼ cup of rolled oats
10. ¼ cup of fresh chopped parsley
11. 4 chopped carrots
12. 1 cup chopped green beans
13. 2 tablespoons ketchup
14. 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
15. 12 strips of raw bacon (for top)
16. ½ cup of dry plain bread crumbs

Preheat Oven to 350

In a mixing bowl, mix together everything except for your hard boiled eggs, ketchup, and bacon.

Pre-spray your Silicone pan with non-stick spray. Now here comes the fun part. I bet you were waiting for the hard boiled eggs? Take a small amount of your meat mixture place in the bottom of the pan, set a hard boiled egg on top. Then cover the hard boiled egg with the rest of your meat mixture. Continue this with all 12 of your mini loaf pans, not to worry, if your mini loaf pan only has 6, then make six small loafs at a time, (meat, egg, meat). So what you are doing is placing the egg in the center of the meat, because after it is cooked, when you slice it, it’s beautiful.

Now it’s time for the ketchup and the bacon. When all your loaves are in your pan, before placing in the oven, spread some ketchup on the top of each loaf and place one piece of bacon on top. This adds for great flavor and some fat.

Bake for one hour and forty minutes. Take it out of the oven, cool for one hour, and now your ready to serve “Little Man’s Loaf”. These freeze beautifully!

This is a fun easy recipe. From start to finish, it will take about 2 hours. Well worth it for the joy you will see in your Little Man’s life when he’s eating his loaf. If you’re going down the road of totally cooking for your pet, this is where I would consult with a vet to determine what type of vitamin supplements you can add to this recipe.

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