At the time of this writing, there has been a HUGE commercial cat and dog food poisoning scare in the US, due to contaminated dog food. About 60 million cans and bags of prepared pet food were recalled.

Some owners lost their dogs and cats because a type of plastic called melamine had found its way into pet food! This was attributed to a contamination of wheat gluten of Chinese origin with melamine. Why pet food manufacturers use wheat gluten in pet food is a mystery? It is a VERY POOR source of protein!

We make our own homemade dog food for a number of reasons, one being the unknown composition of commercial dog food!

Why do canned or packaged foods look and smell so similar, no matter what brand you buy?

I always suspected, the commercials show beautiful mounds of beef or even chicken breast fillet and vegetables etc. How COULD they put that on there, those trims are so expensive.

Well, basic economics says no! But what angers me is their attempts at deception!

We started making homemade dog food some time after Insiders took a look at what’s called a “protein recovery unit.”

I called it the beak factory because this plant took the scraps from a chicken processor—heads (beak and all), feet, feathers, and gizzards—and turned it into a stinky, dirty brown powder destined for pet food.

It stank so much and that smell got into my hair and clothes and I am not exaggerating when I say that the smell was around me all day!

This protein powder is often among the first ingredients listed on the package or can, and goes by the name meat by-products or sometimes meat meal. It’s part of the reason commercial dry crackers almost always smell the same! If you’re in the game, try eating one of those cookies yourself, see what your dog has been putting up with!

But since this protein powder goes through a high-temperature process during manufacturing, it is considered safe for pets.

But the huge dumpsters of heads, corpses, feet, feathers, etc. that VI were left out at room temperature for who knows how long, so can you imagine the putrefaction they were in?

I REFUSE to feed our dogs this garbage, which is what it really is, GARBAGE! Because while they MAY have killed the bacteria in this garbage, what they may not destroy are some of the toxins that the bacteria produce as part of their action!

In addition to bacterial toxins; there may also be toxins produced by molds and fungi; known as aflatoxins and mycotoxins and some of them are known to be heat tolerant.

Now, I don’t want to bore you with a lot of technical information about toxins, but I do want you to see that I’m not exaggerating!

So here’s just one article, about a single bacterium: Staphylococcus aureus. About halfway down the page, you’ll see a comment about the toxin it produces and its resistance to heat when cooking:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/staphylococcus_food_g.htm

And that’s just one bacterium, there are many more! Try googling the words Aflatoxin, Mycotoxin or Bacterial toxins!

Also, there is insecticide residue potentially accumulated in the concentrated feathers of birds… And I’m not even going to mention the stories we’ve read about carcasses of animals euthanized by vets or slaughter animals that were sick or run over!

In short, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN potentially contaminated dog food! But even if you completely ignore the contamination problem, it is STILL a very cheap and disgusting source of protein!

Because it’s labeled as pet food not for human consumption, there’s a lot less scrutiny, worry, and liability! THE FACT IS: THEY HAVE TO LABEL IT UNFIT. Ask yourself why that would be.

Why would you give these things to any pet you care about? We love our dogs, so to avoid junk-based foods with added soy protein, colors and other additives, we exclusively make our own homemade dog food!

And here’s the thing: homemade dog food is not only BETTER FOR YOUR DOG, it’s also much cheaper than commercial dog food – here in Australia, we can feed an adult Staffordshire Bull Terrier for about 45p! per day!

This is when pet food companies and some veterinarians comment that the food you make has to be complete. It’s like it’s some kind of mystery; as if we were too stupid to do it ourselves! I am offended by your attempts to manipulate us into buying your products!

Dogs have shared human lives for thousands of years (long before pet food companies), and they NEVER went extinct due to malnutrition!

Let me just say this: Anyone who can read and cook can make their own high-quality homemade dog food! All it takes is a little time and planning and since it’s easier to make in bulk, a little space in the freezer.

Dog nutrition has also been very well researched and published and now that we live in the information age; This information can be freely distributed around the world!

Sure there are some basics: When making homemade dog food, it’s important to remember that dogs are carnivores (carnivores). Since meat is made up almost entirely of protein, protein is therefore an essential component of a dog’s diet!

But did you know that many canned and dry foods are based on plant sources of protein (often soybeans, and no wonder they fart so much); because vegetable proteins are MUCH cheaper than animal proteins

But plant-based proteins, such as those found in soybeans, chickpeas, lentils, etc., do not contain all the amino acids found in animal proteins, such as meat, fish, and dairy.

To overcome this lack of complete proteins, pet food manufacturers add the horrible smelling powder I mentioned earlier.

In his book Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets, The Healthful Alternative, when discussing commercially prepared pet foods, Donald Stromberg said:

“The cost of pet food is reduced by not using more animal protein than necessary. Using animal protein sources that are unfit for human consumption also reduces cost. For example, animal meat meals are not fit for human consumption. Some protein in meat meal is from animals that died and began to decompose.” (p. 35)

Stromberg gives a figure of 13% protein for growing dogs and 19% for aging dogs. I have always loved that homemade dog food falls into this higher protein range.

Since dogs in the wild are predominantly carnivorous, most of their dietary protein will come from animal or insect sources; I use animal proteins.

However, dogs can and do eat fruit as well: foxes have been known to eat blackberries and undoubtedly other fruits, for example grapes from a vineyard or fruit from an orchard. Our Staffords love all kinds of fruits, including bananas!

I also vary the protein content of my homemade dog food, based on my dogs needs.

One of our girls (an Australian Terrier) is now 11 years old and diabetic, so her diet is quite high in protein and very low in fat. Pregnant dogs and growing puppies need considerably more protein and also need more total food.

However, when using meat as a protein source, it MAY cause problems for the dog if the food is not balanced with the correct minerals. Red meat alone; it will provide good levels of protein and iron, but almost no calcium and phosphorus, for example.

Dogs in the wild eat a variety of foods and would eat a whole rabbit for example – fur, bones, gizzards and all! When they do this, they can extract ALL the minerals in the animal’s bones and intestines, so their diet is more balanced!

When making homemade dog food it is important to aim for this balance between protein, vitamins and minerals! When you use my homemade dog food recipes, you will see that one of my main sources of protein is skinless chicken necks.

I use them because of their high protein/low fat ratio and low price – PLUS – the added bonus of minerals like calcium, phosphorus and potassium etc., available in the bone!

And skinless chicken necks are often available cheaply as human-grade fresh meat in the deli departments of many supermarkets or poultry stores, which means they MUST be fit for human consumption.

Right here and right now then; Your homemade dog food is miles ahead of commercial pet food, because you’re using quality, nutritious, balanced protein from clean, safe food sources!

Try making your own homemade dog food. I guarantee your dog will love the REAL food you are giving him, instead of the pseudo food he has been forced to accept until now!