Feeding your pup is a meaty affair. Supermarket aisles are chockablock with dog food and treats, claiming to do everything from cleaning your pups teeth to teaching an old dog new tricks. A lot of what is on offer is heavily processed, and not as natural or healthy as the packaging would have you believe! A quick Google of dog food ingredients is enough to put you off the tinned stuff for life.
Every dog is different, and there is no perfect answer, but one of the easiest ways to know what your dog is eating is to put it together yourself. If the idea of cooking for your canine gets you into a cold sweat, don’t fear! PetLondon are here to give you a helping hand. It is not as tedious and messy as you might think, so put your nicest pinny on and rustle up a little gourmet feast for your pup tonight.
(Just a quick reminder before we get into the good stuff, PetLondon wouldn’t recommend overhauling your dogs diet overnight, any big changes can make their tummies funny. Take the time to slowly tweak their diet)
Choosing the ingredients for your dogs meal is as easy as 1, 2, 3. You need the energy, the greens and the protein. We’ve jotted down Poppy’s favourites to give you an idea:
The Energy: Brown Rice or Sweet Potato
The Greens (and the orange): Poppy loves kale, green beans, brocolli and spinach. Feel free to pick and mix your veg of choice, just avoid garlic and onions. If in doubt- Google! There are lots of lists of dog friendly fruit and veg, and we’ve got a couple saved to our Pinterest page.
The Protein: Turkey, beef or chicken.
The Extras: Poppy gets an adult multi-vitamin, and Pro-fibre (available from all good veterinarians).
You can rustle up a batch of your energy on a Sunday afternoon, if you have a spare thirty minutes pop a big pot of rice on the stove or throw a couple of sweet potatoes in the oven to bake. Once cooked, let it cool down before storing in your fridge.
Poppy has all her veg steamed, but choose whatever method works for you. You want it soft enough to dice up with the rest of the dinner, whether that means boiling your carrots or sautéing your spinach, do what works for you!
You can cook up your protein in advance too, Sunday afternoons are the perfect time to get busy in the kitchen and will make it easier for the rest of the week. If you’re making a Sunday roast for yourself, cook a little extra meat and put it aside for your pup. (Do make sure you don’t put any seasoning or sauce over the meat you’ll feed your pup though!) Meat won’t last the whole week, but you can prep enough for a couple of days.
Each evening muddle together your energy, greens and protein. Mix it together in the same way you would for a small child, and your pup will never notice they’re chomping down on kale.
Poppy also has an adult dog vitamin and Pro-fibre with her meal, they both go down easily by smashing the vitamin into a fine powder and stirring them both through her dinner.
Have fun getting creative in the kitchen, and if you do decide to cook for your pup take a photo and tag us @PetLondon– Poppy would love to see your doggy dinners!