The Dove Gear Dog Food Recipe
The Dove Gear Dog Food Recipe
At Dove Gear, we love our field companions and have been working to develop our own recipe to keep Quinn (our 10-year-old Lab) as healthy and happy as possible. There is a lot written about the possible negative effects of dry kibble, which is cooked at high temperatures. I have to believe "real food" is better for our field companions and family members.
We began to research and read tons of information on how to make a healthy, hearty dog food right in your own kitchen and would like to share our recipe with you. Yes, it takes a few hours every few weeks, but if you love your dogs as much as we love Quinn, it’s time well spent.
You’ll need a large container that holds at least 5-6 gallons to allow thorough mixing. A medium size ice chest works great. We always double this recipe and make a larger batch.
INGREDIENTS
6 Chicken leg quarters (yields about 2.5 lbs of boned chicken)
1 pkg of chicken hearts – about 12-14 ounces
1 pkg of chicken livers – about 12-14 ounces
1 pkg of beef kidney – about 1.2 lbs cleaned and cooked
1-1/2 dozen eggs, hard-boiled
1-lb bag dry brown rice (to make 6-8 cups cooked)
1 cup dry oatmeal -- plain, no sugar, salt or other flavorings.
1-lb bag of frozen peas and carrots
1-lb bag of frozen chopped spinach
1 large sweet potato and one large white potato, diced into ½” cubes
30-35 scoopes of Dinovite supplement for gut health
DIRECTIONS
1. Hard boil the eggs and move to ice bath to cool.
2. Place the chicken leg quarters in the hot water and add water to cover if necessary; simmer for about a half hour until done. DO NOT PUT ANY SALT OR OTHER SEASONINGS IN THE WATER.
3. While rice and meats are cooking, empty bags of vegetables into your mixing container. Peel and chop the boiled eggs and pulverize the shells in a food processor. Make sure there are no large pieces of shell. Add to mixing container.
4. Once done, move the chicken things aside to cool and cook the bag of brown rice in the broth. It is OK to have extra water, but do not overcook rice. Strain it after it is done and retain extra water.
5. While those thighs and rice are cooking spread chicken livers, hearts and kidney(cut into 1” cubes) in a shallow roasting pan and cook at 300 degrees.
6. Also put cubed potatoes and sweet potatoes in oven to cook alongside the meats. Turn all a couple of times during cooking.
7. Once cool, cut meat off the chicken leg quarters and cut into pieces. Same with livers and hearts and kidney. Move ingredients into your large mixing container as you prepare each one.
8. After removing these organ meats from the roasting pan to cool, sprinkle the uncooked oatmeal in the roasting pans to soak up the juices from the meats, set aside to cool.
10. Add the cooked rice to the container.
11. When rice and oatmeal is cooled, mix all ingredients together in your ice chest or suitable large container. Be sure to mix thoroughly.
12. Add the Dinovite eight to ten scoops at a time and mix thoughly. Use the reserved water from the rice if it gets too dry to mix well.
This size batch will make about 15 lbs of finished product, but I have a large enough mixing container to make a double batch, which takes about the same amount of time. I’ve determined the best amount for Quinn is a heaping cup of this food twice a day.
I freeze this food in one-gallon ziplock bags, about 5 lbs in each bag. I freeze those for future thaw and use . . . each one will feed Quinn for about five days to a week.
If you want to venture out into the world of making your dog’s food yourself, we encourage you to give this one a try.