Liver and heart dog’s dinner

by | Feb 9, 2012 | 20 comments

A natural alternative dog food

I have 4 clumbers and a springer, so in total we are looking at a total 165 kilo of dog!

Yesterday on Tesco’s sell off shelf there was 2 packs of pig liver and 1 pack of sliced heart with a total price £2.10.  In the fridge I had a sorry looking neep that wasn’t used on burns night alongside some rather wilted carrots and half a bag of sorry looking mange tout and some left over mash tatties.

The Benefits?  Well, I know what is in it and I know what is not in it!  They love it, also as it’s a meal for in between bones days and because liver is a natural laxative they wont need any oil on their bones tomorrow.

Over the course of a week I feed 3 bone days 3 home cooked days and 1 fish day, alternating the bone days with homecooked/fish.  Happy dogs = Happy me and cheap at half the price!  Go for it folks…am here to help and advise!

Ingredients

1 Pack of Sliced Heart, 2 Packs of Pigs Liver (any liver will do), 1 Turnip, Some Carrots, 1 bag of Mange Tout, A couple of Potatoes, 1 bag of Couscous

Method

diced liver and heart

Dice the meat and chuck it in the dog’s stock pot.

diced potatoes, carrots, mange tout and neep

Add the diced potatoes, carrots, mange tout and neep!

Add a cup of water, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a handful of chopped parsley.

Add a cup of water, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a handful of chopped parsley.

Cook until veg is crunchy

Cook lightly so that the veg is still crunchy! They’ll still be water in pot but don’t worry about that…

Chuck in a bag of couscous!

Chuck in a bag of couscous, stir and leave to rest for 10 mins! That’ll soak up all the water and juices!

Split into portions

If you have an average size dog then you’re looking at 12 – 15 meals…especially if you add a cup of whole meal type mixer!

Bev says: I split half of it between the 5 dogs and added a chopped raw apple on the top…the rest is for Saturday as tomorrow is a bone day…this will give each of them 2 days of food…about 32p per dog…so that is 10 meals.

 

How to store

As a general guide if meat protein is present in recipe then it will last around 3 to 5 days stored in a cool place.  If it has second class protein in it eg. cheese, lentils, eggs, etc, then they will store for about 10 days in a cool place. You can use cake tins lined with baking paper – greaseproof. If there is no meat or second class proteins present then it will last around 3 weeks before they go soft like human biscuits.

Buy the book!

These dog treat recipes are now available to buy in book on Amazon.   An ideal gift!

dog treat recipe book

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raw pig ears

By Jamie Shanks

BDWS is owned and run by me, Jamie Shanks. I’ve been a professional dog walker since 2010. When I’m not walking dogs, I’m usually at home entertaining my three dogs and attending to five hens and my vegetable garden. 

20 Comments

  1. What is mange tout?

    Reply
  2. Been reading about your recipies and wonder if you have something suitable for a Yorkie and a Yorkie cross Jack Russel. I would be grateful for your suggestions. The first is 3 years old the second is 7 this month.
    Many thanks
    Mrs M Smith

    Reply
    • Hi Maureen. How are you with pig heads an offal? The fish recipe works well too.

  3. what are ‘neeps’ please? are you talking about turnips?

    Reply
    • Yes!

  4. I noticed you suggested parsley in the recipe. I read that parsley was actually toxic for animals, have you read anything about that?

    Reply
  5. Good to find a place where I can cook the meat lightly,I have a fussy 5 year old spaniel who is so fussy about certain raw meats.

    Reply
  6. Hi, I made this lovely recipe today but I am wondering if it’s ok to freeze?
    I also made the liver tray bake but used to can of tuna instead and It worked great, my dog hasn’t left the kitchen all day!!

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Hi Emily

      Yes, freeze everything you#re not gonna use in two days. In fact I use freezer bags and bag it up in portions then leave out the night before to defrost or defrost in microwave.

  7. Hi, I’ve literally just started making my dogs food (we have a 9 month old border collie) – I bought a ‘Dogs Dinners’ book.
    I love the recipe’s you have here but there’s no mention of quantities, i.e. how much liver / how many carrots, potatoes etc.
    Sorry if I sound stupid but I’m sure the ratio is important.

    Reply
    • Hi Sue! Well it all depends on the age of the dog, the size and the environment it grows up in. A pup could be 40% high quality protein but an old dog may only need 25% or less. Our canine dietitian offers breed specific diets tailored for each dog at just £20. You can email Bev Cobley here: cblbev2@googlemail.com

  8. I have been making my dogs food since January and he loves it but have just read you have bone days? what bones do you give them and where do you get the bones? do you give them anything else on these days? my dog’s a chocolate lab and puts weight on at the drop of a hat. will bone days help? thanks for your help and advice. Gillian.

    Reply
  9. Hi
    I have just started to make my own dog food. Can you let me know if I need to puree the veg as I saw another web site that suggested this? Also should I add vitamis or oil etc

    Finally you mention bones day. Do you give them anything else on bones day and what kind of bones?

    Thanks

    Reply
  10. Hi Bev, I’ve been cooking for my dogs for years now and the difference between that and feeding them dried shop bought food is incredible. Many people ask me why my dogs dont smell like dogs or why they dont have bad breath, easy answer: good healthy food! I just found this website today and will be trying out some of your recipes to add to the variety 🙂 One question i have is whether you add any vitamin supplements to the food? I used to be able to buy one which had all the vitamins etc that the dogs need but its not being sold anymore. Was wondering if you could recommend one or if its even necessary. They get plenty of grains added to the food: linseed, oats, quinoa, brown rice, sunflower seeds, millet etc. Also olive oil and pure vitamin C a couple of times a week.

    Many thanks in advance!
    Helen

    Reply
  11. Hi, I’m wondering if you have any tested and tasty tuna biscuits/snacks for dogs. I have 2 large/giant dogs (one Bouvier Bernois and 1 Rafeiro do Alentejo = Portuguese breed, both weighing around 52 kg) and a spayed mutt (a mix of 2 other Portuguese breeds) weighing about 27 kg. I don’t like giving them processed snacks and they tend to get fat.
    Thanks so much for your help. Teresa

    Reply
    • Hi Teresa! We’ll look into tuna biscuits this week and see if we can get something up soon!

  12. please can you send me some of your wonderful dog recipies

    thankyou

    Liz Baker and Treaclewoof

    Reply
  13. I made this today and it smelled beautiful!! Add some salt and pepper and it would make an excellent dinner for people!!

    Reply

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