If you have your doubts about commercial dog food, or if your dog has a food allergy, it may be time to consider some home cooking for your four-footed friend. According to Marc Ching, founder of The PetStaurant in Sherman Oaks, Calif., it isn’t that difficult.
Ching is up front about the fact that he isn’t a vet. Rather, he’s a human nutritionist and herbalist, who also works with animals, so check with your vet before you switch your dog’s diet, but once you get the go-ahead, check out the easy directions below.
“The benefit of cooking for your dog — and there’s many, is it’s a healthier food, it’s more natural,” Ching says. “But in my opinion, the No. 1 benefit is this: I control what goes inside, and so I can make a perfect food. My recommendations change based on an animal’s health issue, but the most general, across the board thing that we recommend is green vegetables and meat.”
Protein sources
- Turkey breast (lean ground turkey is also acceptable)
- Chicken breast (If you are concerned about a chicken allergy do not use.)
- Beef chuck roast or other similar cuts (If using ground beef, Ching suggests using 85/15 or better.)
- Whitefish is the best and most nonreactive protein source you can use, but some dogs refuse to eat fish.
- Bison/Pheasant/Vension – This is hard to find, but an excellent choice, as well.
Veggies
Ching prefers the use of mostly green vegetables, just no peas because peas have starch content that some dogs don’t do well with.
- Kale
- Zucchini
- Broccoli Flowerets
- Green Beans
- Lettuces
- Bok Choy
- Alfalfa Sprouts
- Dandelion Greens
- Spinach
- Celery
Ching recommends a 60/40 protein to veggie ratio when cooking. That means for every six pounds of turkey or fish you cook, you would add four pounds of green vegetables.
Once you select your protein and vegetable sources, dice both. Add to a pot over medium heat. Do not add oil or water. When you cook the protein with veggies, moisture and natural oils will come out of the protein and vegetables, creating a natural broth. You just need to stir, so the food does not stick to the pot.
Your veggie mix can either be cooked with the meat or blended/emulsified and added raw. If you cook your veggies, Ching suggests adding a multi-vitamin that is filler free.
After cooking, you can freeze in bulk so you do not have to cook daily.
If your dog has an itching problem, Ching suggests reducing starch and sugar intake. That means cutting back or eliminating food such as carrots, sweet potatoes, grains, and especially pasta, millet, and oats.
Ching’s love of animals came from growing up in Hawaii. He says, “In Hawaii, people are big naturalists. What that means is we grew up with animals, we have streams, we grew up on the beach, and so, dogs, they’ve always been in my family. When I grew up, my dog actually lived outside, and I fought with my parents for a few months when I became conscious that, ‘Wow, this is our family member,’ and then we ended up bringing our dog in, and it was a big change for us.”
Ching also runs a foundation called the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, which was initially funded through the The PetStaurant, but now is also funded by donations from people who became of his work shutting down several slaughterhouses in Asia.
At present, The Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation can only care for 25 dogs at a time, but they are working to expand the facility to double the capacity.
“We also started a program and we’re getting schools to sign on where they’ll come learn about dogs, adoption, learn about cats, things like that, learn about how to feed them, but also learn about abuse because that’s what we specialize in, abuse and cruelty cases,” Ching says.
Source: Paulette Cohn parade.com
