My Homemade BARF Recipe

This is a recipe that I have used forever for my Dalmatians. Dalmatians cannot convert uric acid so they cannot eat organ meats, nor nightshade vegetables (potatoes, peppers, spinach, etc.) I based this recipe on Kymythy Schultze’s Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats. I bought it 15 years ago when it was produced only as a velo-bound book.

Some people think Kymythy’s diets are too restrictive as they do not incorporate grains. In fact her diets restrict grains in a natural diet, whereas some suggest including rice and others even suggest that you cook the meat rather than serving it raw. I have followed Kymythy’s diet, with the Dalmatian restrictions, for over 15 years, and my dogs are the picture of health and have had no health issues their entire life. My vet is amazed!

One other benefit is that it is very easy to maintain your dogs ideal body weight with this kind of feeding. The nature foods seem to be more satisfying than manmade foods. There are no fillers in this method of feeding.

There is one drawback to making your dog’s food–it is time consuming. I sometimes find myself making extra trips to the grocery store for fresh meat and vegetables for my dogs. When I am grinding vegetables at midnight, I tell my dogs that it is truly a labor of love.

Before I get into the ingredients, this is generally what you will be doing. Grind your vegetables in bulk and freeze what you won’t use within 3 days. Buy your meat fresh (not frozen), and store in the meat section of your refrigerator. I store all my vegetables and meat in either stainless steel or Pyrex. I found a set of stainless steel square storage containers with lids at Williams Sonoma, but then found them much cheaper at TJ Maxx. The Pyrex I use is readily found anywhere. Since I feed two dogs, I use the Pyrex 7-Cup Round Dish Buy a larger size for your meat. The point is, don’t use plastic as it will leach into your food.

The next thing you will need is a food processor. Don’t think that you can get away with your kitchen blender. Believe me, you will want the biggest food processor you can get your hands on because it is so much easier to grind your vegetables once every two weeks rather than every day. I started with a tiny Cuisinart, graduated to the 7 cup, and then bought the 14 cup Cuisinart. I just noticed that they make a 20 cup and if I were buying today, I probably would go for that size. My Cuisinart has lasted for 15 years and is still going strong, so I would recommend it.

OK, now for the ingredients. I try to buy either organic or locally grown vegetables. This vegetable recipe makes about five 7-cup batches.

9 large zucchini
9 large yellow squash
5 long, thin garnet yams (easier to cut if they are thin)
1 bulb garlic
1 bunch of either kale, collards, or mustard greens
5 pounds of carrots
Flax seed oil

Thoroughly wash all the vegetables. I use a the Oxo Good Grips Flexible Vegetable Brush and it has lasted years. Cut your vegetables in relatively small pieces. The smaller, the faster your processor will grind them.

I process all of one vegetable at a time and just divide them equally among the containers. I add a clove or two of garlic each time I fill up the food processor so the garlic is mixed in with each vegetable. You will learn your own tricks to expedite the process. For example, the leafy greens are rather hard to grind, but if you put a few pieces of yams in with them, it will stir the greens up and make them grind faster.

After all the veggies are ground up, I freeze four containers and refrigerate one. I add about a quarter cup of flax seed oil to the refrigerated one and mix it up. I don’t add flax seed oil to the frozen ones, but rather wait until I am ready to use them and let them thaw before adding the oil.

I store the meat separately from the vegetables. For two active dogs (45-55 lbs), I buy 4 pounds of ground dark turkey meat and that lasts about 4 days. I use a 9 Inch Stainless Steel Basting and Serving Spoon and serve my smaller 45 pound female a scoop of veggies and a scoop of meat. My larger male (55 pounds) gets a scoop and a half of each. Then I add a couple of cups of water. I feed them this twice a day.

I change up the meat for variety. I buy whole chicken breasts and cut them in pieces using my kitchen shears. (Don’t cook the chicken! Raw bones are fine, but dangerous if cooked). My dogs do not have a tolerance for beef in their meals, but can tolerate beef marrow bones once a week. They like lamb, but I have emotional issues feeding them lamb, but that’s just me.

If you are switching from commercial dog food, change gradually. I switched “cold turkey” and my dogs were fine, but it is recommended that you mix and wean them off the old food. The Kymythy Schultze book has good background on this.

If you have questions, please let me know by leaving a comment. I would be happy to share my experience preparing my dog food recipe with you.