BUILDING BEEF AND CHICKEN ABC RECIPES, STEP-BY-STEP
In this chapter I’m going to show you how to make excellent homemade dog foods for full time feeding that closely mimic the ancestral diet. There will be three recipes: one based on boneless ruminant meats; a second based on bone-in poultry meats; and a third which contain both poultry and ruminant meats, what I call the perfect fat and protein recipe. These recipes are for all life stages, which means they meet the NRC standards for puppies and pregnant and lactating moms as well (which are more demanding than the standards for adult dogs). In some instances I will provide ingredient alternatives for adult dogs.
Please note that the nutrient content of all natural foods upon which these recipes are based can vary significantly. Therefore the nutritional content data presented below may vary somewhat from what you may actually experience. I am confident, however, that if you follow the steps closely you will be feeding your dog a very healthy diet.
The key steps you need to follow are similar between the two recipes. However, there is one important difference. For the boneless ruminant recipes, the six steps are:
1. Choose lean meats.
2. Balance and complete the fats.
3. Ensure proper amounts of calcium and phosphorus.
4. Add vegetables and other mineral and antioxidant rich foods.
5. Review the fats.
6. Review vitamins D and E.
For the bone-in poultry recipes, the six steps are:
1. Choose lean meats.
2. Ensure proper amounts of Ca and P.
3. Balance and complete the fats.
4. Add vegetables and other mineral and antioxidant rich foods.
5. Review the fats.
6. Review vitamins D and E.
The difference between the two is when you balance the fats. When working with bone-in poultry recipes, the calcium and phosphorus source—the meat with bone—also contains fat. I find it best, therefore, to ensure the proper amounts of Ca and P first, before balancing the fats. The opposite is true with the ruminant recipes.
4 pounds, 90–93% lean ground beef
¾ pound ground beef heart, preferably grass-fed
¼ pound beef liver, preferably organic or grass-fed
1 pound spinach, lightly cooked or finely ground raw
½ pound broccoli stalks or other vegetable, lightly cooked or finely ground raw
1 can (3.75 oz) of sardines, in water (no salt added)
1½ ounces human-grade bonemeal
4 teaspoons (16 g) hempseed oil
2 teaspoons (8 g) iodized salt
This 4,000 kcal recipe will feed a typical 25-pound adult dog for one week and a typical 45-pound dog for four days. It is about 16 oz of food a day for a 25 pound dog; 27 oz a day for a 40 pound dog.
Step 1: Choose lean meat
• Four pounds of 90–93% lean ground beef.
• ¾ pound ground beef hearts and ¼ pound beef liver (preferably organic).
In the analyses below I use two pounds of 90% lean and two pounds 93% lean ground beef. If you’re feeding pregnant or lactating bitches, or puppies, it’s best to use only 93% lean. You can substitute lean ground lamb, bison, or venison if you want.
One pound of organs is 20% of the meat content and 15% of this recipe. Hearts, as discussed in the ABC day, provide an excellent source of protein, minerals, and other nutrients. Liver is a good source of trace minerals—including copper, iron, manganese, iodine, and zinc—and a reliable source of vitamin D. Liver should be no more than 7.5% of a dog’s overall diet, otherwise the diet may contain too much vitamin A. Filtering organs, such as livers, kidneys, and spleens, remove toxins from the blood and into the urine or intestines to be excreted. I think it’s best, but certainly not essential, to feed naturally raised or organic sources for all filtering organs.
Step 2: Balance fats, add complete range of fatty acids
• Four teaspoons hempseed oil or 1 ½ oz of freshly ground hempseeds. Or as an alternative, four teaspoons of walnut oil or eight teaspoons of canola oil.
• One can of sardines (3.75 oz), in water, no salt added.
As discussed above, the best oils to add to beef, bison, and other ruminant-based foods are hempseed, walnut, and canola. These oils provide LA, short-chain omega-6s, and ALA, short-chain omega-3s. For this recipe, we’re adding four teaspoons (16 grams) of hempseed oil or 1 ¼ ounces of freshly ground hempseeds. If you can’t find hempseeds or oil, add 4 teaspoons of walnut oil or 8 teaspoons of canola oil.
The can of sardines adds highly usable forms of EPA and DHA, making the fatty acid balance acceptable (as shown in Table 6.1), and we can move on to finish the recipe. We’ll check the fat balance again after we add the vegetables and other mineral-rich foods.
Table 6.1 Good fat balance: 4 lbs beef meat and organs with 4 tsp hempseed oil and one (3.75 oz) can of sardines, g/1000 kcal
Step 3: Ensure proper amounts of calcium and phosphorus
Bonemeal—equal to 1.5% of the weight of the lean meats from step 1.
The next step—when developing formulas for meats that do not include bone—is to add Ca and P. I usually use human-grade bone-meal, but you can also use dicalcium phosphate. As discussed above, many homemade diets do not properly balance the Ca and P, because the mathematics involved can sometimes be difficult, and there is a lot of inaccurate information on the Internet. With boneless ruminants, I examine Ca and P after I balance the fats, because nutrients are best evaluated on a caloric basis, and the meats and fats provide most of the calories.
A safe rule of thumb is to add 1% (of the weight of the meat) bone-meal to lean meats to provide the proper amounts of Ca and P for adult dogs, and 1.5% for puppies. For this recipe, I’m adding 1½ oz of bonemeal to the 4 pounds of meat to meet NRC standards for puppies. Most natural food stores sell lead-free bonemeal or MCHA.
Table 6.2 shows the mineral content of our recipe with meats, fats, and bonemeal. I’ve asterisked the two minerals, manganese and iodine, that we need to consider next to meet standards.
Table 6.2 Mineral content compared with standards, beef recipe after meat, fats and bonemeal, per 1000 kcal
*does not meet standards
Step 4. Add vegetables and other mineral-rich foods
• One pound of spinach.
• One half pound of broccoli stalks.
• Two teaspoons of iodized salt.
Since we’re feeding lean beef and beef liver, which is rich in copper, most of the trace minerals the dog needs are at recommended levels for adult dogs, with the exception of manganese and iodine. For puppies, we also need to consider sodium and iron.
I always solve the manganese shortage first. In this recipe, we’ll use spinach, which also adds the additional iron and vitamin E necessary for puppies. In the next recipe we’ll use kelp and in the third recipe we’ll use oat bran.
We’re adding 1 pound of spinach and ½ pound of broccoli stalks, served lightly cooked, juiced, or finely chopped with a food processor. The vegetables also provide a source of fiber.
Some dogs do not tolerate spinach well and may develop kidney stones or have difficulty urinating if fed spinach. Check with your vet if you think this might apply to your dog. If you determine that you should not feed spinach, you will need to find another source of manganese, iron, and vitamin E. You can substitute one pound of green leaf or romaine lettuce—but that will only solve part of your manganese shortage. You can make up the difference by adding:
• 3 mg of manganese in the form of a supplement, or
• 2 oz (before adding the water) of oat bran, or
• ½—2 teaspoons of high manganese content kelp meal (brands vary), and eliminate the iodized salt added below.
If you are feeding puppies and do not use spinach, you will want to add 10 mg of iron, preferably by substituting ¼ pound of the heart recommended with ¼ pound of spleen (if you can find it) or an iron supplement. To meet NRC vitamin E recommendations, add 3 freshly ground almonds or 20 International Units (usually 1 drop) of a natural vitamin E supplement.
For iodine, I add two teaspoons (8 g) of iodized salt, with 0.1 mg iodine per gram (Morton Salt datum). Instead, we could add kelp, but we’re using kelp in the next recipe and kelp (which can have a high arsenic content) should probably not be fed everyday. The sardines, oysters, and beef liver are reliable sources of iodine, but may not have sufficient amounts to meet NRC recommendations for these recipes. Therefore, to be safe, I’m adding iodized salt—one teaspoon is probably sufficient—adding 2 teaspoons guarantees the recipe will meet NRC recommendations.
Table 6.3 shows the complete mineral content of this recipe and compares results versus both NRC recommendations and the ancestral diet. Note that the recipe now meets NRC mineral recommendations for all life stages.
Table 6.3 Mineral content: beef recipe with spinach, broccoli, and 2 tsp iodized salt, per 1000 kcal
Step 5. Review fats
Before we finalize the recipe, let’s review the fats again, because the addition of vegetables and other foods can change the fat balance. Table 6.4 shows that the fatty acid balance is right where we want it to be. Because this recipe is in the low part of the desired polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) range of 5–15 g/1000 kcal, this recipe is ideal to rotate with high-PUFA content chicken foods, which we will discuss next in Recipe #2.
Table 6.4 Fatty acid balance after adding vegetables, g/1000 kcal
Step 6. Review vitamins E and D
The last step is to review the vitamin D and E content of the diet. As I discussed in the last chapter, the amount of vitamin E needed is dependent upon the polyunsaturated fat content of the diet; the more PUFAs, the more vitamin E is required in the diet. This is a low PUFA diet, so the vitamin E requirements are not increased. With the poultry recipe we’ll see how high PUFA contents significantly increases the need for vitamin E. As Table 6.7 shows, this recipe meets vitamin D and E recommendations for puppies and adults. It meets recommended levels of vitamin D because it includes sardines and liver. Without both these foods, vitamin D will probably be short. The recipe, with the spinach, meets recommended levels of vitamin E for adults and puppies.
Putting it all together
Our Recipe #1 contains 4,000 kcal, is high in protein, contains balanced, complete-and-defended fats, and complete and balanced minerals and vitamins, meeting NRC recommendations for all dogs, including pregnant or lactating bitches and puppies. This recipe will feed a typical adult 25-pound dog for one week. See Table 6.8 for feeding guidelines.
Let’s take a complete look at the nutrient analyses of our beef recipe and see how nearly we approximated the ancestral diet. Table 6.5 shows that the relative levels of protein, fat, and carbohydrate are similar to the ancestral diet.
Table 6.5 Percentage protein, fat, and carbohydrate in beef recipe compared with ancestral diet
Next, we balanced the fats, per Table 6.6, making the fat profile similar to the ancestral diet.
Table 6.6 fats grams/1000 kcal
Finally, we completed the nutrition (vitamins and minerals) by adding fresh, whole foods as shown in Table 6.7.
Table 6.7 Recipe nutrient content compared with NRC and ancestral, per 1000 kcal
Feeding amounts depend upon many factors, including your dog’s activity level and outdoor temperatures. Use this chart as a starting point for determining how much of this recipe to feed.
Table 6.8 Feeding guidelines, ounces per day, 36 kcal per ounce
2 pounds chicken necks, including bones (fat and skin removed)
2 pounds chicken thighs (bone, fat and skin removed)
½ pound chicken hearts
½ pound chicken livers, preferably organic
½ pound yams
½ pound broccoli stalks
¼ pound oysters
¼ teaspoon kelp
1 egg
2 ounces freshly ground flaxseeds
2 drops (40 IU) vitamin E
1 ounce coconut oil
This 3,700 kcal recipe will feed a typical 20 to 25-pound adult dog for one week, and a 45-pound dog for three to four days. This recipe includes ground bones so we won’t need to add sources of calcium and phosphorus as we did in the previous recipe. That means the bones must be fed raw, not lightly cooked. Cooked bones, unless very finely ground, can be dangerous for dogs because they are sharp and easily splinter.
Step 1. Choose lean meats
• Two pounds of chicken necks or backs with skin and fat removed, or turkey necks without skin.
• Two pounds of lean thighs.
• One pound of livers and hearts.
The lean meats in this recipe come from three sources: (1) necks or backs; (2) thighs; and (3) liver and heart. Instead of chicken, you can use turkey, duck, or pheasant.
Start with the necks or backs (including the bones) by removing all the external fat and skin. The skinned necks account for 40% of the meat used in the recipe and are 17% protein and 5.5% fat.
Many raw feeders feed chicken necks and backs because the prices are lower than most other parts of the chicken and the bones contain calcium and phosphorus. The necks and backs can be served ground or whole. While I give the necks whole to my dogs, I often advise people to feed the necks ground. Here’s why: I start feeding my puppies raw, whole necks when they are three weeks old. They learn how to eat them and the whole necks become natural foods for them. On the other hand, some dogs, introduced to whole necks when they are adults, gulp the necks down. Many highly respected veterinarians, including some raw-feeding advocates, do not recommend giving whole raw bones to dogs, because there is a small risk that they could choke. My advice: grind the raw bones, unless your dog was introduced to whole raw bones at a very young age. Ask your butcher to grind the bones or, if you feed a lot of dogs or large dogs, buy a grinder.
The boneless thighs or legs count for the next 40% of the meat used in this recipe. Remove the storage fat (clumps of fat under the skin and throughout the body), but leave the thin fat strands within the muscle meat. The fat within the muscle meat, especially the dark meat, contains more long-chain polyunsaturated fats (including DHA) than the separable fats. This is what we want because the separated fats contain no DHA. With all the clumps of fat removed, chicken thighs are 20% protein and 4% fat.
The final 20% of meat is from organs. Add one half-pound of chicken hearts and one half-pound of chicken livers. You can use more hearts and fewer livers, but not more livers and fewer hearts. Livers are rich in vitamin A and too much can be harmful. These organs are mineral-rich and a favored part of the dog’s ancestral diet.
I recommend using very lean meats in the chicken recipe because we’re going to add more fat and carbohydrates. The chicken recipe contains ingredients such as eggs, omega-3 fats, and vegetables, which will decrease the caloric contribution of protein. At this point in the recipe, 60% of the calories come from protein, with our goal being 49%. We have a lot of room to add lower-protein ingredients and still have a high protein food.
Step 2. Ensure proper Ca and P range
With the boneless ruminant Recipe #1, we balanced the fats before we ensured the proper amounts of Ca and P, which we added with bonemeal. For bone-in poultry recipes, the bones are the primary source of Ca and P. It’s best, therefore, to make sure that the recipe is within the proper Ca and P range before examining the fats. Table 6.9 shows that the Ca and P content of our recipe at this stage are similar to ancestral levels, and on the high side of NRC recommendations. This is what we want because we’re going to add other foods that contain little or no Ca and P, thereby decreasing the overall Ca and P content.
Table 6.9 Ca and P, chicken recipe, meat only, g/1000 kcal
Step 3. Add an egg, then balance, and complete the fats
• Add one large egg, without the shell.
• Add 56 grams (2 ounces) of freshly ground flaxseeds.
Eggs were part of the ancestral diet, and provided a wide range of important fats and other nutrients. Keeping poultry foods together, I usually add eggs to the chicken based diets only. For more information and suggestions on how to prepare eggs for dogs, see Chapter 4.
The egg in this recipe is 1.5% of the diet, slightly more than the egg percentage of the hypothetical ancestral diet. If you’re rotating with the ruminant Recipe #1, the total egg content of the diet will be reduced to 0.75% of the diet.
I recommend you use regular commercial eggs. Omega-3 eggs will have different fat profiles and may be healthier than commercial eggs, but there is little reason to buy expensive omega-3 eggs for this recipe. We will add more omega-3s directly with flaxseeds or chia seeds and oysters.
After I add the eggs, I examine the balance of fats. Tables 6.10 and 6.11 show that at this stage—with just the meat and eggs—the recipe is still higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate and fat than our ideal, and that the fats are unbalanced. We’ll first balance the fats, and then add carbohydrate with the vegetables. These steps will lower the protein right to where we want it to be. (Remember: protein + fat + carbohydrate = 100% of calories.)
Table 6.10 Percentage protein, fat, and carbohydrate (meat and eggs only) compared with ancestral diet
Table 6.11 Fatty acid profile with meat and egg, g/1000kcal
*does not meet standards
The fat profile in Table 6.11 shows that we need to add ALA (short-chain omega-3s) to the recipe, in order to balance the LA/ALA and overall omega-6/3 ratios. The recipe already meets our minimums for DHA because we are using lean poultry dark meat and removing all the separable fat. If we used chicken breasts instead of thighs the recipe would have about one-half the DHA content. While it’s not essential that we add more DHA, I think it’s advisable. We’re going to add oysters, discussed below, to provide the additional DHA and a variety of trace minerals.
With chicken meats, the best oils to add are those rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a short-chain omega-3 fatty acid. Ground flaxseeds or chia seeds are the best sources of this. We do not want to add any other foods or oils high in linoleic acid including soybean, safflower, sunflower, canola, walnut, wheat germ, and hempseed oils.
Since we need manganese in this recipe, and flaxseed has about 50% more manganese than chia seeds, we’ll use flaxseed in this recipe. In the next recipe, which contains other manganese-rich foods, we’ll use chia seeds.
Table 6.12 shows that this recipe now has an excellent LA/ALA and overall omega-6/3 ratios, but at 14 grams is close to our recommended maximum (15 g) amount of polyunsaturated fat. That’s always an issue with domesticated poultry, even with the use of the lean meats. We’re going to reduce the PUFA percentage by adding other ingredients as shown in Steps 5 and 6.
Table 6.12 Fatty acid profile with meat, egg, oysters, and flaxseeds, g/1000 kcal
Step 4. Add vegetables and mineral-rich foods
• One half pound of yams, one half pound broccoli stalks.
• One quarter pound of fresh oysters or one, 3.5-oz can oysters.
• One teaspoon high-iodine content kelp meal.
Now we’re going to add vegetables, fruits and other mineral-rich foods to balance and complete the minerals; add a variety of important antioxidants that help protect the brain and eyes; and add fiber. When feeding adult dogs lean chicken meats and organs, the only minerals we usually need to concern ourselves with are manganese, copper, and iodine. If we’re feeding puppies, we also need to boost zinc.
Yams and broccoli stalks are both good sources of manganese. The yam will boost manganese levels enough to meet adult NRC recommendations, but when combined with brocoli stalks you will meet NRC puppy recommendations as well. Later, we will add kelp, which also contains manganese.
Oysters are a great source of copper and zinc for dogs. Zinc is a must for pregnant bitches. You can choose between fresh and canned oysters (but avoid those canned in China). The oysters also give the recipe a second source of vitamin D. With the oysters, the recipe now meets all NRC trace mineral recommendations for puppies and adults, with the exception of iodine, which we’ll add below. An alternative to oysters is ¼ pound of beef liver, or commercial supplements of copper and zinc (5 mg of copper, 25 mg of zinc).
The amount of iodine in the oysters and the liver may be sufficient for this recipe, but I don’t have reliable enough data to know for sure. To be safe, add one teaspoon of iodized salt or one quarter teaspoon high-iodine content kelp meal. I’m using the kelp that is 0.06% iodine in this analysis; one quarter teaspoon provides 600 mcg of iodine. Kelp also provides additional manganese, bringing this recipe closer to the ancestral diet.
The recipe now meets NRC mineral puppy recommendations, and approximates our ideal, the ancestral diet, as shown in Table 6.13.
Table 6.13 Mineral analysis, after vegetables and mineral rich foods, per 1000 kcal
Step 5. Review the fats
• Add one ounce of coconut oil (not coconut milk).
Coconut oil contains primarily saturated fats, including short and medium chain saturated fats, which are not available in poultry or ruminant fats, which have mostly long chain saturated fats. Coconut oil contains caprylic, capric and lauric acid, often called medium-chain triglycerides, which have been shown to have anti-microbial properties and other health benefits. Coconut oil also contains tocotrienols, an important vitamin E compound that is often not available in meat plus vegetable diets. Adding 1 oz of coconut oil increases the fat contribution to 47 grams per 1,000 kcal and 43% of calories and while reducing the protein content to 123 grams per 1,000 kcal—closer to the ancestral amount.
The addition of vegetables changed our fats, so we need to ensure it is still in the ideal range. Table 6.14 shows the fat balance at this point.
Table 6.14 Fatty acid profile with meat, egg, vegetables, mineral-rich foods, g/1000 kcal
The recipe has 43 grams of fat and 130 grams of protein per 1000 kcal. This is higher in protein and lower in fat than our ideal, so we need to add some fat, but not polyunsaturated fats, because the 13 grams of PUFA /1000 kcal are getting close to the upper part of the range for PUFA, 5–15g/1000 kcal.
Step 6. Review vitamins D and E
• Add two drops (usually 20 IUs per drop) of a high quality, naturally sourced, full-spectrum vitamin E.
There is no need to add vitamin D to this recipe as it contains two vitamin D sources—oysters and livers. These two ingredients will probably provide enough vitamin D to meet recommendations.
Compared with beef, chicken has much higher levels of polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), and therefore requires higher levels of antioxidant protection. As I discussed above, the more PUFAs, the more vitamin E is needed.
This recipe, with 13 grams of PUFAs per 1,000 kcal, is short vitamin E. The entire recipe should have 39 IUs to meet NRC recommendations, plus 33 IUs to compensate for the high PUFA content. The recipe has, according to the limited USDA data on vitamin E content of foods, 28 IUs, so we need to add 44 IUs of vitamin E to be sure the recipes meet vitamin E recommendations. To defend the fats, I normally prefer to add vitamin E rich foods, rather than synthesized supplements. That’s one reason why I usually recommend flaxseed, which is loaded with antioxidants, rather than flaxseed oil; and sardines, also loaded with a variety of antioxidants, rather than salmon oil. But chicken-based foods already have a high LA omega-6 content and adding most natural sources of vitamin E, including almonds, walnuts, and sunflower seeds, can increase the total PUFAs above desired amounts.
Putting it all together
Recipe #2 feeds a typical 25-pound dog for one week. See Table 6.18 for feeding guidelines for all dogs.
Let’s take a look at the nutrient analysis of our chicken recipe and see how nearly we approximated the ancestral diet. First, we used lean parts so that the amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrate are similar to the ancestral diet, Table 6.15.
Table 6.15 Percentage protein, fat, and carbohydrate, completed chicken recipe compared with ancestral diet
Next, we balanced the fats, Table 6.16.
Table 6.16 Recipe fat profile compared with ancestral diet, g/1000 kcal
Finally, we completed the nutrition (vitamins and minerals) by adding fresh, whole foods, Table 6.17.
Table 6.17 Recipe nutrient content compared with NRC and ancestral, per 1000 kcal
Feeding amounts depend upon many factors, including your dog’s activity level and outdoor temperatures. Use Table 6.18 as a starting point for determining how much of this recipe to feed.
Table 6.18 Feeding guidelines, ounces per day, 35 kcal per ounce
Rotating the two recipes
Rotating these two recipes is ideal, and improves the overall balance of fat from very good to excellent. One week feed the beef/ruminant recipe and the next week the poultry recipe. If you can, rotate the ruminants (beef, lamb, bison, venison) and poultry (chicken, turkey, pheasant, and duck) and serve a variety of colorful vegetables and fruits with them.
Let’s look at the overall nutrition of rotating ruminant and poultry recipes as shown in tables 6.19, 6.20, and 6.21.
Table 6.19 Fatty acid profiles, g/1000 kcal
Table 6.20 Combined recipes, compared with NRC and ancestral, per 1000 kcal
Recipe #3: The perfect fat and protein recipe
Here are two variations of what I call the “perfect fat and protein” recipe: the first is designed for puppies and pregnant bitches (although it would work for any dog); and the second for adult dogs only. I use specific, mineral-rich vegetables for the puppy recipes, although the less demanding adult recipes can use almost any vegetables. These recipes contain the ancestral amounts and balance of well defended-from-oxidation fats, protein, and carbohydrate. Since these diets contain ground bone, they are best served raw. Both recipes will feed a typical 25-pound adult dog for one week.
In order to produce a perfect fat balance, I use two sources of meat in this recipe: beef and chicken. If you want to feed just one animal source at a time, which I normally recommend, stick to rotating Recipes 1 and 2. If, on the other hand, there are times when you want to make just one recipe, for example, if you’re having a dog sitter feed your dogs for a few weeks, this recipe may be ideal.
Perfect fat and protein recipe for puppies: 3,930 kcal
2¼ pounds 93% lean beef
1¾ pounds chicken necks, skin and fat removed
½ pound beef heart
½ pound beef liver
½ pound canned pumpkin
½ pound cooked oat bran*
¼ pound Swiss chard
¼ pound broccoli stalks
¼ pound US oysters
1 (3.75 oz) can of sardines in water
2 ounces freshly ground chia seeds
1 egg
2 teaspoons coconut oil (8 grams)
1 teaspoon iodized salt
2 drops (20 IUs per drop) naturally sourced vitamin E
Perfect fat and protein recipe for adults: 3,800 kcal
2¼ pounds 90–93% lean beef
1¾ pounds chicken necks, skin and fat removed
1 pounds mixed, colorful vegetables and fruits
½ pound beef heart
½ pound beef liver
½ pound cooked oat bran*
1 (3.75 oz) can of sardines in water
2 ounces freshly ground chia or flaxseeds
1 egg
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons iodized salt
2 drops (20 IU) natural sourced vitamin E
*Dogs who have allergies to wheat should not be fed oats. For these dogs, and for those people wanting to feed grain-free recipes, replace the oat bran with an additional ½ pound of sweet potato or canned pumpkin, plus 1 pound of vegetables or fruit (for fiber and carbohydrate), and replace the iodized salt with ½ teaspoon high-mineral content kelp.
Ingredient analysis
Meats. Feed 93% lean meats to pregnant and lactating bitches and young puppies, and 90% lean for adults. Some Dalmatians and Bedlington Terriers may require low copper diets—if yours is one of these, use chicken livers instead of beef livers. Beef liver, according to USDA data, has ten times the copper content of chicken livers. Ask your veterinarian or your dog’s breeder for advice about the copper needs of your dog.
Vegetables. Most of the minerals and vitamins in these recipes come from the meats and seafoods, with the exception of manganese. For adult dogs, I’m not using vegetables for their mineral content, so you can feed the vegetables and fruits that are left over from what you eat. For puppies, you should feed mineral-rich vegetables. (See Chapter 4 for a list of vegetables not to feed.)
Fats. To balance the short chain omega-6s and -3s, I recommend two ounces of freshly ground chia seeds. You can find chia seeds online—most stores don’t carry them. You can use flaxseeds instead, but if you also feed the chicken recipe (#2 above) I prefer to use chia seeds in this recipe. For EPA and DHA, the long chain omega-3s, I add one (3.75 oz) can of sardines (in water, no salt added) and ¼ pound U.S.A. oysters (not from China), for the zinc and fatty acids. It is okay to add two cans of sardines and no oysters for adults, but for young puppies and pregnant and lactating bitches I recommend keeping the oysters for the added zinc. If your dog has “fish breath,” you can reduce the seafood by 50%, still meet all adult dog standards, and have a good fatty acid balance.
I’ve added two teaspoons of coconut oil for the short chain saturated fats, and to increase the overall fat content. Lightly warm the coconut oil for better mixing.
Egg. For advice on proper preparation of eggs, see Chapter 4.
Oat bran. Even though oat bran, a grain, is not a natural food for dogs and is not part of their ancestral diet, it is a healthy food for most dogs. Oat bran is an excellent source of manganese and fiber, and increases the carbohydrate content of our recipe to 6% of calories, similar to the ancestral diet. Oats, a low-gluten grain, are tolerated well by most dogs, except those who have wheat allergies and gluten intolerances. Glutens are proteins in grains, especially wheat, that cause the elastic texture of dough. A small percentage of dogs cannot tolerate gluten (celiac disease), and should avoid high gluten containing grains, especially wheat, rye, and barley.
Vitamin E. Rather than the 40 IUs (usually two drops) of refined vitamin E, you can add two teaspoons of wheatgerm oil, or two ounces freshly ground almonds or walnuts. The nuts and wheatgerm oil add polyunsaturated fats, which will throw off the perfect fat balance in this recipe, but it will still be in the acceptable range.
Nutrient analysis
Let’s take a look at the nutrient analysis of our perfect fat recipe and see how nearly we have approximated the ancestral diet. First, we use lean meats so that the amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrate are similar to the ancestral diet, Table 6.21.
Table 6.21 Protein, fat, carbohydrate contributions—as close to the ancestral diet as one can get
Next, we balance the fats, Table 6.22.
Table 6.22 The perfect fatty acid profile. PUFAs right in the middle of the ancestral range, ample DHA, all in natural, highly absorbable forms, ideal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, g/1000 kcal
Finally, we complete the nutrition (vitamins and minerals) by adding fresh, whole foods, Table 6.23.
Table 6.23 Vitamin and minerals of recipe compared with NRC and ancestral, g/1000 kcal
Feeding amounts depend upon many factors, including your dog’s activity level and outdoor temperatures. Use this chart as a starting point for determining how much of this recipe to feed.
Table 6.24 Feeding guidelines, ounces per day, perfect fat recipe. This recipe has 34 kcal ME per ounce; the total recipe contains 3,850 kcal