Take the Guesswork Out of Preparing Your Dog's Meals
One of the biggest criticisms of homemade food is it typically isn't well balanced and often misses important nutrients. This fool-proof method removes the guesswork and makes it easy to provide your dog with balanced meals that contain all the vitamins and minerals he needs.
Analysis by Dr. Karen Shaw Becker
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STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- A variety of fresh meats, healthy fats, and veggies provides a great base of the nutrients dogs need, and a micronutrient vitamin/mineral blend like my Meal Mix for Dogs takes care of deficiencies that exist in preparing these types of homemade meals for your dog
- Meal Mix is designed to make feeding nutritionally complete homemade meals easier and more affordable (compared to recipes using more expensive whole food ingredients that can be hard to source), whether you decide to feed a fresh meal now and then, once a day, or completely discontinue feeding ultraprocessed pet food
- The accompanying online recipe formulator allows for lots of nutritional variety and works wonderfully not only for dogs with no dietary restrictions, but also for those who need to avoid certain foods or ingredients
A very exciting feature of the Bark & Whiskers site, and one I’m extremely proud of, is my Meal Mix for Dogs, and the online recipe formulator.
With the help of expert fresh food formulator Steve Brown, I developed Meal Mix for Adult Dogs because I know that as a dedicated pet parent passionate about your animal companion’s health, you want to provide your canine family member with high-quality, fresh, real food. Since this can be easier said than done, Meal Mix for Dogs gives you the tools you need to effortlessly create high-quality, nutritionally optimal homemade meals for your adult dog(s).
Many homemade and prey-model diets and some commercially available raw, freeze dried, and gently cooked diets are nutritionally incomplete (find out by asking the company to email you their complete nutritional analysis, as compared to accepted nutrient standards). This can cause your pet to become deficient in the correct amounts of important minerals and vitamins, antioxidants, or the right fatty acid balance for skeletal, organ and immune health.
A considerable amount of research has gone into determining what nutrients dogs need to survive, and there is ample evidence showing what happens when they are deprived of the full range of critical nutrients necessary for cell growth, repair, and maintenance. In fact, many integrative veterinarians believe many of the chronic degenerative diseases plaguing pets today are rooted in long standing micronutrient deficiencies.
Fresh, homemade meat and veggie diets provide the protein, fat, and fiber your pup needs, but research shows the vast majority of homemade diets are missing important micronutrients unless the recipe you’re following has been formulated with specific key ingredients, like Brazil nuts to meet selenium requirements, and oysters for zinc.
Meal Mix for Dogs takes care of vitamin and mineral deficiencies that may exist. If you opt not to use supplements, you must add in these extra whole food sources of these nutrients, which requires additional money, sourcing creativity, and math.
If you're preparing a homemade diet for your pet, I can't emphasize enough the importance of ensuring it's nutritionally balanced. Making your dog’s food from scratch requires you to ensure you're meeting macro and micronutrient requirements. This can be so intimidating that many pet parents never diversify their dog’s bowl, which research says is one of the poorest decisions for long-term health.
How Meal Mix for Dogs + the Updated Online Formulator Works
In a nutshell, Meal Mix is a human-grade vitamin and mineral blend that helps take the guesswork out of preparing fresh food for your adult dog. Even better, you can use it with the recipes and feeding instructions provided through the updated online recipe formulator to prepare a variety of customized, nutritionally balanced meals.
Just go to Meal Mix for Dogs, type the requested information into the online formulator (e.g., your dog’s weight and activity level), customize your recipe by adding vegetables and/or starches if you’d like, and the formulator will generate a recipe, preparation instructions, and suggested feeding directions. You can also choose from pre-made recipes if you don’t know where to start.
The beauty of Meal Mix for Dogs plus the recipe formulator is that used together, they take the guesswork out of preparing homemade food for your adult dog. All you need to do is add a pre-measured packet of Meal Mix to a measured amount of any raw or gently cooked meat, add veggies if you like, and you have a perfectly balanced homemade meal for your dog.
If your budget is tight or your veterinarian has advised cutting back on the amount of protein in your dog’s diet, you can add a source of carbohydrates, such as sweet potatoes, quinoa, or rice.
Sample Recipes Using Meal Mix for Dogs
With Meal Mix for Dogs and the recipe formulator, you’re in complete control of every nutritious, delicious morsel that goes into your dog’s body. The following are previews of a few of the meals generated by the formulator (note: these are not complete recipes, they’re the ingredients you’ll be adding to Meal Mix to create a complete and balanced meal).
Bison With Portabella Mushroom and Sweet Potato
Nutritional value: 29 kCal/oz // Feeding amount: 249 kCal/day lbs
Ingredients
- 12 oz Bison meat, grass fed or wild
- 4 oz Portabella mushroom
- 4 oz Sweet potato (boiled, skin included)
- .5 tsp Sunflower, safflower, hemp seed or walnut oil
- 2 g Marine-based omega-3 oil
- 1 pkt Meal Mix for Dogs
Feed 9 oz per day, split into as many meals as desired. Supplements such as probiotics, digestive enzymes, and organ support products may be added.
Chicken, Skin-on, Dark Meat With Carrot and Broccoli
Nutritional value: 38 kCal/oz // Feeding amount: 249 kCal/day lbs
Ingredients
- 12 oz Chicken, dark meat (skin included)
- 3 oz Carrots
- 3 oz Broccoli
- 2 g Marine-based omega-3 oil
- 1 pkt Meal Mix for Dogs
This meal is nutritionally balanced with vitamins and minerals, adding additional vitamin supplements is not recommended.
Lean Ground Beef With Spinach and Summer or Zucchini Squash
Nutritional value: 37 kCal/oz // Feeding amount: 249 kCal/day lbs
Ingredients
- 12 oz Ground beef, 85% lean
- 4 oz Spinach
- 4 oz Squash, summer or zucchini
- 1 tsp Sunflower, safflower, hemp seed or walnut oil
- 2 g Marine-based omega-3 oil
- 1 pkt Meal Mix for Dogs
Feeding directions are based on your dog's weight and activity level, adjust amount to feed according to your veterinarian's advice.
Turkey, Dark Meat With Cucumber and Green Peas
Nutritional value: 21 kCal/oz // Feeding amount: 249 kCal/day lbs
Ingredients
- 16 oz Turkey, dark meat (skinless)
- 4 oz Cucumber
- 4 oz Green peas (with pod)
- 2 oz Cottage cheese, 2% fat
- 2 g Marine-based omega-3 oil
- 1 pkt Meal Mix for Dogs
Additional portions can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days, or freezer for up to two weeks. Frozen portions can be thawed overnight by transferring to the refrigerator.
Wild Duck With Asparagus and White Rice
Nutritional value: 40 kCal/oz // Feeding amount: 249 kCal/day lbs
Ingredients
- 12 oz Wild duck (skin included)
- 4 oz Asparagus
- 4 oz White rice, cooked
- 2 g Marine-based omega-3 oil
- 1 pkt Meal Mix for Dogs
Weighing instructions: All ingredients (raw or cooked) should be weighed right before mixing together.
Meal Mix is designed to be part of a total meal plan with recipes and ideas for feeding your dog a variety of healthy, balanced homemade meals.
The recipe formulator meal plans allow for lots of nutritional variety and work wonderfully for both dogs with no dietary restrictions, as well as those who need to avoid certain foods or ingredients. For example, you can create a novel protein diet for a dog with food sensitivities, or a limited ingredient diet for dogs with health issues such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), food allergies, or to create diets using 100% organic ingredients.
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