The Healthy Hound Cookbook: Over 125 Easy Recipes for Healthy, Homemade Dog Food--Including Grain-Free, Paleo, and Raw Recipes!

Avon, Massachusetts

Greetings, fellow dog lovers, and welcome to our kitchen! Like you, we are pet parents who share our lives with our furry family members—and that includes cooking the occasional meal or treat for them. Using whole foods, we enjoy whipping up dishes for our dogs Irie and Tiki—including many meals that we all share.

Whether you would like to prepare Sunday doggie dinners, the occasional special celebratory meal, or everyday dog treats, it’s easy to do—and it’s always very appreciated!

This book is also perfect for pet parents who want to take the leash in terms of their dog’s diet. Maybe you want to avoid giving your dogs all the preservatives and additives found in many store-bought dog treats. Perhaps you love cooking and want to offer your dog foods made with in-season produce that’s packed with nutritional value. Or maybe your dog needs a particular specialty diet that’s costly to purchase. Just as there is no single best diet for every person, there isn’t one diet that’s best for
all
dogs. Every dog is an individual—some will thrive on one diet, while others do best on another. Many pet parents want to feed their dogs a wholesome specialty diet. No matter what type of diet your dog needs—from grain-free to Paleo to raw to traditional—you’ll find recipe examples in this cookbook. Just look for the icons (
) for easy reference. Choosing the best diet for your dog is a job that you should take on with the help of your veterinarian to determine the best foods for your dog’s breed, energy level, and life stage.

Unlike cats, who are obligate carnivores and need a diet primarily consisting of meat, dogs eat (and enjoy!) a varied diet. As you can tell from your dog’s teeth, which are meant to tear, but not chew and grind, the canine diet naturally leans heavily toward meat, too, but dogs can also digest and savor many fruits and vegetables. Fruits like bananas, blueberries, blackberries, and more will provide a tasty addition to your dog’s treats and meals while serving up great nutrition as well. And don’t forget veggies! From asparagus to zucchini, dogs love fresh vegetables. We’ll provide recipes for many seasonal favorites like sweet potato and pumpkin; you’ll also find many recipes that provide a template for using your own dog’s favorite veggies depending on the time of year.

This book introduces you to the many wholesome foods that you can be proud to serve to your best friends. You’ll help them enjoy their meals and treats, and live healthy lives, too.

While there are many high-quality commercial dog foods available in stores these days, many dog lovers like to prepare at least the occasional meal and treats at home. We find that cooking for our dogs is rewarding for us as well. When we watch them enjoying a meal we have prepared especially for them, we feel satisfaction at having created something our dogs love, and their eager eating proves that they appreciate it.

Aside from the sheer “joy of cooking,” probably the biggest advantage of homemade dog foods and treats is having control over exactly what your dog is eating. By choosing fresh ingredients and preparing them in your own kitchen, you are free of the worries of byproducts, fillers, and recalled foods and treats. You’ll be making canine cuisine from ingredients you’ve purchased and prepared, just like you do for foods for every other member of your family.