Soup for Dogs

that's pretty much how it works - but veggies other than carrots are only cut in on the heating before a particular meal - the dogs prefer most of their veggies crunchy

lately, we've had Thai take-out a couple of times a month. I always save the sticky rice (just rice) for the dogs and put it in their bowls just before the broth/stock and carrots - then any medicine I'm trying to hide is crushed in - then kibble is added seconds before serving

I've roasted other leftover bones as well - the dogs are crazy for the broth that's created. I used to occasionally steal some of their broth when it was first made and make some stock cubes for my own cooking - the roasted bone broth really is much richer and has good intensity of flavour

I can't feed my dogs anything resembling people food and that includes dog stew. They get the runs for days. Bugger.

Your dogs don't eat raw or cooked veggies? mine would both be infuriated if we tried to get between them and any form of carrot.

The broth started as a recommendation from a pet store owner when I was trying to find a way to get Bailey to eat the oral kibble he'd been prescribed by the vet in an effort to prevent surgery. Bailey wouldn't touch the stuff, and at $80+ a bag and the threatened cost of dental surgery I needed to find a way to get him to eat it. The pet store guy recommended canned chicken broth misted on the kibble (using a $ store plant mister) to cover the smell. He told me lots of dogs didn't like the smell and vets then sold some expensive supplement to cover it up - chicken broth worked.

After a few months of buying canned/boxed no sodium chicken broth, and throwing out lots of chicken carcasses, I smartened up and starting making my own broth/stock.

When the vet later wanted to put Bailey on a diet, I decided to try reducing the # of kibble he got with each meal and increasing the broth/carrot ratio. It worked. Weight loss, no upset stomach.

Best of all, it smells better than any kind of dog food when it's cooking.

thank you - I plan to get into doing this.

What is your take on garlic? I've seen it mentioned (some years ago now) on some sort of preferential branded dog kibble.

Mmmm, I make pickled carrots for myself, saves market trips; I've never tried to give her one in case it is a Baddie. Well, never mind. I'll get some raw carrots and see.

I see garlic in a lot of dog foods as a very minor ingredient.

I've used it when I made mini-meatloaves to be crumbled into the dog food. I've sort of got out of the habit. I guess I don't want to cook more often for the dogs than I do for us

I used to buy last day of sale ground meat - all varieties - and toss it in the freezer. Then when I had a bunch of packages of meat, I'd pull it all out - thaw it - mix in a little oatmeal, a little freshly grated garlic, a can of mixed peas and carrots and mix mix mix - then bake it up in muffin tins - put the mini-meat-muffins in freezer bags - pull one out occasionally to crumble on top of kibble.

I once stole one to put into spaghetti sauce when I didn't have any ground meat in the house - it was damn tasty.

the chunky pet store stuff? my dogs can't tolerate it. nasty stuff

I'm betting she's got too much class to eat pickled carrots. Cooked or raw might work.

My hound won't eat carrots, turned his nose up to them ever since he was a pup. But he loves peppers, apples, cooked broccoli pumpkin, pea pods and yes, even brussels sprouts,etc.
Dogs are omnivores. My Murph will eat just about anything. I wish he nibble on carrots though... Each to his own I guess. This soup sounds like a good idea, sometimes he's got a pretty sensitive stomach. I blame that on the Dane in him.

Yes, true, she has that terrific nose.

What do you mean peppers? green, red, yellow? or jalapeno, anaheims? hotter?

Katy likes a little spice in chicken broth but I don't want to push it.

I know for sure that she sucks up cookies with oatmeal, mint, and parsley.. and has lived on after that, my version of a recipe ehBeth posted.

pea pods! my dogs like any kind of pea pod, but they seem to absolutely worship snow peas

Cleo is also a bit notorious in our neighbourhood for trying to climb into the baskets of green beans at the outdoor green grocer stalls. There was an incident a few years ago where someone's toddler got involved - grabbed handfuls of beans out of the basket and threw them onto the sidewalk for Cleo to eat.

Thanks goodness the store owner wasn't upset - she laughed. I always pay a little extra when I go to that shop since I never know what Cleo might be eating when I go in to pay up.

This thread is useful already.

I didn't really explain this, did I?

I take the bones/carcasses leftover from various meals and put them in the oven on a cookie sheet with a tiny tiny tiny bit of oil spritzed on - 350 for about 30 - 45 minutes - til the bones are toasted, not burnt

then they go into the biggest pot I've got with water (and celery and parsley cuttings if I have some on hand) - boil it up to start, then simmer for about an hour til it thickens a bit. Strain the junk out - then either refrigerate or freeze the broth/stock (I never know exactly what to call it) - pull out portions and heat - with or without veggies.

Bailey and Cleo weigh between 25 and 30 pounds. They get about a third of a cup with their kibble and meds twice a day.

Bell peppers, the colour doesn't matter.

So, I'm going to do a little test procedure.
I'm making myself either refrig pickled green beans or marinated al dente cooked green beans, decisions, decisions. When I do these, I cut off the ends. Green bean ends!!

I'll see if Katy (today called Furface) likes fresh raw green beans or minimally cooked ones, by themselves, no added stuff.

Will report in.

I generally do not add garlic or onions when I cook for my dog.

I sometimes make my dog a meatloaf with ground chuck or sirloin, an egg, low sodium V-8 juice, and oat bran.

My dog will eat cooked carrots if they are finely chopped and mixed with meat or chicken, but she won't touch them if they are raw. When she was younger, she really, really liked cooked sugar snap peas, but not so much any more. She absolutely loves freshly steamed broccoli and oven roasted asparagus cooked with olive oil and a slight sprinkling of salt--she really devours those things--and she likes steamed string beans as well. She seems to prefer all her veggies on the softer rather than crunchy side.

I really began cooking for her more regularly after the pet food scare a few years ago and I've just continued doing that. For breakfast, I generally give her Beneful wet food, which doesn't look, or smell, anything like dog food--it's a fairly good-looking stew of either beef, lamb, or chicken, with lots of visible vegetables and grains. And for dinner, I'll cook some meat or chicken for her and mix it with some oat bran or brown rice (often cooked in low salt V-8 juice rather than water), and add in whatever vegetables we're having with dinner if they are something she likes. She only weighs about 15 or 16 pounds, so she doesn't eat all that much, and cooking for her is really not a big deal. And, when I steam some shrimp for us, I always put aside a small portion for her as a special treat--she loves them, almost as much as she loves chicken livers and gizzards. I get great pleasure out of watching her really enjoying her food.

She doen't like or eat kibbled food, but I have tried giving her some broth in a bowl when I've made some--she passed on it.

Thanks - useful post there.

Hmmm, maybe I should cook the green beans longer next time.

Have you tried hand feeding her the green beans or string beans one at a time--like a treat? Have you tried putting a little butter or olive oil on them?

My pampered pooch prefers to be hand-fed her favorite veggies, like steamed broccoli and oven roasted asparagus. Others, like cooked carrots and string beans, I can chop up and mix with her meat or chicken.