If you know me at all or follow me on Snapchat, you know that I love our little pooches like they are my babies. I do my best to use the best quality ingredients when it comes to cooking and eating at home, and the same goes for our dogs. I have posted before about how we feed our dogs a raw meat diet, and while I believe this is still the ideal diet, this has changed because C and I love to travel so much and it was too much of a hassle to worry about while we were away. Also, it wasn’t working great for Sally, our shih tzu, so we have switched it up to high quality grain-free dehydrated raw kibble while still supplementing with eggs, bones, liver, and raw meat occasionally.
When it comes to treats, I’ve found that there are also many great quality products that we can buy but they are quite expensive if you want the ones with just 1 ingredient in them (high quality meat) without any kind of fillers and grains. I realized that making them at home is a much better option that’s both healthy and economical. Luckily for us, our local farmers market has a meat vendor that sells ground up grass fed raw food for dogs which includes beef meat, bones and various organs like hearts, livers, and kidneys. I’ve bought them previously to supplement their food, but I realized I could use them to make homemade beef jerky for them!
If you can’t find a mixture like this one, you can just use ground beef or make your own mix after buying the parts separately. All these various parts contain different nutrients that are so beneficial and the dogs go crazy for them. Just like humans, it’s important for the dogs to eat all parts of the animal for the maximum nutrient profile. You don’t always need to get grass fed, but if you have the option and the means, I think it’s worth getting. After all, the dogs give us so much happiness in our lives, why wouldn’t we want to give them the best stuff so they can be healthy even as they get older?
Homemade Beef Jerky for Dogs
Ingredients
- 1 lb mixture of ground beef, organ meats, and bones (you can use just ground beef as well)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 130 degrees F or to its lowest setting.
- Place the meat mixture on a parchment paper and use your hands or a greased rolling pin to flatten out the meat to about 1/8 inch thick.
- Use a blunt knife to score the meat into a checkerboard pattern so you can later break them into bite sized pieces.
- Place the entire thing on a baking sheet, and dehydrate in the oven for 8 hours.
- Take out of the oven and tilt the baking sheet carefully over the sink to drain out any grease that seeped out.
- Break the beef into pieces along the previously scored lines, then place them in a single layer on a cooling rack on top of a fresh baking sheet.
- Place back in the oven for 4-5 more hours. There may be more drippings that fall into the baking sheet.
- Store at room temperature for 3 weeks, or keep in the fridge if planning to keep longer than that.
We have a puggle. We like to make homemade dog food for her. We like to get her off the dog food that buy in the stores and we have three cats that like to make homemade cat food for.them too. How can we keep homemade pet food without the food being to bad and keep without getting freezer burn..
Is the homemade food pre-cooked? Dogs can eat raw meat and it’s actually a preferred way for them to eat, supplementing them with fruits, veggies, organ meats, and raw bones. You can read my thoughts on a raw food diet for dogs here: http://whatgreatgrandmaate.com/benefits-raw-food-dogs/
If you are freezing their food, I would wrap them in individualized portions in a plastic wrap and keep them in an airtight zip lock bag. You can take out 2-3 portions and thaw them in the refrigerator twice a week. Hope this helps!
The lowest setting on my oven is 170. How would I adjust the cooking time?
I would check it after 5 hours for the first baking time before you break it up. And then keep an eye on it for the next baking time every hour so you can take it out when it’s done.
Hi Jean, is it possible to use dehydrator instead of oven? And I was thinking to mix turmeric powder with the meat… would that be ok?
I believe you can use the dehydrator. I’ve never used one before so you would have to determine the length. And yes! You can definitely mix in turmeric powder. Hope it turns out well.
That’s actually a brilliant idea, Sasha, that was, dogs with any kinda inflammation will feel tons better after eating a few of these.
Yay! I hope it helps because it did for my dog who used to have a ton of food allergies.
1 lb mixture of ground beef, organ meats, and bones (you can use just ground beef as well
DOES ANY STORE SELL THIS MIXTURE?
I have 3 dogs that all have allergies…(feet chewing, itching) and would love to help them…i make chicken jerky (chicken breast sliced thin and dehydrated) which they love but I wonder if this is the cause of their allergies.
I used a combination of this, and this.
Will the jerky be hard or soft. My dog has lost some of his teeth.
It’ll be stiff but not chewy. I think it’ll be fine for your dog. It’s made with ground meat so it break down easily.
Could you use ground venison for this?
Sure! I don’t see why not. Any ground meat would work.
can you add garlic for fleas
Sure! That’s a great idea. I would be mindful of the amount you put in since too much can be harmful for dogs, but a little bit should be okay.
I love this!! How would you grind the bones into the mixture? Sorry for asking g a noobish question i just don’t do meats. I’m already going to have to get a gas mask to make this already lol.
I don’t think you can grind it at home unless you have a powerful equipment. You can ask your local butcher, or we have a raw food dog store that sells them pre-ground.