Home Made Diet for Your Canine Companion We recommend a homemade diet for clients who want to prepare the best nutrition for their canine family member. We often refer to this as our ‘paleolithic diet’ emphasizing meat, organ meat, and non-starchy vegetables, to reduce inflammation in patients with excess conditions related to metabolic syndrome.* In excessively inflamed patients, the ingredients should be offered raw, as raw foods are more cooling. In patients that are weaker, or more deficient, the meat should be lightly cooked, and the vegetables steamed, for easier digestion.

Note: Attention to detail is critical to produce a nutritious, complete diet for your dog. If you cannot include organ meats, bone meal, a rotation of 5 different non-starchy vegetables, a multivitamin, salt, and fruit, then your dog will be better served by being fed a complete

and balanced, commercially prepared whole food diet. Feeding your dog ground meat, and three vegetables IS NOT a complete diet. Dogs should be fed according to their weight, their metabolic rate, and activity level. A range of ingredient weights are provided here to reflect individual differences. A digital gram/ounce scale is recommended for accuracy. See reverse for additional details on ingredients.

Ingredient Weight (lb / kg)

Body

surface

area

10 lb 4.5 kg

.275 m2

20 lbs 9.1 kg

.44 m2

30 lbs 13.6 kg

.57 m2

40 lbs 18.2 kg

.70 m2

50 lbs 22.7 kg

.81 m2

60 lbs 27.3 kg

.91 m2

80 lbs 36.4 kg

1.11m2

100 lbs

45.5 kg

1.28m2

Muscle Meat (50%-60%) Skeletal muscle & heart; 85-99% lean

Most of the fat in the diet is from here.

3-4.8 oz

85-135g

6 – 9.6 oz

170-270g

9-14.4 oz

255-408g

12-19.2 oz

340-540 g

14-22 oz

400-612g

16-24 oz

450-680g

20-29 oz

565-816g

24-34 oz

680-960g

Organ Meat (10-12%) Liver, giblets, kidney

.6-.96 oz

17-28 g

1.2-1.92oz

34-54 g

1.8-2.9 oz

50-82g

2.4-3.8 oz

68-108g

2.8– 4.3oz

80-122g

3.2-4.8 oz

90-136g

4-5.8 oz

113-163g

4.8-6.7oz

136-192g

Eggs (6%) Chicken egg weighs 2 ounces w/o shell

¼ egg

per day

1/3 egg

per day

½ egg per

day

¾ egg per

day

7/8 egg

per day

1 egg per

day

1.25 egg

per day

1.5 egg

per day

Oils (1-2%) Krill, Pollock, Salmon, Menhaden, Cod,

Coconut, Sardine

1/8 -1/4

tsp

¼-1/2

tsp

½-3/4

tsp

¾-1.25

tsp

1-1.5

tsp

1-2

tsp

1.25-2.5

tsp

1.5-3

tsp

Non-Starchy Veg (20-30%) Spinach, broccoli, kale, cucumber,

cabbage, celery, chard, bitter greens

1.2-2.4

oz

34-70 g

2.4-4.8 oz

68-135g

3.6-7.2 oz

100-205g

4.8-9.6 oz

136-270g

5.6-10.8oz

160-306g

6.4-12 oz

180-340g

8-14.4 oz

226-408g

9.6-16.8

oz

272-480g

Starchy Veggies (0-15%) Sweet potato, squash, carrots

0-.9 oz

0-35 g

0-2.4 oz

0-67 g

0-3.6 oz

0-100g

0-4.8 oz

0-135 g

0-5.4 oz

0-150 g

0-6 oz

0-170 g

0-7.2 oz

0-205 g

0-8.4 oz

0-240g

Fruit (3-5%) Blue, straw, or raspberries, papaya,

pineapple, apple

.18-.32

oz

5-12 g

.36 -.8

oz

10-23 g

.54-1.2

oz

15-34 g

.72-1.6

oz

20-45g

.84-1.8 oz

24-51g

.96-2

oz

27-56 g

1.2-2.4

oz

34-68 g

1.4-2.8

oz

41-80g

Bone Meal (for adult dogs*) NOW brand; source of Phosphorous,

Calcium, Magnesium; 1 tsp = 800mg Ca

(multiply by 4 for growing pups <11mo)

1/10 tsp

1/5 tsp

1/4 tsp

1/3 tsp

½ tsp

¾ tsp

7/8 tsp

1 tsp

Multivitamin (1 per 25 lb/day) Thorne Basic: 0-8 years,

Geriatric: 9+ years

2 every

5 days

4 every 5

days

6 every 5

days

8 every 5

days

2 per

day

12 per

5 days

16 per 5

days

4 per

day

Salt

Sea salt, lite salt (KCl)

Heart Failure (CHF): No addt’l salt

None

Smidgen

1/32nd

tsp

Smidgen

1/32nd

tsp

Pinch

1/16th

tsp

Pinch

1/16th

tsp

Pinch

1/16th

tsp

Dash

1/8 tsp

Dash

1/8 tsp

Total Volume (cups) and

Weight of Diet Per Day

(oz/kg)

¾ c - 1 c

6-8 oz

.17-

.23kg

1.5 c - 2 c

12-16 oz

.34-.45kg

2.25 c – 3 c

18-24 oz

.51– .68 kg

3 c - 4 c

1.5 -2 lbs

.68 –.9 kg

3.5 c- 4.5 c

1.75-2.25

lbs

.8 -1.02 kg

4 c – 5 c

2-2.5 lbs

.9-1.13 kg

5 c - 6 c

2.5 – 3 lbs

1.13-1.36

kg

6 c - 7 c

3-3.5 lbs

1.36-1.6

kg

* Metabolic syndrome refers to the cascade of acute and chronic inflammatory symptoms from ingesting a highly processed, starch-based diet. Bitter greens include collard, turnip, beet, and mustard greens

In cases of chronic heart failure (CHF), low sodium diets are ideal. Patients with CHF obtain enough salt from muscle meat alone.

Muscle Meat (50%-60%)

It’s best to vary the type of meat used to safeguard against nutritional deficiencies and food sensitivities developing over time. Rotating through many meats is unnecessary. Whole food diets are prescribed to ‘cool down’ hot, inflamed patients. Beginning with a ‘cooling’ protein, such as turkey or rabbit, is usually effective to resolve inflammation. These meats are especially appropriate for the spring season warm up. Pork and lean duck are neutral in energetic, and nourishing to the body. They are good choices for late summer and early fall, when patients are at risk of drying out. Fish is an excellent supplemental protein source to compliment poultry or pork. Warming meats, such as chicken, beef, and (the very warming) lamb, should be reserved for colder weather, or mixed in with cooler proteins to avoid their cumulative warming influence. In other words, if a dog eats chicken or beef for an extended period, they are likely to develop inflammation. Western medicine views this as a dietary sensitivity. Chinese medicine views this as a cumulative warming action. Ground meat, containing 1-15% fat (85-99% lean) can be used. If meat ‘on the bone’ is used, it must be finely ground, using a rugged grinder. The exception is to feed chicken or turkey meat on the bone in lieu of this balanced diet, just twice weekly for the benefit of the teeth and gums, (see Natural Dental Care Handout). Feeding poultry bones twice out of 14 weekly meals will not create dietary imbalance.

Organ Meat (10-12%)

Organ meats are essential, as they contain fat soluble vitamins (A,D,K), B vitamins, minerals such as zinc, manganese, selenium, and iron, and some essential amino acids (e.g. taurine) for cardiac health. Chicken or turkey livers are commonly used, and can be sourced from local poultry farms, or butchers / abattoirs. Organic beef liver is another option. Liver, giblets, or kidney should be ground up and mixed in with the muscle meat, instead of being fed once or twice weekly. Too much organ meat at once will impart a warming energetic to that meal and may cause diarrhea. Instead, organ meat should consistently be present in a 1:5 ratio with the muscle meat.

Non-Starchy Vegetables (20-30%)

Most people do not use adequate amounts of greens in the diet. These vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, fiber, and most importantly, anti-oxidants that prevent inflammatory disease, including cancer. They also impart a cooling energetic to the food, to counter the warming elements such as meat, starches, and fats. Vegetables must either be minced (pureed), frozen, or steamed to improve digestibility as dogs lack the necessary cellulase to break down the cellulose of veggies. Note that using a food processor is not fine enough! A blender works best. Choose from broccoli, celery, spinach, kale, cucumber, bitter greens (collard, turnip, beet, mustard), chard, and bok choy. Green beans, peas, corn, and asparagus are warming, and should be omitted from “hotter” patients’ rations. Canned veggies are not ideal. Digestive enzyme supplementation can be used to promote veggie digestion, especially if transitioning a dog from a high-carbohydrate dry kibbled diet. These supplemental enzymes are generally reserved for early weeks of diet introduction, times of physiological stress, or longer-term use in very deficient individuals with poor digestion. We recommend Aunt Jeni’s Homemade Digestive Aid when necessary.

Starchy Veggies (0-15%) Carrots, squash and sweet potato can be helpful in cases where the patient needs additional calories for weight maintenance or athletic performance. These starch sources also have a laxative effect. Sweet potatoes are a great source of “Yin,” facilitating weight gain in elderly dogs. We note that sweet potato is less inflammatory than grains. If grains are used, barley, brown rice, millet, and oats are OK, but best used sparingly.

Fruit (3-5%)

Tangy fruits provide enzymes to assist with meat digestion, and anti-oxidants for optimal health. Fruits contain too much sugar to be present in large amounts. Pineapple, apple, papaya, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries are fine. Grapes and raisins have been found to be toxic to some dogs (even in very small amounts), and so should be avoided.

Making It Complete; Adding bone meal, multivitamin, and A.J.s fish oil, or coconut oil

Without bone in the diet, bone meal must be added to provide calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium. NOW brand bone meal is of high quality and tested for heavy metal contamination. Thorne multivitamin is formulated specifically for dogs. We recommend this to ensure that micronutrients are supplied. Depleted soils may not provide sufficient trace minerals for vegetables grown in them. Lastly, oils are important for cardiovascular, skeletal, and neuromuscular health. Fish oils nourish Yin deficient dogs in late summer, autumn, and winter. They may be omitted in the spring, or in dogs with Dampness.