If you are cooking for your dog for the first time, start here. This chicken pumpkin rice dog food recipe goes into the rice cooker in one layer, you press the button, and an hour later you have a week of meals. No pot to watch, no technique to learn. The pumpkin turns everything a warm orange that dogs seem to find irresistible, which is a pleasant bonus.
This formulation uses skinless chicken thigh as the single animal protein, supplying a complete essential amino acid profile; on an energy basis it provides about 96 g protein and 36 g fat per 1000 kcal, a moderate-fat design suitable as an everyday base diet for most healthy adult dogs. White rice is a highly digestible energy source, while pumpkin and carrot contribute soluble fibre and beta-carotene. The base ingredients supply only 1.25 g calcium per 1000 kcal, so the recipe is complete and balanced only when fed with the supplements as tabled below.
Ingredients (standard batch)
| Ingredient | Amount | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| Skinless chicken thigh | 1.8 kg | diced, skin and visible fat removed |
| Chicken liver | 50 g | finely chopped |
| Pumpkin | 600 g | peeled, deseeded, diced |
| Carrot | 300 g | diced |
| White rice | 240 g | rinsed |
| Olive oil | 20 g (about 1.5 tbsp) | stirred in off the heat |
This batch yields about 2.8 kg of food (about 3,578 kcal), roughly 6 days for a 10 kg adult dog.
Method
- Rinse the rice, add it to the rice cooker with about 550 ml of water (slightly more than for plain rice).
- Chop the liver finely and cook it together with the meat. Liver is nutrient dense, so keep to the stated amount and do not increase it.
- Dice the chicken; peel and dice the pumpkin and carrot, and spread evenly over the rice.
- Run a normal rice cycle; rest 10 minutes after it switches off and confirm the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in the olive oil, fluff and cool.
- Portion by the daily amounts in the dosing table: 3 days refrigerated, the rest frozen.
Estimated nutrient analysis (base recipe, before supplements)
| Item | Per 100 g | Per 1000 kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Metabolisable energy | 126 kcal | – |
| Crude protein | 12.1 g | 96 g |
| Fat | 4.5 g | 36 g |
| Carbohydrate | 8.5 g | 67 g |
| Dietary fibre | 0.6 g | 4.9 g |
| Calcium | 13 mg | 1.25 g |
| Phosphorus | 126 mg | 1.00 g |
On its own this recipe cannot meet an adult dog’s full requirement – calcium, copper, zinc and vitamin D all fall short. Adding Eggshell Calcium Powder (about 3.0 g per 1000 kcal for this recipe) and Daily Multi for Dogs (about 8.4 g per 1000 kcal), as tabled below, brings it up to every minimum in the AAFCO adult maintenance profile, with a calcium to phosphorus ratio of about 1.3:1. Both doses are calculated from this recipe’s own shortfalls, not from a generic chart.
Feeding and supplement dosing (two meals per day)
| Dog weight | Daily energy need | Daily food | Batch lasts | Daily Multi (per meal) | Eggshell Calcium (per meal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 kg | 251 kcal | about 200 g | about 14 days | 1.1 g | 0.4 g (about 1/8 tsp) |
| 5 kg | 368 kcal | about 290 g | about 10 days | 1.5 g | 0.6 g (about 1/4 tsp) |
| 10 kg | 619 kcal | about 490 g | about 6 days | 2.6 g | 0.9 g (about 3/8 tsp) |
| 20 kg | 1,040 kcal | about 830 g | about 3 days | 4.4 g | 1.6 g (about 5/8 tsp) |
| 30 kg | 1,410 kcal | about 1,120 g | about 3 days | 5.9 g | 2.1 g (about 7/8 tsp) |
If you feed once daily, combine both meal portions of the supplements. Stir them in only after the food has cooled to just warm. Energy needs follow NRC (2006) MER = 110 kcal x BW(kg)^0.75 and vary about 15% with neuter status and activity; weigh your dog every 2 weeks and adjust to body condition.
Storage
Let it cool, then divide it into daily portions. Three days worth goes in the fridge (4°C) and the rest straight into the freezer, where it keeps for two weeks. Move tomorrow’s portion down to the fridge the night before, and warm it in a bowl of hot water before serving. Skip the microwave: it heats unevenly and leaves scalding pockets next to frozen ones.
Clinical notes
- Remove the skin and subcutaneous fat completely, or the fat content will substantially exceed the design value.
- Cook all meat and fish right through (core temperature above 75°C), and add no salt, sugar or seasoning at all. It will taste bland to you, which is exactly right for your dog.
- Onion, garlic, chives, grapes and chocolate are toxic to dogs. No amount is safe, and there is no exception to this one.
- Give your dog a week to change over, adding a little more of the new food each day, and keep an eye on stools, skin and appetite as you go. There is no prize for rushing it.
- These recipes are formulated for healthy adult dogs. For puppies, pregnant or nursing mothers, seniors, or any dog with a medical condition, talk to your vet before you start.
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