4 homemade dog recipes fit for a canine king or queen

Los Angeles Times

12 hours ago

My dog's name is Milady — as you'd refer to an English noblewoman — and she lives up to it. She declines to go out in the rain, all 22 pounds of her holding strong as I lightly tug her leash in encouragement. Whenever someone comes over, she perches on their lap as if it's a throne. And despite my best efforts to break this habit, whenever I make a meal or order in, she hovers around my feet waiting for a treat of her own. After I've made my plate and if I deign to sit down and eat, she'll stubbornly stand in the kitchen and stare at me until I acquiesce.
But Milady is the closest thing I have to a child, and as recipe developer Carolynn Carreño wrote about her dog Rufus, 'I felt it was my responsibility that Rufus lived as long as caninely possible, and to make sure that Rufus' every day on Earth was as good as I could make it.'
For Carreño, that meant adopting the progressive-at-the-time task of making Rufus' food from scratch, especially after learning from a friend that many store-bought formulas contain corn and wheat — potential allergens for dogs. Instead, she purchased made-just-for-your-pet meat blends at Huntington Meats and mixed in steamed or baked sweet potatoes, fresh broccoli, ground beef and bone meal for a concoction she called Rufus' hash.
While Milady typically eats vet-approved kibble and I don't make her food daily, during the summer her treats turn from dehydrated slices of sweet potato to bone broth that I freeze into cubes with blueberries, cucumbers or raspberries.
And who knows? Maybe I'll start following Carreño's example and eventually devise a homemade meal plan for Milady. In the meantime, I'll be gauging her tastes with the following recipes.
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Carreño recommends using her recipe for Rufus as a 'jumping-off point' and adjusting based on what your pup likes. She recommends making the mixture in big batches, freezing it and stirring in boiling bone broth or water before serving.Get the recipe. Cook time: 25 minutes. Makes about 3 quarts.
Novelist and food writer Michelle Huneven rescued a dog — Tatty Jane — that had previously suffered from a bad diet. Determined to rectify that, she began researching homemade dog food and eventually landed on a blend of the following recipe with a topping of vet-approved kibble to ensure Tatty Jane got all of her recommended trace vitamins and minerals.Get the recipe. Cook time: 1 hour. Makes about 5 quarts.
Former Food editor Amy Scattergood scored this recipe for dog biscuits from chef Lincoln Carson of now-shuttered Bon Temps restaurant. Carson once sold these treats alongside his famous French pastries. The recipe is perfect for vegetarians who prefer not to handle meat.Get the recipe. Cook time: 2 hours 30 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
This gluten-free dog biscuit recipe was crafted by former Lincoln Cafe and Flower Candy Co. chef Cecilia Leung, with peanut butter as the main ingredient, along with grains and flours you might already have in your pantry. Get the recipe. Cook time: 1 hour. Makes about 3 dozen biscuits.