A Right Dog's Dinner

A very special young lady has come to live with us for a little while. She is cute as a button, with her little nose, big doe eyes and waggly tail. That's right, we're fostering a dog from Arundawn Dog Rescue. It's pretty much a one woman operation, self-funded and entirely altruistic, have a look at their website and see if you can help out in any way. There's lots of adorable and innocent lives in need of your help.

Obviously, me being me, there is no way I was ever going to feed a dog under my roof tinned, grain loaded, over-cooked, jelly-based mush. And yes, she will also be gluten free. We'll be following a raw based, entirely homemade diet here. So this morning, I got up early and started preparing for our little bundle of joy's arrival. I purchased some chicken wings and livers which are sitting pretty in the fridge for the lady, but a girl can't live on chicken wings alone! Oh no!


To accompany her chicken feast, I have pre-made a delicious concoction I am calling:

A Dog's Loaf
(Get it?!)



800g beef mince
2 large carrots, grated
1 apple, grated
1 pear, grated
3 eggs






  1. Put all ingredients- including egg shells- into a big bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. For ease of meal planning and division, weigh into 1 kg portions, and place in tupperware to store in a fridge or freezer.
  3. Any extra mixture can be made into little meat treats to be used as snacks or rewards,


Every girl needs an incentive to learn right? No one can survive solely on meatloaf, so for training and treats, I have concocted something actually delicious. I can say this with certainty as I have actually tried them myself. I can safely and happily do that, knowing exactly what has gone into  these treats, and it all being safe for human consumption. I present for your munching pleasure:

Puppy P & Ps
Makes at least 40 large treats, which can be broken into smaller treats


1.4kg of pumpkin
2 cups of oats
1 large carrot, grated
1 egg
1/2 cup peanut butter
potato flour, for dusting

  1. In a large bowl or food processor, whizz your oats up for a little bit. Doesn't have to be a fine flour, just broken down
  2. Apart from the potato flour, put all other ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
  3. Flour a board well with potato flour, this is quite a wet mixture, you will need a fair amount of flour.
  4. Roll out or shape your pumpkin and peanut butter mix. I went for logs and just cut slices off. You can, if you want to, use a bone or other cookie cutter of your choice.
  5. Place on a baking sheet and cook in a per-heated oven (gas mark 6) for 25 minutes








If your pooch has a more sensitive stomach and isn't digesting things quite as well as they should, as we have discovered our house guest has, I have found that every Jewish mother's favourite, a good old fashioned chicken stew, is generally the best remedy. Chicken stew has been curing all ailments since forever! You can keep the chicken meat raw or cook it, depending on your preference. Immediately after being spayed, we were cooking the meat as her immune system may have been a little low, but I'm now just deboning - as the vet said she wasn't doing too well with digesting the bones - and feeding her the chicken raw. The added liquid in the stew also helps to keep your four-legged friend hydrated, and you can choose pretty much any type of veggies your best friend likes- no onion or garlic as these are blood thinners. We've had hits with broccoli, pumpkin, spinach, apple (seeds removed), potato and carrot, it's really up to you and what the waggy likes. I also recommend adding a little mint or parsley to it, you'll appreciate the effect it has on your dog's, no doubt, fragrant breath.


Mutt Stew
2-3 meals, depending on the size and needs of your dog
1.5kg chicken legs, bones removed if preferred (good method here)
1 potato
1 handful of spinach
1 carrot
a few florets of broccoli
a couple of sprigs of parsley and mint, finely chopped
some water
  1. If cooking the chicken, pop them in a saucepan cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer until cooked. Remove from the water and allow to cool a little. If you haven't already, carefully remove the bone from the cooked meat. Make sure you get the needle thin bone as well as the two big ones in the leg.
  2. Thinly slice or grate your potato, carrot and broccoli and pop in your chicken water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add your spinach and herbs and simmer a little longer.
  3. Once done, mash up a little with a masher.
  4. Allow it all to cool for a while before serving with the chicken to your pup, because dogs are probably greedy and will still guzzle it down, even if it's burning their face.
  5. If you're not cooking the chicken, just cook up the veggies and add the chicken afterwards.
  6. What's good for the people, is good for the puppy.
Someone looks like she enjoyed it anyway.


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