Home Cooking
Home Cooking for Poodles
If you’ve thought about making homemade food for your Poodle, you’re not alone. As owners become more aware of what is in some mainstream commercial dog foods, home cooking becomes more and more appealing.
There are many reasons to make the switch from commercial kibble or canned food to wholesome home cooked food and many benefits to doing so.
Let’s take a closer look.
A tasty and nourishing dish: Fresh cuts of beef with a mixture of spinach greens, lima beans, baby carrots, and peas, along with tri-color quinoa and scrambled eggs, blueberries, and a dash of cottage cheese.
This is just one of the wonderful meals you can make for your Poodle.
5 Facts to Know about Home Cooking for a Poodle
1. Home cooking can save you money.
The extent money saving by making homemade food will vary depending on what sort of ingredients you opt for. Top-grade cuts of beef and certain types of fish like salmon along with fresh produce can end up being a little pricey. If you choose to make meals with turkey or chicken as the base or whitefish and opt for some frozen veggies, you can end up saving quite a bit.
2. Meal prepping is encouraged.
Some people simply love to be in the kitchen and meals certainly can be cooked fresh each day. However, you’ll find that many recipes for making food at home for Poodles have meal prepping in mind to make things easy. You can cook in bulk and keep portions in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
3. There’s lots of flexibility.
Most recipes are not cut in stone. There are lots of ways to adjust meals to please picker eaters or just to try out new flavors.
4. You don’t need to whiz in the kitchen.
One of the great things about home cooking for Poodle puppies or adult dogs is that many exceptional meals can be made with simple methods: steaming, boiling, frying, and baking and with the use of common kitchen tools like stirring spoons, mixing bowls, and cutting knives.
5. Ingredients are ones you can pick up along with your own food.
For most recipes, ingredients can be found in the same supermarket where you purchase your own food. Unless you are making specialty treats, there is no need to go to a specialty food store.
6 Things Home Cooking Lets You Avoid
You might already have a few reasons why you’re thinking about making homemade food for your Poodle, but here are the top 7 benefits of doing so:
1. Potentially dangerous synthetic preservatives.
Many dog food companies choose to use chemical, not natural, preservatives which can have terrible health consequences.
Some of the worst ones include propyl gallate, tert-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ethoxyquin. It’s shocking these can even be in dog food; there are proven links to skin disorders (rash, hot spots, hives, severe itching), digestive issues, and even organ damage and some types of cancer.
Note that these synthetic preservatives can be left off of the ingredient label if used to persevere just the meat (not fat) since this can qualify it as an ‘incidental additive’.
2. Harmful coloring dyes.
This is a sad one since these serve zero purpose other than to make food look appealing to pet parents yet there are shocking issues linked to some artificial coloring agents.
In animal testing, Red # 3 was found to be a carcinogen. Yellow #5, which is has a warning label in Europe but not in the United States, is linked to behavioral issues including aggression and hyperactivity. And in regard to allergy issues, Yellow #6 and Blue #5 are top culprits.
3. Artificial food enhancers.
Adding in enhancers is common with commercial food made in bulk due it lacking fresh wholesome foods; certain additives are added for texture and/or for flavor.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer, is yet another hidden ingredient in some dog foods since it does not always have to be listed on the label, by law. And did you know that this does not actually have a taste? It is an excitotoxin that stimulates the brain into releasing dopamine and thereby ‘tricking’ an eater (human or dog) into believing food tastes better.
It is linked to heart palpitations, anxiety, and numbness in the extremities and studies are being conducted in regard to suspected links to liver inflammation, fetal brain damage, and toxicity to the brain, kidney, and liver.
4. Random animal ingredients.
Some pet owners assume that this is a myth that dog food can contain road kill and other very questionable meat sources. But, it’s entirely true.
As long as it’s listed with the word ‘generic’, there can be meat, fat, oil, or ‘meals’ (condensed product) sourced from 4-D animals. The ‘4-D’ stands for dead, dying, disabled, or diseased. This does include the carcasses of animals collected from roads, farm animals that die during transportation, dead zoo animals, and more.
5. Cheap fillers.
As a cost-saving method, many commercial brands add in fillers. These are inexpensive ingredients that simply add bulk but practically no nutrients. A very common one is corn (and its by-products) and this is not the sweet corn that you may enjoy at a barbeque; it is usually very low-quality corn used for cattle-feed.
Other fillers include cheap cereals, high levels of soy and/or beet pulp.
6. High gluten levels.
Though lots of owners worry about their Poodles being allergic to grains, it is usually wheat, which has high levels of gluten, that is to blame. Yet, lots of kibbles have wheat and/or its byproducts. If a puppy or dog is sensitive or allergic, this can cause skin issues like itching and rash and/or digestive problems.
Another flavorful meal is this turkey-based delight. This has lean shredded turkey, diced carrots, zucchini slices, and spinach greens, over steamed quinoa and topped with blackberries and strawberries.
The 7 Benefits of Home Cooking for a Poodle
1. No worries regarding hidden ingredients.
You will know exactly what is going into each meal and snack.
2. No need for preservatives.
Since food will be cooked fresh and either refrigerated or frozen, there is no need for preservatives.
3. The advantages of fresh cuts of meat and fish.
One of the best feelings when making homemade food for a Poodle is buying and then cooking fresh cuts of meat and fish, knowing that it is far superior to what’s found in kibble. Not only is fresh, unprocessed meat more nutritious in regard to protein levels, most dogs find it much more appetizing.
4. Natural flavors.
You can add in some truly tasty ingredients that offer bursts of wholesome flavor all thanks to Mother Nature. This includes crispy vegetables like sugar snap peas and green beans, antioxidant-packed fruits like blueberries and blackberries, and sauces with yogurt, pumpkin, or rich-broth bases.
5. Meals that stimulate a dog’s senses.
Meals can be super colorful, be overflowing with luscious scents, and offer all sorts of juicy, crisp, and smooth textures, for meals that really ‘wow’ your Poodle puppy or dog.
6. Complete control over level of grains.
There are a wide range of options with home cooking including gluten-free, low gluten, or grain-free. Recipes can be adjusted with ingredients such as brown or white rice, quinoa (technically a seed), and oatmeal. And baked snacks can be made with flour or alternatives such as coconut or tapioca flour.
7. Variation.
You can stick with just one or two meals that your Poodle likes best or you can offer up different protein bases for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can swap out raspberries for mango or lima beans for bell peppers. With home cooking, you are in charge and able offer a truly customized diet.
A Cookbook for Poodles
If you’re looking for a fantastic recipe book to prepare homemade food for your Poodle puppy or dog, have a look at what's included in The Healthy Wholesome Cookbook for Canine Family Members.
This is a fun and informative, full-color, 40-recipe PDF eBook cookbook. You can keep this handy on any device and/or print it out.
There are 21 recipes for mouthwatering meals:
- Echo’s Easy Egg Scramble
- Bono’s Berry Breakfast
- Lollipop’s Liver Bonanza
- Max’s 3-Blend Meatloaf
- Fargo’s Fish and Eggs
- Velvet’s Lip-Smacking Veal & Chicken Medley
- Banjo’s Beef Mashup
- Sammy’s Steak Stew
- Blossom’s Beef Berry Quinoa Mix
- Yolonda’s Yogurt-Marinated Beef Blast
- Scout’s Sunshine Chicken Mix
- Yogi’s Yum-Yum Turkey Dinner
- Sullivan’s Salmon Dinner
- Faith’s Pan-fried Fish Feast
- Luca’s Doggo Lo Mein (Chicken or beef)
- Poppy’s Pasta Supreme
- Marley’s Cheesy Meatball
- Lucy’s Light Lunch
- Tank’s Turkey Takeover
- Eddie’s Easy-Does-it Blend (to ease an upset tummy)
- Samson’s Simple Dinner with Add-ons (an effective at-home method of testing for food allergies)
And there are 19 recipes for delightful, tail-wagging snacks:
- Nutty Cheese Drop Biscuits
- Frosted Peanut Butter Cookies
- Classic Peanut Butter & Coconut Oil Paws
- Veggie Crunch Bones
- Carrot Cheese Squares
- Sweet Potato Puffs (soft treat)
- Frozen Double-Fruit Yogurt
- Frozen Yogurt Split Treats
- Coconut Berry Macaroons
- Frosted Pumpkin Cookies
- No-Bake Pumpkin Peanut Butter Balls
- Mixed Berry Muffins
- Mini Stuffed Fruit Disks
- Berry Crunch Bones
- Blueberry Dot Chews (soft treat)
- Banana Oat Bites
- Chicken Veggie Bites
- Liver Crunch Bites
- Fun Fruity Birthday Cake
Every recipe has step-by-step photos.
For each meal, there are full-color photos of ingredients, cooking steps, and final plating. And for every snack, there are full-color photos of baking directions and final goodies.
If you’re a busy on-the-go pet parent, you’ll know that having recipes very handy is a must.
This PDF eBook format makes things as easy as possible. You can keep it on all of your devices (smartphone, tablet, computer) AND it is formatted for you to print it out if you wish.
Once printed, just slip the pages into sheet protectors and a binder and you’ll have a durable, spill-proof cookbook that’ll withstand any cooking session.
Are you ready to cook for your Poodle?
Yes, I want this book for just $4.88!
Maybe you want to try out a recipe to see what your Poodle thinks. Or, perhaps you’re fed up with manufactured food and want to dive right into making homemade meals. Either way, this recipe book is a great resource.
We’re happy to say that we are able to offer this fun and fantastic eBook for just $4.88. So, just click/tap on the button below and let’s get cooking!
Order now to receive a book that contains 4 helpful bonus lists:
Foods a dog can eat, foods a dog can eat once in a while, foods a dog can technically eat but are not a good idea, and foods a dog cannot eat that are toxic or dangerous.