Making your own dog food

As a vegan, dog food remains one of the few places I use animal products. And while the carnivores reading this may be thinking "duh," dogs are actually omnivorous and I've read accounts of animals thriving on a vegan diet.

My biggest concern is that most commercial dog food is grain based flavored with animal products not fit for human consumption--which gives me concern about the quality of my dog's food. And while dog food can be purchased in higher quality, the cost is substantial. Much more than I can swing on my budget.

This weekend, I took a class on making my own dog food at Homegrown Hound Food in Dallas.

The recipe Melanie gave us is based on people-grade meat along with oats, sweet potato and some other vegetables.  A few herbs are added for health benefits and Melanie sells the vitamin mix she makes to optimize the nutrition.  The mix was surprisingly simple to make and my dogs went crazy over it.  Seriously loved it.