No Time to Bake Kibble? My recipe for Supplementing Commercial Vegan Dog Food

You care deeply about your precious pupster’s health, but this next week is going to be too busy. If I am running out and absolutely cannot bake Valentina’s kibble, I do the following.  Keep in stock a bag of highest possible commercial vegan kibble and make a mixture of the following ingredients to be mixed into the kibble when you dish it up. Keep the mixture in a light-free, air-tight container.

Put in food processor or blender in dry container and turn into meal:

½ c almond flour meal

½ c hemp seed

½ c raw pumpkin seed

½ c chia seed

½ cup flaxseed meal

1 c dried cranberries (preferably unsweetened or apple juice sweetened)

½ c dried blueberries (preferably unsweetened or apple juice sweetened)

 Mix into above mixture in a large bowl:

½ c Vegedog

¼ cup nutritional yeast

¼ c Vegeyeast

½ c oat bran

½ c coconut flour

½ c pea protein or ½ c hemp protein, or both

¾ tsp kelp powder

 Add to the mixture 7 days’ worth of the following:

Immune dog

Nzymes

Back Pack Plus

Barley Grass Powder

Wheat Grass Powder

Alfalfa Grass Powder

L-Lysine

L-Arginine

Taurine

L-Carnitine

Acetyl – L—Carnitine

L-Methionine

Sodium Ascorbate, or Ester-C (I don’t use Ascorbic Acid – see Canine Nutrition, William D. Cusick)

R-Lipoic Acid

 At this point mix, and then measure what you have in the bowl. You should have around 12+ cups. Keep in a cool, dark, dry place.

 When I dish out a days’ worth of kibble,

In a small bowl I mix the following, then add to kibble along with about ¾ c of the above dry mix:

1 heaping TBSP peanut butter, pure, organic (I buy it from Costco.)

1 heaping TBSP almond butter, pure, organic (I buy it from Costco.)

3 NOW-brand Aloe Vera Veg Gels (Cut off the very top with scissors and squeeze into bowl.)

1 gel Ubiquinol (NOW- brand) (CoQ10) (Cut off the very top with scissors and squeeze into bowl.)

1-2 NOW Brand 400 mg. Gamma E Complex gels (Cut off the very top with scissors and squeeze into bowl.)

8 drops Vitamin D3 , NOW brand, liquid (Equal to 800 IU)

2TBSP flaxseed oil (Barlean’s – does not have ascorbic acid)

2 TBSP hemp seed oil (Nutiva)

For Valentina, (adult Great Dane) I mix in about ¾ - 1 cup of the dry mixture, about 4 heaping cups of  kibble, and the oily mixture.

Note: Valentina rarely finishes the 4 cup kibble mix in one day.  I am aware that some vets advise against free-feeding, however Valentina has been free-fed since I got her (as were all my dogs in the past.) Sometimes she’ll eat 1 cup in a day, and sometimes 2 or 3 cups, and rarely 4 cups. Other than 1 hour before and after her daily exercise, her food is always out and available. She does not binge, and usually eats only twice a day, once in the morning and then in the evening after she sees if she’s going to get any handouts from our dinner.

In my opinion, I use this practice only as a “temporary fix” to add nutrients to commercial food, which I consider inferior to my recipe.  If she stays on this for a little while, she will begin to gain weight. (And who knows what is going on in her body because of the “mystery ingredients” in the commercial food. Just because the ingredients listed are vegan, does not mean that they were not past expiration date for full nutrient value (as is legally allowed for other than human consumption regulations).  Just like the animal flesh mixtures, the vegan mixtures can have bacteria that are heated in preparation of the kibble. When you heat food to a certain temperature, you destroy the bacteria, but what is not destroyed is the toxins the bacteria release upon death.  The toxins remain.) If you feed commercial vegan to your pupster, you may want to watch the weight and reduce the quantity a bit from what you normally measure out.  Weight gain never happens when she eats my recipe.  

Note: I’m coming up with  measurements/ a recipe for a mixture that can supplement my own recipe. ( I'll pull out ingredients from the baked mixture, that would be better in the raw supplement mixture. I got to thinking about my ingredients, and although I use the moistened flaxseed meal to substitute for the texture of eggs, if baked, the flaxseed will lose all of its Omegas – other nutrients like the proteins will survive the heat, but the precious Omegas and some of the other nutrients, such as enzymes are destroyed after 108 degrees F.  So, there’s really no reason I can’t leave some of those vulnerable ingredients raw and added to my recipe later in a non-baked supplement mix. I’ve also decided to work on a recipe that is made (“baked”) totally in the dehydrator oven under 108 degrees F, so almost nothing is lost due to a higher heating process. Stay tuned for that.

 

Regardless, in my opinion commercial dog food (which started only a hundred years ago) is fast food, . . . fast, processed food. The goal of most businesses is to increase profits, which usually involves cheapening the investment .  Whether for animals or for people, most food businesses have become “smarter”, but not wiser in their attempts to mask degraded nutrients with flavor enhancers. What happens is in the body’s attempt to obtain more nutrients, it will crave and eat way beyond the necessary number of calories to maintain weight and health -- simply because the body is hungry for nutrients. I was surprised about most vets’ concerns about overweight dogs nowadays. Years ago, that was not such a concern – there weren’t that many overweight dogs to worry about.  Human obesity and poor health statistics parallel the canine’s story, and I am convinced it is due to the same problem.  A long time ago, Aristotle said, “Make food your medicine, and medicine your food.” That still bears constant consideration when making food choices for human animals and for their companion animals.  

 

 A number of health gurus tell us that if you can stay on a healthy food path ninety percent of the time, and only slip into unhealthy choices ten percent of the time, or less, you will probably stay healthy.  I like to think that’s true for dogs, too, so I aim for 100% healthy. Last August when we were returning to the US and needed a health certificate to cross, our wonderful vet in Mexico, Dr. Borrego, asked me if Valentina was still a vegan and if I still made her food. After I replied, “Yes,” he said, “She’s very healthy. What’s in your recipe?” I usually carry a copy of my recipe in my purse, but couldn’t find it, so I promised I would bring him a copy next time when we returned.  My point is, to use an old adage, "the proof is in the pudding." Valentina is proof enough to me that a healthy, balanced homemade vegan diet IS GOOD for dogs.

 

I love the old Chinese instruction that says, everything in life, except health, has attached to it a zero. Health, which must precede everything, coming first,  is given the number"1". With the number 1 preceding all the zeros, you are very fortunate. Having health, you can enjoy all the other aspects in a good life.  But, without health, the rest cannot be enjoyed, and is worth little.   

 

I wish you and your canine companions: love, happiness, prosperity, but, first and foremost. . .  vibrant health!

Almost Birthday Time!

 

 

We survived the heat! (I'm talking about Valentina's heat, not the Austin weather!) It went longer than websites predicted -- around three weeks. With the adjusted timeline, we now have no idea how long she is impregnable, so we have been postponing the dog park a little while, just to be safe.)

Since my husband Tom and our puppy dog have the same birthday (August 7th), Tom said I needed to have a birthday cake that both he and Valentina could eat.  His suggestion was a peanut butter cake, since she loves her peanut butter, given every evening in her Kong, just before bedtime.

Valentina is beginning to mellow.  I've heard that Great Danes take longer to mature physically (18 months, instead of 12) and emotionally (3 years instead of 2), but we already see many grownup changes in her.  Her receptive vocabulary is immense.  She understands phrases such as "Do you want to go water the tomatoes with me?" (She runs over to the gate at the tomato enclosure.) My last Great Dane (also very bright) was only interested in watching the occasional black and white TV program (The Donna Reed show, at 5 AM was her favorite.) Valentina loves color television.  She recognizes all the dog images, and surprised us when she recognized a very primitively drawn cartoon image of a dog in a commercial and started barking at it, and followed it as it ran across the screen. She has a large number of toys that she will bring to us when they are named. She watches African animals on the AT&T U-verse channel, knows many of the names of the animals,  and when she saw a large, painted metal sculpture of an elephant outside of a consignment store, as we waited for the traffic light to turn green, she raised her ears, focused her eyes intently, and began to bark at it. She now has a big stuffed elephant toy that she loves.

I've already bought Tom's birthday present, but we haven't yet bought Valentina's.
I now sprinkle and mix in  Barley Grass Powder and Wheat Grass Powder in addition to Alfalfa Powder on her soft food. (This is a good healthy way to keep their breath fresh, and enzymes flowing, and is much better than the grass they occasionally eat in the yard.)
Stay tuned for a few additions/ modifications to the Kibble Recipe.

 

Valentina's Recipe for Kibble and Treats

We did it!  Valentina was eating 6 cups of homemade kibble to 1 cup of commercial vegan kibble.  Now she eats only homemade kibble, cooked grains and other soft food, and raw food.  I noticed when I went to get the one cup of commercial vegan kibble from a tub on the floor and had the 6 cups homemade kibble in the dish to the side, Valentina would always walk up to me and try to  eat only on the homemade kibble side.  We did a taste test, putting 4 kibbles of commercial on the right and 4 homemade kibbles on the left, and she ate the homemade kibble, and walked away, not interested at all in the commercial kibble.

I put down a bowl of cooked food midday or late afternoon, and I put out kibble a cup at a time throughout the day.  Valentina is not a binger, so I don't think I have to worry about that, but I think  it's just safer to put out her food in 5 or 6 smaller portions.
Here's Valentina's recipe for Kibble and Treats:
  

Valentina’s Tantalizing Treats

or

Valentina's Krunchy Kibble

2 cups sweet potatoes, baked at 350 degrees until soft (30-45 min.?)

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 TBSP flaxseed meal + 6 TBSP boiling water (soak 3 minutes) or 3 TBSP flaxseed meal + 9 TBSP boiling water

1-3/4 cups water

3 TBSP coconut oil (or olive oil)

1 cup dried cranberries, minced (or dried blueberries or dried cherries) (preferably no sugar or sweetened with apple juice)

2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour OR whole wheat pastry flour

1 TBSP VEGEDOG (Vitamin Supplement for Vegan Dogs)

1 cup rye flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

½ tsp. salt

1/2 cup oat flour

2 TBSP VEGEYEAST or nutritional yeast

1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/4 to 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten flour

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup hulled hemp seed (hemp hearts)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).

2. In food processor, mix sweet potatoes, bananas, hydrated flaxseed meal, water, oil, cranberries, and hemp seed.

3. In mixing bowl, add liquids (above) then dry ingredients; mix first with mixing blade, then switch to dough blade until well mixed.

4. Flour hands and counter to keep dough from sticking. Knead dough by folding it on itself until elastic, as if making a pie crust.

5. Roll dough to about 3/8 inch.

6. After placing dough on cookie sheets, poke with a fork to prevent voids, unless using cookie cutters,(before baking)

7. Bake for 20 minutes.

8. To make crunchy, (good for healthy teeth!) place in warm oven (at lowest temperature) for 2 to 4 hours, or leave out in the air for 2-3 days to dry.

Makes ….A LOT!!!

Be prepared to flour hands, board and rolling pin, because this dough is sticky!

This recipe can be cut into cookies for treats, or cut into kibble size pieces and fed as kibble.

The recipe is very versatile, so you can substitute one kind of flour for another if you don't have it.

For a K-9 Little Treats Maker go to:

http://www.fantes.com/cookie-cutters.htm

If you don't have a kibble cutter, you can cut with a pizza cutter to speed up the process. Trust me, you want to get this kibble cutter!

_______________________________________________________________________________

I add the following to about 6 to 7 cups of kibble, and then serve in 1 to 1-1/2 cup portions:

1 TBSP to 1-1/2 TBSP Flaxseed oil (the kind without added Vit. C)

2 Gamma - E capsules (I use NOW brand) pierce gel capsule and squeeze out vit. E oil. (This E vitamin supplement has all 4 vit E's, not just alpha tocopherol.)

Mix the two oils into the kibble, then add:

VEGEDOG (vitamin supplement)

VEGEYEAST (OR IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT, ADD NUTRITIONAL YEAST)

Amino Acids removed from capsules: L-Carnitine, L-Taurine, L-Methionine, L-Lysine

Prozyme, or NZyme -- enzyme supplement

BakPak -- probiotic supplement (or PB8 Probiotic)

Mix.

   

What’s All This Fuss About Enzymes?

I’ve been reading a lot of entries in forums about dog nutrition.  When the subject of vegan dog nutrition comes up, I frequently read the criticism that dogs do not produce amylase, and therefore they cannot break down carbohydrates (starches and sugars). Therefore, dogs should be fed an all raw, all meat diet and I am doing a disservice to my Great Dane puppy by feeding her a vegan diet. After having read the range of internet information and advice (much of it conflicting), I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people are misinformed or underinformed: humans produce amylase in the salivary glands and in the pancreas.  Dogs get their amylase from their pancreas.  And we all get amylase from the many fruits and vegetables that are available to us. (In the wild, dogs would also get amylase from eating some of the entrails of their prey.) All mammals need amylase, and  produce it in the pancreas, but only humans, primates, rodents, and lagomorphs produce it in the salivary glands.

Whether you are talking about dogs or people, it really doesn’t matter: we all need enzymes in order to live.  I must admit that, having been a vegan for almost 36 years, for most of those years, I have chosen my nourishment a bit by happenstance.  It was only about four years ago that I began looking into the basic elements of food and digestion. This is made possible by myriad nutrition websites. I’m not saying that my nourishment was poor.  Even before I became a vegan/vegetarian I adored vegetables, and always lived by the principle that if you eat a rainbow variety of colors of vegetables you are getting a wide variety of nutrients.  I always made sure that I ate protein, carbohydrates and some “good fats” every day. Having a thoracic surgeon father and a nurse mother, my exposure to the world of nutrition, science, biology, and medicine was ongoing as I grew up.   My mother always had a variety of fresh and cooked vegetables, carbs and protein as choices on the dinner table.  I guess you could say that as long as I’ve been a vegan, I’ve always been a partially cooked/partially raw vegan because I love raw foods. When I began researching the raw vegan diet – as a result of viewing the DVD Raw for Thirty: Reducing Diabetes in Thirty Days, and the DVD Raw For Life: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of the Raw Food Lifestyle – I began to really internalize the ultimate power of raw food, and why it must be an integral part of everyone’s diet. I became a green smoothie enthusiast (It reduces chewing, breaks down the cell walls and facilitates absorption of nutrients, and is just plain delicious!). I ordered my Excelsior dehydrator (actually two: one for the US and one for Mexico). I purchased one and then another Vitamix blender.  You get the picture.  I have no official degree in nutrition, but when I become interested in a subject, I dive into it. My bookshelf on the raw vegan diet is overstuffed – and growing! Many enlightened nutritionists frequently quote the ancient paradigm, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine thy food.”  As I began to understand the number and kinds of nutrients that are destroyed in the cooking process over the temperature of 110 degrees F, I came to realize how important raw food is in the diet of all mammals, and how its lack in the diet can cause a plethora of problems.

I am not a nutritionist, and can only offer my humble opinions on the subject, so I offer the caveat that you should definitely verify all this information yourself before changing your dog's diet.  I am only offering what I have gleaned from many sources I have researched.

 

Batteries Included

Simply stated, enzymes are like batteries for your body’s processes – without batteries your iPod, portable boom box, toys, cell phone, etc. will not work.  Enzymes produce the “spark” responsible for starting the necessary interactions in the body that keep it running.  Without enzymes, there is no miracle of life.  There are thousands of them in the body, and they each have their own functions. Some are responsible for interactions in the processes of cellular function and energy; some work in repairing the body; some help in concentrating various elements in the blood; some work in ridding the lungs of carbon dioxide; some aid in detoxifying the body of various wastes.  

 

Some enzymes are catalysts in the process of assimilation and digestion.  When a “shipment” of food arrives in the body, digestive enzymes  go to work, break it down into small, “decoded” parcels and send it to the necessary “departments” for utilization in the many other processes necessary for life. Metabolic enzymes at the cell level, like “biological translators”, take the “raw energy parcels” and translate them into usable energy for use in the body.  Nature has provided many of these enzymes that are necessary for digestion of the food within the food itself (batteries included!). In many cases, raw food not only provides the enzymes necessary for digestion, it provides extra enzymes that can refill the body’s stores of enzymes.  All these miracles happen automatically in your body.  You don’t have to do a thing other than supply the “batteries”.  If you don’t supply the batteries, your body will have to pull them from a precious store of enzymes stored within the body that it may need for other processes. And, it takes a great deal of energy for the body to do this.

I don’t know about you, but when I buy various electronic items, allowing for similar quality, I always look for the item that has batteries included.  And now, I do the same with food.

Viva Enzymes!

If you eat a food that has been cooked at a temperature above  110 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the food, cook it in oil , refine its carbohydrates (such as in breads and pastries), or denature, freeze, or pasteurize the food in any way, it has been degraded and made deficient in enzymes and other nutrients.  I understand that although a few vitamins and nutrients might remain, enzymes are very delicate and will be annihilated if the temperature goes above 110 degrees.  There are a few exceptions, such as careful steaming of vegetables such that the interior of the vegetable is barely cooked, so that some nutrients may remain. Enzymes are available in living food -- food that is raw, uncooked, or cooked in a dehydrator at 110 degrees Fahrenheit or less.

Different Kinds of Enzymes

Digestive enzymes break down different kinds of nutrients.  Amylase breaks down sugars and carbohydrates (Maltase breaks down malt sugar from grains and carbohydrates; sucrase breaks down cane sugar; lactase breaks down milk sugar.) Lipase breaks down unrefined fats, such as those in raw nuts and seeds and quality oils. Protease breaks down proteins. Cellulases break down cellulose. Metabolic enzymes, such as Superoxide Dismutase (SOD)  are found in all green plants (including young cereal grasses such as wheatgrass and barleygrass), sprouts and broccoli.

Valentina’s Diet

Sooo, what does all of this mean for Valentina, my Great Dane puppy, and for anyone’s dog?

I don’t know anyone who actually calculates the totals on every aspect of nutritional analysis of the food they, or their dogs eat.  Some may total calories, or carbs, proteins and fats, but those who write down the totals on every milligram of every nutrient are few. It takes a lot of time, and we all have busy schedules! And, in addition, our bodies are so forgiving.  (What about that piece of nutritionally worthless birthday cake you ate at work in place of a nourishing lunch?)  What I’m trying to do with Valentina’s nutrition is go for the nutrient-packed foods, and provide supplements where they may help in the digestive process. This means I go for sprouts (nutrient-, and enzyme-rich), pineapple and papaya slice treats, nuts and seeds (not macadamia nuts – they are poisonous to dogs.) As I collect recipes for vegan dog food,  vegan kibble and vegan dog treats, I’m going to test them baking them in my Excelsior Dehydrator oven at no higher than 110 degrees Fahrenheit, so I preserve those delicate enzymes. (I’ll be sharing recipes that I test and ones that I modify on the blog.) So far, I have been adding the VegeDog supplement (Harbingers of a New Age, www.vegepet.com) for vitamins, etc., Nzyme supplement (Nzyme Sprouted Granules, www.Nzymes.com) or Prozyme Plus Supplement (www.vegepet.com) for enzymes, (BacPak by www.Nzymes.com) or PB8 (available in most health food stores) for probiotics, and yeast (nutritional) or VegeYeast (www.vegepet.com) to her food.  I have some Natural Balance Vegan dry dog food that I will be taking with us when we travel to Mexico, to use as an occasional back-up emergency food alternative.  I’m not counting on finding an ample supply of vegan dog food in Mexico, and, besides, homemade dog food is a lot healthier anyway.