• Start with 2-3 pounds of meat in the slow cooker, beef, chicken, turkey or pork are usually available relatively inexpensively, just make sure you cut them up or use ground options.  Stay away from sausage as it has unwanted spices, but you can mix type of meat as you choose.  While we often make it with ground beef here, ground turkey or chicken is also usually available and we tend to use what's on sale.  For ground beef, we like to use 90/10 beef but 80/20 works fine too.  (The number is the percentage of fat, 90% meat, 10% fat and so on).

  We also will use boneless chicken breasts or thighs cut into cubes and chicken hearts and livers are fine in smaller amounts too.  We suggest no more than 1/2 pound of these in a 3 pound mix, they add a lot of fat that can upset a dog's stomach.  Using only breast meat, cut up or ground, can lead to a dryer and tougher mix so look for ground turkey and not ground turkey breast.  If you want, grind your meat yourself, rabbit, venison and wild boar are good for dogs as well.

  The recipe says 2-3 pounds, we generally shoot for 2 1/2 pounds but packaging may change that choice.  It's not overly critical.  We have also thrown in a quarter pound of chopped bacon, though we render the fat out in a skillet first.  Bacon grease is a staple around here anyway.
  
• Add the canned beans, a 15 ounce can, Great Northern beans or kidney beans are a good choice.  You can use lima beans, fava beans, red beans or black beans too, we just usually have cans of Great Northern or kidney beans in the pantry.  Drain the beans and rinse them well before adding them to the slow cooker, we want to remove as much of the sodium these things are packed in as possible.
  
• Add the vegetables into the cooker, we try to use about a pound and a half, 24 ounces, of mixed vegetables.  Carrots, peas, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans, spinach and others are fine choices and we usually use the frozen bags for convenience and availability out of season.  We do thaw the frozen vegetables first so we don't add all the extra moisture to our mix.  Stay away from onions, garlic and other plants in the family though sweet potatoes and fresh pumpkin are great.
  
• This recipe calls for brown rice but you can use white rice as well.  In fact, white rice can be a little easier for some dogs.  Add 1 1/2 cups directly to the slow cooker.  Also add 4 cups, about one package, of a good, low sodium, stock or broth.  Chicken, beef, turkey or even vegetable stock are all fins and, if you're short on stock, you can just add 4 cups of water.  We figure the broth adds a bit of flavor and some additional nutrients but we basically just need to add moisture to the mix.
  
• Set your slow cooker on low and let it go for about 5-6 hours, stirring occasionally after the first two or three hours.  If you're in a hurry, set it to high and go for 3 hours or so.  Let the mix cool, then serve to your pets or portion it and store it for later use.  You can store in in the refrigerator for two weeks or freeze it for up to six months.  Just be sure to label and date it, serving your in-laws dog food when they show up unexpectedly can be embarrassing.  Of course, if to don't tell them what it is, it's perfectly good for people, though possibly a little bland.
  

Optional Ingredients

• There are a number of options you can add to this mix depending on your dog, your choices and your veterinarian's advice.  For example, we generally ad a teaspoon of ground thyme to this mix.  Our dog loves the flavor, as do most dogs.

  You can add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mix.  Olive oil, in moderation, is good for dogs.  We generally don't but it's usually because we find the mix gets a little oily if we do.

  We use brewer's yeast as a supplement for our pets, it tends to help keep their coat shiny and can cut down itching and dry skin.  The problem with using brewer's yeast is that it's dependent on a dog's size and, to be helpful in a larger dog the amount used may be too high and cause other problems.  For smaller dogs it works great.  We figure about 1/2 teaspoon per serving and this mix usually makes about 8-12 servings for our dog.

  People have told us that mixing parsley in with a dog's food can help with their breath, as it can with humans.  We've never really found that to be true so simply don't bother.

  Vitamin supplements are something that many dogs need and you can add it to this food.  We've found that supplements needed are usually due to deficiencies in the food and we use a quality dry dog food for our dog to handle any nutrition needs this food might be lacking.  Supplements are sometimes hard to add to a batch of food since you need to ensure they are distributed evenly throughout the mix.  We simply feed our pets any needed pills as directed by our veterinarian.
  

Warnings:

• You can change the mix of the ingredients in the recipe, but try to keep the ratios similar.  Dogs are carnivores, which means they eat meat, but too much protein in a diet can be tough on a dog.  Likewise, too little protein can be detrimental too.  Meats provide protein, as well as essential amino acids, that dogs need.  On the flip side, dogs need carbohydrates for energy.  But too many carbohydrates converts to fat in a dog's body, just as in ours, and leads to many other health problems.  We try to provide about 50% meat, 40% vegetables and 10% fat in our dog's diet.

  Not all meats are the same either, just as not all carbohydrates are the same.  For dogs, shellfish can be problematic but fish like salmon is just as healthy for them as it is for us.  We also tend to stay away from the carbohydrates that are basically just simple sugar.  Fruits for example.  While dogs are okay with pears and apples in moderation (remove the seeds please), grapes can be very bad.  We also don't use tomatoes or mushrooms in our dog food, although it's fine to let them lick the leftover spaghetti sauce off your plate.  Small amounts of many foods are fine.

  Stay away from nuts, with the exception of peanut butter which is fairly good for doge, as well as corn.  Popped or cooked normally.  Chocolate and beer are also out for dogs and can cause serious issues, as can avocados.

  Mostly, check with your veterinarian about what you can and cannot feed your dog.  If your dog begins vomiting, has diarrhea or bloody stool, discontinue using your dog food.  We provide both dry food and homemade food so our dog has a more balanced diet and we don't feed large amounts of our homemade food at a time.