Now, I get some interesting reactions when I tell people that I am making dog soup(which is something that happens 3-4 times a year, I make it in large batches because I hate making it.) Most people tend to freak out until I explain to them exactly what dog soup is, and why I make it.
You see, I have a small breed dog. And my small breed dog is a mixed breed dog, bred from non-health tested parents. My poor dog has digestive troubles, and food allergies, which limits what he can eat. He has a base kibble, grain free, high quality, available to him at all times. However, if left to eat solely kibbles, my dog loses weight, gets skinny and unhealthy. See, he's also got a severe underbite(and when I say severe, there's about an inch of space between his upper front teeth and his lower front teeth). And he doesn't like eating kibbles - I assume that it causes him pain, since his teeth don't line up properly. Being the loving owner that I am, I don't like my dog to look skinny and unhealthy, and I don't like him being in pain, so... I started making dog soup.
Dog soup was originally created by my mother, for her elderly dog - the dog needs a pill every morning, and can't have the pill on an empty stomach. Dog soup was literally the leftovers in the fridge, thrown in a pot, boiled a little bit and then spooned over kibbles to get the dog to eat. I, however, took it a step further. I used freezer burnt meat, and made a sort of stew, mostly meat, some veg.
But, I didn't quite like how that was working out for my dog. As I mentioned, my pup's got digestive issues and food allergies. My dog throws up. A lot. He throws up so much that he has a towel on the floor that he knows to go and throw up on, I've had time to train him to do that. The vet has checked him out, there's nothing to be done for him other than try and feed him things that don't upset his tummy. Well, when I was making dog soup by just throwing whatever into the pot, he was throwing up a lot, and it was hard to pinpoint the cause of his tummy troubles.
So, I changed the formula. I started leaving out the vegetables, eliminating things to try and find a recipe that didn't bother his tummy. Eventually, I gave up, and started making the latest, greatest version of dog soup. The dogs both love it, it doesn't upset Mr Fussypants's tummy, and my mom and I can both live with the serving of it.
Basically, dog soup is now meat baby food. I take bones and boil them for about 3-4 hours. Just boil the hell right out of them. Then, I pull them out to cool, and throw in meat that has been cubed. Sometimes this meat is freezerburnt, more often than not anymore it isn't, I just buy it from the grocery store when it is last day of sale, or I get scraps from the local farm where I buy my own meat. I try to have an even mix of organ meat and muscle meat, even though I know most of the nutrients are being destroyed by cooking. That meat goes in, along with a 5lb bag of carrots that have been washed and sliced up. It's allowed to simmer for an hour or so, while the bones cool down enough for me to pick the meat off and make sure all of the marrow is out into the pot. Then, I turn off the heat, and the soup is allowed to cool until it is cold. This allows me a better idea of the consistency, and I know if I will need to add water.
Then the trusty blender comes out.
I spoon the gloop into the blender, and run it through - on a big batch the blendering might take 2-3 hours to get it all done. Now, it is ready for the freezer. I either put it into ice cube trays(makes great hot weather treats, plus takes up less room), or they go into 500g containers - that's about a 4 day supply of dinner for my dog(3-4 tablespoons a meal over a 1/4th cup of kibble). The consistency is anywhere between thick gravy and pate dog food.
I'm sure you're wondering why I don't just feed the dog raw(he won't eat it, won't even chew on raw bones!), or why I won't buy him canned dog food(it either has grains, or is too expensive to justify feeding it every day). I wanted to share how I feed my dog a luxury food at a low price(it's about $20 a batch to make, depending on what I use). My dog gets to enjoy things like organic beef, organic rabbit, organic lamb. He gets turkey dinner flavour(which includes cranberries), and salsbury steak flavour(ground beef and gravy). He dances when he sees me pull out a tub from the fridge, because he knows what's in it, and he immediately goes into a sit whenever he sees someone pull out an ice cube tray(that's where his treats come from!!). He is a happy, healthy dog, and since starting him on Dog Soup, he has had a nice shiny coat, good teeth, and no more random bouts of dropping weight and becoming scary-skinny in a couple days(his ideal weight is 15lbs, in the spring/summer/fall he is go-go-go and can lose a pound or two in a day or two if he doesn't want to eat.) I know that he is getting food into him every day, and I know what that food is.
I think more people should take the time to make dog soup for their animals. I use it to stuff his Kongs, to reward him for good behaviour, and for his dinner. He loves it, knows the word "Dinner" and gets super excited when he hears it. But what it really comes down to? The money. Feeding him commercial wet food would not be possible, I simply would not be able to afford to give it to him every day. I am fortunate to have a local farmer who will save the scraps for me, and sells meat bones at a low cost, which allows me to feed the dog a lot of organic meat, but even if I had to buy it from the grocery store, making my own food would save tons of money.