When you rescue a dog, getting to know their ins and outs takes a bit of time. You'll probably be tempted to give them new dog food. You may even choose homemade dog food, and that's great! Unless you have a complete history (which is rare with rescues), their habits, quirks, and even personalities can be a mystery.
Can Homemade Dog Food Help Constipation?
My biggest concern with Chloe was her bathroom habits and whether or not I should feed her homemade dog food. The first thing she did when I brought her home was pee on the floor. I wasn't expecting that since she was 3-years-old, but again - you really don't know what to expect with a rescue. There were many more accidents before I made the decision to invest in training pads, which worked perfectly... for a pee.
For the first few days, I took her outside (harnessed and leashed) for 30 - 45 minutes at a time. Walking around, playing, and getting a general feel for the land. Every so often she would stop to squat, which I believe was more marking than using the bathroom. Pretty soon I picked up on her potty dance and managed to get her outside to use the bathroom before she did it inside. She mastered the art of doing #1 outside, which I was overly thrilled with; scrubbing the carpets was getting tiresome.
It didn't take long before I noticed she wasn't doing number 2 outside, or at all during the day. I'd wake up to 1 or 2 small droppings on the training pad in the morning. Then there were the 2 days there was no #2 at all, which sent up some red flags for me. I knew she was eating, and inspecting the house there were no hidden poops anywhere.
I started to worry that she could have had a blockage (because I always go to the worst possible scenario), which she didn't. She was, however, mildly constipated. She never showed any signs of discomfort or distress, but I was distressed just thinking about it. So, I decided to change up her diet a little bit to add more fiber and help things move along. You won't go wrong with a high-fiber dog food.
how much homemade dog food to feed
This homemade dog food recipe saved my sanity because within 24 hours Chloe was regular. She chowed down like she hadn't eaten in weeks, and begged for more. This homemade dog food recipe worked miracles for my constipated dog, so hopefully, it will help yours too. When I make this, I separate it and freeze it for future use. I put 2 meals worth of homemade dog food into Ziploc bags and thaw them overnight.
How much Dog food to make?
I get around 2 weeks of food from this high fiber diet recipe, but be sure to check with your vet to find out how much homemade dog food you should be feeding your pet. When it's time to feed Chloe, I use a double boiler to heat the food up (I don't like the microwave.)
Fiber Filled Homemade Dog Food
If your pup has trouble going #2, this fiber-filled homemade dog food recipe can help.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. Olive Oil
- 1 lb. Ground Turkey
- 1 lb. Shredded Chicken
- 3 cups Water
- 1 medium Sweet Potato, peeled and diced
- 2 cups Brown Rice, cooked
- ½ cup Lentils
- 2 tbsp. Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup Chopped Spinach
Instructions
- Boil turkey and chicken in 3 cups of water over medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Remove the meat from the water and set aside.
- Add rice, lentils, and sweet potato to the water and return to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Mix in the cooked meat and serve warm.
- Freeze unused portions and feed as directed by your vet.
I'm also working on a recipe for homemade puppy food to stay on top of my 5 puppies' digestive health. I'm becoming somewhat of a master when it comes to DIY dog food.
Check out or Instant Pot Dog Food Recipe here! You may also love our Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats Recipe.
To learn more about using an instant pot why not visit The Instant Pot Table
Kaye
hi! I am in the process of making this! I have been looking for something and will let you know of the process. I am really concerned about my malamute. She hasn’t pooped for days now. If this doesn’t work, contacting her vet tomorrow.
Amber
Hi Kaye! Hopefully, your pup found relief! I know how stressful it can be when your fur baby has trouble going number two. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll check out the upcoming dog food recipes in the works too!!
Matt Wilding
This sounds great but I’m concerned about there being no real source of calcium.
Amber
Thanks for pointing that out, Matt! I'm going to remake it and mix in some yogurt and see how that works. Ground eggshell would work as well to add some calcium without throwing the recipe off.
Pickle King
Thank you SO much for this! My poor doggy was having trouble pooping for over 2 days, he was straining a lot with nothing coming out. I was worried it might have been something serious, but I also did change his diet completely from dry food to a whole food diet right before it happened. I called the vet, and they suggested to feed him rice with his protein as what I was giving him had barely any fiber. So, I went online to see whats a good fiber rich meal for dogs.
After looking around, this recipe seemed best and your story was similar to mine. He scoffed the whole bowl of food. Later that night, he pooped, albeit tiny, but it was something! Then this morning he did the biggest poop ever haha! SO relieved he's OK now! He's running around like crazy and is super playful, I can tell he feels better! Thanks so much for your amazing recipe. I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin as its more readily available here than pumpkin in England. It seems to have a higher fiber content than pumpkin, according to Google, so I felt it was a good substitute. Thanks again!
Amber
I'm so happy to hear that this helped your pup!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
cheryl
Also where does the olive oil go? Im making this but just using my own common sense-
I get it - you learn as you post.
Amber
Hi Cheryl,
Sorry for the confusion. Add the olive oil at the very end, with the rest of the remaining ingredients. Thanks for visiting!
suzanne zurawlow
This recipe should have been specific that the rice should be cooked or uncooked as the rice is still hard! Now everything is cooked together and it has uncooked rice in it!
Jenny
It says cooked rice in the list of ingredients
Mary
I am so sorry - my dogs love this! But I just realized I wasn’t sure if you intended for it to contain 2 cups of brown rice measured before or after cooking?
Amber
Hi Mary, glad your dogs love this food! I need to get better with my directions! I cook 2 cups of brown rice to put in the food, so 2 cups before cooking.
Mary
Great! That's what I did, but was concerned I was using too much grain that might cancel out the other good stuff.... Thank you!
LORRIE
This recope sounds great and easy! How much do you consider a serving? (@ 2/day)
Amber
Hi Lorrie. The serving size would depend on your dog's size. For my Shih Tzu, I give her 1.5 cups a day, sometimes a bit more.
M Ehtesham Shafiq
Amazing! your recipes seem more appealing, it would more healthy as in appealing,
I think is this maybe the choice of tons of canine.
stay sharing that kind of stuff,
Thanks.