Healthy Plant-Powered Dog Food!

Have you ever wondered what it would take for your dog to live their healthiest happiest life? Diet is a HUGE part of that! An easy one-pot meal makes feeding your furry friend nutritious and delicious meals they will love simple! A healthy plant-based recipe like this and diet shift is not only going to make your dog happy at dinner time, but can also reduce inflammation, boost their immune systems, help prevent cancers, and make them shine from the inside out!

This recipe is for all dogs! My two Greats Danes and my two Yorkies are thriving and obsessed with their veggie dog food! It’s full of delicious plant-based whole foods and can be made as a whole meal for your pup, or can be added to the top of their kibble as a food topper full of flavor!

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The Truth Behind Dog Food

When I began to think more consciously about what I was eating, I also started thinking about what I was feeding my dogs. Even with quality kibble that a vet recommends, how healthy it can be when in reality, ONE in TWO dogs die of cancer?

Most commercial, dog foods are contaminated with fillers, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and many other harmful chemicals. Which are then marketed to the consumer as perfectly balanced healthy choices for their beloved companion.

The truth is that most dog food brands use low-grade, toxic ingredients, including meat that is ‘not fit for human consumption.’ This means it falls into the 4D category; Dead, Dying, Diseased, or Disabled. Which includes slaughterhouse waste, roadkill, dead zoo animals, and even euthanized dogs and cats. Sadly, most animal feed uses 4D meat.

Even higher quality brands who might not use the worst of the worst, are still using animals that we’re living in horrid conditions and were extremely stressed before being slaughtered. Stress hormones end up in our animals’ food, along with so many other things that should never be given to our innocent baby animals. So much of our dogs food is treated like a piece of equipment, not food! Chemically cleaned, deodorized, bleached to kill bacteria, that is NOT food. Our animals trust us to take care of them, they trust that what we are feeding them is yummy, good, nourishing food. They deserve so much better.

If I couldn’t eat it because it’s not good enough quality for humans, or the possibility of disease, I’m not going to feed it to my dog whom I love with all my heart and whom I want to live healthily beside me for as long as possible!!

Why not animal products?

Did you know that the MOST common food allergens in dogs are dairy, beef, chicken, chicken eggs, soy, and wheat gluten?

Feeding your dog a plant-based diet can nourish their body with an array of whole-sourced vitamins and minerals that are found in legumes, beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and grains.

Now more than ever, dogs are experiencing chronic health issues at an alarming rate. Chronic inflammation, epilepsy, allergies/skin issues, digestion, arthritis, and the development of tumors are some of the top problems we see in our fur babies- and one common variable is that they aren’t eating their fruits and vegetables. Vegetables are great, fresh sources of calcium, magnesium, and other essential vitamins that most dogs aren’t getting enough of. 

My homemade Plant-Based Doggie Food recipe is top allergen-free!

Can dogs be plant-based/vegan?

The meat and dairy industry scared us into believing that we NEEDED animal protein to survive and be in good health. It is ingrained in our minds from the clever propaganda we grew up seeing, yet now we find out that you can get all the protein, vitamins & nutrients you’ll ever need from plants! Crazy! And guess what? Our doggies can too!

Our canine friends have evolved alongside us, eating a similar diet to humans for centuries. They evolved to digest a diet rich in grains, legumes, and veggies. Studies have shown that dogs can thrive on a vegan diet! A study at the University of Winchester concluded, “the pooled evidence to date indicates that the healthiest and least hazardous dietary choices for dogs, are nutritionally sound vegan diets” (Knight, 2022).

If you think animals need animal protein to be big and strong, look at Elephants, the biggest land animals, as well as Gorillas, the strongest land animals, getting more than enough protein from 100% plant matter!

Eating meat comes at a cost to us, our dogs, the animals being consumed, and the environment. Meat-eating dogs and cats account for 25% – 30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the U.S. Contributing to factory farming and the climate crisis all to feed my dog animal products, when all studies and scientific data say that as long as they are getting all of their vitamins, and you pay close attention to their nutritional needs, like you should be anyways, a dog can live a happy and healthy life, fully vegan!

One of the world’s oldest living dogs, Bramble, lived until 25 and was fully vegan since birth! 

What to feed them instead of meat-based kibble?

My homemade Plant-Based Doggie Food recipe is a balanced meal that you can make super easy with one pot! Made with super simple ingredients that you might already have in your pantry and freezer!

There are also plant-powered kibble brands such as V-Dog and Wild Earth! They are changing the reputation of kibble! Both companies, along with a few others, offer nutritionally complete food made with 100% plant-based ingredients! 

“There is no reason why diets comprised entirely of plants, minerals, and synthetically-based ingredients (i.e., vegan diets) cannot meet the necessary palatability, bioavailability, and nutritional requirements of cats and dogs,” (Knight, 2016)

Why supplement?

Did you know that livestock (the pigs, cows, horses, chickens, etc) are being fed a TON of supplements? That’s why vegans supplement b12 and other vitamins “only found in meat.” They also add supplements to all kibbles, so if you go with a plant-based kibble like Wild Earth or V-Dog, don’t worry about adding a supplement. When you switch your pup to homemade food, its important to add a scoop of this vitamin to the food as well, to make sure your pup is getting their daily nutrients!

First hand/paw experience!

As a family, we have a total of two Great Danes and two little Yorkies! (Our two Danes are on Wild Earth kibble, mixed with my homemade Plant-Based Doggie Food recipe!) 

I can confidently say, after feeding all our dogs this recipe ever the last two years, we have seen so many benefits in their health and wellness!

Boomer, my baby, and our oldest is 12 years old and is as healthy as ever! His allergies are FINALLY getting better after years of switching foods and trying itch-free shampoos! Our older Great Dane, Yadi, just got his first “elderly” bloodwork back, and the vet said everything was excellent and he was extremely healthy for a male Dane his age! Best of all, our other Yorkie, Manhattan, used to have the worst stomach issues. She would have to go to the vet every few WEEKS with her gut issues! They tried everything from medicines to special foods. Yet in the past two years, she has only gone once, during the transition to the plant-based diet! Now that I type this out I realize how happy I am that her tummy is no longer in pain!

Some of their FAVORITE treats and snacks are: sweet potato chews, raw carrots (Yadi is obsessed, we call him “mr. carrot man”), blueberries, chickpeas, & pretty much any raw veggie we are chopping- bell pepper, cucumber, potato, tofu!!

I want everyone to know how to easily add vitamins and minerals into their dogs’ diet, boost their dogs’ health and happiness, potentially help soothe any ongoing issues that you just can’t find the answer to, and hopefully add many more healthy years to their lives!

Read about Bramble the Collie, the longest living dog EVER who was VEGAN!!! 

Food safe for dogs!

Here are some other health-promoting foods that are safe for dogs. Use these to swap out any of the ingredients in my homemade Plant-Based Doggie Food recipe, or these make great little snacks! Even if you don’t make this recipe, these foods are perfect for adding some extra nutrients to your dog’s diet.

Legumes/beans for protein!

• lentils
• black beans
• chickpeas
• split peas
• white beans
• kidney beans
• pinto beans
• black-eye peas
• tofu & tempeh

Whole Grains

• brown rice
• pearl barley
• oats
• buckwheat
• wild rice
• quinoa
• whole wheat pasta

Red, orange, and white veggies

• carrots
• squash
• sweet potato
• pumpkin
• cauliflower
• celery
• parsnips
• turnips
• beets
• artichokes
• non-spicy peppers

Green veggies

• broccoli
• asparagus
• green beans
• kale
• brussel sprouts
• zucchini
• cabbage
• cucumber
• collard greens

Healthy Fats

• ground flaxseed or oil
• hemp seed oil
• coconut oil
• ground chia seed
• ground pumpkin seeds
• ground sunflower
• nuts and nut butter: peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios

Spices and Herbs

• cinnamon
• turmeric
• ginger
• parsley
• rosemary
• basil

Fruit for snacks and treats!

• apples
• strawberries
• blueberries
• blackberries
• strawberries
• raspberries
• citrus
• kiwi
• peaches
• bananas
• watermelon and other melons
• cranberries
• apricots
• pears
• mangos
• pineapple

Just try it!

You don’t even need to follow my recipe to make your dog a balanced, plant based meal. Here is a simple ratio that you can follow to make sure you’re hitting ALL of the food groups equally (what the science says is a balanced ratio for dogs).

All you need is:

 50% protein, 25% grain, 25% veggie + a healthy fat = a balanced pup meal

Feeding your dog plant based foods should be easy! It’s all about adding more nutrients and foods full of LIFE (not death) to their diets!

Why supplement?

Did you know that livestock (the pigs, cows, horses, chickens, etc) are being fed a TON of supplements? That’s why vegans supplement b12 and other vitamins “only found in meat.” They also add supplements to all kibbles, so if you go with a plant-based kibble like Wild Earth or V-Dog, don’t worry about adding a supplement. If you switch your pup to homemade food, you’ll want to add a scoop of this vitamin to the food as well.

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Sources

• Brown, Wendy Y et al. “An experimental meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs.” The British journal of nutrition vol. 102,9 (2009): 1318-23. doi:10.1017/S0007114509389254
• Coster, Heather. 2015. Plant Based Recipes for Dogs: Feed Your Dog for Health & Longevity: A Nutritional Lifestyle Guide. Vegan Dog Lifestyle
  • An amazing plant based recipe book for dogs. Also full of information about nutrition, health, and longevity in dogs. You can buy it here!
• “FAQs.” Veterinary Cancer Society, http://vetcancersociety.org/pet-owners/faqs/
• Knight, Andrew, and Madelaine Leitsberger. 2016. “Vegetarian versus Meat-Based Diets for Companion Animals” Animals 6, no. 9: 57. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6090057
• Knight A, Huang E, Rai N, Brown H. 2022. “Vegan versus meat-based dog food: Guardian-reported indicators of health” https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265662