DIY Dog: Homemade Bone Broth for Picky Dogs

Homemade bone broth is incredibly easy to make, and one of the few things my picky chihuahua will reliably drink. Ru is super, super picky. In an attempt to get more liquid into him, I have tried moistening his food with a variety of different things. He normally doesn't like anything at all touching his kibble, and won't eat it if there's water, baby food, applesauce, or store-bought broth or stock on it.

I started making my own broth while reading Dinner Pawsible. While I didn't stick with the recipe book, I did continue making bone broth for my dogs. It's a really cheap, really easy, and really healthy way to keep them hydrated. This is good for their bladders and kidneys, and also makes me feel like a fabulous dog owner. Or a basket case. Maybe both.

Anyway, here's my basic recipe for bone broth:

• Take some bones (any type, cooked or raw, meat on them or not, leftover steak bones from your dinner, they don't all have to be the same type of bones, whatever, it doesn't really matter).
• Put them in a crockpot. Fill the crockpot with water.
• Set the crockpot on low heat for like a day or two. Add more water if it gets low.
• Throw away the bones. Strain the broth, or not. Feel free to feed any boneless meat sludge to your dog.

Ta-da! You can throw your leftover roast chicken carcass, or Thanksgiving turkey bones, or whatever in. Maybe save them in the freezer till you have enough to fill the pot. Since Brisbane is allergic to poultry, I usually make beef or pork broth. Beef and pork feet are my favorite thing to use for broth because it ends up all gelatinous when it cools down. I usually add a tiny bit of salt, garlic powder, and occasionally herbs, but this is largely for my own aesthetic and doesn't really serve a purpose.

After a day or two, I shut off the crockpot and let the broth cool for a bit. I used to strain it through cheesecloth, but then I realized the dogs probably enjoy all the little meat bits and stuff in there so now I just scoop stuff out with a slotted spoon. I toss the bones and add the boiled meat to their dinners for the next couple of days. 

Homemade broth doesn't have much of a shelf life, so I freeze it in sandwich bags and microwave it as needed. The dogs appreciate a warm dinner, and Ru will actually drink an entire bowl of liquid with his dinner. Truly amazing. There's really not anything bad about it either, it's low in fat, high in vitamins, and doesn't have any salt unless you put some in there. It's just plain tasty goodness, and even super picky anorexic dogs seem to love it.

Product Review: Chuckit! Indoor Ball and Launcher

The Chuckit! Indoor Ball and Launcher is a low-impact, super exciting way to play fetch without breaking quite as much stuff in your house. The launcher can pick the ball up off the floor without getting your hands slobbery, and incites the same feverish delight as the outdoor Chuckit! The indoor ball is made from soft chenille fabric and is light enough to bounce harmlessly off of walls, pictures hanging on the walls, pendulum clocks, televisions, glass cabinet doors, beer carboys, and lava lamps. Why yes, yes that is a very specific list. The Indoor Chuckit! collection comes in one size that is big enough for an enormous dog but so fluffy even a tiny dog can get a grip on it.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Chuckit! Indoor Launcher normally comes with a donut-shaped Indoor Roller toy, but I found mine toyless at a thrift shop so I had to get the ball separately.

I have to admit, when I first saw this toy concept I though it was kind of pointless. I mean, what's wrong with just hucking regular dog toys around the house, right? That sort of attitude is precisely why my parents' walls were covered with tennis ball marks for many years. Also, I'm sorry about that teacup, Mom. As an adult I'm still prone to lobbing various balls and stuffies around my own house, but I still cringe every time a throw goes a bit wild.

Photo by Erin Koski

With the Chuckit! Inddor Ball, every throw can be a wild throw. This thing has no mass and doesn't seem to be capable of flying with enough force to damage anything (except that teacup probably still could have been demolished). This gives me the confidence to lob it around my house with wild abandon.

So far I've managed to bounce it off the above-mentioned list of objects in my home without damaging anything, to my great surprise. Brisbane is not impressed, but Sisci thinks the short little Indoor Launcher is super fun and amazing. She also loves to carry around the indoor ball around when we're not playing. Overall it has been a much more fun and useful product than I expected.

It's worth mentioning that the original Chuckit! company, Canine Hardware, was purchased by PetMate sometime in the last two years. This is the same company that owns JW Pet and Dogzilla. I haven't yet noticed any decline in quality or toy construction, but it can be tough to tell. My original Chuckit! launcher is still going strong after 16 years so I haven't tried out the more recent ones.

Pros: Fun for dogs of all sizes. Mostly harmless ball flies with minimal force. Launcher is low-powered. Can pick up ball without touching the nasty thing.

Cons: Pastel colored ball looks dirty right away. Ball-launching capability may lead to lack of caution in users.

Bottom Line: As some point I should actually grow up enough to not play ball in the house, but that point has not yet arrived. Long live the indoor ball!

Food Friday: Artemis Pro A.L.S.

I got this sample of Artemis Pro A.L.S. at the seed and feed around the corner from my house. This is a value brand, a lot like Fromm Classic and at a similar price point. It only comes in one formula, chicken and brown rice.

I was surprised to see that Artemis's bottom-of-the-line food here received the same 3.5 star rating on Dog Food Advisor as their their top-of-the-line OsoPure food. This is probably because all of their foods are primarily plant-based with only a moderate amount of meat in them.

As I've mentioned before, Artemis is basically a dog food marketing company, and their actual products are produced by Diamond Pet Foods. There have been some major recalls due to issues at this facility, so this would not be my first choice for a daily diet.

That said, this is a fantastic value brand made from quality ingredients. It contains no by-products or scary stuff, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to someone looking for something better than Pedigree, Beneful, Ol' Roy, Kibbles 'n' Bits, etc. Like Fromm Classic, it's definitely a very high-quality value food. It's not the best of the best, but it's worlds better than the foods you find at the grocery store.

Brisbane, who is allergic to everything (poultry, eggs, corn, barley, sweet potatoes, wtf?!) couldn't taste test this food for me, but Sisci was happy to try it. She's a little more discerning in her tastes but thought the Artemis Pro A.L.S. made for a pretty good dinner. This is an All Life Stages food (that's what the ALS stands for), meaning it is basically puppy food and can be fed to any dog of any age. It's about $0.15 more per pound than Fromm Classic, but Fromm's value line is limited to adult food. Right now, Artemis Pro ALS is my pick for quality puppy food on a budget.