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How to Dehydrate Pet Food ~ Plus Make Your Own Dog Food!

How to Dehydrate
Pet Food ~
Plus Make Your Own
Dog Food!

dehydrated dog food (chicken chow) that looks like nuggets

Welcome to how to dehydrate pet food! Making delicious dinners and storing food for the long term isn't just for humans!

Make Your Own Dog Food book cover

Make sure you not only feed your dog delicious and nutritious dog food but make sure to dehydrate blobs of it and make it into doggie biscuits!

Put the dehydrated doggie biscuits into vacuum-sealed pouches. Keep the pouches safe for emergency use.

Pets need food in emergencies too... Rehydrate the biscuits later to make wet food again. Works like magic!

TOP Frequently Asked Questions:

Is dehydrating dog/pet food safe?

When dehydrating homemade Chicken Chow for your dog, make sure the blobs are bite-sized so he won't choke (you know how dogs like to rush their food - um, and some humans too!)

Is it cheaper and healthier than store-bought food?

Honestly? It's probably not cheaper to make your own, but you have the peace of mind that nothing nasty is in your dog's Chicken Chow. No preservatives, no ground-up goodness knows what... you get the picture.

Store the wet mix in plastic tubs: I store her food in those reusable plastic tubs (with lids) that are left over from my roast beef and turkey tubs! I freeze the doggie dinners and take one out as needed and thaw in the refrigerator.

I don't give her the food straight from the refrigerator; I warm it up a little in the microwave. Not too hot! Just enough to take the chill off. Yep, I spoil her rotten!

What equipment and ingredients do I need?

You'll need a dehydrator - or use your oven in a pinch which you'll set to its lowest setting possible. You may have to keep the door open a little - use a wooden spoon to prop the oven door open. But for me? It's too much of a hassle using a regular oven. Get a dehydrator and you're done messin' around wi' spoons.

Regarding the ingredients for Chicken Chow, check out How to Make Dog Food. My special recipe contains chicken and quinoa, along with millet. Tasty veggies such as sweet potato, butternut squash, and celery are included. And I share with you how to make the special mix of Vitamin powder from Alfalfa, Bone Meal, Brewers Yeast, and Kelp and what quantities to add. It's easy.

You can make it all in one big saucepan, but I use a pressure cooker for all the veggies, and drape the raw chicken breasts on the very top.

DO NOT add the millet and quinoa into the mix inside the pressure cooker. Millet and quinoa tend to get "foamy" and can block a pressure cooker's valve. Cook the millet and quinoa in a separate pan, then add the pressure cooked meat and veggies to the millet and quinoa pan. It's all in this book!

How long will dehydrated pet food last, and how do I store it?

Regarding keeping it fresh, vacuum seal your Chicken Chow nuggets with an oxygen absorber tucked inside the bag. This is a great way to store your dehydrated dog food for weeks - even months. Store your dehydrated bags of Chicken Chow nuggets inside a Mylar bag for extra protection - for long-term storage.

In an emergency situation, it's easy to rehydrate a handful of Chicken Chow nuggets if you want to serve it as a wet meal.

If you're making Chicken Chow dried nuggets on a weekly basis, keep them in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator.

Will my dog's vet OK this?

Please feel free to show your vet my "Make Your Own Dog Food" ingredients. My dog's vet said our Min Pin's coat shines, she has such bright eyes too. Oh, and her poo doesn't stink.

Dehydrated dog food recipe?

Great question, and if you make my Chicken Chow Dog Food from my book, you'll be able to dehydrate blobs of it. See how coming up!

How to dehydrate dog food?

On this page I'm not discussing dehydrating commercial canned dog food (gross, sorry). Rather, you'll be learning how to dehydrate blobs of my special "Chicken Chow Dog Food" that look just like chicken nuggets!

First Things First: How to Make a Delicious Doggie Dinner

But first, you have to learn HOW to make this delicious doggie dinner so you can then learn how to dehydrate pet food in general!

Here's where to buy the eBook that details it all! But it comes with a WARNING: Your pooch will smother you with kisses.

How to Dehydrate Pet Food:
Roll Up Spoonfuls to Make Dehydrated Biscuits!

Once you've made your delicious tubs of doggie dinners, place spoonfuls (aka "blobs") of the wet food onto your dehydrator. Use the solid (fruit leather) sheets if you feel your mixture is a little too wet. Don't make huge nuggets if you've got a tiny dog (I don't want Precious to choke!) Make bigger nuggets for bigger dogs; you get the picture.

If your mix is not overly runny, spoon your blobs of chicken chow directly onto the dehydrator trays.

Turn on your food dehydrator and set the temperature between 125°F and 135°F and dry your nuggety-blobs until dry to the touch. They look like chicken nuggets when they're done!  This process takes time. Don't rush it. Be patient.

Storing Dehydrated Nuggets

As mentioned at the top of the page, these 'nuggets' are great to store for the long term. Follow my vacuum-sealing instructions here and remember to add an oxygen absorber before vacuum-sealing the pouch and sealing it.

Why Bother Dehydrating Pet Food?

Miniature Pinscher eating Chicken Chow homemade dog food

Back in 2008, my husband and I were out swimming when we noticed this tiny dog on our patio, wistfully looking at us. Long story short: We adopted this fantastic Miniature Pinscher, and I decided—right then and there—that I would learn how to make dog food!

Why?

Rumors were going around that a major dog food company had a record amount of product recalls; pets were dying from tainted food.

Well, not on my watch! Read the FULL STORY HERE.

Make Your Dog's Dinners Monthly!

About once a month, usually on a Saturday morning, I make my nutritious homemade dog chow. It takes about two hours from start to finish.

Turns out, my doggie loves the chicken version and the beef version and both are in my book—and I use a pressure cooker to prepare this for her.

I also dehydrate her Chicken Chow so she'll have emergency food on hand.

"If we measured our affection toward others
by how many nicknames we bestow upon them,
our pets would be the most loved."

— Carrie Brownstein

"If we measured our affection
toward others by how many
nicknames we bestow upon
them, our pets would
be the most loved."

— Carrie Brownstein

Get "Make Your Own Dog Food" eBook today, and Make Your Dog Happier Tomorrow.

Get Our
"Make Your Own Dog Food"
eBook today, and Make
Your Dog Happier Tomorrow.

Feed Your Dog Good Nutritious Food. Here's How:

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Be prepared for lots of wagging tails and plenty of face lickings. Go treat your best buddy tofday!

Make it Today for Your Best Buddy!

If you want your pooch to have lovely bright eyes and a shiny coat, then you know what I'm gonna say... I can't believe how great my dog looks.

She is so happy to have been rescued and loved. She is also over the moon at being fed the "best dog food on the planet," so she says - wink wink.

Please do your dog a favor and get your hands on this eBook today. It's also available as a paperback. You'll learn all about the right quantities of special vitamins and bone meal to add to the chicken chow mixture.

WARNING: Be prepared for lots of wagging tails and plenty of face lickings.

Read more about the eBook here. Check out "Make Nutritious Dog Food" where you can see what dog owners have said.

Such as? Their dog's poo doesn't stink since switching over to this chicken chow recipe. They also state that it costs less than the fancy delivery service meals.

What's Your Dog's Favorite Homemade Food?

Is your dog drooling to have its photo featured showing us how much he/she enjoys your homemade doggie meals? Do you have a great recipe? Share it!

Your recipe will be posted "auto-magically" and you'll have your very own recipe and webpage featuring your dog's favorite food!

Thank you for taking the time to read how to dehydrate pet food. You know what?

Your doggie will absolutely love this Chicken Chow. It tastes so good. Don't forget, it's totally safe for pets because it's totally fine for us humans to eat too.

Before you go...

Don't forget to pick up your free eBook called "How to Grow and Dehydrate Herbs" right here!