This instructable will teach you how to create your own nutritionally-balanced dog food recipe using the included Dog Food Recipe Creator program. After you enter the desired amount of each ingredient from a database of assorted meats, vegetables, and vitamin supplements, the program will calculate totals for all essential nutrients and provide indications for any deficiencies or overdoses. Please read the "WARNINGS" section carefully before making a recipe.

Supplies

Standard kitchen appliances and utensils

Food probe thermometer

Kitchen scale

Bathroom scale

5 gallon buckets

Sandwich-sized plastic bags

Microsoft Excel (optional)

Food processor (optional)

Spice grinder (optional)

Rice cooker (optional)

Power Drill and mixing attachment (optional)

Step 1: Table of Contents

Step 2: WARNINGS

Step 3: References

Step 4: Download and Access the Program

Step 5: Program Basics

Step 6: How to Use the Program

Step 7: How to Make a Recipe

Step 8: Recipe Ramp Up

Step 9: Making the Food

Step 10: Example Recipe

Step 11: Reference Links

Step 12: Product Links

Step 2: WARNINGS

Liver

Liver is a rich source of many vitamins and minerals, but it must be used sparingly to prevent a vitamin A overdose. It should be included in your recipe but not more than 20% of the total protein. It’s a rich source of omega-6 fatty acids, phosphorus, iron, copper, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin D, B vitamins (especially B12), and choline.

Seaweed Flakes

Extra care should be used when adding seaweed flakes since they are so high in iodine. Be sure to include it otherwise your resulting food will likely be deficient in iodine. Just be careful not to add too much!

Oysters

If you end up with a recipe deficient in zinc, selenium, iron, or copper (and you can afford it), oysters are the way to go! Just be careful when sourcing them. Avoid oysters canned without a liner or oysters from unregulated countries, or your food may end up with unsafe levels of toxic heavy metals. Just for clarification, I don't buy oysters for my dog; I've merely included them because they are the richest natural source of zinc.

Peas

Peas are a great ingredient for most dogs but should be avoided in dogs with kidney problems.

Almond Butter

Almond butter is an excellent source of vitamin E and linoleic acid, but it's also very high in fat. Keep an eye on the recipe’s total fat if you add this ingredient to supplement vitamin E, and use it very sparingly.

Spinach

Spinach should be used sparingly because it contains oxalic acid, which can interfere with calcium absorption if eaten in very large quantities. Spinach is a rich source of fiber, alpha-Linolenic acid, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, vitamin K, vitamin E, and B vitamins.

Salt

Excessive sodium is dangerous for dogs, so be careful with purchasing any packaged or processed ingredients. If using broth, only use “unsalted” or “no salt added”. “Reduced salt” or “low salt” broths still have too much sodium in them. If getting canned kidney beans or almond butter, make sure you specifically get the unsalted versions, as well.

Eggshells

Eggshells are a great natural calcium supplement, but simply adding them to the food is an unnecessary cutting hazard to your dog’s mouth. The best option is to bake them at a low temperature until dry, and then grind them to a powder with a spice grinder.

Vegetables

Canines don't break down vegetables as well as humans, so I recommend processing any green beans or spinach in a food processor before adding it to the food. They only have 4 molar teeth to our 12!

Vitamin/Mineral Supplements

Extra care and attention should be used when dosing with supplements to ensure you aren’t overdosing. I recommend using dosing/oral syringes.

Grain-Free Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy

In 2018, the FDA found a link between grain-free diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a type of canine heart disease. They also found that foods with peas, lentils, or potatoes as a main ingredient (the primary carbohydrate source) also had a correlation to DCM. Their research is still ongoing.

Also in 2018, Dr. Lisa Freeman DVM, PhD and her colleagues published their findings in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in which they went into further detail about other diet-related associations to DCM. They attributed DCM cases to three main associations, collectively called BEG diets (dog food made by small Boutique companies, foods containing Exotic ingredients, and foods labeled Grain-free).

It’s important to clarify that the foods identified 'as linked to DCM' that contained peas and potatoes were specifically for foods that had peas and potatoes as a main ingredient. There are many commercial dog foods that contain peas and potatoes in lesser amounts that have no correlation to DCM. While peas and sweet potatoes are safe as vitamin and mineral sources, they should not be fed as a main ingredient to constitute a major portion of the diet's calories or carbohydrates.

Toxic Ingredients

Most dog owners will already be aware of these, but just in case, here is a list of toxic foods that should never be fed to dogs in any amount: onions, garlic, chives, chocolate, caffeine, macadamia nuts, avocado, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, grapes, and raisins.

Do Not Feed

Here are a few more items that should never be fed to dogs: corn cobs (cobs do not break down in the digestive tract and can lead to fatal blockages), raw or undercooked meat (domestic dogs have adapted to eating a cooked-meat diet, like humans), or cooked bones (shatter/splinter hazard).

Step 3: References

Links for all references can be found at the end of this instructable. The recommended daily value for each essential nutrient was referenced from two sources. Data was primarily taken from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), with supplemental information taken from the National Research Council’s “Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats” book.

The AAFCO is a nonprofit association that establishes nutritional requirements for pet foods. The information provided by the AAFCO is the standard used by many states when establishing pet food regulations.

The National Research Council is the operating arm of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which produces scientific reports that have been described as reflective of scientific consensus.

Nutrient information for the ingredient database in the program was primarily sourced from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Nutrient Database. Gaps in information were filled in from various sources, listed in Step 11 of this instructable.

Step 4: Download and Access the Program

Excel files can't be attached to instructables, so you can download it as a google drive file here:

Dog Food Recipe Creator Program

You won't be able to use it until you've downloaded a copy yourself, by going to File, Download, Microsoft Excel (see image above).

Having the right tool to open the program

The Dog Food Recipe Creator program is an Excel spreadsheet with multiple tabs. If you don't have Microsoft Excel on your computer, follow these simple steps to open the program in Google Chrome instead:

Step 5: Program Basics

Inputs and Outputs

The program is preloaded with a database of ingredients. The only information you need to enter into the program is the ideal weight of your dog and the desired amounts of each ingredient. Once this information is entered, a row at the bottom of the program will display the summed total of each nutrient from all the ingredients that you chose. The program will also display indications for any nutrient deficiencies or overdoses by coloring the number red.

Locked Cells

You will notice that you can't click anywhere in the program other than the cell to input your dog's ideal weight, the cells for the ingredient amounts, and the cell to change the desired number of days of meals. This is because the program is protected (locked) to prevent accidental changes to cells that shouldn't be changed. I would recommend leaving the program locked unless you are skilled with excel and want to make changes to the program yourself. If you want to unlock the program and have full access, follow these steps (see image above):

At the top of Excel, click on the "Review" tab.
In the "Protect" section of the "Review" tab, click "Unprotect Sheet".
Type in this password and press enter: Louburger

Step 6: How to Use the Program

When you first open the program, you will be on the main sheet, the "Recipe Creator (daily)" sheet (1st image). You will only be able to input data into the bright green cells.

Enter 100 lbs as the dog weight in the top left corner of the program for the sake of this example (2nd image). Once you hit enter, you will see the table immediately to the right change values (3rd image). These are three recommended daily calorie intakes, based on the weight you just entered.
RER (resting energy requirement) is how much energy a dog requires at rest, with no activity.
"Inactive" is for dogs that don't get a lot of exercise.
"Active" is for dogs that get multiple walks a day or access to large yards or dog parks, daily.
These numbers are only starting points for determining the correct caloric intake for your dog. Always keep an eye on your dog's body shape and adjust their calorie intake accordingly.
The next step is to add ingredients and see how the program reports values ("Step 7: How to Make a Recipe" will discuss the details of how to choose ingredient amounts and balance a diet).
Add 10 ounces in the first row of the "Amount" column for 93/7 Ground Beef (4th image). There are two ways to enter an amount:
Click the cell and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on the desired value.
Click the cell, type in the desired value, and press enter. If the value you try to enter isn't in the allowed range, Excel will spit a warning back at you. You can see the range of values by clicking on the cell to open the drop-down menu.
Across that entire row, you will see values populate for all the nutrients that are in 10 ounces of 93/7 ground beef. You will also see these values added to the "TOTALS" row at the bottom of the program (5th image).
The small row immediately below "TOTALS" shows the estimated percentages for protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fiber in the diet (5th image). They will also update automatically as you add ingredients. These will be helpful values to watch while you're balancing the diet.
Immediately below the estimated percentages row is the table of recommended values for all nutrients. These values are calculated based on the calories in your created diet; this means these recommended values will change as you add ingredients and change the total calories.
In the 5th image, you will see that the cells for total calories and fiber percentage are colored red. This is indicating that the value in that cell is outside of the recommended range. In this example, the calories in the diet are too low (the program uses RER calories as the minimum) and fiber is too low (it's below the minimum recommended value of 2.5%, seen in the table at the bottom of the program). When the cells in the "TOTALS" row are white, the value in that cell is within the recommended range.
When you scroll to the right in the program (or pan out) you'll see that many of the cells in the "TOTALS" row are colored red, indicating a value outside of the recommended range (6th image). The only way to make the mean red cells go away is by creating a balanced diet, which brings us to Step 7.

Step 7: How to Make a Recipe

Calories

As mentioned above (and I'm sure you've heard your vet say), recommended calorie amounts are only a starting point. It's a game of guess-and-check. If your dog starts putting on unwanted weight, decrease calorie intake. If Fido starts thinning out, increase calorie intake. My dog is relatively active and still gets less than the RER calorie amount because his vet said he needs to lose a little weight. It will always depend on each individual dog's biology and lifestyle. If you are switching your dog from a commercial dog food and you're happy with their current weight, then you can determine their current calorie intake from the commerical dog food label and use that as your target.

Protein, Fat, Carobohydrates & Fiber

Since dogs are omnivores, they need a balanced diet of meats and vegetables to maintain happy puppy homeostasis. Protein will only have a minimum requirement. If the "TOTALS" cell for Protein is red, the diet is too low in protein.

While the maximum limit for fat is very high, you should create a diet that is closer to the minimum value.

Carbohydrates don't have a minimum, but they do have a maximum limit of 50% of the diet. If the "TOTALS" cell for carbs is red, the diet has too much.

Fiber should be between 2.5% and 5.5% but can be higher for dogs that require a high-fiber diet.

Minimums and Maximums

As a general rule, if there isn't a recommended value for a given nutrient (the middle value) and only minimum and maximum values are provided, you should shoot closer to the minimum value.

Starting a Recipe

I recommend starting at the top and working your way down. The recipe you're creating with the first sheet of the program is for one day of food for your dog. Don't worry about the unusual units and don't be hesitant to add very small amounts of ingredients (like 0.12 of an egg) because you will actually be making the food in much larger batches (in the next step).

Choose a protein (or multiple proteins) and increase the amount(s) until the calories are about 30-70% of the total target calories for your dog.
I recommend adding at least a small portion of egg, as it's a good source of linoleic acid, selenium, Vitamin D, and choline.
Add enough brown rice for about 25-50% of the total target calories.
Add vegetables to fill in the remaining calories to reach the total target calorie amount.
Now it's time to tinker! You will likely have plenty of deficiencies/excesses in your diet. Use the third sheet, the "Ingredient Rankings" sheet to help decide what ingredients to add/increase to make up for the specific nutrient deficiencies (see image above). The list of ingredients below each nutrient column is ranked from highest (top) to lowest (bottom)....i.e. spinach is the ingredient with the highest density of fiber and brown rice is the ingredient with the lowest density of fiber in the list. Nutrient densities were normalized by calories, not weight.
You won't be able to balance some of the nutrients, so you'll have to add supplements.
Liver
I strongly recommend adding a small amount of liver. You will notice many nutrient deficiencies disappear. Just remember to keep an eye on your total vitamin A when adding liver.
Iodine
Choose one of the two seaweed options and add a small amount until you have enough iodine in the diet.
Calcium
You will need to add extra calcium, either through eggshells or calcium carbonate powder.
Vitamin E
You'll likely have a vitamin E deficiency. This can be remedied with a vitamin E supplement or almond butter. I recommend the vitamin E supplement since almond butter adds so much fat to the diet.
You may need to add supplements for vitamin D, zinc, or iron, based on the diet you created so options for those supplements were added to the ingredients list.

Step 8: Recipe Ramp Up

The first sheet was for creating a daily diet for your dog. In order to make a large batch of food for multiple days, you will need to ramp up the recipe.

Go to the second sheet, the "Recipe Ramp Up" sheet (see image above)
In the top left corner, enter the desired number of days of food for your batch in the green-colored cell. I personally make a giant batch for 90 days worth of food. I recommend starting small for your first batch.
The table on the left side of the sheet (Ingredient Amounts for Full Batch) will list all of the ingredient amounts you will need for the entire batch of food. These ingredients will be mixed all at once, cooked in one big batch, and then portioned into individual meals. Pay close attention, as some of the units have changed to more relevant bulk units (i.e. all meats were converted from ounces to pounds).
The table on the right side of the sheet (Ingredient Amounts per Meal) will list all of the ingredient amounts you will need for each individual meal (the program assumes two meals a day). These ingredients will be added to each individual meal, after they have been portioned.

Step 9: Making the Food

Rinse and then cook the rice, following the instructions provided on the product label.
Thaw any frozen vegetables.
Cook potatoes, if any were added to the recipe.
Blend any green beans or spinach in a food processor, if available.
Grind any whole meats.
If using eggshells as a calcium supplement, spread them out as a single layer on a foil-lined baking pan and bake them at a low temperature until dry and crispy (1st image). Grind the dried eggshells to a powder with a spice grinder (2nd image).
In the largest mixing vessel you have (I use 5-gallon buckets), mix the ground meat, thawed veggies, cooked potatoes, cooked rice, blended spinach/green beans, and cracked eggs until well mixed. I use a drill with a paint mixer attachment (3rd image).
While mixing the food, slowly mix in the eggshell powder (or calcium carbonate powder if you go in that direction). This should be sprinkled in slowly while the mixing speed is as fast as possible to ensure even dispersion of the powder throughout the food.
If you are adding almond butter as a vitamin E supplement, melt it in the microwave and slowly pour it in while mixing, similar to the previous step.
Once well mixed, spread the mixture out into roasting pans (I keep dedicated, cheap pans just for dog food because they will get gross quickly).
Bake the pans, two at a time, at 350-375 F until the internal temperature reads 165 F. Make sure to keep any extra uncooked pans refrigerated until it's their turn in the oven.
IMPORTANT: in order to properly split the full batch into individual meals, you need to find the weight of the full, cooked batch and divide it by the total number of meals (this is the desired number of days you chose on the Recipe Ramp Up sheet multiplied by 2). To quickly weigh the full batch:
Weigh a 5-gallon bucket on a bathroom scale and record the empty weight.
Fill the bucket with the full batch of food (or multiple fills if it doesn't fit in one), weigh it, and record the full weight.
Subtract the empty weight from the full weight to get your weight of food:
(Full bucket weight) - (Empty bucket weight) = (Food weight)
Determine the weight of your individual meals:
(Food weight)/(Total number of meals) = (Weight of one meal)
"Total number of meals" is the number of days of meals you chose on the Recipe Ramp Up multiplied by two (assuming you feed your dog two meals a day).
Portion out individual meals with a kitchen scale and bowls.
While still in bowls (I do about 10 at a time), create a well in the center of each meal (4th image).
Add any vitamin supplements to the center of the well.
The amounts to add to each individual meal are provided in the Recipe Ramp Up sheet, in the table on the right side of the sheet (Ingredient Amounts per Meal).
Fill in the well with food from the edges, to "bury" the supplements in the center.
Transfer each individual meal into a sandwich-sized plastic bag.
Freeze the meals and thaw them out, as needed (I thaw them in the fridge about every 3-4 days).

Step 10: Example Recipe

I've included a lean diet example with 93/7 ground beef, 93/7 ground turkey, eggs, brown rice, green beans, peas, eggshells, beef liver, spinach, kombu seaweed flakes, a vitamin E oil supplement, a liquid zinc supplement, and a vitamin D supplement (1st image).

The 2nd image shows this recipe ramped up to 60 days.

The 3rd image is too small to read and was only included to show that there are no nutrient deficiencies/excesses (no red-colored cells) in this recipe.