Secrets To  Preparing Kibble-Meals for Finicky Dogs

I prepare the meals slightly differently. My secret is in the coat; specifically, the meat that coats the kibbles. It’s not that difficult as you think just a little more effort, that’s all. As you will notice in my recipes below, most call for some sort of liquid—be it soup, sauce, or paste.

Another secret I use is that I steam the meat-coated kibbles lightly. This allows the paste, soup, or sauce to work its way into the kibbles. To lightly steam the dish is to pre-steam the pot/wok/streamer, turn off the stove/streamer, and then put in the dish for a minute or 90 seconds. For some kibbles that are as hard as pebbles, you might want to leave it a longer in the streamer. To know if you’ve got the right texture for the streamed kibbles is to test it using your index finger and thumb. You should be able to make a slight indentation; and if you could easily squash them, it’s too soft. Most dogs hate mushy kibbles! Give it a final stir; add in supplement, if any, before you serve.

• Added Tip For Smart Super Finicky Dogs: In most cases, the two secrets are more than enough to trick you dog into eating his kibbles, however, there may come a time when you need to upgrade your scheming skill. If it’s called for, prepare as per suggested, garnish few shredded meat over the meat-coated kibbles, leave some shredded meat behind just in case your dog didn’t finish all the kibbles. If he does finish, good on him then reward him the remaining shredded meat for his good behavior.

How Should the Meat Be Shredded?

Most kibbles for small dogs are usually no bigger than a dime. In order to get the kibbles evenly coated, I shred it finely using a spoon to chop them up or manually shred them into thinly pieces.

As for the toppings, be more generous with the size. Microscopic pieces will be less appealing to your dog.

Please be warned, there is no turning back when these tips are implemented. Once your dog tasted real meat, getting to eat his plain kibbles is practically impossible. The only option is to turn to BARF diet or home cooked meals.

Ways Of Cooking for For Finicky Eaters

Dogs love food with piquant flavor, the more piquant it is, the better it works up your dog’s appetite. Some food maybe fetid to us but to dogs it’s a heavenly scent. So work up a strong piquant meal whenever you can.

Avoid Stew: I’m don’t fancy cooking stew for my dogs. Stew is meant to have curvy, and I don’t like kibbles soaking in it making them very soggy; unless you have a senior dog with no teeth otherwise avoid stew. It’s also a messy meal especially when you have dog with fairly long mustache. Like soup, the most nutritious values lies in the sauce, and it’s waste to throw away the excess curvy.

Chicken: You can have it boiled or stir-fried or grilled. Boiled will be the most easiest and convenient method.

• Boiled Chicken: The amount of water should be just enough to boil the chicken and vegetable (i.e. carrot, pumpkin, potato) with. If there is excess soup left, don’t throw it away as it can be used for the next cooking. If your dog likes it as it is, don’t change; if not, add a tiny pinch of sea salt to the soup (salt stimulate appetite).
• Stir-fried Chicken: It can be a little challenging to work out a decent sauce or paste for the stir-fried chicken if you have no broth to cook it with. I usually cook stir-fry chicken if I’m certain I have leftover chicken soup or sauce.
• Steamed Chicken: It’s not the most appealing dish to dogs, especially very finicky dogs. I rarely cook steamed chicken unless I incorporate it with Chinese herbs to bring the aroma or I need some tonic boost.
• Roasted Chicken: Dog loves roasted chicken because it’s juicy and tender, but it’s very unhealthy to eat it on a daily basis. Of course, you can treat your dogs on certain occasions. Just make sure you don’t coat the chicken with much oil or butter just as you would do for grilled chicken.

Fish: Both my dogs and I love fish. We could have it in every meal and never get sick of eating. Since there are so many types of fish available and many ways of preparing them, it’s rarely a problem to cook up delicious fish dish for your dog. Most dogs love fish because of its smell, all the more it’s easier to cook. Most of times I use sea bass, dory, pomfret (silver and black), sardine, eel, mackerel, red snapper, tuna, anchovy, and some other local fish. If my schedule is tight (which usually the case) or I’m too tired, I serve my dogs steamed sea bass or silver pomfret. The oil that used to steam the fish with makes the best “sauce” to coat the kibbles. But do so sparingly, you don’t want your dog consuming too much fats.

For sardine and tuna, I usually buy them in can (in water or oil) as backups. Anchovies are best eaten when they are deep-fried, however, they don’t coat the kibbles well. Or you can add anchovies (fried or raw) into the vegetable soup.

Beef: Dogs love beef, however, I don’t cook beef much mainly due to environmental factors. I would suggest use beef as your backup meat or special occasion.

Pork: This is one ingredient that you will never find in any dog food and yet many owners would occasionally give bits and pieces of pork to their dogs; me too. The one important thing is that you must thoroughly cook the meat (however way it is cooked) before giving it to your dog otherwise you can place them at greater risk for trichinosis. Please, no barbecue sauce over the pork chop! Pork without any spice or herbs is already very tasty for your dog; but if you want to enhance the flavor use a good premium cooking oil.

Liver: Most commonly used is pig liver because it’s one of the “tastiest” liver dogs love. The best way to cook pig liver is to stir-fry them as it emits the most pungent aroma. Slice it thinly, add some finely chopped garlic prior cooking the liver, and some water between stirs; and you have the best dog food in the world. What you want is to work a slight paste not gravy or sauce as this will retain the strong aroma you dog love. Make sure they are well-cooked but still remain tender.

Broccoli and Cauliflower: They are best eaten when stir-fry. My dogs love broccoli because of its crunchy feel and I believe your dog will love them too.

Carrot and Sweet Potato: Dogs have sweet tooth and most love carrots especially if they’re cooked as part of the soup or stew.

Pumpkin: Since pumpkin are easily cooked, don’t cut them too small when use in soup. Try stir-fry them with chicken, it makes a very delicious meal. Also add them in just a few minutes before everything else in the soup is done.

Potato: However you cook the potato avoid mash potato, very messy job after eating; mostly likely you have to do a thoroughly teeth brushing for your dog.

Special Note: If your dog has hypothyroidism, it’s best to avoid feeding him broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potato. It’s been known that consuming goitrogenic foods can cause the enlargement of the thyroid gland in human. No study has been done on dogs yet, but never hurts to be too conscientious.

I have many more recipes to entice your dog into eating his kibbles but these tips are more than enough to last a very long while, if not a lifetime. If you need more inspirations, check out my dog food recipes and dog treat recipes categories.

In my honest opinion, I believe every owner is capable of coming up creative ways to prepare his/her dog’s meals given more practice. And who knows, you may come up with your own concoction that is so powerful and in return I have to ask you to share your secret ammunition.

Finally, I would like to leave you this note which my mom once shared, “What makes a great chief great isn’t so much on his culinary skills but also his attention to details and love.” Although we may not be eating every dish we cook for our dogs, it doesn’t mean we should cook substandard meals for them. Cook it just like you would cook to impress your in-laws or dates. When we cook it with love and details, we replace worries (i.e. my dog might not eat this) with absolute certainty that our dogs will enjoy and finish their meal.

Series Posts on Finicky Dogs:

• How To Deal With Dogs Who Are Finicky Eaters?
• How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 1
• How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 2
• How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 3

Being health conscious over food choices, be it for our dogs or ourselves, doesn’t mean eating plain, bland, and boring foods, this is the most common misconception many have. I’m not suggesting abstinence, knowing this could mean suicidal for some, instead we could improvise the way we prepare our dogs’ food. And with the recent rising cost of dog food and treats, all the more we should revise our pet food budget.

Without further ado, here’s the mini fruity Popsicles (minus the stick) recipe for both you and your dog to enjoy. This is a great treat for family picnics. These fruity pops not only quench our thirst but also give our dog a quick burst of nutritious energy while romping in the park!

Note: Baby food has great nutritional value, it contains lots of vitamins and minerals. It’s also easy to digest that many puppies and dogs love. Be sure to get one that’s organic with no added sugar or preservatives.

Servings: 3 dozens of mini fruity Popsicles

Ingredients:

• 4 cups yogurt, preferably plain favor
• 1 jar baby food, any fruit flavor
• 2 tablespoon of organic honey
• 2 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

Methods:

1. Puree all ingredients in a food processor.
2. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze for one hour or more, depending the temperature setting.
3. Thaw just so slightly before serving.

Special notes: Although I used baby food as one of the ingredients, you may opt for homemade fruit juice instead. Just remember that homemade juices will oxidize very quickly, so you might want to consume the pops within that day of making. Do not refreeze the pops once they’re out.

On yogurt, choose plain or vanilla favor. Otherwise, your pops will have very funky taste.

Servings:

8 pieces of Apple Scones

Ingredients:

• 1 medium cooking apple
• 250g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 75g margarine or butter
• 50g sugar
• 50ml milk

Methods:

1. Preset the oven to 400˚F.
2. Grease the baking try with some butter.
3. Peel the skin off the apple and cut into mini pieces.
4. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl.
5. Rub in the cut mini-sized butter and stir in the sugar.
6. Add the in the cut apples.
7. Stir in the milk and make a ball of dough. (Should be soft not sticky)
8. Roll out the ball of dough until it is a round shape about 1 inch thick.
9. Cut the dough into 8 pieces.
10. Place them on the baking tray with a fish slice. Brush with milk.
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Special author’s note:

I use Fuji Apples as they’re much sweeter, hence I use less to no sugar at all. You may want to cut the apple scones into smaller pieces for your dogs. I use this as motivational dog treats when my dogs bring back the Frisbee. Works like magic. Plus it’s a great way to get them to exercise ideally in the spring and summer. My dogs can get a little lazy when the weather is breezy, especially Snowball and Trudy.

Servings:

1 loaf of Angel Bread

Ingredients:

• 5 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup Crisco shortening
• 2 ½ teaspoons yeast
• 2 cups buttermilk

Methods:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water (about 1/2 cup) – sift dry ingredients into large mixing bowl, cut in shortening with a pastry blender – stir in buttermilk, work into a dough.
2. Spray Ziploc bag with Pam or other veggie spray – dump dough into bag, zip up and keep in fridge (it will rise in the bag).
3. The dough lasts about a week in the fridge – you pinch off what you need, roll or shape into 1/2-inch thick biscuits and bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Special author’s note:

I’ve kept the dough longer than a week in the fridge and found it to be as good the last day as it was the first.

Servings:

30-35 Bread Machine Dog Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup beef, chicken, or vegetable stock
• 1 cup bread or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat or rye (or other dark) flour
• 1 cup bulgar wheat
• ¼ cup non-fat dry milk powder
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1-½ teaspoon yeast

Methods:

1. Use dough cycle. Roll dough to 1/4″ thickness.
2. Cut with cookie cutters or knife.
3. Place on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.
4. Cover with clean kitchen towels and let rise in warm place about 45 minutes.
5. Bake at 325-degrees for 45 minutes. When all are baked, turn off oven and return all cookies to cooling oven overnight to harden. Store in airtight container.

Special author’s note:

Using a 3.5″ bone shaped cutter, I get about 30-35 cookies from this recipe.