An Easy Homemade Hash for the Best Dog Ever (Yours)
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When I rescued Tatty Jane from the Pasadena Humane Society, she was a super skinny, long-legged little thing with the black and gray coloring and sweetness of a poodle and the long, spindly legs and energy of an Italian greyhound.
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At 16 pounds, she had sparse curly hair with a hilarious white tuft that hovered atop her head like a plume of smoke. She was soulful, elegant, loving and clearly puppyish, but her teeth were all brown — so discolored, in fact, that the staff technicians put her age at 4 years old. After examining her, my vet said she was probably only 1 year old — and her brown teeth were most likely the result of a bad diet.
So Tatty Jane had her teeth cleaned, and I determined that she would never again suffer from a bad diet. Of course, I wondered what she was fed to make her teeth so brown with plaque at such a tender age — after all, I have seen lean scavenger dogs in developing countries with beautiful white teeth. Starch and sugars, I learned, are the main causes of plaque, which could mean that little Tatty Jane was fed a steady diet of sugar-laden kibble — or doughnuts.
I did a deep dive into researching homemade dog foods. Who knew that cranberries, in small doses, are good for dogs? They’re full of fiber and antioxidants and help to keep a dog’s urinary tract healthy. I was also delighted to learn that I could bake and grind our chickens’ organic eggshells into calcium powder, needed for a dog’s bone health.
However, I soon concluded that, short of accumulating a whole pharmacy of supplements, I couldn’t guarantee that Tatty Jane could get all recommended trace vitamins and minerals. So I’ve compromised. I make her a well-balanced homemade dog food and serve it with a topping of vet-approved kibble.
So far, so good. Tatty Jane at 7 years old is frisky, at a perfect weight, with a bright white smile.
Michelle Huneven is a Los Angeles-based novelist and food writer.
Tatty Jane's Hash
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes until soft within, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
Turn the oven down to 375 degrees. Bake the turkey and chicken on baking sheets in the oven until cooked through — no pink — about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while you are skinning the sweet potatoes.
Mash the sweet potatoes in a tub or soup pot large enough to accommodate all the ingredients and set aside.
In a saucepan, add the cranberries in a little water and cook over medium heat until they pop, then add these to your large pot.
In the same saucepan, boil another inch of water, and add the frozen spinach and peas; cook until defrosted. Drain most of the water from the pan, then add the contents to the large pot.
Crumble the baked ground turkey and, if using, the ground chicken. If you are using whole chicken breasts, cut them into small (1/2-inch) pieces or pulse in a blender or food processor until quite small, and add them to the pot with the turkey.
Add the remaining ingredients — the cooked rice, fish oil or sardines and powdered baked eggshells. Combine (best to use your hands) until the mixture is uniform, the peas and cranberries evenly distributed.
Store in freezer bags in the freezer. Apportion according to your dog’s need. Defrost as needed (it takes about two days to defrost in the fridge, or use the microwave.) When a bag is defrosted and kept in the refrigerator, the dog food will keep for five days.
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