Ever since I purchased a pressure cooker, I make bone broth on a regular basis. I love it, but not for the benefits that are listed by Dr. Google.
Benefits of Bone Broth
People recommend bone broth to our dogs for...
- joint health
- skin and coat health
- naturally detoxing the liver
- gut health
- for yummy hydration
I started feeding bone broth for all of those reasons. As I became a seasoned raw feeder (for my dogs), I started looking at bone broth in a new light and now feed it for these reasons...
1. Warm Up a Raw Meal - Dr. Judy Morgan is a proponent of not feeding cold food to our dogs, In Rotational Mono Feeding, we're also told to feed food at room temperature. This more closely replicates eating a fresh kill. But for me, I like to warm up the food in the winter to make sure my dogs have a warm belly.
By the way, feeding cold raw isn't going to harm our dogs. However, if you've read differently, I'd love to read what you found.
2. A Low Calorie, Healthy Snack - Scout's prednisone dosage finally decreased from 30 mg to 20 mg and we're now waiting for his hunger to decrease, It's not as bad as the first time around. We're still trying to balance keeping him satisfied and keeping him at a healthy weight. So, we exercise more and I feed him bone broth several times a day as a snack.
3. To Tempt a Picky Eater - Last year, Rodrigo decided that he wasn't going to eat raw anymore. I've been cooking his meals for several months, mixing in raw dog food with cooked grass-fed ground beef (sourced locally). Adding bone broth over his meals has been helpful in transitioning him to his new diet,
4. Nourishment on a Sour Tummy - Thankfully (#knockonwood) my dogs don't often have tummy issues, When one shows a disinterest in their food, but I can tell they're hungry (they keep trying to eat it, but hesitate), then I swap out their meal for a cup of bone broth (my dogs weigh between 60-70 lbs). It's always well received.
5. Fasting Day - It's hard to do a true fast when your dog is on prednisone, but I prefer to do a fast once or twice a week. So, I feed my dogs bone broth for a day - all of them. I started doing this years ago because Sydney, who passed away in 2020, would get hunger pukes and it was stressful for her and me. Our veterinarian at the time suggested adding a late night or early morning snack and that's when I started giving her bone broth.
Feeding Bone Broth as a Meal
My dogs weigh between 60-70 lbs and I feed them bone broth several times a day on fasting day. I alternate the bone broth with fermented fish stock, raw goat's milk and kefir.
How much I feed my dogs:
- Bone broth - 1/4-1/2 cup per dog
- Fermented fish stock - 1/4-1/2 cup per dog
- Raw goat's milk - 1/2-1 cup per dog
- Kefir - 1/2-3/4 cup per dog
I don't have any legit reason for the dosages listed above; this is what I figured out worked best for my dogs.
PRO TIP: In my experience, beef and chicken bones don't create a gelatin bone broth (with the exception of chicken feet). I don't care if my bone broth gels or not, however, I have learned that mixing beef bones (or chicken bones) with duck feet, lamb bones, or pork bones creates a gelatin bone broth.
What About Commercial Bone Broth?
I don't often buy bone broth from the store or pet store because I question the sourcing in one and the price in the other.
Grocery Store Bone Broth
Bone broth is getting very popular and there are several brands available at my local grocery store. I don't buy them because of the sodium content - it seems too high for my dogs - and I don't know the source of the bones. When I make bone broth, the bones come from local farms.
A lot of the premade bone broths in my grocery store have onion as an ingredient, which I don't feed to my dogs.
Pet Store Bone Broth
I'm not totally anti-premade products. I was buying the Kure chicken broth because it's fermented. And I like the Green JuJu bison and duck broths because I trust the sourcing and will get them when they're on sale. But, mostly, I make my own because it's more affordable.
Plus, using a pressure cooker makes it fast. I can make 12 jars of bone broth in a weekend.
Cooling and Warming Proteins
I've always wondered where bone broth falls in food energetics. When I interviewed Dr. Morgan for National Raw Feeding Week, she cleared this up. Lamb is a hot protein, so the bone broth will be hot too. This is important if it's a concern.
What I've done is mix lamb with pork or duck bones to cool it down energetically. This reduces the impact on Rodrigo (our hot dog) and Scout (cancer).
I source my bones from a local raw food co-op and from local farms. My favorites for bone broth are...
I'll use any bones for bone broth if I trust the sourcing, the price is right, and the bones will fit in my pressure cooker - a sturdy mallet can help with that last one.
