The short answer: chicken is one of the best bases for homemade dog food. It is lean, easy to digest and most dogs love it. But chicken with rice and vegetables is not a complete diet on its own: it needs added calcium and a vitamin and mineral supplement to be balanced for everyday feeding. Below is a simple cooked recipe, how to feed raw chicken safely, how much to feed, and what to keep out of the bowl.
Ask your veterinarian before switching. A 2013 UC Davis study checked 200 homemade dog food recipes, many written by veterinarians, and found that 95% fell short on at least one essential nutrient. The most reliable "vet approved" homemade diet is one balanced for your own dog by a veterinarian or a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.
What a balanced homemade dog meal needs
- Protein: cooked chicken, including thigh meat, and small amounts of heart or liver.
- Calcium: meat has plenty of phosphorus and very little calcium. Without a supplement, or raw bone in a raw diet, the balance is wrong, which matters most for growing puppies.
- Fat and omega-3: chicken skin and fat in moderation, and a little fish oil.
- Carbohydrate and fibre: cooked rice, oats or sweet potato, and vegetables such as carrots, green beans or pumpkin.
- Vitamins and minerals: a supplement made to complete homemade dog food, such as Balance IT Canine, or the one your veterinarian recommends.
Homemade chicken dog food recipe (cooked)
A simple base that you can scale up and freeze:
- 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded, with every bone removed
- ½ cup steamed carrots
- ¼ cup cooked brown rice
- A little fish oil for omega-3
- Calcium and a vitamin and mineral supplement, in the amounts on the product or from your veterinarian
Boil or bake the chicken plain, with no onion, garlic, salt or seasoning. Shred it, mix in the rice and chopped carrots, then add the fish oil and supplements. Cool it before serving. For a small dog, chop everything finely or pulse it in a food processor.
Raw chicken for dogs
Raw feeders often use chicken necks, backs and wings, because the bones are soft enough to chew when raw and supply the calcium a raw diet needs.
- Raw only. Never give a dog cooked chicken bones. Cooking makes them brittle, and they splinter.
- Match the piece to the dog. A piece a dog can swallow whole is a choking risk. Small dogs do better with ground raw chicken than with necks. Always supervise.
- Bacteria. Raw chicken can carry Salmonella and Campylobacter, which can make your dog and your family sick. Many veterinarians advise against raw feeding in homes with young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system. Wash hands, bowls and counters after every meal; our guide to handling raw chicken safely has the details.
Read more about raw pet food diets.
How much homemade food to feed a dog
Raw feeders often start adult dogs at about 2 to 3% of body weight a day, split into two meals. For a 10 kg dog that is 200 to 300 g. Cooked food is less predictable, so start with the amount your veterinarian suggests. Either way, weigh your dog every couple of weeks and adjust: you should be able to feel the ribs without seeing them.
Puppies, pregnant dogs and dogs with kidney, liver or pancreas problems need a diet designed for them by a veterinarian. Switch any dog over slowly, mixing more new food into the old over 7 to 10 days.
Foods dogs must never eat
- Onions, garlic, chives and leeks, including powders in stock or seasoning
- Grapes, raisins and currants
- Chocolate and coffee
- Xylitol, a sweetener in some peanut butters, gum and baked goods
- Macadamia nuts
- Cooked bones of any kind
Keep homemade dog food in the fridge for no more than three days and freeze the rest in daily portions. Thaw it in the fridge, not on the counter.
Where to buy chicken for your dog
For over 60 years Cericola Farms supplied fresh chicken for meals like these: antibiotic-free and organic chicken, and the raw backs, necks and cages sold for pet food through our raw chicken pet food line. Those products are no longer available. Cericola Farms' plants have been part of Maple Leaf Foods since 2018 and 2021.
Today, choose any local chicken source you trust: a butcher, a farmers' market, a nearby farm, or a raw pet food supplier. Many will set aside necks, backs and hearts if you ask. Look for Canadian-raised chicken, and buy it fresh. Enjoy making good meals for your dog.
Feeding a cat as well? See our homemade chicken cat food recipes: cats need taurine and more protein, so a dog recipe is not safe for them.