Bouvier - recipe for a healthy supplement

Warning: Do not substitute this for your dog's regular food, as it is not tested for nutritional completeness. It is intended as a supplement, the same as any table scraps you might be tempted to provide.

Purchase raw liver, about 3-4 pounds

Purchase raw chicken or turkey (I prefer chicken), the best value price you can get (I like it when they have leg quarters on sale for 40 cents a pound), about 3-4 pounds.

Make sure you have a pound or so of brown rice on hand, along with some soup herbs (such as bay, sage, rosemary, etc.) and some vegetables (carrots and green beans are good...don't use onions since most dogs don't digest them well. Avoid lots of gasey vegetables too, like broccoli and cabbage.) You can cook some barley as well as oatmeal to go along with the rice. Make sure you have a dozen eggs on hand also.

Place the liver in a pot and cover with water. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until the liver is just cooked. Drain water and cool liver.

Place the chicken and herbs in a pot and cover with water. Cook for several hours until chicken is very tender. Drain soup stock and reserve. Cool chicken, pick off skin and meat and discard bones and cartilage.

Use soup stock to cook rice or barley or oatmeal -- be aware that they have different cooking times, so cook the rice separately from the barley. Use soup stock to cook vegetables until they are soft or just grate or chop vegetables and add them to the hot grains after they have cooked.

Cook eggs using canola oil (if you have it) for shortening to grease the pan. Otherwise, use margarine or butter. (I like to add garlic to these!) as scrambled, breaking them up into small pieces as they get cooked. Cool.

When all ingredients are cool, use a grinder, blender or food processor (food processor is best) to chop up liver and chicken, using the remaining chicken stock to make it easier in the food processor or blender. If grinding, just add the stock to the mixture. Mash or chop vegetables. Mix all ingredients together, getting a balance of meat, rice and vegetables.

Store in the freezer for use as needed, as a supplement to add flavor and variety to your dog's regular balance dry food. They will love it!!