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Bone broth is a great way to add valuable nutrients to a dog's diet, whether you feed kibble or raw, boosting digestive and joint health and more.

I fill my freezers with bone broth for the dogs several times a year. It's an easy recipe and offers many health benefits.

What is Bone Broth?

Bone broth for dogs is a nourishing liquid made by simmering animal bones and connective tissue over 24 hours in a slow cooker or 4-6 hours in a pressure cooker. This broth is rich in nutrients such as collagen, gelatin, and minerals that can benefit dogs.

Nutrients in Bone Broth

Surprisingly, bone broth is full of nutrients that support overall wellness.

  • collagen for skin and coat health
  • glucosamine and chondroitin for the joints
  • calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium for bone health

Bone broth isn't an alternative to adding bone to a dog's diet.

Benefits of Bone Broth

Bone broth is easy to digest and can help with digestive issues due to its high content of amino acids and electrolytes. The minerals in bone broth can also support joint health, muscle growth, and overall immune system function in dogs. I make bone broth for my dogs because…

  • Bone broth promotes a healthy digestive system.
  • Bone broth supports joint health.
  • Bone broth is great for senior dogs.
  • Bone broth acts as a liver detox,
  • And bone broth is great for sick dogs because it provides them with nutrition when not eating.

Additionally, bone broth can be used as a flavorful topper for a dog's food, to warm cold raw dog food, or as a basis for homemade dog treats. It is essential to ensure that the bone broth is made without added ingredients like garlic or onions, which can harm dogs.

Bone broth isn’t a meal; it’s to be used as a supplement for our dogs. But I do feed bone broth as a meal when a dog isn't feeling great or on a modified fasting day.

Making a Bone Broth for Dogs

You can use a slow or pressure cooker to make my bone broth. Pressure cookers are best (for me) because they allow me to create several batches over a weekend; each batch takes four to six hours, with an additional hour to cool. The following are my recipes; however, many bone broth recipes are available for dogs online.

Preferred Bones

I use the following bones because they are available through my raw food co-op.

  • pork rib bones
  • beef rib bones
  • bison oxtails
  • lamb soup/neck/stock bones

You can also pick up soup bones at the grocery store, save your turkey and chicken carcass, or check with your local butcher.

Other bones that make a great bone broth include pig's feet, duck feet, knuckle bones (beef, bison), joint bones, chicken feet, chicken or turkey carcass, and marrow bones.

Bone Broth Ingredients

Remember that I use this; it's fast and easy but not set in stone.

  • Raw apple cider vinegar to bring out the minerals in the bones. I add 1/4 cup to an 8-quarts.
  • Bones of your choice.
  • Enough water to cover the bones in the slow or pressure cooker.

Optional Ingredients

I like to make three versions of my bone broths – plain, turmeric, and mushroom. Additional ingredients to make the turmeric and mushroom recipes:

  • turmeric powder; I add 1/4 cup to every 8-quarts
  • shiitake mushrooms: 5 ounces (chopped up) to every 8 quarts

Directions

  • Add bones, raw apple cider vinegar, and water to your slow or pressure cooker.
  • If using a slow cooker, set it for 20-24 hours; if using a pressure cooker, set it for 4-6 hours.  I cook my bone broth on our porch because the smell can be overwhelming.
  • When the bone broth has cooled, fish out all of the bones.
  • Transfer bone broth to 32-oz canning jars and store in the freezer until needed.

Tumeric Bone Broth

  • Slow cooker: add turmeric 10 minutes before the bone broth is finished cooking.
  • Pressure cooker: add turmeric after the bone broth is finished, as the broth is cooling.

Mushroom Bone Broth

I use medicinal mushrooms available at my local grocery store. The main one is shiitake mushrooms, which have numerous health benefits.

  • contain beta-glucans, which can boost the immune system and help fight infections and diseases
  • contain compounds such as ergothioneine, which have anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce inflammation and lower the risk of chronic diseases
  • a great source of antioxidants like selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin D, helping protect the body from free radical damage, reducing cancer risk
  • supports heart health, lowers cholesterol levels, and prevents plaque buildup in the arteries due to their high beta-glucan content
  • enhances brain function and improves memory and cognitive abilities
  • good source of B vitamins, copper, and zinc, making them a nutritious addition to any diet

Adding Garlic to Bone Broth

Sometimes, I add garlic to my bone broth. This freaks people out, but the beauty of making dog food is that we can be inventive, and garlic has so many health benefits that I often add it as an ingredient to my bone broth or vegetable mix.

A study that is often referenced is said to prove that garlic is toxic to dogs. However, the study is flawed because the amount of garlic used was extraordinarily high and not something a reasonable pet parent would feed. There are several benefits to adding garlic to a dog's diet – I feed garlic to support the immune system and gut health, keep cancer at bay, and repel fleas and ticks.

A Few Trusted Sources Sharing the Benefits of Garlic

Amount of Garlic in My Recipe

Please note that garlic is an optional ingredient. I add 5-7 cloves of garlic. This isn't 5-7 bulbs – just the cloves (as pictured below). I get five 32-ounce jars out of each batch of bone broth – the garlic is split over five jars, not nearly enough to cause harm to healthy adult dogs.

Benefits of Garlic for Adult Dogs

I add garlic to my dogs' diet because…

  • garlic helps my dogs naturally repel fleas and ticks
  • garlic boosts the immune system
  • garlic helps the body naturally detox, keeping the liver healthy
  • garlic boosts the metabolism, helping keep dogs at a healthy weight
  • garlic is a natural antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal – it fights infections in the body
  • garlic has anti-cancer benefits

3 Warnings About Feeding Garlic to Dogs

Although I feel comfortable feeding garlic to my dogs, there are a few things to keep in mind before adding this food to the diet:

1 – Garlic shouldn't be fed to puppies because they don't start producing red blood cells immediately. I wait until my dog reaches seven months before adding garlic to their diet.

2 – Garlic shouldn't be fed to pregnant or nursing dogs because the garlic will pass on to the puppies (see #1).

3 – If your dog has an anemic condition or Hemangiosarcoma, it's important to avoid feeding garlic as it can exacerbate anemia.

How Long Does Bone Broth Last in the Freezer?

In my experience, bone broth will stay good for 3-4 days in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer, although I've kept commercial bone broth in the freezer for more than 12 months. Depending on the time of the year and how much bone broth I have on hand, I make bone broth at least once a month. I can usually mix up 5 to 10 jars in a day.

What if the Bone Broth Doesn't Gel?

Bone broth gelling is due to collagen, broken down into gelatin during cooking. Several factors can affect the gel-like texture of bone broth, such as the cooking time, the type of bones used, and the amount of water added. My bone broth may not gel if I forget the apple cider vinegar, which helps break down collagen and increases the chance of the broth gelling.

If your bone broth doesn't gel, it could be because there wasn't enough connective tissue and collagen in the bones used, or the broth was not simmered long enough. Continuous boiling or overheating can also cause the gelatin to break down and the broth to lose its gel-like consistency.

If you want to increase the chances of bone broth gelling, use bones with a high amount of collagen and cook for 24 hours in a slow cooker or 4-6 hours in a pressure cooker.

How Much Bone Broth I Give to My Dogs

There are several ways I serve bone broth to my dogs:

  • poured over their food (chilled, room temperature, or warmed)
  • as a frozen treat
  • as a full meal on modified fasting days (or if a dog isn't feeling well)

Bone Broth Over Raw Dog Food

I pour about 1/4 cup (or less) of bone broth over my dogs' raw meals. Instead of heating it in the microwave, I set it on the counter an hour before mealtime to allow it to reach room temperature, or I set the glass jar in a small pot of water and simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Bone Broth as a Frozen Treat for Dogs

I invested in those cutesy ice cube trays with paw prints and bones; however, you can do this in regular ones, too. The dogs don't care.

I pour the cool bone broth into ice cube trays and freeze. I've also used the small Rubbermaid containers; the dogs lick them clean on hot days. Because the container is plastic, don't allow your dog to chew on it – they'll be tempted because the bone broth is SO GOOD.

I don't have a set serving amount of frozen bone broth; instead, I give a frozen treat to my dogs on hot days.  If they're licking the bone broth out of a Rubbermaid container, they'll get one each weekend.  If it's just an ice cube, I can add one to their meal a few times a week.  It just depends on what I have on hand.

Serving Bone Broth to Dogs as a Meal

  • Upset Tummy: sometimes dogs have an upset tummy, and when this happens, I'll feed bone broth instead of their normal meal because it's easier on the gut, and I know they're getting some nutrients.
  • Modified Fasting Day: fasting dogs is a great way to give the gut a break and reset the system, but some dogs get hunger pukes, and some owners aren't comfortable skipping meals. This is why I love modified fasting days, as they still allow us to rest a dog's gut, and our dogs don't skip a meal.

I typically give my dogs about 1-1/2 cups of bone broth when I serve it as a meal. However, the dosage guidelines are 1 ounce for every 10 pounds of body weight.

Common Bone Broth Mistakes

I've made many mistakes when making bone broth…

  • don't overfill the pressure cooker; leave a couple of inches at the top to avoid a mess.
  • make sure you “seal” the pressure cooker
  • use a strainer to make sure you removed all the bones
  • scrape off the fat once the bone broth cools

Commercial Bone Broth

Not everyone can make bone broth at home. I couldn't imagine making it in a small kitchen or an apartment. But that's okay. Several commercial bone broth options are available, and I love products available by Green JuJu Kitchen and Solutions Pet Products.

Is Bone Broth a Requirement for Raw Feeding?

Absolutely not! But if you have a pressure cooker (or slow cooker) and some bones, then why not? If the only benefit of bone broth is that my dogs love it, I'm happy to make it because it's crazy easy. And if it turns out that my dogs are getting even more benefits than I realize, then BONUS!

A Warning About Bone Broth

One concern that has been raised regarding bone broth is its histamine content. Histamine is a chemical released by the immune system that triggers an inflammatory response to fight off infections and foreign substances. While bone broth does contain histamine, the levels are typically low and should not be a concern for most dogs.

Like humans, dogs can have a histamine intolerance that can severely affect their overall health. Unfortunately, some dogs may have an immune system that overreacts to histamine, leading to unpleasant symptoms such as itchy skin, rashes, vomiting, and diarrhea.

If your dog is experiencing any of these symptoms or is subject to mass cell tumors, you may want to avoid bone broth until you have a conversation with your veterinarian.

Alternative to Bone Broth

If bone broth isn't an option for your dog or you can't source bones, try making a meat broth instead. You can find several recipes for beef broth without bones online. Avoid ingredients dogs can't eat, like onions, peppercorns, or bay leaves. Keep it simple.

  1. Cut the beef into chunks and add to your stock pot with your favorite dog-friendly oil (olive oil, MCT oil); sear the beef on all sides until browned.
  2. Pour in enough water to cover the beef and slowly bring to a boil over medium-low heat.
  3. Boil your broth for 30 minutes, skimming any foamy scum that develops on the top of the broth; this creates a cleaner broth that lacks impurities.
  4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.

You can add additional ingredients to your broth – dog-friendly vegetables, ginger, garlic, or other dog-friendly herbs – in Step 2 above.

Feeding a meat broth instead of a bone broth may not have the same benefits, but it's still a healthy way to hydrate a meal, add more nutrients to the diet, support gut health, and it's great for a dog that's not feeling well.

More Recipes for Dogs

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