Satisfying Steak Treats for Your Dogs

Today Is Quite Possibly My Boys Favorite Day Of The A to Z Challenge.

What dog doesn’t love steak?  I’m a vegetarian, but my fiance is not.  Neither, of course, are my dogs, so despite not eating meat for years now, I still end up preparing it pretty often.  When we went shopping last week steak was on sale.  We decided to get some to make an extra special dinner for the dogs.  Hey, I needed a food for them that starts with S, after all!

I guess using steak for S is also my way of making up for not using B for beef.  I do quite a bit of home cooking for my dogs, to state the obvious, and a big part of that means preparing them meat.  Dogs are carnivores, after all.

The Benefits Of Feeding Beef, Besides The Obvious…

That my dogs love it!  Dogs are designed to digest meat.  They digest it much more efficiently than they do other foods, such as grains.  Dogs get lots of great things, such as protein, vitamin B12, zinc, phosphorus, niacin, vitamin B6, iron, riboflavin, etc, from eating beef steak.

For people who raw feed, or home cook, for their dogs, muscle meats (such as steak) usually make up a large percentage of their dog’s diets.  I think, at least for me personally, one of the huge draws of cooking or preparing meat for your dog is that you are able to give them a biologically appropriate food that is not only good for them, but that they really enjoy eating as well!

I have to admit I’m a bit jealous.  I probably love chocolate as much as my dogs love steak – the difference being that I can’t feed myself chocolate for breakfast and feel good about it afterwords.

Any Precautions?

Like with any new foods, steak/beef should be introduced into the diet slowly to avoid digestive upset.  If you are interested in feeding steak as part of a raw or home cooked diet, make sure to do lots of research first!  I really can’t stress that enough.  An unbalanced diet, which would be lacking in vital nutrients, really is one of the worst things you could feed your dog.

How To Prepare Steak For Dogs

If you are cooking steak for your dog, or perhaps sharing a bit of your own dinner, cook the meat plain.  Dogs don’t need things like sauces and seasonings to enhance the flavor of meat – they think it’s pretty awesome on it’s own.  Plus, depending on what seasonings you’re using, they can be unhealthy for dogs and may cause GI issues.

There are so many different ways you can prepare meat for dogs!  Raw feeders offer it…well…raw!  Or you could cook it plain and offer it up as a special meal by itself, use it as a food topper, or as part of a recipe.  Cut into small pieces, steak and other meats can make awesome high quality training treats.

This post is a part of the 2016 Blogging from A to Z challenge!  You can learn more about our challenge theme here.

I’d love to hear from you – comment below!  Do you ever feed your dog(s) meat like steak, either as a special treat or as part of their regular diet?