"cooking for your dog" news and stories

With all of the recent pet food scares, a lot of dog and cat owners have been gun shy about going back to their favorite (or, should I say, their pet's favorite!) brand. But have you ever thought about actually cooking for your dog?

By sheer coincidence, I was watching a Will & Grace episode last night where they got a dog and Will was actually cooking fancy dog food for the puppy. But a lot of people do it in the real world too, because pets are like a member of the family. There's even a beer for dogs!

You have to make sure you're using ingredients that are safe for dogs and that it actually fits into their diet. Here's a link to several recipes, including one for the Rrrruvery Rrrrisotto recipe mentioned in the article. It's probably good to check with your vet too.

The chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant near Verona has recently released a book of gourmet recipes intended for dogs. Bruno Barbieri says that while the 51 recipes in Mangiare da Cani (Eat Like a Dog) can work as people food, they are tailored for dogs. Recipes are low on spices, salt and fat, which may not agree with dogs' digestive systems. A recent article in The Times featured a recipe for quail eggs, polenta and marinated beef on wild salad leaves. An Italian website for the book is available here. Some of you may also recall New Yorker writer Susan Orlean's Throw Me A Bone, a dog cookbook written from the perspective of her Welsh springer spaniel. Food writer Jeffrey Steingarten also wrote about cooking for his dog in It Must Have Been Something I Ate.