Home cooking for dogs, simplified

A carefully formulated nutrient mix is vital to ensure your dog’s daily diet is complete and balanced and safe to feed long-term. Getting this balance right is hard when you’re cooking at home. Research shows just how hard: a well-known study found that 95% of published recipes lacked at least one vital nutrient for dogs, and 83% percent had multiple nutrient deficiencies. And nutritionally incomplete food is dangerous for your dog—nutrient deficiencies or imbalances can cause serious health issues including immune dysfunction, degenerative muscle diseases and bone deformities, and impaired liver function.

The DIY Nutrient Mix is a blend of vitamins and minerals designed to supplement the fresh-food recipes we recommend when you sign up for a DIY plan. Combined as suggested, they make complete and balanced dog food that meets AAFCO’s nutritional standards for daily feeding.

Here’s what’s in it:
Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Bitartrate, Sea Salt, Taurine, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Ferrous Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid.

Every vitamin is 100% human grade and sourced from an FDA-regulated manufacturer.

No, we do not source any of our ingredients from China.

No, the DIY Nutrient Mix is formulated specifically to accompany the fresh recipes that you can find in your customer account when you sign up for a DIY plan.

The nutrients in the DIY Mix work together to support your dog’s vital organs and bodily functions to help keep them healthy, smart, happy, and gorgeous. Here are just some of the things that the compounds in the DIY Nutrient Mix may do when combined with the fresh food you cook:

• Contribute to brain development and memory
• Maintain a healthy heart
• Keep bones strong and joints limber
• Support immune function to keep illness at bay
• Improve skin and coat health to prevent itching—and promote stunning good looks
• Boost mood-related hormones for a happier dog!

We make the DIY Nutrient Mix easy to add to your home-prepared meals. Here’s how:

Cook one of the fresh-food recipes recommended when you sign in to your account at thefarmersdog.com/diy.

When the food is cooked, open the number of packets suggested in the recipe instructions.

Add the contents of the packet or packets and stir well until the Mix is blended with the food.

Let the food cool down, then serve or store.

When stamped on a pet food label, “complete and balanced” indicates that the food inside has enough of the right nutrients, in the right balance, to sustain the life of a pet when fed exclusively. To earn the right to use those words, a pet food maker must show the food meets the nutritional adequacy standards set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Veterinarians and other experts recommend commercial pet food precisely because of this complete and balanced claim (even though most of these same products are actually highly processed and unhealthy).

When you sign up for the DIY Nutrient Mix, you’ll get a plan that’s customized to YOUR dog or dogs, taking into account their age, weight, body condition, activity level, and more. We’ll show you the ideal recipes for your dog, and tell you exactly how much DIY Nutrient Mix to add to each batch of food to make it complete and balanced. No guesstimating or worrying—just fresh, healthy meals, made easier.

Currently, the DIY Nutrient Mix is intended for adult dogs only—one-and-a-half years and older. We are in the process of formulating a Nutrient Mix for puppies!

No, the Nutrient Mix does not need to be refrigerated! Store in a cool, dry place and use by the best-by date on the packet.

If you refrigerate the packet it will not impact the effectiveness of the nutrients. We do however recommend that you store the Nutrient Mix in a cool, dry place.

Please do! They will appreciate the fact that we work with board-certified veterinary nutritionists to make our products. While there are a lot of different viewpoints on food in the veterinary community, just about every vet agrees that fresh, nutritionally balanced food is great for dogs.

When you start using the DIY Nutrient Mix in your homemade food, you can and should stop using any other general-use dietary supplements. Continue to use any supplements for specific health issues as needed. Consult your vet if you have any questions.

Our DIY recipes and Nutrient Mix are specifically formulated just for dogs! While all of the ingredients we use are human-grade, so they’re safe enough for humans if you happen to consume some (go ahead and try a bite of your dog’s dinner...) we do not recommend adding the Mix to your human food. Consult your human doctor or nutritionist for supplement advice.

Visit thefarmersdog.com/diy and answer a few questions about your dog. Based on the info you provide, we’ll show you a selection of recipes just right for your pup’s needs, and deliver your first shipment of DIY Nutrient Mix. Visit your account page at thefarmersdog.com/login any time to see additional recipes, instructions on how to prepare, cook, and store the food.

If you already have a subscription to The Farmer’s Dog fresh meals and would like to try DIY, please reach out to our team at [email protected].

DIY Nutrient Mix plans start at $1/week and include free shipping. Each dog is different, and pricing will depend on a variety of factors including age, weight, activity level, and more. To determine your exact costs, simply visit thefarmersdog.com/DIY and tell us a bit about your pup!

At present, you can only buy the DIY Nutrient Mix by signing up for a plan at thefarmersdog.com/diy. Signing up for a plan ensures you’re getting recipes that are right for your dog, and expert guidance on how much DIY Nutrient Mix to add to your meals, and how much food to serve your dog.

Every dog has different dietary requirements and preferences, so we make it simple to discover the recipes that meet your own dog’s needs. When you sign up for a DIY plan, we’ll show you a customized range of easy-to-prepare recipes. We’ve got meals for most ingredient preferences (including for beef, chicken, and salmon lovers!), so you can pick what fits your dog best.

Yes. Shop for your ingredients at your store of choice. We’ll provide a list of ingredients and recipe instructions on your account page, and we’ll ship you the right amount of DIY Nutrient Mix.

We sure do! We want to make cooking at home for your dog safe and enjoyable for you (no matter your culinary skill level), so we offer easy-to-follow instructions on all our recipes. We’ve even got videos to walk you through all the steps!

How often you will need to cook depends on the size of your dog and your preference for the number of batches you want to cook at a time. You may wish to cook multiple batches at once—depending on your freezer space of course!

Yes! Our instructions are tailored for easy, one-pot cooking on a stovetop, but you can also use a slow cooker if that’s preferred. Just make sure that all ingredients are cooked to a soft consistency (so they can be easily punctured with a fork), and the food reaches 165 degrees throughout!

We take portion precision very seriously! (it’s one big advantage of signing up for a fresh-food plan at The Farmer’s Dog). Signing up for a DIY plan takes the guesswork out of cooking at home because we carefully calculate how much to feed your dog based on their individual needs. We’ll give you step-by-step instructions on how much food each batch will make and how much to feed your dog at each meal.

Yes, you should slowly transition your dog’s food over seven days. Start with a 25%-to-75% ratio of new to old food—so add 25% of a portion of home-cooked DIY food to 75% of a portion of their existing food. Slowly increase the portion of DIY over the course of the first week until you are feeding full DIY home-cooked meals. If your dog has a sensitive stomach you may want to transition slower!

Treat the fresh recipes you make for your dog the same way you’d treat the food you cook for yourself. You can keep freshly cooked food in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you’re making a batch of food, keep a few days’ worth of food in the fridge for up to 4 days and freeze the rest. The food will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months.

Once the food has cooled down and is portioned based on your instructions, you can set aside a few portions for each dog and put them in the fridge—you can store food in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store the rest in the freezer. Move each portion to the fridge 24 hours before feeding to thaw. If you forget to thaw, you can run the container under warm water until the food is fully thawed and ready to feed.

The cost of your dog’s food, whether it’s homecooked, bought in a store, or delivered as part of a subscription plan, depends on a range of factors. These include: the size, age, and body condition of your dog, where you live and shop, market conditions that may affect food prices, how much you buy and make at any one time, and many other considerations. Many people find that by the time they buy the ingredients, they may end up spending about the same, or (for certain dogs) even more than what they would spend on a subscription plan from The Farmer’s Dog. If you’ve been cooking at home and would like to check out pricing for a fresh-food delivery plan, simply visit thefarmersdog.com and tell us a bit about your dog.

When it comes to the cost of feeding your dog, there’s one “rule” that applies to everyone: whatever investment you can make in fresh food for your dog is worth it—whether that’s home cooking or a subscription plan, and whether it’s just a small portion of their diet, or all they eat. It’s an investment in their health that can pay dividends in more happy, healthy years together.

We formulate our recipes to vary ingredients to accommodate dogs with different palates (and make it easy for home cooks!). If you don’t find what you’re looking for, reach out to us so we can work with our veterinary nutritionists on new recipes that accommodate your needs.

We currently ship to the 48 contiguous states.

Click here to see tracking info for your shipped orders. We also send an email notification with this information for each order.

We pack our boxes with the environment in mind. You can recycle the cardboard box the DIY Nutrient Mix is delivered in. Our packets are currently non recyclable due to the stringent requirements in ensuring the product maintains its effectiveness.

No! Our DIY Nutrient Mix is graded for all temperatures of cooking, which should be hotter than any temperatures it encounters in transit to your house :)

Yes, you can easily pause, cancel or reactivate your subscription anytime. Click here to visit your Customer Account to do so.

If you prefer to send the DIY Nutrient Mix directly to your destination, you can change your shipping address in your Customer Account at any time. If you’d rather travel with your Nutrient Mix and are running low, just rush an order to your home before you leave.

Yes! In the Subscription tab of your Customer Account you can easily reschedule your upcoming order to receive it sooner, or to delay the shipment. Click here to reschedule your orders.

You can reset your account password by visiting this page. You’ll receive a reset link in your email inbox where you can then input a new password.

Click here to see a summary of your orders. Once an order is in transit, you’ll see its tracking link appear and can keep an eye on the anticipated delivery date.

Yes! In the Subscription tab of your Customer Account you can easily reschedule your upcoming order to receive it sooner, or to delay the shipment. Click here to reschedule your orders.