What Layla Eats
Layla’s meals are built around real food, variety, and balance over time. We do not feed the exact same thing every day, and we do not try to make every meal perfectly balanced.
Instead, we batch cook meals every few days, rotate ingredients often, and make sure Layla gets a wide range of proteins, vegetables, carbs, calcium, healthy fats, and supplements throughout the week.
Our Philosophy on Homemade Dog Food
One of the biggest mindset shifts with homemade dog food is realizing that dogs do not have to eat the exact same thing every day. Commercial dog food often makes people feel like there is one “correct” formula for dogs and that every bowl needs to be perfectly measured.
We do not look at Layla’s meals that way.
Instead, we think about her food more like feeding a child or ourselves. Some days include more vegetables. Some days include different proteins. Some days include more snacks, eggs, or fruit.
What matters most is variety and balance over time.
That approach makes homemade dog food easier, more realistic, and much less overwhelming.
Variety Over Time
Real Ingredients
Flexible Feeding
Balanced Meals
Part 1
How We Build Layla’s Meals
Most of Layla’s meals are built around three main categories: proteins, vegetables, and carbs. These are the ingredients that make up the bulk of each batch and give us the most flexibility when rotating foods.
We usually start with a protein, add a mix of vegetables, then choose a carb depending on what we have available and what Layla has been eating recently.
Proteins
Important because protein is the main part of Layla’s meals and helps support muscle, energy, and overall health.
Usually added as the largest part of each batch, making up around 60 to 75% of most meals.
Common proteins we use include chicken, turkey, ground beef, venison, white fish, eggs, lamb, and salmon.
Vegetables
Important because vegetables provide fiber, nutrients, and variety throughout the week.
Usually steamed, cooked, or blended into meal batches because dogs digest cooked vegetables more easily.
Common vegetables we use include broccoli, green beans, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, and kale.
Carbohydrates
Important because carbs help make meals more filling, affordable, and easier to sustain long term.
Optional in homemade dog food and sometimes controversial, but we still choose to include them in Layla’s meals.
Common carbs we use include brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, and beans.
Part 2
How We Balance Layla's Meals
Once the main ingredients are chosen, we focus on the things that help support better balance over time. These are not always the largest part of the meal, but they are still important.
Healthy fats, calcium, supplements, and organ meats all help fill in nutritional gaps and add variety to Layla’s meals.
Calcium
Important because homemade meals do not include bones, so calcium needs to be added separately.
Usually added to every batch through eggshell powder or Sea-Cal from Animal Essentials.
Common calcium sources we use include eggshell powder, Sea-Cal, sardines, yogurt, and small amounts of cheese.
Healthy Fats
Important because healthy fats support skin, coat, joints, inflammation, and overall health.
Usually added through foods like fish oil, sardines, salmon, eggs, or plain yogurt.
Common healthy fats we use include fish oil, sardines, freeze-dried sardines, eggs, salmon, and yogurt.
Organ Meats
Important because organ meats are packed with vitamins and minerals that are hard to replace with other foods.
Usually added through freeze-dried organs, cooked chicken organs, or small amounts mixed into batches.
Common organ meats we use include liver, heart, kidney, gizzards, and freeze-dried organ treats.
Part 3
The Supplements We Use
Once the main ingredients are chosen, we think about the smaller additions that help support better balance over time.
Protein, vegetables, and carbs make up most of the meal, but homemade dog food usually needs more than that. Calcium is one of the most important things we add because cooked meals do not include bones, but we also use other supplements depending on what Layla is eating that week.
We do not use every supplement every day. Instead, we adjust based on what Layla is eating, whether she is getting organ meats, and what seems to be working best for her.
Supplements Added to the Batch
These are the supplements we usually mix directly into Layla’s food when we make a batch:
- Eggshell powder or Sea-Cal
- Probiotic
- Dental supplement
- Organ meats when needed
Supplements Given Separately
These are the supplements we usually give on their own:
- Fish oil
- Heart supplement from Fera Organics
- Hip and joint supplement
- Multivitamin powder when needed
Some supplements are mixed directly into the batch, while others are given separately.
Because Layla is a heartworm survivor, we give her a heart supplement from Fera Organics every day.
How We Batch Cook Layla’s Food
We usually cook about 3 to 4 days of food at a time.
That makes homemade feeding much easier because we are not cooking every meal from scratch every day. Once the main ingredients are cooked, we add calcium, supplements, and other extras before storing everything in a large container. Then at mealtime, we portion out what Layla needs for breakfast and dinner.
As we make new batches, we rotate proteins, vegetables, carbs, and supplements so Layla gets more variety throughout the week. One batch might use ground beef, rice, broccoli, and carrots. The next batch might use venison, lamb, green beans, spinach, and sweet potatoes.
Over time, those changes help create a much wider nutritional profile.
If you want to see exactly how we prep, store, and portion Layla’s meals, visit Weekly Meal Prep: How We Batch Cook Layla’s Homemade Dog Food.
Why Calcium Matters So Much
Calcium is one of the most important parts of homemade dog food.
Because cooked bones are dangerous for dogs, homemade meals usually do not contain bones the way raw diets sometimes do.
That means calcium has to be added separately.
Calcium is one of the few things we make sure is added consistently because it is too important to leave out.
Calcium Supplements We Use
Eggshell Calcium
Sea-Cal by Animal Essentials
You can also read How We Make Homemade Eggshell Calcium Powder for Dogs for our step-by-step process.
Part 4
The Snacks Layla Gets Throughout the Day
Some of the snacks we use most often include:
- Boiled eggs
- Scrambled eggs
- Blueberries
- Bananas
- Apple slices
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Green beans
- Broccoli
- Plain yogurt
Healthy & Nutritional Snacks
Because Layla is a hungry Labrador, she usually gets snacks throughout the day.
Some of these snacks are just for fun, but others are intentionally factored into what she eats overall.
Layla does not get all of these in one day.
Usually she gets two or three extra snacks depending on what we are eating, what she has already had that day, and how hungry she seems.
Eggs are one of her favorite bedtime snacks, so we often keep them separate from her meal batches and give them on their own.
The same goes for fruit, yogurt, sardines, and other extras.
That is another reason we focus on balance over time instead of trying to make every bowl identical.
How We Figure Out Portions
Portions can be one of the hardest parts of homemade dog food because every dog is different. Some people count calories, while others weigh every ingredient. We take a simpler approach.
We start with a rough calorie goal based on Layla’s size, weight, and activity level. The FDA food database can be helpful when estimating calories for different ingredients. For more information, read How to Calculate Homemade Dog Food Portions and Calories.
From there, we watch Layla’s body condition and adjust as needed. If she starts losing weight, we feed more. If she starts gaining too much weight, we reduce portions.
We also use a large dog scale to help monitor changes over time. As you make more batches and get familiar with your dog’s needs, it becomes much easier to estimate portions without measuring every meal exactly.
Determine Pets Weight
Calculate Mer
Calculate RER
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