pawsgo: Bone Broth, a Healthy Trend for Humans and Dogs

Bone broth is super trendy. All the hot restaurants are selling steaming cups of it at a premium price. Our local farmer’s market is selling it and our local butcher said the bone broth craze has chefs and butchers VERY excited! Scraped bones have been given a second life and are now sellable.

I had read about the human health benefits of bone broth – everything from helping joints and digestion to reducing cellulite – yup, that’s the one that had me heading to the butcher for my first batch of bones!

Armed with my slow cooker and 2 pounds of grass fed, hormone free beef knuckle bones, I followed a very easy recipe –

1) Season the bones

2) Roast the bones – 400 for an hour

3) Combine the following in a slow cooker

a. Roasted bones

b. 2 chopped carrots

c. 2 stalks of celery chopped

d. 2 garlic cloves chopped

e. I small/medium onion chopped

f. A splash of cider vinegar

4) Cover everything with filtered water and cook on high until it boils or bubbles

5) Turn heat down to low and let it cook down for 24 hours

6) After 24 hours, strain it and, refrigerate it or freeze it

I put kale in mine and have a cup as an afternoon snack. For optimum health benefits, you’re supposed to have a cup a day. It can keep in the fridge for 5 days, or you can freeze it.

If it’s healthy for us – what about dogs? A quick google search and bingo – it’s good for dogs too! Same health benefits, with the exception of cellulite reduction, that wasn’t referenced.

I was especially interested to see if it would help Kacey’s joints. She has a bit of arthritis. I am always looking for ways to enhance her quality of life – bone broth seemed like a good bet.

Because I have read that dogs should not eat onions or garlic, and I figured they didn’t need seasoning – I opted for making their broth with just bones, cider vinegar and filtered water.

Here’s my recipe for Bone Broth for Dogs

1) Roast 2 pounds of grass fed, hormone free beef knuckle bones

2) Place in a slow cooker and cover with filtered water and splash of cider vinegar

3) Cook on high until it boils or bubbles

4) Turn down to low and let it cook down for 24 hours

5) Clean any bits of meat off ones, discard bones, skim fat and save broth and meat bits for doggies.

I mix a healthy spoonful in with their food reach morning and they get a frozen treat every evening. To say they like it is an understatement. It’s too early to tell if the both is having an impact on their health, but if nothing else they are getting a healthy treat.