Feeding Your Dog Organ Meat Treats

If you are feeding your dog a healthy and balanced diet, chances are you are feeding a diet that includes about 70% muscle meat, 10% bone, 10% organ meat, and 10% fruit & veggies which falls under the BARF Diet model. The formula this falls under is meant to mimic what dogs would eat in the wild if they were not domesticated. 

What Is Organ Meat?

Organ Meat is known to be the internal organs of the animal, typically larger farm animals. Some examples are as follows: 

• Brain
• Eyeballs
• Heart
• Kidney
• Liver
• Lung
• Reproductive Organs such as testicles and uterus
• Trachea
• Spleen
• Stomach
• Pancreas 
• Tongue 

These treats are rich in flavor and smell which are extra enticing to all dogs making them a great high-value treat for training and rewards!

Why is Organ Meat Important? 

Organ meat is highly important in a dog’s diet as it includes many of the essential vitamins and fatty acids needed to keep your dog healthy and happy. In a typical raw feeding setting, many are feeding their dogs plenty of meat and bones, but not organs, which in reality provides many of the nutrients that are vital for dogs.

Organ meat has been proven to have higher levels of Vitamin B as well as phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, and iodine, making them some of the nutrient dense foods you could feed your dog. 

Here at CraftedTreats, we provide Beef Heart, Beef Liver, and Lamb Lungs. We chose Liver as it’s high in soluble Vitamin A, glycogen, potassium, copper, Vitamin B, D, K, and E. Heart as an organ meat, contains a source of CoQ10 which helps maintain the heart’s rhythm, and is extremely important as your dog ages, as the CoQ10 levels decrease. With the Lung, by feeding your dog lung organs, you are providing the amino acids that produce protein, which dogs cannot do by themselves. 

Simply put, by feeding your dogs organs, you are supplementing the same nutrients the dog needs to maintain the current organs in their bodies. 

Importance of Vitamin B for dogs

Vitamin B is essential for regulating many of your dog’s functions. 

• B1 is thiamine, promotes growth and strengthens the immune system
• B2 is riboflavin, promotes healthy skin, hair, and nail growth, as well as smoother paw pads
• B6 is extremely vital as it helps the red blood cells and nervous system, regulates hormones, and generates glucose
• B9 is folic acid, helps produce red blood cells and is extremely important to female dogs who are pregnant

Although all organ meat is filled with B Vitamins, the liver is extremely packed with the essential B Vitamins for your dog. 

Importance of DHA and EPA in Dog Food

DHA, also known as Docosahexaenoic acid, is one of the most important omega-3 fatty acids needed in your dog’s body. All dogs are unable to physically produce the omega-3 fatty acid which is substantial in promoting inflammatory conditions and prevents the dogs from osteoarthritis, cancer, and cardiac diseases. DHA specifically is supplemented in order to support and promote brain health, as well as improve cognitive abilities in older dogs. 

For parents who feed their dogs with salmon oil in order to produce the DHA and fatty acids in their dog’s diets, by feeding your dogs organ meat, you’re essentially feeding and providing as much if not more DHA than processed salmon oil bought at a local pet store.

For example, a chart provided by Dogs Naturally Magazine, shows that Mackerel when used as a supplement, contained about 6.4 DHA. Beef Brain by itself provides about 3.9 DHA which is almost as much as the Mackerel itself! 

Importance of Vitamin D

As humans, we have come to see that Vitamin D is highly important for our bodies; it builds bones, helps strengthen our teeth enamel, and helps protect and regulate our body. Vitamin D has the same benefits for your dogs! 

During the cold and winter months, many do not get to see the sun or have little to no exposure. That is where the organ meats will come into play!

By feeding organ meat to your dog, you will be providing them with the nutrients that the sun would normally supply. 

Organs have high amounts of Vitamin D, regardless of which organ meat it is, allowing it to be a natural supplement.

However, keep in mind that a lack of Vitamin D will cause bone to be brittle and break as well as cause muscle weakness and autoimmune disease. 

The Benefits of Each Organ Meat

At CraftedTreats, we supply three different types of organ meats for your furry friend! We have a selection of Beef Hearts, Beef Liver, and Lamb Lungs.

We believe that these three will provide great nutrients for your dogs as they all have similar nutrient factors as well as physical benefits!

Beef Hearts are essential to Vitamin B, iron, and fatty acids, and also can help keep the dog’s skin, coat, and paws smooth and shiny! The heart also includes phosphorus which will help build and strengthen your dog’s skeletal system. Think of the heart as a thick cut of steak with a burst of protein and vitamins! 

Interested in Beef Heart? Shop Here

Beef Liver, as with any other liver organs is something many dog parents worry about as they believe the bacteria in the liver will harm their furry pets. Not to worry! Dogs naturally have acidic stomach linings meaning that they will be able to combat any harmful bacteria that comes their way.

Liver in fact cleanses the blood of any toxins that may in the stomach and helps support healthy vision so you can be worry free about liver harming your dog!

Interested in Beef Liver? Shop Here

Lamb Lung as an organ meat will provide your dog with high protein for building healthy body tissue as well as protect and regulate the body and brain functions. Lung is great for digestion and is loaded with tons of protein with amino acids. Not to mention lung meat will definitely keep your dog’s skin and coat healthy. 

Interested in Lamb Lung? Shop Here

So How Do I Incorporate More Organ Meat into my Dog’s Diet? 

You can incorporate more organ meat in many ways! However we recommend that you do your research and find the best way to suit you and your dog’s needs. Commercially raw dog food will help provide nutrients needed as they must meet AAFCO requirements prior to stocking food on shelves.

You can also visit your local butcher and ask for organ meats, but the best way would be to buy dehydrated treats and organ treats that are simple ingredients so you know that you are feeding your pup the best thing on the market. Here at CraftedTreats we offer several treat options for you and your dog. 

DIY Organ Meat Dog Treat 

There are many ways to make your own Organ Dog Treats at home! All you need is either an oven, or if you are in your budget, a dehydrator or air fryer. To make a dehydrated dog treat, you need to remember that the internal temperature required for meat is 160F or 70C. 

Using A Dehydrator: 

1. Cut the organs into either bite sized pieces or strips and leave them in the dehydrator until it has reached the level of dryness you want
2. Once you finish dehydrating your choice of organ, simply pop it in the oven for another 10 mins at about 150C to make sure that all the pathogens are killed. 

Using An Oven: 

Making Organ Meat dog treats in the oven have fairly similar steps with using a dehydrator. 

1. Bake the treats in the oven for 8 hours, then take the treats out 
2. Break them into bite sized pieces
3. Place back in the oven for another 4-5 hours. 

For a simple dehydrated liver treat using an oven, check out Dogcare.Dailypuppy for their recipe on liver dog treats!