Do you need or want to make homemade dog food for your dog but worry about the nutritional balance? Well, we found a website you might find helpful. The Korean government realized that many people were making homemade food and launched a website to support cooking at home.
The Purpose of this Post
In my years as a pet owner in both the US and Korea, I have had pets deathly allergic to 95% of commercial pet foods. This includes our current pug who we rescued a few years back. She turned out to be dramatically and horrifically allergic to all but one type of pet food made from insects. Unfortunately, the food is too high in protein and still causes health issues. This means we need to make 75% of our dog’s food at home.
We find it slightly terrifying to try and make homemade pet food using online resources. Plus, many of the online recipe options contain items our sweet Kiki can’t eat or that we can’t get in Korea. When I learned that Korea has a website to help with creating balanced homemade meals we got excited and I wanted to make this available to everyone immediately. Keep in mind, I still don’t fully know how to use the website so we will be learning and growing together. Additionally, please don’t come for me because it will take time to fully understand how to use the information I provide today.
Basically, I recommend managing expectations and coming into the following information with a sense of curiosity and adventure.
Reason for the Website
Through national research, the Korean government found that many people make homemade food for their pets and many small businesses offer packaged homemade meals. However, there were no guidelines to ensure that such meals had the nutrition necessary for healthy pets. Therefore, the government worked across agricultural industries in Korea to create a site that helps you create healthy meals with locally sourced ingredients.
The government office managing the homemade dog food information program is the National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration.
Logistical Foundation of the Website
Website: https://www.nongsaro.go.kr/portal/ps/psx/psxf/feedMxnWritngSportProgrm.ps?menuId=PS04088
The Korean government created a website to help pet owners make their own dog food. The website was created to make sure that pet owners and pet businesses are empowered to make nutritiously balanced pet foods and treats for animals who can’t eat processed foods.
The Homemade Dog Food website is based on a database of companion animal-only feed ingredients sold in South Korea. The list provides a framework of ingredients that include 17 nutritional components including protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorus for a total of 307 types of food. that come from:
- Livestock products (chicken, pork, beef, etc. 89 types)
- Aquatic products (anchovy, pollock, etc. 26 types)
- Agricultural products (rice, sweet potato, potato, etc. 133 types)
- By-products (pig, liver, lungs, etc. 56 types)
The goal of the National Institute of Animal Science is to create a reliable source of information for both pet owners and small businesses. The information allows for the safe creation of homemade meals that consider the breed, growth, and activity stage of companion animals. Such guidelines also meet international nutrient standards according to AAFCO and NRC.
Using the Homemade Dog Food Website
This is not a simple website with a few homemade dog food recipes. The homemade food website is an informational deep dive into creating healthy balanced meals. That means we are NOT experts in how to use this website. In fact, we are still learning ourselves. However, we will help give you some tips to get you started in the right direction.
Tip1: The website is in Korean
Of course, the website is in Korean. It’s normal for countries to have their government websites created in the local language. Especially a program this specific. As immigrants, we will have to do extra work navigating around the language barrier. Thankfully, if you don’t speak Korean well enough to read the website you can use the Google Translate extension.
We also recommend maybe sitting down with a Korean-speaking person who can help you understand some of the nuances in meaning that Papago or Google Translate can’t clarify. Also, understand that this website might be outside of your friend’s area of expertise and they might also struggle despite knowing Korean.
Tip 2: This will take a while
Give yourself a few hours to focus on the website manual and play with how the website works. You aren’t going to just log in and make dinner for your dog. However, if you are like us, you need information enough that you will put in the time and figure it out.
Tip 3: The Ingredients List Makes it Worth It
Even if you don’t figure out how to completely use the website, just having access to the ingredients list is helpful. While going through the list we came across many different ingredients common in Korea that we would not have considered including in our food before.
The Steps We Understand So Far
To help get you started, we will walk you through how far we have gotten on our first day. This will help you move quickly into the next steps for using the website.
Step 1: Pet Details
Using the website starts off easy by asking for some basic information about your pet:
- Breed type
- Sex
- General age
- Neutered/ Un-neutered
- Activity level
- Current weight
- Target weight
Step 2: Ingredients
After you enter the details of your pet, things get complicated quickly. When we first tried to select ingredients we made the mistake of checking the boxes but not Apply. At first, we thought we had just missed it but now we think the Apply button doesn’t show unless you select a certain amount of ingredients.
Step 3: Start Adjusting the Food
Now the data from your ingredients list starts to populate and we have no idea what the next steps to take yet. We need a few more days to play around with things to fully understand the next steps. However, our goal at South of Seoul isn’t to know everything but provide everyone with the information they need to get started.
That’s why we are including the website manual in this blog. We would love to see other pet bloggers and vloggers take this information and expand the available research into how this site works.
The Homemade Dog Meals Website Manual
The following PDF is the Korean directions for using the Homemade Dog Food website. You can download the PDF and use Papago to read the information so that you feel more prepared for using the site. Converted the Hancom file to a PDF to make it easier for international residents to download and use:
Keep Us Posted
We would love to hear if this website helps you with making healthy and delicious food for your dogs.
Lanae Rivers-Woods moved to Korea in 2011 where she lives in the countryside with her family, friends, and puppies. She holds a BSSW (Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work), a MAIT (Master’s of Arts in International Teaching), and registered by the Pyeongtaek Korean Times with the Korean government as a Cultural Expert.
Ms. Rivers-Woods used her 15 years experience as a social architect, UX/UI designer, and technology consultant to found South of Seoul in 2015. South of Seoul is a volunteer organization that leverages technological tools to mitigate cultural dissonance in multi-cultural communities.
Through South of Seoul, Ms. Rivers-Woods works with independent volunteers, non-profit organizations, businesses, local & federal government, universities, and US military organizations to develop solutions to support English speaking international residents in rural South Korea.
Additionally, Ms. Rivers-Woods founded the South of Seoul smart phone app available for Google Play and iPhone. The app provides information a resources for those living and traveling in South Korea.
When she isn’t in South of Seoul development meetings or working her day job, Ms. Rivers-Woods loves to be outside at skate parks, the beach, or playing in the mountains.
