Organic pumpkin, 3 pack from amazon.com:
Pumpkin Patch Up from Weruva, 12 pack on amazon.com:
*Photos are affiliate links. If you order through these links, we will receive a small commission.
Pumpkins from our local farm stand: $5.00 each plus 2 hours time & labor, including:
Removing seeds:
Baking in oven:
Scooping out cooked pumpkin:
Adding to our homemade meal topper:
Seeing the crew enjoying their homemade meals:
PRICELESS
Both of the first options are viable alternatives if you want to add pumpkin to your dogs’ diet. Not everyone has time to cook fresh pumpkins! I just barely saved mine from freezing outside to get them cooked. I will buy the organic canned pumpkin if I don’t have any fresh (always buy pure pumpkin, never pumpkin pie filling), and we even wrote a review of the Pumpkin Patch Up last fall. The added bonus of getting and cooking your own pumpkins is that we got to use them as fall decorations in front of our house before cooking them!
This time I just added some of the cooked pumpkin to the dogs regular homemade mix which goes on top of their kibble (this meal was turkey, brown rice, cottage cheese, steamed broccoli, and we top it all with a big fat sardine before serving!). The rest of the pumpkin I will puree in my food processor and then separate into one cup servings which I’ll freeze. Then we can thaw it to add to their food, or make some special treats with it later.
There’s just nothing like knowing your dogs are getting truly fresh food. The only thing that could make it better? Next year I hope to be picking pumpkins from our own garden!
The pups get canned pumpkin purée on a regular basis, but we have yet to bake one. I hear the pumpkin seeds are really nutritious as well once ground up. Definitely on my list of things to try out (it’s growing…).
I do like to roast the pumpkin seeds for myself, and for the dogs, but never heard of grinding them up. I just didn’t have the time to do the work this time….separating the stringy stuff from the seeds is really a pain! 🙂
I have to be careful how much pumpkin I give the girls because it can over-work their “systems” as well as regulate them. But they do like the occasional small treat.
Yay for pumpkin everything! We got samples of the Weruva pumpkin because Zoe has had some GI issues and she really liked it! We’ve also done the regular pumpkin, too.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! <3
I love to bake squash, but I have never baked pumpkin. I want to try some for myself!
I think the hardest part is splitting the pumpkins. Buying prepared is much easier…lol.
You are so right! Digging all the seeds and stringy stuff out was no picnic either. LOL
And we all know how good pumpkin is for us!
Baking pumpkins is a lot of work. You have to really be into it to do it. We just buy the finished pumpkin for our needs. The real stuff is awesome, though.
That sounds delicious! I have never baked a pumpkin so I appreciate the information. Do you bake the seeds? I love pumpkin seeds. ♥ Happy Thanksgiving.
You can also use the puree to make homemade pumpkin pie or bread for the humans! 🙂 I do the roast the seeds sometimes, but this year I just didn’t have time. They are really good, but it’s a lot of work to separate the seeds from the stringy orange stuff! 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving to you too!
Such lucky doggies to have such a caring Chef!
Now that’s fresh punkin!
Lily & Edward
That looks and I think I can smell that it is delish!!
Barley loves pumpkin. The one time I have carved a pumpkin since I got her I was at my friend’s house for carving and she ate the lid of the pumpkin on our drive home! I love that you were able to use the pumpkins for the pups and for decorations. Maybe next fall I’ll remember to pick up a few and do this for Bar and Rye.
Ever since I was a kid and we did grow our own pumpkins, I’ve had pumpkins out for fall decorations. My mom never cooked the pumpkin, but we didn’t have dogs back then either.
I didn’t have dogs until after I got married. I always remember our dog Maggie gnawing on a pumpkin I had thrown in the woods at our camp. She was only our second dog and we had no clue dogs liked pumpkin – we thought she was crazy! 🙂
We do cook pumpkins when we have time, but the organic canned pumpkin is sure good in a pinch. Ruby loves a little pumpkin mixed with her food.
It’s always good to have a backup when time is a factor! This crew all loves pumpkins too, and I actually should put it on their food more often than I do. I only do the homemade meal toppers 2 – 3 times a week at the most, and then I miss some weeks too (we’ll fill in with canned or dehydrated food). One thing I do love about winter is that there’s more time for cooking!
oh I bet they enjoyed it and they emtied their bowls within a nano second… and there are greenies in the background too… the pawfect thanksgiving menu :o)
Can’t forget the greenies for dessert, right, Easy? 🙂