When you have a dog that needs more calories than his food is providing
because he's been ill or is a finicky eater, try this recipe for
"fatballs." I freeze them and take out a couple to split between four dogs
a few times a week. To help put weight on dogs, I give one in place of the
morning meal.

This mixture gave me another use for the huge bowl I bought to make
dressing at Thanksgiving. If you don't have one like this, try a big soup
pot. I also don't have enough cookie sheets or freezer space for all these
balls, so I do one layer on the cookie sheet, cover it with foil and do a
couple of layers on each sheet. Just be sure to spray both sides of the
foil as well as all the pan with Pam or everything will stick when it
freezes. They only need to be frozen enough that they don't stick together
when they are in their storage container.

You can also add a cup of ground flaxseed, kelp, and/or garlic if you
want. Sometimes I add peanut butter, too, or use ground turkey instead of
beef.


Ingredients
10 lbs. hamburger--Buy the fattest grind you can get, which will also turn
out to be the cheapest. You can use ground beef, turkey, or lamb, but beef
probably has the highest fat content.
20 envelopes of unflavored Knox gelatin
20 egg yolks (you shouldn't give dogs raw egg white, but if you hate
waste, cook this up in a skillet and add it to the dog's food. The cooked
egg whites will keep for several days. You can also use them in a soufflé
or for meringue)
2 12 oz jars of wheat germ
2 regular-size boxes of Total cereal (I often use one box of Total and
about 4-6 cups of cooked brown rice or oatmeal)
2 cups molasses (I like to use the blackstrap kind)
2 cups oil (the original recipe calls for corn oil but I prefer safflower
oil or mix cold-pressed flax seed oil and safflower equally)
Some amount of garlic or garlic extract
(Optional)
2 large cartons of cottage cheese
2-5 cups of peanut butter

Preparation
Mix all the ingredients except the meat together. Then crumble the meat
into the mixture and mix well. This takes about ten minutes, and I've
never found a better utensil for this than my hands. When everything is
well blended, form individual balls about the size of a fist. Put them on
a cookie sheet and freeze until hard, then store them in a container or
bag. Frozen, they are a great hot-weather treat. Otherwise, thaw and mix
in their regular food.