Dog Food

[Fullmoon]

I've decided there is just too many chemicals and preservatives in the dog food. So I'm on a quest of sort to find out if anyone makes their dogs food. I just boiled a huge chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas, corn, brown rice, green beans, celery and a little garlic. I cooked it down into a good mash. They of course love it. What else needs to be in their food for a good all around nutritional meal for dogs. I have two very old dogs and one that's 18 months, so none that need anything for growing bones. Thanks! Robin

 

[Jill]

I was making food for our dogs and may again, for really the reasons you say and also turned off after the dog food scare. I was using brown rice, cooked lean meat (chicken, or drained ground turkey or beef), eggs, green beans. I would make a large amount and freeze part of it. I would stir in yogurt after it thawed / before serving.

Right now they are eating Nutro Natural Choice dry and canned. I was making the food to replace the canned, but still letting them have the dry free choice.

 

[White Socks Miniature]

Just a word of caution... Onions and garlic can be toxic to dogs and cats leading to renal failure. Also you may want to get a vitamin/mineral pre-mix to add in so they are getting the appropriate nutrients.

Other than that there are some books with some good home made recipes! I have a book of them at work and my guys just love them! If you would like I can send some to you!

I know some of our clients dogs have done really well on these home made diets!

 

[Sterling]

Since the dog food scare I cook for my girls too. I do up chicken then debone it, add in cooked macaroni and/or rice, peas, green beans, and carrots. They are on Canidae. This past summer, I found our just recently, that Canidae makes a grain free kibble which I've started switching them over to. I also found this product at my feed store by Dogswell called Happy Hips. They are chicken strip jerky with glucosamine and are they yummy!!! The girls love them! They also get cooked ground turkey, chicken giblets, beef cubes and one I'd like to try for them would be tripe. Have'nt yet tho.... Heard the green tripe is very good full of vitamins and minerals. Oh and they also get supplements.

I don't think I could do away with the kibble. There's just so many things that they need as a complete and balanced diet I'd probably end up missing something.

 

[Sixstardanes]

You may want to consider adding bonemeal.

 

[HGFarm]

I dont- I feed Natural Balance. My neighbors do though. They do feed a regular dry feed that doesnt have rendered stuff in it and the bad preservatives, but they also make their own 'dog cookies' which is made of chicken, pork and beef, all cooked up. Then some oatmeal- not a huge amount, and some veggies too. Powdered milk, some garlic and some additives that were about four different things- some vitamins and other stuff that I forgot. This all gets run through the grinder, twice and it comes out kinda mushy and then they run it through a big mixer too to make sure it's all even. Oh, also some blueberries which are high in anti oxidants... They run it through a machine that puts it in long bags and they are sealed up and thrown in the freezer. They raise dogs so make about 50 pounds at a time! Takes all day!!

 

[Leeana]

I was making food for our dogs and may again, for really the reasons you say and also turned off after the dog food scare. I was using brown rice, cooked lean meat (chicken, or drained ground turkey or beef), eggs, green beans. I would make a large amount and freeze part of it. I would stir in yogurt after it thawed / before serving.
Right now they are eating Nutro Natural Choice dry and canned. I was making the food to replace the canned, but still letting them have the dry free choice.

I feed basically the same as Jill, my mom is a cook and i got a book from petco on cooking for dogs and we got a ton of meal recipes that mom can cook after she gets done fixing our dinner or breakfast. I leave Eagle Pack (somewhat like Nutro) dry food available at all times too...they just pick at it from time to time, as they want. Mom fixes turkey, chicken, beef, eggs and rice. They LOVE it.

When i just had sassy, i just fed Science Diet which to me is a "lessor" dog food, then i bought my chinese crested from a breeder up near me that shows and she completely changed my view on feeding. Its hard to find a dog food with little to no corn in it, so i really like the Eagle Pack dog food, its dry.

I've noticed an amazing change in activity level and body condition of my shih tzu

 

[Sonya]

You could just feed the bones and raw food diet too (BARF)....many on here do. I feed Diamond Naturals now and it doesn't have corn in it. I have to be very careful with my older lab, he has IBS...and as crappy as people say science diet is, science diet prescrip was the only thing he could eat for many years and he did very well on it.

Funny thing about my lab, he does not like raw meat, he won't touch it...he actually runs and hides...he would starve if he was on the barf diet...he does like raw veggies though and I give him carrots, etc often.

I have made my own treats before once, mainly in them was peanut butter and oatmeal...not sure how healthy that is, but they did like them...they liked the peanut butter so much that one of the dogs started eating his own pooh...vet said stop giving him the pb treats and when I did, he stopped. Seems the peanut butter is so strong and doesn't really get digested much that the pooh smells just like a treat...at least to my dog, not to me..within a day after stopping the treats, so did the behavior.

 

[Fullmoon]

Is there a reason not to want corn in the food? Also do you think one garlic pod in a huge pot will hurt them? I'm also giving them Nutro Ultra dry food as one meal a day. I'll go to Petco and get a book on cooking for them. Thanks for all the response! Robin

 

[Jill]

I doubt anyone would be putting this in the dog food, but just in case someone was going to share their food with their dog -- raisins also can cause kidney failure and apparently if the dog is sensitive to them, it only takes a very tiny bit. I know in the past i have given my dogs a little bit of oatmeal-raisin cookies before I knew better.

 

[My-Lil-Pony]

Interesting I never thought to make my own dog food. Our dog is a senior now and has eaten the same food forever although when she was younger she did really love to eat carrots. I have a friend who has a JRT and he really likes beet pulp.

 

[Mona]

Interesting I never thought to make my own dog food. Our dog is a senior now and has eaten the same food forever although when she was younger she did really love to eat carrots. I have a friend who has a JRT and he really likes beet pulp.

I know you are fairly new here, so you may have missed the post I will be referring to, but tell your friend to be very careful with her dog around the Beet Pulp. Not long ago, a Boxer had eaten some (unsoaked) beet pulp and almost died from it swelling up in his stomach juices! They had to do an emergency surgury to take it all out of his guts. It was a very serious situation. Just a little "heads up" to help ensure this does not happen you your friend.

 

[mininik]

Interesting I never thought to make my own dog food. Our dog is a senior now and has eaten the same food forever although when she was younger she did really love to eat carrots. I have a friend who has a JRT and he really likes beet pulp.

I know you are fairly new here, so you may have missed the post I will be referring to, but tell your friend to be very careful with her dog around the Beet Pulp. Not long ago, a Boxer had eaten some (unsoaked) beet pulp and almost died from it swelling up in his stomach juices! They had to do an emergency surgury to take it all out of his guts. It was a very serious situation. Just a little "heads up" to help ensure this does not happen you your friend.

*raises hand* Yep, that was us. Jake helped us find out that a mere pound of pelleted beet pulp turns to a solid, seven pound mass when soaked in stomach juices and water. That translates to over $1000. in emergency surgery. He's a lucky dog to be alive and now the beet pulp (which I had been bringing home and soaking for my old rescue mare) goes directly from the feed store to the storage bin at the boarding barn, with no dogs in the Jeep for the drive there.

 

[mydaddysjag]

"I doubt anyone would be putting this in the dog food, but just in case someone was going to share their food with their dog -- raisins also can cause kidney failure and apparently if the dog is sensitive to them, it only takes a very tiny bit. I know in the past i have given my dogs a little bit of oatmeal-raisin cookies before I knew better."

Just wanted to add, avoid raisins at all costs. I know someone whos chocolate lab ate about 1/6 of a box of raisins (he grabbed them off the ocunter) and actually died from them. The vet said they are very toxic, just noone seems to know it.

Also, I doubt this is anything you would add to your dog food, but figured I would give you a heads up from something we learned (the hard way) this past fall. Black Walnuts are HIGHLY lethal to dogs. One fell off of a tree in my yard, and rolled through the yard, our 100% healthy dog keisha must have thought it was a tennis ball (man did she love playing with tennis balls) and chased it down, and chewed it up. The walnut wasnt completely eaten, we found it chewed in the yard, however she died in minutes, before we even could get her to the car she passed away.

 

[Fullmoon]

Oh my gosh, who would have thought that raisins, or walnuts would be lethal to dogs! I've also heard chocolate is extremely bad for dogs.

 

[Celtic Hill Farm]

I like this topic! lol. After reading through posts, i have noticed alot of you are feeding etiher a raw food diet, or you make your own food. I had mentioned it to my mom, because of our new rescue, and i think it might be good for them. Is there anywhere on the internet where i can get information on raw food diets? and recipies to make your own cooked food?

right now we feed Natural Choice Large Breed Adult. We have been feeding it since we got Zane, the humane society gave us Purina Pro Plan, so were feeding 1/2 and 1/2 untill we use up the pruina, then he will go on to full natural choice. Bruin also gets olive oil in his grain. When we were raising Show/Racing Pigoins we used to feed the eggs to Zane, and his coat would just glisten!

 

[Sonya]

My co-workers little shi-tzu got into the garbage and ate some leftover onions from fajitas and almost died. He was in the hospital for over a week and was very sick.

Is there a reason not to want corn in the food?

Corn is just a filler with no nutritional value for dogs. Majority of dry kibble has corn as the main ingredient. IMO meat-based kibble is a much better choice. I believe the nutro brand does have meat-based as it's primary ingredient.

Many do feed the corn-based dog food and have healthy dogs, so it's just a matter of choice. There are many opinions on all the dog foods out there, and with each post you will probably get a different one.

 

[Mona]

While on the top of raisins being toxic, keep in mind that they are also toxic in their "pre-dried" form...do NOT feed GRAPES to your dogs either! It may seem like a nice nutritional treat for them if you are eating some and want to share with your canine companion, but again, the results can be FATAL!

 

[Equuisize]

Robin, Add me to the list that cooks for their dog.

I do buy him a good quality kibble, in our case Merrick,

is available in our small community.

They use human grade ingredients and I do keep a

can or two of their canned food for emergencies.

Our German Shepherd is an itchy guy and after

eliminating the obvious thoughts of fleas, we decided

it was probably a food allergy. He's sent to the groomer

each 6 weeks so we're sure it's not fleas.

His vet said allergies are difficult to pinpoint and she thought

we were on track by eliminating the obvious culprits, wheat, corn

and soy.

His favorite is beef liver - I've even gotten used to the smell of it

cooking. Also fix him chicken & hamburger. Add ins are brown rice

or barley and he loves sweet potatoes or green beans or peas. Add

garlic to the cooking process and toss a teaspoon of flax on top.

His treats are wheat and corn free, too.

When I was a kid, my Mom had bred dogs before I was born

and I remember her telling how the meat truck used to come

thru the neighborhood and always had lessor cuts and bones

for cooking dog food. There wasn't commercial feeds then.

So I guess it's an old concept to cook for your dogs and it's

easy enough to do. I cook it ahead and freeze like a weeks

supply at a time. It is also MUCH cheaper than paying near $3

a can for good canned dog food. I watch meat sales like a hawk.

Last night I found locally grown, hormone free chicken for 99 cents

a pound and brought home extra to freeze for a day when prices

were higher.

Good luck if you choose to do this, it's rather satisfying, I think.

 

[Boss Mare]

Corn, wheat, etc. is also related to a lot of canine allergies.. but actually BEEF is a huge part of it also.

When I get a client in with allergies the first thing I rule out is fleas.. some times the obvious isn't so.. then I look at diet and ask them to switch to a feed that doesn't include corn in any form and then as for a protein a more exotic one.. aka.. venison, fish, etc.

However, a lot of canines do have a lot of allergies from the environment.. such as grasses..

Oh and cedar.. you'll never find a cedar bed (or bedding) on my house or will I ever recommend one.. I hold limits to pine too.. ugh..

Aside from changing feeds, think about treats also.. No dyes, corn, beef, etc.

I personally cook as much for my dogs as time allow. As for an overall food that I buy for them I currently have them on Wellness.. I add a skin and coat supplement.. cooked chicken breasts and yogurt.. Any veggie they will eat that's safe.. they LOVE carrots..

As for treats.. I buy wholesome treats such as 100% chicken breast jerky.. pure yogurt treats, etc.

Added: this works for ME (and my dogs) and I adjust their feedings when needed.