Introducing Puppy & Home made dog food Question

[JaniceZ]

Hello everyone!

I posted a while back asking advice about getting a puppy, and am glad to announce that my husband and I have been enjoying our new baby for 4 weeks now. We purchased an Australian Shepherd puppy from a friend of mine. I saw the litter for the first time, and picked him out when he was just starting to walk! Hubby and I discussed a name for him for a few weeks, and finally we picked Pippin after the Hobbit on Lord of the Rings. I cannot say how much I love this puppy. He is so full of life and energy, gets me motivated to go out walking 2 -3 times a day with him. Pippin even has me considering taking up running, something I would NEVER have considered in the past. Hubby also has big plans, he is going to train Pippin for a hunting companion.

This is when we brought him home

Did I mention he has extra toes on both his back feet?

I am wondering if anyone feeds there dogs home made dog food? Once I finish my studies (12 - 16 months from now, I am counting down LOL), We want to work our way towards a farm and living more naturally. Home made dog food is one thing I am curious about. Has anyone tried it? I have been reading on the internet about it, and find that websites seem to contradict each other as far as what is safe to feed. One site, for example, says that it is best to feed whole fruits and vegetables including seeds. Another site says that pits and seeds should not be fed as they contain cyanide? Any helpful websites or books you could recommend would be appreciated!

 

[chandab]

Love Aussies, congrats on the new pup.

Sorry, no help on the homemade dog food, we feed kibble, and then the dogs help themselves to what they find out here. We raise cattle out in the sticks; so, they find lawn jerky during calving, lost calves, lost cows, and other "treasures".

Two winters ago, my dog ate a whole deer she found out in the south pasture. Ranch dogs are good at making their own homemade dog food. They also like cow patties and road apples, and kitty crunchies. about the only way I could stop her from getting to her treasures would be to lock her up; I didn't move out to the country to lock the dogs up. [we do have a small kennel, but neither dog spends much time in it; mine will go in if we are gone for the day, as she won't stay out of trouble when we are gone.]

 

[Mona]

What a cutie, and WOW, I have never seen the extra toes in the "normal" position on dogs...yes, I've seen dewclaws/double dewclaws, but never an actual extra toe like some cats have. How cool is that??!!!

 

[ozymandias]

Wow....what a little rainbow

We had an Aussie and she was such a sweet, willing, fun dog.

 

[MountainWoman]

I feed homemade and my dogs have been amazingly healthy. I started years ago. There's a lot to learn and you will find contradictory information. You need to decide if you want to go with a raw diet along the lines of Billinghurst or a cooked diet along the lines of Volhard. There are many variations in between and of course now you can purchase raw food diets in frozen form as well.

I think I'd start out by joining one of the natural rearing groups on Yahoo. There are tons of good books on the subjects but an amazing news publication and another place to start is "The Whole Dog Journal." They have great info for the novice as well as more experienced people.

Congratulations on your new addition. What a cutie!

 

[JaniceZ]

Thanks everyone!

Mountain women, i will definitely look into that. Thanks!

 

[Marty]

I've been cooking for my German Shepherd on and off now for quite some time mainly because she is impossible to maintain weight.

I've used many recipes and then make them my own by finding out what Amy likes and dislikes and what will pack on the pouns the best. Most fruits do not agree with her and even a small bit makes her gassy so I don't usually give her anything but a banana for the fruit part. As far as seeds go and feeding raw I just decided that since I don't want to eat seeds or raw food, I'm not giving it to my dog; simple as that. Its just a personal preference. Our usual standard is boiled chicken breasts/chicken broth and white rice + carrots. We also take Activia about every other day too.

Presently I am making another new recipe I've concocked for her in meatloaf in a large 9 X 11 pan which consists of ground beef, jar of peanut butter, 2 cups of total cereal, 1 jar of pumpkin filling, 1 can of sweet potatoe,1 can of carrots, 2 cups quaker oats, 6 eggs an bread crumbs. I"ll bake this for about an hour and a half at 350.

Good luck with that precious baby!

 

[Jill]

What a beautiful puppy!!! Congratulatios on your new best friend

Our dogs have free choice kibble. We are currently feeding the Petsmart "Authority" line. I think it's very good quality, and the price is also great. If we run out and have to get a grocery store brand, the dogs "blow through it" so fast. I think because it has a lot of ingredients that they cannot actually digest. We've found when we feed a better quality kibble, the price per bag is more, the the actual cost is less because it simply lasts so much longer. At first, they may eat more of it because they like it so much, but once they're used to it, you really will see a savings.

I do make the "wet" dog food for our dogs. Ours aren't picky and I've read dogs are happy to eat the same thing each day, but I still like to switch it up some. I use rice as their grain, and I cook that with water and some bullion cubes and also garlic powder. If I'm making it with chicken, then I will just put the chicken and the rice w/ the water, etc., in the crock pot. I also sometime use egg as the "meat" or protein souce and either hard boil or scramble them. I like to use frozen veggies in it (green beans seem to be their favorite) and once the food is cooled, I mix in some yogurt. The basics, though, I think are pretty much the rice and a lean meat source.

Ours like the "home cooking" and I usually make enough to last a few days. The main reason I do it is I worry about the bad / nasty / germy things that may be in commercial pet food and also the recalls concern me. I am feeding them wet food that is human food quality. However, I do not know how to make a dry food for them. So it's commerical dry, and 1x a day a wet food that I make myself.

Good luck!

 

[Sonya]

He is adorable, what a cutie. I feed kibble so I can't help you out there, but I do make homemade treats/cookies when I have time. He sure is cute!