Dog Community

Home Cooking

Posted : 3/26/2007 10:39:28 AM

I'm very interested in beginning to cook for my dog since I've seen and heard about the recall, and reading the posts about commercial dog food on this forum. But I don't even know where to begin. I can find recipies online, but I'm sure it's more complicated than that. I downloaded the nutrient spreadsheet that someone else posted, and it confirmed what I thought. This is more complicated than just cooking.

So, I guess what I'm asking is: are there websites around that will tell me what nutrients my dog needs, what foods they come from, and in what quantities I should feed her, as well as any suppliments I should add?

My dog is a 5 mo. old corgi/beagle mix with no health problems or alergies. Thanks in advance...I just don't know where to begin, so any help would be great!

Amanda Jones

Posted : 3/26/2007 10:47:35 AM

Yes, it IS very complicated and not for the faint of the heart so it's good that you are asking questions. Before you feed any homemade diet to your pet I would recommend having it checked out by an accredited veterinary nutritionist. To see if one is in your area you can check this website: [linkhttp://www.acvn.org/]http://www.acvn.org/[/link]

For some additional information you can also visit:
[linkhttp://www.petdiets.com]http://www.petdiets.com[/link]
[linkhttp://www.balanceit.com]http://www.balanceit.com[/link]

The one book I would highly recommend for anyone interested in feeding a homemade diet is Home-Prepared Dog and Cat Diets: The Healthful Alternative by Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD.

cakana

Posted : 3/26/2007 1:20:49 PM

Monica Segal also has some excellent books and also does diet consultations. You can look it up at [linkhttp://www.monicasegal.com]www.monicasegal.com[/link]. She also has a yahoo forum, k9kitchen and you can get some information from her links and articles there.

Ashley

Posted : 3/27/2007 2:57:21 PM

Thanks for all the information! I've decided I can't safely home cook for my dog. But now I do know how to choose a better dry dog food...I think we'll be trying Blue Buffalo. Thank you two for your input!

glenmar

Posted : 3/27/2007 3:51:18 PM

Maybe it's just because I've been doing it for three years now that I don't find homecooking to be much of a challenge........yes, there ARE certain things that MUST be included, but, if you can cook and nourish yourself and your kids, you can propery nourish your dog, if you follow the guidelines. That said, I do not feed ONLY homecooked. I simply don't trust ANY recipe to be completely nutritionally balanced, including my own, that has been approved by a canine nutritionalist.

Melissa Camiel

Posted : 3/27/2007 3:57:28 PM

Try [linkhttp://dogiebag.com]dogiebag.com[/link]. It is a lot easier than many of the recipes out there. You can always do half homecooked and half high quality kibble, which is what a lot of people do when they are worried their dog may not get all it needs.

Cazzy

Posted : 3/27/2007 4:17:33 PM

I am using that recipe from dogiebag...Just to top there kibble they love it...My question though do I still have to put the supplements in it...or are they getting enough from there kibble..I only use a small anount of the recipe

Melissa Camiel

Posted : 3/27/2007 6:53:32 PM

I think if you are only using it as a topper than you probably don't need supplements--or maybe just supplement with the calcium. Since I do half kibble and half homecooked, I add all the supplements.

jessies_mom

Posted : 3/27/2007 7:25:06 PM

I am using that recipe from dogiebag...Just to top there kibble they love it...My question though do I still have to put the supplements in it...or are they getting enough from there kibble..I only use a small anount of the recipe

The information I have from one of Monica Segal's booklets is that you don't need to add supplements as long as the cooked food isn't more than one third of the total amount of calories. You need to balance the phosphorus in the meat if you feed her more than 3 and a half ounces of meat a day; 250mg of calcium for every 3 and a half ounces of meat. I use a recipe similar to doggiebag.com to add to Jessie's kibble and she loves it too. Your GSD is beautiful. [

]

Cazzy

Posted : 3/27/2007 7:32:47 PM

jessies-mom..Thankyou that makes sense...this supplement thing get's me so confused...So I don't think I need worry about supplement...Thanks for the complement on Kayla she's our baby

M.W.Lewis

Posted : 3/27/2007 8:49:48 PM

This is my favorite site for referring homecooking info. It sums it up in a nutshell, without too much info too soon.
I think that some people get scared when it looks too complexed. Homecooking really isn't that difficult but there are a few rules to follow:

[linkhttp://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php?PHPSESSID=1d1f34ea60d60521a6581582c4f642bd]http://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php?PHPSESSID=1d1f34ea60d60521a6581582c4f642bd[/link]

janet_rose

Posted : 3/28/2007 6:21:57 AM

[color=#000000]Some of the diet books/booklets available:

Segal, Monica[/color]
K9 Kitchen - Your Dogs' Diet: The Truth Behind the Hype, 2002
[linkhttp://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN211]www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN211[/link]

[font=verdana][size=2]Home Feeding Primer, 2004
[linkhttp://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN245]www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN245[/link]

[font=verdana][size=2]Raw Food Recipes, 2005
[linkhttp://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN228]www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN228[/link]
[/size][/font]
[font="times new roman"][size=2][font=verdana][size=2]Cooked Diet Recipes, 2005
[linkhttp://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN231]www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN231[/link]
[/size][/font][/size][/font]
[font="times new roman"][size=2][font="times new roman"][size=2][font=verdana][size=2]Balance Needs With Nutrition, 2004
[link>http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN215]www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DN215[/link][/size][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font]
[font="times new roman"][size=2][size=2][color=#000000]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[font=verdana]MacDonald, Carina Beth[/color], [color=#cc0000]Raw Dog Food: Make It Easy For You and Your Dog[/color][font=verdana], 2003
[linkhttp://tinyurl.com/7y6ro]http://tinyurl.com/7y6ro[/link]
[size=2]
Bastin & Ashton, Better Food for Dogs: A Complete Cookbook & Nutrition Guide, 10/2002
[linkhttp://tinyurl.com/3z534]http://tinyurl.com/3z534[/link]

[font=verdana]Schultze, Kymythy R[size=2]., Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Diet[font=verdana], 10/1999
[linkhttp://tinyurl.com/5qdab]http://tinyurl.com/5qdab[/link] [/font][/size][/font]

Note: The TinyUrl links are to Amazon.com and I made them myself.[/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font]