Cooking instead of kibble

Are you interested in cooking or going raw?

I started out cooking several months back; after spending a Saturday every weekend deboning 20# of chicken for the following week....I started weaning them onto raw.

I use Honest Kitchen Preference as a premix, as you absolutely HAVE to have a form of calcium to go with the phosphorus that's in the meat.

I rotate my meats though; they had chicken for the longest time, then I switched them to ground turkey mixed with a whole turkey bird for at least a good month; on several occasions for a month, they'll get ground beef and beef heart as well.

They're starting back on chicken this week.

 Just cooking for right now I don't eat meat personally so I don't know what kinds of meat would be good for the dogs little clueless on that part.

Basically any kind of meat is acceptable; mostly based on what your dogs do best on.

you need to do some research about how to get the correct nutrients into your cooked diets. People who home-cook without doing research generally end up with malnourished dogs because they don't put in sources of important minerals like calcium.

mudpuppy

you need to do some research about how to get the correct nutrients into your cooked diets. People who home-cook without doing research generally end up with malnourished dogs because they don't put in sources of important minerals like calcium.

 mudpuppy's right. Monica Segal formulates balanced diets for clients and also has a booklet with cooked diets that only costs $6.95; 

 http://www.monicasegal.com/catalog/product.php?cPath=25_26&products_id=87;

Cooked Diet Recipes 2nd Edition
Description: Cooked Diet Recipes 2nd Edition by Monica Segal, AHCW Whether you're already feeding a cooked diet to your adult dog or want to start, this booklet is the guide you've been waiting for. Explanations and nineteen recipes, one for every five pounds of body weight (starting at 15 pds and up to 100 pds) provide a step by step program that results in balanced nutrition. Each diet plan is formulated to meet new NRC 2006 recommended allowances and shows protein, carbohydrate and fat as percentages of kilocalories.

I had issues with Monicas booklet. I mean, yes, NRC balanced and there's a bunch of recipes in them, but say you have a 25lb dog- there's one recipe in there and no way to modify it if your dog needs a different protein or carb source. And no explanation as to how to alter them without causing imbalances.

I have cooked in the past and plan to as soon as my last bit of PetGuard is gone.  I use sojos premix with beef, chicken, turkey or salmon.  Their bloodwork every year was fantastic when they were on it.   I also add steamed/mashed veggies and "sometimes" like eggs, yogurt, herbs, etc.

I would encourage anyone to start with a recipe and go from there.  Honestly, it hardly matters where you get the recipe.  The thing is, if you are a total novice, as you use one and then another, and then another recipe, you'll see things they have in common - you'll start reading and participating in communities where nutrition is discussed and you'll start getting a notion of what the basics are.

After a while, most likely you'll look for ways to fine tune what you do - whether you go for a "prey model" type of lassez faire approach, or whether you start seeking the golden ideal of "optimum nutrition" - or something in between as most of us do - the point is to have some kind of basis for what you do because eventually you do have to deal with some of the nutrtional basics.  It's just not necessary to become an instant expert before you can start experimenting.

Good luck!

 

I had issues with Monicas booklet. I mean, yes, NRC balanced and there's a bunch of recipes in them, but say you have a 25lb dog- there's one recipe in there and no way to modify it if your dog needs a different protein or carb source. And no explanation as to how to alter them without causing imbalances.

well, she is trying to make a living, which isn't going to happen off a $6 booklet but might off a $$$ personal consultation. Her recipes in those booklets are a good starting point for the newbie though.

Well, truthfully you are right MP but also don't forget that using the NRC model you CAN'T provide a single recipe that will work for every dog or even most dogs.  Single recipes work best for small dogs - there's less difference between an eight pound dog and a 14 pound dog, than there is between a 35 pound dog and a 50 pound dog.