Not sure how to title this.....=P

Casey gets carrots and other veggies/fruits as treats. NO GRAPES - they are toxic. We don't use store bought treats here - only some for foster puppies during housetraining.

I add yogurt, fish oil or egg to his dinner if I'm not adding canned. He also gets 'table scraps' that are without seasonings - meats and things. I boil his egg in a little water, so the white is slightly cooked - but the yoke is still runny. He LOVES this. I don't feed the shell - but you can just crumple it on top.

We tried raw bones once, but I was really grossed out by it, and he didn't really get into it. Maybe we'll try them again, maybe not....

I don't know about hunting in NC but I know a little about hunting in TX and OK. In OK, the deer are running free and the herds are overpopulated, thanks to excellent conservation by hunters and OK Game and Wildlife. The bag limit has been raised on does. You can hunt 6 does and 2 bucks. In the northern counties bordering Kansas, you can hunt another doe during the holidays and it doesn't count on your bag limit or hunting ticket. Point being, if you can go to a place that renders deer meat from hunters, you are likely to find meat cuts they may not want. Deer meat, especially the free range that my friend hunts (he has a lifetime hunting license in OK) is lean and dense. An excellent meat source. Get it ground up or diced for stew. If you have friends that hunt, see if you can get the organ meat. You might have to fight them for backstrap but some good venison cuts can be had and you can cook that a hundred ways or chili-grind it.

Sweet potatos are a good source of carbs and assorted proteins if you want to stay away from grains. If you want to use grains, rice is usually a good bet. You also want to get a supplement package. Calcium needs to be in the food to facilitate the digestion of phosphorous.

Actually, if you look around this section for threads on homecooked and raw feeding, you find lots of valuable information. Becca (Brookscove) is quite an excellent source of info, especially since she feeds and trains actual working dogs. She has spreadsheets and all kinds of stuff and practical pointers, but really everyone here has a pretty good handle on it.

Me, I don't know a lot, but I know which direction to point at.

 I rinse out the egg shells, dry them on the window sill, and grind them in a (not used for coffee) coffee grinder. That's calcium carbonate powder, and it's fairly digestible. If you crumble it, you will see some out the other end. Powdering makes it a bit more digestible.

My dogs get anything they tolerate, literally. If it doesn't make them itch or sick, and it isn't toxic, I'll feed it to them. I've always been like that, with my dogs, and I've never had a dog with a really touchy tummy. Emma is the exception, due to medical issues, but IF she tolerates the food, she can eat "anything". She eats jalapenos and bacon, with no issues. Give her a smidge of chicken or cheese, and you're done for, LOL. That's the "irritable bowel like tendency" as the vet calls it... It's food intolerance, but as far as fat and seasoning, they do just fine.

I didn't get this in my previous post but here's a good place to start about making the change to homecooked.

http://community.dog.com/forums/t/86909.aspx

ron2

I don't know about hunting in NC but I know a little about hunting in TX and OK. In OK, the deer are running free and the herds are overpopulated, thanks to excellent conservation by hunters and OK Game and Wildlife. The bag limit has been raised on does. You can hunt 6 does and 2 bucks. In the northern counties bordering Kansas, you can hunt another doe during the holidays and it doesn't count on your bag limit or hunting ticket. Point being, if you can go to a place that renders deer meat from hunters, you are likely to find meat cuts they may not want. Deer meat, especially the free range that my friend hunts (he has a lifetime hunting license in OK) is lean and dense. An excellent meat source. Get it ground up or diced for stew. If you have friends that hunt, see if you can get the organ meat. You might have to fight them for backstrap but some good venison cuts can be had and you can cook that a hundred ways or chili-grind it.

Jeremy's family are really into deer hunting (he used to be, but stopped due to work). Anyway, when we visited this summer they gave Apollo some organ meat and he LOVED it!

Most people around here cut they're own meats....unless they are send off to be mounted. They the meat is sent back, and the deer head later. I don't know who the nearest taxidermist(sp?) is anyway.....Thanks for the link!

My Mom JUST filleted a flounder.....anything I can do with the bone/tail?

I'm suprised.....she actually WANTS to feed them good stuff....

I think fish bones are on the list of NOs due to their chocking/perforing potential.

Let the remains of the flounders rest in peace, says I (unless, of course, I am way off course).

Are you trying to go to all home-cooked or just investigating safe add-ons ?

Add-ons....I cant go fully home cooked right now

I've got the fish heads in a pot boiling, with some guts, liver, heart, ect. What should I do? Or do I throw it out?

I'm so confused.....

 Toss in a cup of rice, grind it up in the food processor and top your dogs food with it silly!  Oh and get a nose plug!

huskymom

Oh and get a nose plug!

I make DH grill the fish that someone gives us - OUTSIDE on the BBQ

 Ben gets...

Raw eggs (I know many people don't agree with this, that's OK).  Shell and everything, he just crunches them up,  He also loves scrambled eggs.

Fruit:  apples, bananas, any kind of berry (blueberries are a particular favourite), pears...whatever I have except grapes.

Veggies: raw peppers, cooked green beans, raw or cooked carrots, peas...again whatever I have really, we almost always make too many veggies with dinner and he happily eats the surplus.

Fish scraps, either from whole fish or the skin from fillets.  

Any leftover meats that have been cooked in or with things that are safe for him.  About half the time I roast a chicken I do so without onions in the pan so that he can have some.  

Tinned sardines in olive oil, tinned salmon, anchovies.  

Greek yogurt, cottage cheese.

Any grated cheese left over if I'm making a dish that requires it.  

huskymom

 Toss in a cup of rice, grind it up in the food processor and top your dogs food with it silly!  Oh and get a nose plug!

EEEEEW!!! Ok, I love my dog, but I already smell nasty fishy smells, I couldn't handle seeing fish guts in a food processor.....eeeeew!

gag, me either!   I don't even like the smell of canned fish cat foods!