Homemade Dog Food

[Indydog]

I'm copying a pasting a section from the local news paper for a reciepe on homemade dog food. It sounds pretty good. Its basically meat broth, meat, rice and certain veggies. We been feed our dogs California Natural for years but its pretty costly. Is this just as nutrious as a good dog food.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

Feed Your New Pet For Less

Lori says, "What I do is boil a chicken, add enough water to make 18 cups of broth, mix it with four cups white and five cups brown rice and throw in whatever veggie I have lots of (no onion or garlic - bad for doggies). Don't want to debone? Use chicken thighs or ground beef - the rest of the recipe is the same.

 

"I boil the chicken for one and a half to two hours. I like the legs to be falling off, so that it is really easy to debone. Once the chicken is cooked, I take it out of the broth break it apart slightly, then place it under a fan to cool. Next I bring the broth to a boil and add the brown rice and carrot. When the brown rice has cooked for 25 minutes, I add the white rice. While the white rice is cooking, I debone the chicken and cut it into small, bitesize pieces.

 

"I like to time it so that the rice still has 5 minutes to go when I add the meat. That makes it easier to stir in. White rice takes about 15 minutes, so that means I add the chicken 30-35 minutes after the brown rice and 10 minutes after the white. Feel free to add a little water at the end, if the rice looks undercooked at all. Dogs can't digest undercooked rice, so better to overcook then undercook (sorry raw foodies, but dogs started hanging out with us by the fire for a reason). Once you turn off the heat, put on a lid and let it sit for at least five minutes. Then put 2 cups on a plate, let it cool about 10 minutes and serve."

 

Lori says the above recipe feeds one 50-pound dog for a week -- and costs about $8.50 per week.

 

As to why you'd go to all the trouble: "We started doing this because all the fancy diets the vet recommended cost a fortune (and didn't work). You might be able to find food that will cost less, but will you know what is in it?"

 

Lori keeps her dog food stored in a big soup pot in the fridge. Other food tips straight from Lori:

 

* Control your dogs' weight by adjusting the white rice. "Because it is more easily digested, the weight gain is directly proportional to the percentage of white rice. More white, more weight."

 

* If your dogs are active, add bacon grease to the pot.

 

* If you want an added, added bonus, reboil the bones. The broth you'll get is much better than any store bought broth.

 

"All this cooking has made me the alpha dog, hands down," Lori concluded

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dollar...3#ixzz0O17FDMD5

[Liz P]

Not balanced. It would be ok for an occasional treat, but not for long term feeding. You can pay a small fee ($25 to $75) to order diet recipes developed by vets if you want a home cooked meal for your dogs.

[agilityrunningdogs]

If you're going through all that trouble, why not just feed raw? One of the best decisions I made was when I switched Mal to raw recently. It's not that expensive at all, and it's easier than I expected. Just thaw a chicken back in the fridge the night before and drop it in his food bowl in the morning. I've also read that cooking the meat takes away key nutrients (http://www.netpets.com/dogs/reference/food/cookorraw.html).

[SoloRiver]

Um, there's no calcium source in that diet.

[diane allen]

Agreed that it is definitely not balanced, hence not a long-term solution (but for occasionally - great!).

 

I just paid a LOT more than $25 to $75 for formulated diet for my older dog with liver issues - amazing what I've learned. I'd go for the "better" formulation - it isn't particularly difficult, since I've been feeding raw for years (not bones, necks, etc. for a variety of reasons), but I found out that what I'd been doing probably isn't all that great. More research is in order here...

 

diane

[Liz P]

Agreed that it is definitely not balanced, hence not a long-term solution (but for occasionally - great!).

 

I just paid a LOT more than $25 to $75 for formulated diet for my older dog with liver issues - amazing what I've learned. I'd go for the "better" formulation - it isn't particularly difficult, since I've been feeding raw for years (not bones, necks, etc. for a variety of reasons), but I found out that what I'd been doing probably isn't all that great. More research is in order here...

 

diane

 

Sounds like you paid for a nutrition consult, which is very different and much more expensive. There are companies you can pay to have a vet formulate a diet for HEALTHY dogs. They have computer systems with data entered for nutritional content. They have a wide variety of diet mixes already figured out (types of protein, carbs, fruits, veges in the correct ratios). You provide them with information about breed, weight, age, activity level, personal preferences and any food intolerances and they send you the matching diet recipes.

[Indydog]

Um, there's no calcium source in that diet.

 

 

the bones of whatever meat you are using?

[juliepoudrier]

If the chicken is being deboned, then the bones aren't in the diet and therefore aren't a source of calcium.

 

J.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

A very small amount of calcium will end up in the water (soaked into the rice) but not nearly enough to provide balance for the meat. Calcium is a particularly important one - if you get that right, most healthy dogs will do just fine on a diet like this. Especially if they've been on a commercial diet for a few years prior. This is the way lap dogs were fed since lap dogs were invented.

 

But you have to provide calcium. One easy way is to stick an egg in the blender complete with shell - WHIRRRRRR! and add it to your mix. One egg per pound of meat. You'll also get lecithin, choline, and biotin with the egg - all low in most unsupplemented home prepared diets.

 

Chicken is super low in zinc and copper, so for active, medium to large sized dogs, red meat is way better for long term feeding. Beef heart offers the most balanced minerals - when I fed Ben only red meat (with some pork), I only had to supplement a teeny bit of zinc, and choline - the zinc because I'm anal and he had a terrible immune system, and choline because there really isn't any good animal source for choline. I'm now being careful of zinc because I'm raising possible future breeders. Zinc levels affect fertility and thyroid function.

 

But if you feed one canned oyster per week, that's plenty of zinc for a medium sized, healthy dog of average activity level.

 

And it's a good idea to supplement omega-3 fatty acids, no matter what diet approach you use, as meat today is terribly unbalanced in n-3s no matter where you get it.

[Brad]

I would skip cooking the chicken and removing bones. And skip the rice and veggies part. Supplement with various cuts of red meat and organ meat, some fish and raw eggs.

[MaryP]

I agree. This would not be a good diet to feed other than for an occasional special meal.

 

And what's with this statement?

 

Dogs can't digest undercooked rice, so better to overcook then undercook (sorry raw foodies, but dogs started hanging out with us by the fire for a reason).

 

I don't know any raw feeders who suggest that dogs should be fed uncooked white rice. Strange.

 

Also, is there a website somewhere where I could find a vet who will formulate a homemade diet? I have a friend who would be very interested in this.

[Lenajo]

Not the best long term diet for sure , but I daresay that diet is much better than what a lot of the furkids (the 10 lb or less foo foo version) is getting in a lot of homes now.

 

That would be a supplemental diet I might suggest as a topper for a quality kibble if someone wants to cook...but isn't interested in figuring out a reasonable balance. Or you could direct them to Pitcairn DVM recipe.

 

I don't think it takes a nutritionist or a vet to figure out a balanced diet though. Anymore than it takes a nutritionist or a doc to figure out how to feed a human. (I didn't say make them eat it, nobody has control over that. Butt I think most people do know what a healthy food looks like even if they refuse it in favor of sugar or saturated fat).

 

Ime with normal dogs, a diet based on the components of a canine's typical prey animal (meat -mostly red- with some bone and organ) , with some addition of safe tables scraps and a little processed (ground or cooked) veg. matter is more than adequete. Numerous books, including several by vets, exist on how to do with it with suggested recipes as well.

[bc friend]

My vet recommended a homemade diet after Sara's liver surgery - primarily to make sure that she was receiving a good quality of food which was more easily digestible. I fix lots of stews for her using different food sources depending on what is on sale and in season - meat, poultry, fish, veggies, pasta/rice/potatoes, whole eggs, etc. I usually add a spoon of cottage cheese, yogurt or sour cream (whatever I have handy) to one of her meals daily. She also gets fresh fruit and veggies as treats (and to help clean teeth) - usually whatever is in season - and she takes a daily vitamin. For an old dog who is more sedentary, this diet has worked fine - good weight, shiny coat, etc.

[Root Beer]

My dogs like sitting by the fire and eating raw food. But no raw rice - blech!

[BustopherJones]

Bustopher Jones' recipe for homemade dog food:

- 3/4 cup kibble #1

- 3/4 cup kibble #2

- 1/4 can moist food (if chicken or steak available, substitute in lieu of moist food; a little spaghetti is also acceptable)

- Smidge of low-sodium beef or chicken broth, mixed with a little warm water.

Dump into dog dish, stir, top off with love, and serve.

[diane allen]

I'm with BC friend - I have a dog with (relatively minor) liver issues, and formulating a homemade diet is critical, IMO, to her continued good health. She's doing GREAT after major surgery (but NO cancer - yippeee!), but I just wasn't confident - even after feeding raw (no bones) for many years - that I could balance the protein, fat, copper, zinc, etc. for this "special needs." I consulted with Dr. Susan Wynn, who is with Georgia Veterinary Specialists in Sandy Springs, GA. I really like how she does it (based on what you can or will do, as well as the dog's needs), and have had some great e-mails back and forth. I wasn't 100% convinced about everything she recommended at first - but am now "bought in" and am considering having her do one for my young, healthy dog - just as confirmation that what I'm doing IS good.

 

I've done a LOT of reading on homemade diets - and frankly, suspect there are at least as many opinions about what is "right" as there are people doing it - or even considering it. I think one of the most important things is VARIETY. Feeding ALL beef, or all rice, or whatever just isn't healthy. If you could devise the single most healthy meal for a human to eat - without supplements - you probably couldn't get everything you need in that one recipe. So why should dogs be different? (and I really really don't mean to open up the "but they're just like wolves" discussion....so let's not!)

 

Your mileage may vary.....

 

diane

[Dixie_Girl]

My dogs get Purina One Lamb and Rice. Everyday for the last 5 yrs. They also get raw meat, organs, one or two bites of what I am eating on occasion. Whatever left over food DH comes home with. And milk bones once a week or less. So far the complaint box is still empty.