Homemade Dog Foods

i bought this cookbook for making food for dogs and I made one recipe out of it. I served it to all 3 dogs and put some of their dry food in with it. The all ate it and didn’t even bug the other dogs when they were done eating.
the books got are by Donna twitchell Roberts -The good food cookbook for dogs
and Ingeborg Pils- Cooking for your dog
How d I know if its balanced?

I went away on vacation for 3 weeks this summer and left my 10 month beagle with my dad, and brother. While I was gone, they fed him all sorts of new foods. Every day they mixed in a sardine to his dry food. On a couple of occasions, my dad gave him homemade chicken gravy and rice. Once I got home I immediately said this is going to stop because he gains weight really fast and nobody in the family takes him for walks or runs except me. I put him back onto Royal Canin, dry puppy food. Now he wont eat any of his dry food! All he does is sniff it and walk away.

My friend said I should leave the dry food out for 20 minutes or so and if he doesn’t eat it, take it away and try again for 20 minutes, an hour later. If he still doesn’t eat, take it away until next mealtime. I tried this, and its been 2 days of him not eating at all, when he used to eat every morning and night.

What can I do to get him to eat? I’m nervous that he’ll get sick if he doesn’t eat.

Ok so my pupp is 10 weeks old and ishe had parasites about a week ago. All this time she has had antibiotics for it and. I don’t think that she should still be so sleepy anymore. She has been laying on the couch all day sleeping. I took her outside and she layed down on the grass. This is only for 1 day, though. Other then that she has been an active little pooch. And if you could, thell me your opinions about dry food store bough for dogs or homemade?

OK so my mom and i keep fighting over the fact that my mom thinks wet/homemade food is better. She says well i make it fresh ur saying fresh chicken and vegetables are not good?! and i say. I’m not saying that i’m saying that wet food is not good because it rots their teeth. Dry food has the same (I have Innova dog food) chicken, vegetables and all that other stuff. Plus, dry food is better for their teeth! My mom thinks dry food is bad so she never gives it to them. When i tell her that its better she will say, "well why is it that wen i give it to them they never eat it." i say back, "its because you got them hooked on this wet food and homemade crap!" I give up on feeding them because she is always switching their food. I like feeding them dry because it is simple and i don’t have to always get worried about going to the grocery store and having to buy all the vegetables and chicken to make their food. So in conclusion, is dry food better than Homemade/ any wet food?
BTW, the homemade food my mom makes is like a soup with just chicken and vegetables, something us humans can eat. but yea is dry food better than wet/homemade food? thanks for the help

I have started incorporating homemade dog food into some dry kibble. I use a cup of salmon and sweet potatoes plus a cup of dry food. Is that too little? The charts say 3 1/2 cups for a 60lb dog. But, that is standard commercial food. Mine has no filler…. so???
PS… The dogs are not loosing weight. Even though they need to loose some weight.

My mom keeps thinking that wet food is oh so good for the puppies, I keep telling her they should eat dry food because its way better and your just wasting your money on wet food all the time. She will make an excuse for the puppies saying….ooh their too young its way to hard for them. Then i tell her, well soak it in something like warm water or formula. But whatever i tell my mom i always seem to be wrong. I tell her wet food is bad because its horrible for their teeth, dry food is better and is more healthier (i feed my dogs Innova). but she think wet food and homemade food is better. SO! how to i get my puppies to start eating dry food, because they are hooked on this wet food stuff from Natural Life and i really want to get them to eat their dry food and i hope to my mom will not sneak them wet food, well thanks for the help

Ok here’s the situation. I have four healthy, happy Lab puppies. Three of them are 8 months old and the other is 6 1/2 months old. All of them are right about 50-60 lbs. and not too fat. They were quite overweight about 3 months ago but we have increased their exercise and cut their food intake a bit. We had been feeding them according to the bag guidelines which I think was too much. Now they get about a cup three times a day of Iams Smart Puppy Large Breed dry food, and they gets carrots, apples or bananas for treats. They are looking healthy and happy but seem hungry between feedings. Could it be they are going through a growth spurt or do they really need more food? Is there something like rice or canned vegetables that I can add to their food to help it hold them over longer? Don’t get me wrong… I will do whatever is best for my dogs, I just don’t want them to become overweight. If that means more food or a more expensive (better) brand, I will gladly pay the money. I just thought maybe there was a less expensive, homemade solution. Please let me know what you think.

Thank you all… what food would you recommend? The Iams was recommended because we were told to avoid the pups gaining too much too quickly, and the large breed formulas were supposed to help control that. Also, I heard that as a guideline whatever your dog eats in five minutes is what you should feed them.. for example, if you put their food down and its not gone in five minutes, you are overfeeding them. Does that sound about right to you? They definitely eat what is in their bowl and are ready for feeding time. Another question, I heard Labs should be on puppy food until they are 2 years old. Any thougts?

Hi all,
I have recently learn about what goes into commercial dog foods, and after a ton of research I decided to feed my dog (Sammie) Before Grain. It is the best I can afford. However I am still curious about homemade or home prepared food/diets. I can’t find a lot of research on them. I find a bunch of websites that are by bet owners, but nothing really credible. My questions are; Is it cheaper to feed a good quality dog food or to prepare his food my self? Sammie is a miniature schnauzer by that way. Also witch is better/more nutritious for my dog.
Any info would be great. Like; web site ect.
Me and my little Sammie dog both really appreciate it.
Hum, I think some of you are misunderstanding my question. I am not just looking for the cheapest way to feed my dog, I have don’t a lot of research on dog foods so I know what kind of crap goes into them. Thats why I feed him Before Grain by Merrick (spl). But even a good quality dry food is still left to sit in wear houses and such (I imagine it also gets old eating the same thing every day). Also I wasn’t intending on just fixing him a pizza I want info on proper doggy nutrition so I can prepare him the healthiest food posable, raw or other wise. I hope that cleared things up a little bit. Thats to all that answered anyway.

I’ve read up on veterinary articles and journals that I can access at my university & databases, as well as what people and sites have been posting about Raw food diets. There have been tests done on cats (mainly fecal test) showing a great percentage of salmonella and other bacteria found in cats and dogs that are fed raw. Therefore, I’m still making my cat food at home but opting to cook the outside of meats.

I’ve been reading a lot about these "life enzymes" that have been thrown out there without further clarifications and heard of cats who lived to their 20s eating just dry food.

My kitten has IBD so I’m going to make "homemade" COOKED food for him. The study used as proof that COOKED food is bad was done when taurine was not known thus the cats that were on cooked food eventually exhibit signs of lacking taurine in today’s knowledge.

I want more information and experience on raw food/ semi-raw/ cooked diets that you can give me or like to share/comment.

Thanks

Ok, so im a HUGE endorser of holistic natural human grade dog food and would never feed my dog anything from Petsmart/Petco like Iams, Science Diet, Purina, etc. But my little Jack Russell Chihuahua is picky and tends to stay away from the dry food. I feed her wet in the morning, either canned or homemade, and dry the rest of the day. Shell eat the wet right away, but leave the dry, so my vet said to leave it out and let her pick at it. Ive tried Innova, Wellness, and a couple other dry, but she has to be starving to eat it. Right now I have Orijen in the bowl and shes eaten a couple pieces, but I want her to eat consistently. And since she eats it throughout the day, I cant wet it or put gravy on it because it will go bad. What can I do? The only two dry she hasnt tried are Canidae and Merrick… are they appealing to your dogs? Or do you have any other suggestions as to how to get her to eat dry. Ive heard about adding yogurt but her food already has probiotics in it… I dont know..