Homemade Dog Foods

i am getting a puppy chihuahua and i would like it to be a vegetarian. i also want it to be a vegetarian when it grows up too. I dont want a homemade recipe for dog food please. If you have a vegetarian recipe for dog treats that would be cool! but i just want a brand of food that is for puppy chihuahuas and another type of food that is for adult chihuahuas that is vegetarian and needs no supplements. I want it to supply all the vitamins my chihuahua will need as a puppy and an adult (all amino acids, b-12 etc) if you have a pet vegetarian chihuahua and your using a certain brand of food and your dog has no vitamin deffinciencies that would AWESOME. if you could just tell me what you used when ur dog was a puppy and what you use now and stuff. If you have a brand that is good but you need to add something to it because it lacks a certain item in it thats fine too. thanks!

My english mastiff puppy is 3 2/3 months old and only weighs 35 pounds. She is 21 inches high at midback when standing square. What is normal for her age? When I got her she was extremely small, emaciated, and very sick. She is really healthy now, and eats well, though she doesn’t like dog food so I make it homemade from meats, vegetables, fruits, some rice, eggs, and dog food incorporated. She eats really well. She is also taking puppy vitamins and bone and joint supplements.

Is she okay, should I worry? Thank you.

Please help. I am so new to this….and completely clueless.
If you feed raw, do you ever sometimes feed cooked meats during another meal time? Ie. left over chicken/turkey from your own food? What if you forget to thaw a meal out for the next day if basically what I’m asking.

What are some weight baring bones to avoid for raw meaty bones? What are some good raw meaty bones that can I buy at the grocery store? How many to give a week? Do these replace meals?

On the days that you dont give raw meaty bones, do you add eggshells for calcium?

I can’t really afford Aunt Jeni, Bravo, or Primal….so I want to try to make my own raw diet. Can someone give me the breakdown of how much a 25 lb dog needs in terms of % of muscle meat, % bone, % organs, % veggies?

Do you give one organ per day and do you vary it? Like heart today, liver tomorrow, kidney on wednesday?

Do you add eggs, cottage cheese, goat cheese, yogurt? How often? How much? Nonfat? Lowfat?

Do you feed veggies steamed, raw, raw pureed? How often?

What treats do you give?

Do you give oils? Salmon oil, cod liver, hemp, borage, flax seed, primrose?

What supplements do you give? Vitamin E, A, C?

Thanks soooooooooooo much!!! No, seriously. I am asking here because I have read so many various things that differ. My head is spinning.

When my puppy grows a little older i want to slowly switch her to homemade food, since it won’t have any chemicals or preservatives.

in her food i want to put
-eggs
-chicken
-vegetables (corn, carrots, peas)
-a little vegetable oil
-rice

does this sound good and how much of each should i put? also, will she need supplements (vitamins)?
umm im not starting my dog on raw food. everything will be cooked. no bones.
darksong- im not against raw feeding, im just not gonna do it with my dog
darksong- your right. i do need more research. that’s why i was asking this question

Why or why not?

I’m looking into supplements before I purchase my puppy, and was wondering how many of you actually feed supplements. Please tell me why you feed them or why you don’t. I would like a detailed answer =)

Oh, and what type of food do you feed? Homemade or brand food? If homemade, what recipes do you use? If brand, what brand do you buy?

Thanks!
As I stated, I don’t have my dog yet. So they’re not on a brand of food. When a puppy is 9 weeks old, switching food over slowly doesn’t affect them compared to a 6 month old dog who’s had the same food all his life.

I know there are lots of recipes. I know that raw is considered a good diet for cats and dogs, but I am not one who wants to feed my kitties raw food. I have read up on vegetarian, vegan, and regular omnivore and carnivore recipes and am overwhelmed. My one cat might have allergies, and in the next month I will be getting her onto another type of food. I am looking into Natural Balance Duck and Pea, or Venison and Pea formula. This little girl kitty is very picky about food now. She will eat some but not much without treats on top. I did not start out that way. But now, I am trying to figure out what I should do. I am interested in making a homemade diet for both of my cats, and the other one is not having a problem with the food we have.
I am thinking about making a homemade cooked diet for them both and am considering if I could do a duck or possibly venison version on my own. I wasn’t sure what other options were out there. If not, I will just be switching her over to natural balance to see if it helps.
Thanks.
I have also considered adding a powdered supplement to whatever I may make. My father is a deer hunter.
One of the powdered supplements I think was called missing link. There was another and I cannot remember the name of it. It was one to add to dry, cooked, or raw food.

Here I am with the same dogs and having more questions… thank you everyone for helping. My dog had a tumor removed almost two weeks ago, biopsy came back and it was a cancerous mast cell tumor (type II). So I have been researching and researching… I have decided to change her diet and give her what I have seen online called ‘The Dog Cancer Diet’, basically low carb, no grain, high protein and high fat… with supplements of fish oil and E.

I did try getting a good quality kibble and mixing it with the food I am cooking but she just picks around it. So I am wondering if I should instead spend money on supplements that she will actually eat (powdered that can be mixed in).

We were at the vet and got her staples removed today. The vet agreed the diet is a good idea, just said to make sure that the vitamins are BIOAVAILABLE.

Does anyone have experience with mast cell tumors? Vitamins/supplements? Homemade dog diets? Know any quality vitamins/supplements that are bioavailable?

THANKS!
Hey BLUNT FORCE… if you would have bothered to actually read my question and possibly look at my earlier questions you would have seen and maybe understood the following…

The mast cell tumor was removed

There is scientifically proven research that ‘The Dog’s Cancer Diet’ assists in the healing and decreases reoccurance rate of cancer

So bite me you smug toad!

Thanks to the others though!!!

I have been trying to formulate recipes that have the right amount of vitamins and minerals, but, like a puzzle, it’s complicated, trying to get the right amount of everything. I know that you’re supposed to add supplements if you’re giving your dog homemade food.

We currently feed our dog Science Diet,and then give him a homemade meal. But I am worried that he’s not getting all the nutrients in it. However, people have said that the dog food has extra vitamins and minerals, so he shouldn’t be lacking. But if, for example, the homemade food has too much phosphorous and little calcium, I don’t want him to end up with a deficiency. Is it true that the dog food would be enough, although it’s’ being replaced once a day with another food?

And, instead of making from scratch, can’t you just buy a can of Chef Boyardee and give that? For example, macaroni and cheese, excellent source of protein, rich in calcium. Or are there problems with this?

Thanks for any help.

My 2year old lab-pit mix is very strong, heathly, and active. She and my other dog play and run pretty hard and rough on our 100 acre farm. When the vet came to look at our horse I had her take a look at Hyla and she seems to think one of her ligaments is torn in her left knee. It has been a while since the injury I am really not sure when it happened. I have always fed her high quality dog food or homemade and supplements. Right now she is taking a glucosomine, antioxidant, and vit A & E also Omega fatty acids. I am trying to keep her a little less active. Sometimes at the end of the day she will start limping and you can palpate the knee and feel it swollen, it is starting to feel hard like bone. I guess my next step is going to be x-ray or mri to see what exactly is going on in there and if i want to go with surgery. I have been also thinking about any herbal options that may help rebuild tissues. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I am reading alot about the Barf diet and homemade dog food diets, and I would really like to try it for my 2 dachshunds, but I am not really finding much info on what to feed, how much to feed, etc. I understand that it mostly consists of raw meat and bones, but I am trying to find the best way to start. I am assuming raw as in not cooked? Can they eat raw chicken? Should you include grains like rice and veggies? How much should you feed 10-13lb dogs? Are there any supplements or special nutrients I need to add?
Any answers to these questions or links to helpful websites would be great! Also, just to note, I am a little squeamish when it comes to animal carcasses and bones, so any tips to help on that would be great too:) I am willing to do what is healthiest for my dogs though!