# Considering home cooking



## EmberLuvu (Oct 24, 2011)

So mom and I finally agreed to go to Tractor Supply sometime this week and were discussing dog food issues when something hit me. She doesn't care about the quality, I do, if I complain about it she gets mad and it gave me an idea.

Home cooking.
We would KNOW what's going in it so I wouldn't have to be so "Flip the bag over and let me read before that even touches the cart" to mom, and she wouldn't have to hear my complaining constantly.

She said she would CONSIDER it however most likely she would just go with kibble (I'm hoping for Taste of the Wild or something for when we go to TS) but there is still a chance. We home cooked for Max, but she doesn't seem to want to do that anymore.

Anyone know about home cooking?


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## theshanman97 (Feb 19, 2012)

well i have home cooked for mine like bits of chicken , rice , veg ect. , sorry i cant help much! hope someone else can! good luck! x


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## Charlotte~ (Apr 5, 2011)

I would like to know this too. I would home cook for Daisy if I knew how much of everything she should have.


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## jesuschick (Dec 5, 2010)

It can certainly be done but I would not suggest that it is easy.

I cooked for our boy after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Because he was to have low protein, I included whole oats and brown rice. Vegetables need to be pureed to be absorbed properly. I added spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes and organic/natural apple sauce that I pureed with an immersion blender.

Cooking (any processing, really) will take nutrients from the food so I would also add supplements.

There are some great sources online (and I think a recent thread here by lynx, I think) for recipes. It is not just about filling them up, nutritional balance is critical. 

Especially in our little ones, balance being thrown off can be a problem. We have seen some posts where dogs were fed human foods and now are suffering with nutritional imbalance that has caused some very serious medical issues.


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

It's actually harder to give a dog a home COOKED diet than a raw diet. Because, like Karen said, cooking destroys the nutrients. So you'll end up having to spend more on supplements, vitamins, etc. as they won't get enough from the cooked food. Not to say it can't be done; but it would be more expensive than prey model raw, where the most you'd want to add is fish oil for Omega-3's.


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## Jennmay (Dec 31, 2011)

I think home cooking would cost more than feeding a good 5/6 star kibble really.


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## lynx8456 (Feb 26, 2009)

It was me who posted that info. I do a mix of homecooking (for all 3 of my dogs), a mix of holistic kibble (for my 2 boys) and raw. I posted this a few weeks ago with basics for homemade treats, meals, quality kibbles, and raw feeding. There are recipes, links to websites and tips. You will want to expand your research and find what works for your dogs as far as their likes, dislikes, and most of all nutritional needs. PM me if you have any questions I can help you with.

http://www.chihuahua-people.com/chi...-treats-meals-some-raw-info-meals-treats.html


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

I home cooked for Lulu back in January for a short time. She developed an alergy to chicken, and she put on alot of weight and was always hungry--I could never get her satisfied and I fed her boiled chicken, brown rice, carrots, green beans. I saw a video on dogfoodadvisor I think it was Dr. Becker that gave the 12 ways to feed a dog from best to worst, and homecooking done incorrectly was the WORST. You can do serious damage to your dog. I also read that someone had homecooked for their dog for an extended time and the dog's bones became so bad that it's jaw broke just from chewing. People do it and there are recipes, but I personally was too scared to try it myself.


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## lynx8456 (Feb 26, 2009)

lulu'smom you are very right about watching out for bone health among other things. Finding the right nutritional balance can be very difficult. Knowing that cooking food can cook out many of the nutrients I do use some raw (meats , fruits and veggies) with their meals and for snacks, they do get a vitamin supplement and for my younger boys they get a 1/4 cup of holistic food with their meals. Age plays a big factor in home cooking to...nutritional needs change with age so you have to keep on top of what you are giving your dogs at all times. My dogs are 1yr, 3 1/3 yrs and 12 yrs old so each one gets a different meal.  I can tell you that once you figure it all out it can be well worth it. Our dogs have excellent blood work every time they go to the vets for their check-ups!


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

lynx8456 said:


> lulu'smom you are very right about watching out for bone health among other things. Finding the right nutritional balance can be very difficult. Knowing that cooking food can cook out many of the nutrients I do use some raw (meats , fruits and veggies) with their meals and for snacks, they do get a vitamin supplement and for my younger boys they get a 1/4 cup of holistic food with their meals. Age plays a big factor in home cooking to...nutritional needs change with age so you have to keep on top of what you are giving your dogs at all times. My dogs are 1yr, 3 1/3 yrs and 12 yrs old so each one gets a different meal.  I can tell you that once you figure it all out it can be well worth it. Our dogs have excellent blood work every time they go to the vets for their check-ups!


I read your post and it sounded like you know exactly what you are doing! I know me well enough to know I was feeding Science Diet last June thinking I was feeding her the best food available (gag!!!!). I have too much to learn to do homemade, but now I am feeding ZP with raw green beans, blueberries and she gets treats of frozen broccoli which she eats like popcicles, carrots, apples slices so I am doing better I think.


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

I agree with Kat, Raw would be easier than home cooked. I suppliment mine with ZP so I don't have to worry about getting the ratios just right (and because I did everything short of shoving it down her throat to get Chloe to eat organs and she just wouldn't do it). Yes ZP is super expensive but the 5kg bag I got for $150 looks like lasting me 4 months for both my dogs so for a single dog it would work out at under $20 per month. Because raw is so cheap it lowers the total food bill considerably, i've worked out my cost to be under $1 per day per dog feeding this way.

If you don't want to go ZP even a really good kibble in the AM and raw at night would be a great option.


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## MollyM (Apr 27, 2012)

I have three chihuahuas and they are all picky eaters. My youngest blew up like a balloon after her spaying so I have to be careful as to the portions that she eats. I've tried Wellness, Nutro, Blue Buffallo. They eat only when they're starving. I used to put garlic powder and warm water on their food and they liked that - but I read that garlic powder wasn't good for chihuahuas. I don't know what to do. I don't feed them table scraps . . . my vet said not to. They do love their Wellness treats - but they got sick of the dog food and stopped eating so I've been changing constantly trying to keep their palates interested and it's not working. They will literally eat ANYTHING except their dog food. Help!!


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

MollyM said:


> I have three chihuahuas and they are all picky eaters. My youngest blew up like a balloon after her spaying so I have to be careful as to the portions that she eats. I've tried Wellness, Nutro, Blue Buffallo. They eat only when they're starving. I used to put garlic powder and warm water on their food and they liked that - but I read that garlic powder wasn't good for chihuahuas. I don't know what to do. I don't feed them table scraps . . . my vet said not to. They do love their Wellness treats - but they got sick of the dog food and stopped eating so I've been changing constantly trying to keep their palates interested and it's not working. They will literally eat ANYTHING except their dog food. Help!!


Pick one dog food and don't change it. Don't give them anything else until they are constantly eating their dog food... Changing the food constantly will make them even pickier. 


To the OP: I would go with the best kibble your mom would let you buy. I think it would be hard to do home cooking the right way, especially if you have to convince your mom to buy the supplements, etc. that you need.


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