# is this a good homemade recipe?



## PR Punk Skater (Dec 29, 2011)

can i feed my 3-1/2 dog a home made recipe
chicken breast
salmon
carrots
fish oil

its that a good diet? i also can find cow tongue and liver


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

You just want to make sure that it's balanced. What kind of diet are you going for? BARF? Most of us who feed homemade here feed a Prey Model Raw diet; where we feed 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ. (There's lots of stickies that can help a first-timer in the Raw section of the Nutrition forum.) Unless pureed, a dog can't break down a carrot enough to get any nutrients from it. Their bodies are carnivorous and can't process vegetables. 
Chicken breast, salmon, and fish oil are great components of a raw diet (if cooked, they would lose their nutrients) however it's important that it's BALANCED PROPERLY over time. The cow tongue would count as a muscle meat too; and would be great. The liver is great also for organ meat but only makes up a small portion. 

It sounds like the only thing you're missing is bone content; and another organ such as kidney. But again, it's crucial that you have the right ratios of 80/10/10 for the dog to benefit from the diet. 

But yes, in short you CAN feed a dog a home made recipe.. that INCLUDES the things you mentioned. Check out the stickies on raw feeding, I think you'll find them very helpful! A lot of us "started" feeding raw on here and you can follow a lot of our stories in the threads as well. Carrots can be given as low-calorie treats (especially frozen, takes longer for them to chew) but they won't really get anything else from them.


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## PR Punk Skater (Dec 29, 2011)

thanks a lot, i would definitely keep reading, i just want to make sure that i know as much as possible before trying to feed her raw or "prey model"
i was just thinking of chopping it all in fine pieces, and feeding it to her, but ill keep researching


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

PR Punk Skater said:


> can i feed my 3-1/2 dog a home made recipe
> chicken breast
> salmon
> carrots
> ...


Depends on whether it's raw or cooked. If you are interested in feeding raw, you would start with bone-in chicken ONLY for a few weeks, then gradually add in other proteins and organs would be added last. NO carrots. You would want to aim for mostly meat, a little bone, a smidge or organ. Most of the meat you feed should be red meats such as beef or pork.

If you want to feed home cooked, you'd have to add supplements, the most important being CALCIUM. A diet without a calcium source would be disastrous for your dog and could cause all kinds of problems. Additional vitamins/minerals would be added in as supplements if you are cooking the food.

If you are dedicated to learning and doing your research, then it is possible to cook for your dog. If you aren't willing to invest the time and effort though, you would be better off with a commercial diet. Cooking for your dog is time consuming and takes a lot of knowledge/research. You can't just throw together some meat and veggies and call it good. You could HARM your dog by doing that. A raw diet is easier and I feel that it's more in line with what dogs need and thrive on. But a raw diet is NOT for everyone. Again, it requires dedication to keep the diet balanced.

If you are truly interested in a 'recipe' then I think you are looking mainly at home cooking. Here's a decent place to start learning about how to home cook for your dog ....

DogAware.com Articles: Introduction to Homemade Diets for Dogs


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