# Home-made Dog Food



## Daisy0

I am looking for recipes on home made dog food- something which incorporates meat (cooked or raw?), some veges and small amount of carbs (rice or oats?). Looking for both puppy and adult chihuahua food recipes that are tried and tested  Thanks for your help!


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## Brodysmom

I feed prey model and can help you if you decide you want to do a raw diet. There are many others here who also feed raw.

If you decide to home cook, you have to be VERY careful to balance the recipe. Cooking depletes nutrients. That is why kibble has a whole list of vitamins/minerals that have to be added back in when the food is processed. The calcium and phosphorus ratio is extremely important to get correct when you are creating a recipe of home cooked. I can't over stress how vital it is to be SURE you have met all the nutritional requirements when cooking meals. You can't feed cooked bones, so if you are home cooking - you will need a supplement for calcium.

Dogs don't have amylase in their saliva. Therefore they can't break down the outer walls of fruits and veggies. These foods are not species appropriate for a carnivore. Neither are grains. However, you CAN incorporate them into a recipe if you cook them into a mush and blend the veggies into liquid. That is the only way that they will absorb in a dog's system. Otherwise they just pass on through and the dog gets no benefit.

If you are interested in learning more, I'd point you to this site to read through first .....

DogAware.com: Homemade Diets for Dogs

Lew Olsen has a good book on creating homemade dog food. That would be a good place to start.

Once you have created a cooked food recipe that you think may meet your dogs needs, you can plug into this formula and see if it meets all the guidelines necessary for a dogs nutritional profile ....

Balancing the Diet in 21 Easy Steps - Home Prepared Food & Recipes Forum


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## Natti

I would suggest reading up on Prey Model - Its a complete balanced diet you can make at home. Carnivores have no use for veggies or carbs in their diet, but they also cannot be digested! They are just used as a cheap filler in kibble, and are of very little to no nutritional value to a dog


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## Ava

I follow the recipes in Dr Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. It's available on Amazon. I bought a bunch of baby food storage containers. I make about two weeks of food at a time. I measure it out and store the individual containers in the fridge, with extras in the freezer. After following this approach to feeding, my dogs have:


better coats, don't have itchy skin
lost that offensive doggie smell
no longer have a chronic ear infection
don't get impacted anal glands anymore
stopped obsessively licking their paws
lost weight
ended weekly vomiting
my greyhound has put back on needed weight and has reduced her arthritis symptoms


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## lynx8456

The site Tracy recommended is the site I started with to:
DogAware.com Articles: Homemade Cooked Diets for Dogs

I have 3 dogs: 9 months,2.5yrs old and over weight, and 12yrs old and cancer survivor: so each dog has a special diet. I do mix Raw with home cooking for each one of them. It takes commitment to do this so make sure that is something you are ready for. 

I have found a well balanced mix of cooked and raw meats, salmon 3x's a week, scrambled eggs, low fat cheeses, sweet potatoes, and veggies make my pups very happy and according to the vet, they are very healthy. As for the over weight issue with my 2 1/2 yr old we have modified his diet to entirely low fat & smaller portions which has resulted in a 3lb loss finally (at last weigh in)>>>he still has about 6-8lbs to go. 

Blood work on all 3 dogs in the last few months shows all their levels are excellent and all of their organs are functioning well. I do use a vitamin supplement for our 12yr old due to some health issues (recommended by our vet after the dog's cancer to help her immune system) and we use a gluscosamine/chrondrotin 500mg supplement for some minor leg issues. As for calcium we use cheese in their diet, vanilla low fat yogurt, and ground up egg shells in their food once in a while. Ground to a fine powder the dogs don't even notice them . 

Snacks include a mix of raw veggies,fruits in small amounts and raw stew beef or cheese. 

The biggest things I have learned through trial and error where diets for my dogs are concerned is taking what you read on different sites, advice from the great people here and talks with our vet>>>then finding a diet that works for your dogs. (Good blood work,healthy weight, good pottys,nice coats,no allergy issues, excellent energy levels and over all a very happy pet).


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## Brodysmom

Dr Pitcairn has a very good book. He does incorporate his "healthy powder" which is full of vitamins/minerals and an essential additive to a cooked diet. 

Dr. Pitcairn's Healthy Powder 

2 cups nutritional yeast 
1 cup lecithin granules 
1/4 cup kelp powder 
1/4 cup bone meal (or 9.000 milligrams calcium or 5 teaspoons eggshell powder) 
1,000 milligrams vitamin C (ground) or 1/4 teaspoon sodium ascorbate 

Mix all ingredients together in a 1 quart container and refrigerate. You may also add this mixture to commercial food as follows: 1 to 2 teaspoons per day.

There are some recipes here that incorporate his recipes. 

Housepet Magazine - Dog food recipes

*I would caution anyone using a homemade diet to be sure and recognize that supplements are NECESSARY with a cooked diet and not just optional. *


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## lynx8456

Brodysmom said:


> *I would caution anyone using a homemade diet to be sure and recognize that supplements are NECESSARY with a cooked diet and not just optional. *


I don't disagree with this, but there are so many sites with differing opinions on supplements when home cooking or going raw for our pets. It is confusing as all hell. Take this site as 1 example: Home Cooked Pet Diets,Home Made Recipes And Pet Nutrition check the sections about Vitamins, Fiber and Supplemental Minerals. Like I said in my post, I am using a variety of advice from here, online sites and manuals and our vet along with routine blood checks now.


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## Brodysmom

lynx8456 said:


> I don't disagree with this, but there are so many sites with differing opinions on supplements when home cooking or going raw for our pets. It is confusing as all hell. Take this site as 1 example: Home Cooked Pet Diets,Home Made Recipes And Pet Nutrition check the sections about Vitamins, Fiber and Supplemental Minerals. Like I said in my post, I am using a variety of advice from here, online sites and manuals and our vet along with routine blood checks now.


I agree that it is VERY confusing, especially to new people or those who don't have a background in nutrition. The site you listed seems to have pretty solid advice. They do endorse "balance it" which is a vitamin/mineral supplement that has gotten mixed reviews. Giving half of a centrum (people) vitamin or tums for calcium doesn't seem very 'exact' to me. Small dogs versus big, etc. 

I also heartily disagree with the advice of using pet tabs. These vitamins (found in most petsmart and petcos and online stores) have been tested and found to be contaminated with very high levels of lead. Pfizer has denied this claim, however I would still be leery of using pet tabs. 

Like most things on the internet and message boards, use your own discretion. Research, read, and make up your own mind about what is best for your pets! There are many pets who are raw fed, kibble fed, home cooked, etc that are healthy and happy. Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with.


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## Audreybabypup

Audrey Lyn is on the raw diet. I don't do prey model, just raw meats, bones, organs. She gets salmon oil as an additive. I couldn't be happier with the diet, she has suffered no illnesses nor allergies. She gets a little probitoic yogurt here and there for the probiotics. She gets sweet potatoe or pumpkin rarely and in a small amount. Cheese is a treat she love but gets in tiny amounts. I agree with what has been said, if you do a home cooked diet, supplements are necessary. With the raw diet, everything is already in there naturally.


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## Daisy0

Wow I am so impressed by all of your helpful advice. I have been reading quite a bit about the subject however was unsure about the real benefits and disadvantages of both cooked and raw foods. I don't eat meat myself so it will be interesting cooking it again but I am sure I will manage! From what I gather the key to a happy and healthy dog is a variety of foods that incorporate the essential dietary requirements (much like people really!). I was surprised to find that dogs love cheese and yoghurt also. I guess I will continue feeding my dog raw meat (which is what the breeder has been feeding her) and slowly add some home-prepared foods. I definitely don't want to upset her tummy. So much to consider! Thanks again for your help, all further suggestions appreciated


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## Ava

I agree, suppliments and vitamin dosage are very confusing. :dontknow: Homemade diets do have nutritional gaps, like calcium, for example. I researched and researched, and the best philosophy and source of information I found was the Dr Pitcarin Book. With chihuahuas being so little, I think that giving commercial suppliments may lead to overdose if you are not very careful. The Pitcarin "Healthy Powder" is an easy way (once you source the health food ingredients) to administer vitamins and trace minerals that may be missing in your dog food. There is less potential for harmful vitamin/mineral overdoses with this approach. I save egg shells and grind them in a mortar, instead of the bone meal. But before that, I almosted melted my brain, trying to figure out how much calcium to add to my homemade dog food. I haven't checked it, but the Healthy Powder may be cheaper, too.


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## Brodysmom

Daisy0 said:


> Wow I am so impressed by all of your helpful advice. I have been reading quite a bit about the subject however was unsure about the real benefits and disadvantages of both cooked and raw foods. I don't eat meat myself so it will be interesting cooking it again but I am sure I will manage! From what I gather the key to a happy and healthy dog is a variety of foods that incorporate the essential dietary requirements (much like people really!). I was surprised to find that dogs love cheese and yoghurt also. I guess I will continue feeding my dog raw meat (which is what the breeder has been feeding her) and slowly add some home-prepared foods. I definitely don't want to upset her tummy. So much to consider! Thanks again for your help, all further suggestions appreciated


Wow, I'm impressed that your breeder was feeding raw! Why don't you continue with that? 

Raw feeding is much much easier than home cooking. Just meat, bones, and organs. Simple. You don't need to add supplements when using raw meat because all the vitamins/minerals are there in the correct amounts. (Otherwise depleted in kibble and home cooked which is why they are added back in). 

Dr Billinghurst is australian and is a fantastic raw resource. I believe he has his own line of raw foods that are easy to find over there. His pre-mades would be super easy and no calculating at all on what ratios of meat/bone/organ.


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