Home cooked dog food

We've never made our own dog food. Never even considered it.

My vet told me if I was going to make my own dog food for my crew to keep the ratio to 1 part grain /1 part meat/ 1 part vegetables

We've fed Shasta Nutro since the beginning. She does well on it. I do from time to time add a little meat or some carrots to the food just to keep it interesting for her.

I wouldnt worry too much about it unless you start seeing changes or differences. I feed my girls Nutro and they have done fine with it. They will eat sometimes and not others. When they get nervous or worried they will go a day or two without eating.

I found all this interesting. I feed my husky and german shepherd Iams large breed. The shepherd eats about 4 cups a day (2 am, 2 pm) but my husky has always had less of an appetite. He eats 4 cups some days but then he can also go 1 to 1 1/2 days without eating. I wonder if he is missing the high protein of the meat? I know in Alaska that is basically what their diet consists of. His coat seems fine and the vet said he looks good. What do any of you think?

Hi! I am new to the group. I breed Alaskan Malamutes. I show them and sled with them in our long winters here in Canada. I feed my dogs a raw food diet. I feed 20 dogs rather economically this way and I know they are getting the best. They eat raw chicken necks and backs, raw green tripe, fish, muscle meat, organ meat and veggie mush. Supplements include Seroyal (human grade - the BEST!) Essential EFA capsules, multi-mins and a multi-vit. Easy peasy. In the winter I keep a crock pot on the go, it is a yummy stew of 1/2 meat, 1/4 rice, 1/4 veg. I keep it fairly simple - have to.

Kristina, thanks for the info!

Just a note to anyone feeding your dogs table food, be careful not to feed them garlic, onions or raisins. Each of these foods can cause severe, even deadly reactions. More than 7 raisins has been known to leave a dog needing blood transfusions. Garlic in small quantities is usually safe, but both onions and garlic can be dangerous if the dog gets too much. How much is too much? I don't know; so I don't take a chance. Just thought you might like a heads-up on that.

I'm guessing that the meat being either ground or cooked helps insure they get the most nourishment out of it when they eat it. One of our boys "wolfs" down his food like it's going to run away if he doesn't. If I gave him a big hunk of meat, I have no doubt he'd swallow it whole...

We occassionaly feed our dogs satin balls. Mostly as a treat. They gobble them up. It also gives them a great coat. theherbs.info/Pets/satinball.html

I have always wanted to feed all raw but am afraid to as I have been warned about proper nutrients.

Yes, there are actually dog food RECIPES on line...
www.cooksrecipes.com/category/pet-re
ci
pes.html

I don't think our girl slows down eating enough to know if we are giving her variety or not. She just sees food, eats food, and then wonders where the food went.

When our dogs were puppies, the breeder weaned them on fish and rice. He had a big pot outside his cabin where he cooked it up. When we got them we switched them right to dry dog food because otherwise they were "little stinkers" in the house. The most common thing they feed sled dogs in northern Alaska is fish, and some will feed them caribou or seal meat. Huskies can eat lots of fat - they digest it differently than we do and it won't threaten them with heart disease. We also had a place that sold us fish oil by the gallon as a dog supplement. Northern breed dogs like variety, and sometimes if they get bored with it they quit eating it. So whatever meaty leftovers you throw in from time to time will keep them eating. Any fat or skin you trim from meat you're cooking for yourself will go over big with the dogs.

Edited by: CRAIGEMOEN at: 11/5/2007 (10:56)

We have cooked treats like carob cupcakes, but never tried food. Sounds interesting though

My vet and a few breeders that I talked to said that this is actually fine for our dogs. I have a dog that has seizures on commercial dog food so home cooking is a necessity for us. It isn't like the dogs are WORKING - they are pets living a cushy life not working animals. Yes, they get walks and run and play and all that but they aren't out there pulling sleds or whatever...

We also let the "experts" know that we suppliment our dogs with "treats" - they get a wide variety of things including fresh fruits, fresh veggies, yogurts, occasional nuts, crackers, peanut butter, ... They said that in the quantities that we give that kind of stuff it isn't a issue either. And that considering the fruits and other stuff that our dogs love that they are weird - LOL.

Our dogs eat mostly wild game or other meat or occasionally fish like salmon and tons of rice with veggies and they like it - no, actually they love it and they are THRIVING - their coats have never looked better, they have never had more energy, they are happy!! The vet was so pleased with both of them at their last visit and was also pleased with the weight that our male has lost in a slow safe manner and that has stabilized at a good weight for him on this diet.

Suppliments and the stuff you mentioned might be an issue if they were WORKING but just because they are of a WORKING BREED doesn't mean that they live a WORKING LIFE.

What kind of supplements do you add with this diet? I noticed that you have no calcium to balance the phospherus(sp?) in the meat? Also what about Omega 3?

Honestly, homecooking is great... raw IMO is better, but that is neither here nor there, however I think you need to do more research than just throwing out a recipe like that. Especially with a working breed like a husky. And definatley for any smaller breeds. Email me if you'd like links.

This last batch of food we added some dried basil to and man did they love it even more!!

Her name is Sasha. She is a 4 yr old (as close as we can figure, since she was a rescue dog) gray and white with blue eyes.
She is a sweety. When we first got her she was so attached to my husband that he litterally could not move and stop without her being right on top of him. But lately she seems to be attaching herself more to me. We have an older 2 story 4 bedroom home and there is only the 2 of us here now so we each have our own computer and personal space room. Sasha stays mostly with me but goes back and forth between the two rooms just so she can keep an eye out on each of us.
I will post some pics as soon as I have the chance.

Awesome thanks for sharing your meal with your pup, whats her name and we must have pics of her on your sparkpage soon. LOL

Hi,I am new to this group and noticed that you cook for your dogs. We have a 4 yr. old female husky that we have been cooking for since we rescued her from the shelter 3 yrs. ago. Started cooking out of necessity as she was skin and bone and would eat absolutely no foods that we bought. Not even any dog treats.
We have tried several different types of meats but she loves chicken the best so that is what we stick with.
We buy the leg quarters in 10 pound bags and boil that. Once it is removed from the bones we add cooked rice and mixed vegetables. Tried noodles and sweet potatoes in the past but not really her favorites either. This cooks up enought to last us for 2 weeks at a time. We freeze it in 2 to 3 cup bags, thawing it out daily as needed.
I tease my husband all the time because when our children were little he would get mad if I made them special meals if they didn't like what we were having for dinner but he has this pet spoiled.

Honestly, my dogs don't care what kind of meat it is. I buy whatever is on sale when we run out of wild game. Just make sure that if you do chicken that it is boneless. Ground meat works fine and so does cubed. Ground meat just works through the mix more than the cubes.

That looks like a great idea... I'll have to go out and get a HUGE pot! haha...

Now if you don't use wild game, what other meat do you suggest?!? Ground beef?! Cubed meat?! I don't eat meat, so considering what my dog would like on top of it is like latin to me... haha...

I think that it would work for all breeds. the amount you feed them would depend on the size of the dog though.

That amount usually lasts our 2 huskies 5 days.

Hope that helps!

Hey Stephanie, How long does that usually last....I have more than huskys, do you think that this will work for all breeds??? (sorry if that is a stupid question).

Here is how we do it - no real recipe though.

In a huge pot place -
2 lbs of meat no bones (we use wild game but most anything will do)
24 cups of water
Bring to a boil and then simmer until meat is cooked through.
Bring back up to a good boil.
Add 12 cups of rice.
Add 2 lbs of frozen veggies if desired (we don't always add this).
Stir well to break up any clumps.
Bring back up to a good boil.
Cover tightly.
Turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the burner.
Let sit at least 30 minutes, or until cool.
Store in the refridgerator.
We serve our dogs about 4 cups once a day at dinner during normal weather, and about 3 cups twice a day when it is super cold out.