I want to stop feeding my dog regular dogfood... what can i feed him instead that is healthy?

Question

I am trying to reduce my own intake of processed foods, and I think the stuff they put in dog/cat food is probably much worse quality than how they process our food, so... what can i prepare for my dog in lieu of processed store-bought crunchy dogfood? Can I give him raw meat? Or should I cook it first? Is raw beef safe, how about raw chicken?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You need to find a well balanced plan for your dog.. Rice and beef isn't a well balanced diet for a dog. They need all sorts of vitamins and nutrients, or you will cause your dog all sorts of problems. More problems than you would have from feeding a high quality dog kibble.

Check with your vet, research the nutritional needs of a dog, and buy yourself a nice bag of quality kibble..

Answer 2

There are several diets that involve raw meet, but you want to ensure that the dog gets the nutritional value of fresh veggies and fruit as well. Dogs have very specific nutritional needs, and feeding simply meat is not going to meet them.
There are some products that are pre-made that involve raw or cooked meat without all the preservatives, and there are numerous recipies available online for those that have the time and devotion to "do it themselves". What you are looking for can be searched through Yahoo under the terms BARF (Bones and Raw Food) or simply under RAW.

I have listed just a few below, there are over 400 different forums in Yahoo involving this sort of feeding.

As a rule however, Never feed raw chicken!

Answer 3

Most of these answers are plain wrong. Dogs do not require a balanced meal at every meal, Dogs do not get any use out of fruits and veggies, Dogs do not get a thing from rice and pasta. Dogs NEED the bone in raw foods. Dogs who eat just meat will not be getting everything they need and they won't be picking up the rest of the nutrients from rice and veggies. Dogs ARE carnivores. Just because people can force them to eat cereal sprayed with fat to make it taste good to a dog doesn't turn him into a carnivore or a herbivore. Dogs are survivors and they eat what you offer them but don't confuse this for being whts GOOD for them. Dogs fed a cooked diet are not getting all they need with out supplementation and raw fed dogs generally do not need any supplementation unless they have specific needs such as something to aid in easing arthritis.
I feed a raw diet to our Danes and have for almost 5 years now. You can check out the following sites for GREAT info on this diet.
http://www.rawlearning.com
http://www.rawfed.com/myths/
http://www.rawfeddogs.net/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

and my site which has a sample menu and lots of other info including how to start feeding your dog a raw diet.
http://www.eastwooddanes.com

Answer 4

there are very good raw diets that you can either put together yourself or purchase from a variety of companies. barfworld.com is a good resource. i have known many people use these diets and have great success with them. best of all they are really not much more expensive than many high quality dog foods. raw meat, provided it is handled properly is safe. raw beef, raw chicken (even the bones because they are raw (no splintering)!) including additions of veggies are all best raw because cooking looses a lot of nutrients. there are many options online that are great recipes to follow to make sure that your dog gets proper nutrition.

Answer 5

animals are allot like people a balanced diet of human food is not bad for them if you choose the right things. I would recommend boiling boneless chicken some veggies and even some white rice for filler for them. cutting it all up and feeding in moderation. I give me dogs raw carrots, apples, and will let them try mostly anything they will eat in the fruits and veggies department. But as I said most important is a balanced diet. However you can buy Organic and a healthier line of pet food. I know Newman's can be purchased at Walmart and is a great ALL NATURAL diet for your pet. Its healthy and has all the vitamins and minerals that your animals need as well as giving the obvious...food in their tummies. Good Luck!

Answer 6

You can give him raw meat at least once a week. For a wet dog food, if you can stand the smell, boil cubed, ox tongue, cheek and liver. Cook rice and vegetables in the left over water. This will give him all the vitamins and minerals that he needs, if he is still growing please add calcium powder to each meal for his bones. For dry food, if you make yourself healthy cookies, use the same recipe, but swap the water or milk for some of the tongue and rice water, make them smaller and cook them until they are hard. Raw meat is good at least once a week, but remember that chicken and lamb bones will splinter and can cause injuries, chicken necks are great for the teeth but are very fattening. Good luck

Answer 7

It is actually best to feed your dog raw meat. I watched it last week on Oprah and she had some top vet on her show and that is what he said. Second best would be cooked meat. He explained that dogs were originally meat eaters and are still not conditioned to handle the complex carbs, which is what is primarily in dog food. The link is below if you want more info.

Answer 8

Hi Hawaii, Always cook the meat you are going to give your dog. Chicken is better for them it's easier on their tummies and don't have to work hard to pass it though their systems. If you want a very good dry dog food go to Petsmarts Or Petco's and they have a lot of dry dog food that are healthy and natural for your dog. I get the brand called Nutro Max no by products at all all natural ingredients. You can't go wrong with no by products if your not sure which one you would like to buy ask a clerk or one of their employee one the floor. They are always glad to help in the stores i have named.
Good luck with you dog eating healthy. I have 3 dogs myself. LOL LOL.
A Friend.
Clowmy

Answer 9

Dogs are not solely carnivores, like cats. so you should feed him mostly meet, like turkey, chicken or beef, some boiled rice or pasta (but not too much carb!) and some veg, like peas and carrots. Don't feed him sweets, chocolate, grapes, raisins, garlic or onion.
As for raw meet, it is true that dogs in the wild would not bake their food. It is also true though that dogs in the wild would die earlier because of diseases etc. And raw meat often contains bacteria, like listeria, salmonella, toxoplasma or trichinia. So I would bake or boil the food I give to my dog, as I do for my food. People used to eat things raw in the wild too, but there is a reason why we chose to cook it!

Answer 10

Millions of dollars a year goes to research and development of properly formulated dog food to ensure your pet gets all the proper nutreints and vitamins they need. Raw diets are complicated, time consuming and involved than most people are willing to commit to. You can not simply throw together some raw meat and rice or veggies and walk off assuming it is healthy. It involves measuring, planning, calculating,cooking, weighing and constant adjusting to get the most balanced diet for your pet. Companies that make Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro Max, Science Diet etc. have minimized by-products and have produced an easy to feed, minimum waste, healthy alternitive that is easy to feed and regulate for the "average" family and life style while maximizing the healthy benifits. On average pets now live almost twice as long as they did 10-20 years ago and we have science to thank for that. In the wild dogs/wolves that have to hunt for and eat raw meat do not die of old age they die from preditors, complications from disease, bacteria from sick and dying prey etc. We have domesticated pets that could not survive on their own why would we feed them a "wild" diet that may shorten their lives?