What to put in homeade dog food? Perhaps a canine food pyramid would help?

Question

My dog, Boo, a ten pound pap may have food allergies. I say this because she allways itchy, and no fleas to be found. Because the cost of special food is irritating, and I don't know what I'm getting, I want to feed her "real" food.

My thought is to brown some ground turkey/beef/whatever, throw it in a blender with a little water and some raw veggies, and freeze in ice-cube trays. Then I can pop out cubes, thaw, and feed along with some (brown?) rice as filler (got the idea from my trainer tonight.) I don't know how much of anything to throw in, though.

Should I cook the veggies? Add garlic as flea repelent? Any recipe I plan to run by my vet, first, but does anyone have one? Raw diet is not so grand an idea for me, as I don't like having raw meat around and the food-cube idea sounds fairly easy in terms of feedeing and prep.

Also, what are the most common canine food allergies? I want to know what to avoid.

Answer 1

Your idea sounds exactly like what I did to feed my daughter instead of buying baby food. It worked like a charm, and she's a 26 year old med student now, so it certainly didn't harm her!

I say give your doggie daily vitamins to make sure he isn't missing anything, and as long as you stick with mutton, chicken, brown rice and green veggies, you should be just fine.

Answer 2

Most common foods that some dogs are allergic to are- corn, wheat, soy, beef, dairy products, eggs, and chicken and or chicken fat (often called "natural flavors"). Chicken or chicken by-products are in almost every non-premium dog food.

Before you go to a lot of trouble making up food, and not knowing what the dog is allergic to-it would be far easier to try some non-allergy food formulas that are already on the market.

I would try first- Canidae Lamb Meal and Rice. Its about $0.70 per pound. Not just any Lamb and Rice will do. Stick with the premiums foods first.

""""Remember, you should feed the dog this food for at least 21 days before you decide its not working.""""

Next I would try Natural Balance. They make a Duck, a Fish. a Vegetarian, and a Venison ( off the market right now, but will return soon). Natural Balance is more expensive, but if it works -then you can save a lot of time.

Stay away from foods like Alpo, Purina, Iams, or any commercial food in the lower grades usually found in the grocery store. You don't know what is in those foods.
Once you find something that works, then you can work on reducing cost.
I have 5 dogs, 2 have food allergies. It took me a long time to figure out what good dog food was. There are many good dog foods, and any dog can be allergic to some ingredient in the food. If you stick with the premium foods while you are testing your dog, you will not have to guess what is in the food. Stay away from the cheap stuff.

Answer 3

Dogs are often allergic to corn, wheat, sugars and artificial flavorings. As I'm sure you know dogs cannot have onions or chocolate. If you go to allrecipes.com and type in dog food there are several recipes to give you proportions. I think you are on the right track with the above, but if you are worried about a skin condition I would include an oil when you serve the food. Try several different cooking oils (olive, almond, or a nut oil) until you find one with flavor that she likes. You can even start out by trying to add this to her current diet and it may clear up the problem. Also if you do make dog food I would buy free range meat and organic vegetables. Yes cook the veggies. Good luck.

Shelly Berry
Pet Harmony, LLC

Answer 4

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RE:
What to put in homeade dog food? Perhaps a canine food pyramid would help?
My dog, Boo, a ten pound pap may have food allergies. I say this because she allways itchy, and no fleas to be found. Because the cost of special food is irritating, and I don't know what I'm getting, I want to feed her "real" food.

My thought is to brown some ground...

Answer 5

On the farm sometimes we just feed the dog pure ground beef if we have a bunch extra. That's the best thing for dogs, all the other stuff that they put in dog foods is just filler so they can save money by using less meat. I've been giving my cat some leftover beef the last couple days and she looks healthier that she did before. Not that dog foods are evil, but some real food is good for them once in a while.

I don't know if I answered your question, i just thought I'd put i my 2 cents.

Answer 6

I have heard that garlic isnt that good for dogs rice is great also a little pasta but these will put weight on your dog lots of vegi (peas,corn,carrot,broc,coli,go easy on starchy foods such as pot,sweet pot,
mince is good even just cooked up on its own
raw vegi are also good try some grated carrot most dogs love eating raw carrots
hope this helps

Answer 7

i use flint river fish and potatoe for my allergic doggie.

Theres tons of good food for dogs with these issues. try flint river or natura pet brands (innova)

You cant make a good food until you find out what they are allergic to.