People that feed their dogs health foods (meaning, NOT bagged stuff from stores) I need help please?

Question

After reading this:

http://drjackie.freeservers.com/articles/mar28-1999_food_even_a_dog.html

Which made me want to vomit all over my comnputer, Ive decided that when we adopt our puppy we will not be feeding him or her garbage dog foods....

I wanted to know what are healthy recipes for dogs? Do you make your own healthy foods, or go to a place that *SINCERLEY* IS healthy, not dead animals ground up and whatever other garbage they have decided to toss in

Any help would be appreciated.

Me M: Did you not go to the link or read what I said?

Yes I obviously do know about the crap IN the dog foods... this is why I am asking what kind of healthy foods to feed the dog.

Eunice Margarita, Is your dog loosing weight??? Thats not a good thing I would imagine.. =/

Answer 1

I have a few dog food cookbooks and I've ended up kind of adapting a few of them to make a "stew" for my dog. I make one batch about every 4 weeks and freeze it in quart size containers and put 1 in the refrigerator and 3 in the freezer, taking one out to defrost when the first one is just about done.

My dog is a 16.9lb bichon frise (I know, big for a bichon!), but I just brought him to the vet and he said he's an IDEAL weight for his size -- not fat, pure muscle.

I feed him 1/2c. stew for breakfast and 1/2c. stew for dinner. Here is one of my recipes:
3.5lb ground chicken
1 c. brown rice (uncooked)
2.5 c. water
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
4 potatoes (I like to use sweet potatoes or yukon golds), pealed and diced into bite size pieces
4 carrots (peeled and diced into bite size pieces)
1 24 oz. package frozen peas
2-3 tablespoons safflower oil
1 qt chicken stock (organic type, boxed from the store is fine)

1. Bring 2.5 c of water to boil. Add rice and cook according to package directions (usually at a simmer for 40-50mins) and then set aside
2. Add safflower oil to a BIG pot (your biggest soup pot!) and bring up to medium heat. Add the ground chicken and cook until meat is thoroughly browned, stirring to break up the meat while it cooks.
3. Once chicken is cooked through, add all of the chicken stock and the canned tomatoes (juice and all)
4. Bring to a simmer
5. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook at a simmer for 10-15mins, until both are fork tender.
6. Add the peas and cooked rice, stir to combine and remove from the heat.
7. Allow to cool and then decant into quart size containers to freeze and refrigerate.

You can pretty much use whatever type of meat/veggies/starch you like, just try to keep within the proportions I've outlined. I also make a beef and barley one, a lamb and rice one, a pork and apple one... you can do lots of things. E-mail me through my profile if you want more recipes. Keep in mind, although this might seem like it would be complicated and take a long time to prepare, it only takes about an hour once a month becauce it's such a big batch (depending on the size of your dog and how much he eats, obviously!). :)

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I also add a supplement powder called "The Missing Link" to my dog's dinnertime stew. It has vitamins and minerals, as well as digestive enzymes, and is specially formulated for dogs.

I also make some homemade treats, but you can pick and choose those recipes as there are tons of them out there.

Answer 2

The 4-D animals: dead, down, dying, diseased.
Get Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats. It's great to have around.
To name some foods:
RAW: Aunt Jeni's Home Made; Nature's Variety; Bravo; Nature's Logic.
CANNED: Evenger's; Nature's Variety Instinct; Evo.
KIBBLE: Great Life; Timberwolf; Taste Of The Wild; Evo;
The Honest Kitchen makes a great product: Dehydrated raw.

Here's some great reading:
http://www.auntjeni.com/articles.htm

Answer 3

wow ya most foods are so bad.
I use Wellness,its the best, seriously experts have told me. I mean look at the ingredients! my rule of thumb is that is you can't read/understand the ingredients why should you feed it to your dog?? Wellness has ONLY NATURAL INGREDIENTS! such as blueberries, apples, real meat
~no fillers(corn) wheat, by products, artificaial colors/flavors...YUCK!
i think the website is wellnesspetfood.com or something the website is really helpful.
good luck ~ i would go with this~

Answer 4

I don't understand why some people make feeding their pet dogs and cats so much work?!?

There is NO need to cook anything, grind anything or add supplements, vegetables, fruits, dairy or grains. These things can in fact be harmful. Your dog (canis lupus familiaris) is a carnivore - this means it needs meat, edible bones and offal. This is a physiological fact - a dog's teeth and digestive tract are designed to eat carcasses - see the attached article for more information on this.

Good on you for doing your research now. Many people the world over never use commercial pet food at all. My dog and cats eat a raw diet of chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, kangaroo, pork, goat and whole fish. They are in perfect health according to our vet who supports this diet.

I hope the links are helpful. I would suggest joining one of the yahoo raw feeding groups as the people there can be a great source of information and support. I found Tom Lonsdale's books Raw Meaty Bones and Work Wonders incredibly helpful too.

Answer 5

despite popular opinion, dogs do not necessarily need too much of a variety. some of the dishes that i have prepared for dogs on special diets (usually at large kennels with 60 or more dogs and a few with special diets) could be eaten by any human. I started with lean meats, mostly chicken or beef. brown steamed rice, sliced carrots and maybe a few peas. you don't need to salt or season their food because they savor the flavor of the actual meal. check with a local pet store. there are a few vegetarian dog food varieties out there as well. you mainly need to be sure that they are getting plenty of whole grains, meats, and vegies and low sodium. some grains can be irritating and cause gas and bloating. by reading some of the ingredients on a bag of dog food, you can pick up on what is and isn't "safe" another important consideration is that the dog will need supplements on a "gourmet" diet.

Answer 6

boiled chicken, rice, and peas mixed with a little jar gravy
my dog loves baby carrots for snacks
a raw egg once a week mixed in with the food is great for their coat.I have a dog bisquit recipe but i cant find it right now:( good luck!!

Answer 7

I feed both food I've cooked and bagged.
I use about a cup of about any kind of meat and chop up 2 cloves of garlic and cook together in 1 tablespoon of canola oil.Then after the meats browned I add about 4 cups of water.Slice up 2 or 3 good sized sweet potatoes and 1 cup of dried peas 1 cup of sliced carrots and cook until the veggies are starting to get soft.Then I add in 4 cups of brown rice and add another cup or 2 of water.Cook over medium heat until the rice starts to swell stirring often then add 1 cup of barley and more water if needed.Also add 1 cup of applesauce and 1 cup blueberries.
You can use about any vegetable.I've put beets and spinach in their food too as well as green beans.Just stay away from corn since it goes right thru the dog anyway and no onions.
When the mess is cooked soft I let it cool for an hour or so on the stove and then put it in the food processor and turn it to puree it.Adding water as needed.Then spoon the mush into 1 cup ziploc bowls and toss in the freezer.My dogs teeth were starting to get nasty and they hate brushing so I give them dry food in the a.m. and 1 cup each of what I've cooked mixed with 1 cup of bagged. The dry food helps keep their teeth clean and it's got the vitamins they need added in so I don't have to buy supplements for them.

Answer 8

Our dog gets special food we prepare.

Mix together:
2 cups of oatmeal
2 cans of green beans (smashed)
2 cans of carrots (smashed)
3 or 4 hard boiled eggs chopped up

He loves this food and it has helped his digestive system tremendously.

Answer 9

well i know what you mean
when i found that out i stopped giving my dog that food.
and when i did that the vet lady ( i hated that lady) got mad at me cause she said my dog was loosing wait and that she could dye more easily.
but nothing has happened to her and shes ok
i give her meat, cooked eggs (its good for their coat)
and homemade treats. and try this www.homemade-dog-biscuits.com

Answer 10

well balanced meal for the dog is puppy food (dry) and cut up chicken or sme kind of meat in the food with litte water to not make it so dry. you can add raw carrots from time to time for agged veggies during the day as treat. you can add couple bits of fruit like apples things like that for a treat. they love it sme like lettuce and tomatoes so just a small little bit. take care.

Answer 11

I don’t feed my dogs any commercial dog food, except Royal Canin biscuits but that is only very sparingly (when i really don’t have time to cook for them). I have to add making a home made diet at home for your dogs is very easy and it works out cheaper than purchasing commercial dog food such as Royal Canine and any others from the store. The food you also serve them at home is also healthier, has anyone told you that nothing beats fresh foods! I hear that all the time because its true. Nothing is better than home made, it has no preservative, toxin, chemicals and artificial flavours and colours. Have you heard of Dog food secrets, well if you haven’t go to google and type it in, it tells you “everything” that big food dog companies put in commercial dog food, its enough to scare from buying et food again! Of course many people choose to ignore the truth about commercial pet food and still feed them these toxins, road kill and euthanised dogs and cats which are added to pet foods. I feed my dogs the following

Rice (cooked)
Beef (fresh, and chopped or minced)
Chicken thighs (boiled)
Cauliflower (steamed)
Carrots (steamed, or raw)
Chicken necks ( raw good for their teeth)
Raw egg yolk once a week (only the yolk, the whites are unhealthy for them)
And pigs ears as a treat

That’s all, and my dogs have pearly whit teeth! Good luck.