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| Sure you can do this, Mom? |
I keep coming back to a topic in my mind...making my own dog food. Over the years I believe I have learned a lot and also like to believe I have become a more aware dog owner. Years ago we made the switch to a high quality dog food. As I learned more, we have further adjusted our dog food to what seems like the "proper" high quality dog food for our specific dogs and their needs. Now, however, as I read more and more about how much junk goes into commercially prepared dog food, no matter how high the quality, I am interested in how to properly feed a dog through a homemade diet. I am not looking for a "raw diet", but a diet that is balanced and healthy, with human grade food items. Does anyone out there currently do this? How is it going? Do you see any overall health improvements? How are you sure everything your dog needs is included? I will take any advice at this point as I weigh my options. My biggest fear is that I will not be giving my dogs all that they need nutritionally through my homemade meals, but if I do learn how to properly do this, I think they would be healthier for it. THANK YOU in advance!
Interesting! Do you know Nola? I believe they make their own food.
ReplyDeleteOur mom has tried raw food diet (pre-made) and also a home made diet and has found that best for her is a high quality kibble with home cooked additions. If she had just one or two dogs, instead of five (which she loves) she would probably feed raw. As for home cooked it is a lot of work and requires a lot of supplements and is in mom's opinion even harder to balance then a raw diet. Im sure you can do it if you want but you may want to ease into it by serving a high quality kibble with home cooked additions. REmember if you feed 50% homecooked you need to start with extra supplements. The dog aware website is a good source.
ReplyDeleteurban hounds
We were going to suggest Nola too - she has some great posts with yummy looking nutritious meals that her mom prepares. We would love to do it, but Mom can't figure out how much we would need - Nola is so much smaller than we are. Good luck. If you find some good info, could you do a post about it?
ReplyDeleteWoos - Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
I'm right there with you on feeding your pups a good diet--We've been using a high quality (non grain) kibble and adding veggies etc., to it for quite some time. I really admire you for learning all about nutrition and making your own food, and I'll be really interested to hear how it goes and especially what your dogs think of it!
ReplyDeletePS: It's really nice to meet you, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you a bit better too! :-)
That's Mom's biggest fear too. She would probably try to stuff a bottle of vitamins into us. BOL
ReplyDeleteOur mom is too lazy to do this so she has to admire your ambition. She barely can put together something edible for our dad to eat so we thing it might be in our best interest to stay with the commercial stuff. We love our mom but she is NOT a cook!
ReplyDeleteYour friends,
Murphy & Stanley
I have been through several commercial foods and not very happy with the results I see. So I have stayed with Stella's favorite Kibble, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover, and recently added green beans and carrots(cooked) along with 2 tablespoons of Dannon's Plain Yogurt, a couple of spoonsful of canned (unsalted) beef, or canned pink salmon, and a capsule of Fish oil. I reduce the amount of Kibble in proportion to the extras I feed her. She is looking better, with a shinier coat and more energy. She is not an old dog, but she had been cut way down to half a cup of kibble twice a day for weight reduction. It just wasn't enough for her! I would like to talk further about this too, so maybe we all could get together with a little subgroup to figure this stuff out. I will check with Kathie (Mrs OP Pack) and see what she says.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Jo, Stella and Zkhat
We think Nola has really good tips on making homemade food. Mommy cooks for me too which I share with my kitty furblings. Mommy says she has noticed very positive changes to my health since I started back in 2008.
ReplyDeleteI can't help because we feed raw, but I'm sure there are some out there making their own foods.
ReplyDelete