NCDR: homemade dog food?

abby8279 · October 2014

Has anyone made homemade dog food? If so, is it worth it or a lot of hassle and recipes??

bumpuser9353653 · October 2014

Never tried it, but it just sounds like a daunting task. There are some good quality dry foods out there for a reasonable price. Just gotta do the research.

Mandmeesh · October 2014

It's not hard. Sautéed ground beef or chicken. And steam vegetables-carrots, peas, green beans, white or brown rice. And serve it to them

bumpuser9353653 · October 2014

Mandmeesh said:
It's not hard. Sautéed ground beef or chicken. And steam vegetables-carrots, peas, green beans, white or brown rice. And serve it to them

I guess I was assuming she was referring to dry food. Otherwise, I totally agree that meat, veggies, and rice is an easy meal. (If only I could convince DH it was worth the extra $)

abby8279 · October 2014

I would be doing it with the goal of making quality food for a good price. Currently I feed them a higher end dog food which is costly. I don't want to get a cheaper food because cheaper usually = not as good. I don't mind putting in the work (unless it's super complicated). Just wondering if it's worth it. And if it saves any money.

Mandmeesh · October 2014

abby8279 said:
I would be doing it with the goal of making quality food for a good price. Currently I feed them a higher end dog food which is costly. I don't want to get a cheaper food because cheaper usually = not as good. I don't mind putting in the work (unless it's super complicated). Just wondering if it's worth it. And if it saves any money.

If you buy items in bulk, cook in bulk and freeze quantities that wouldn't be used up in one week...I think you could save money. I personally would also give supplements like fish oil and omega 3's and 6's because there are vitamins and minerals added to manufactured dog food

Mandmeesh · October 2014

Ooh! Sweet potatoes are also excellent for dogs

TJ1979 · October 2014

Mandmeesh said:
It's not hard. Sautéed ground beef or chicken. And steam vegetables-carrots, peas, green beans, white or brown rice. And serve it to them

Uh... This is what I eat. Woof?

Mandmeesh · October 2014

TJ1979 said:

Mandmeesh said:
It's not hard. Sautéed ground beef or chicken. And steam vegetables-carrots, peas, green beans, white or brown rice. And serve it to them
Uh... This is what I eat. Woof?

Haha. Yeah, for some reason people forget that dogs eat what we eat. Cats need special additives (like taurine) but dog food is super easy

Edited spelling

abby8279 · October 2014

esd said:

Generally you can cook for your dog but you did need to add some vitamins (generally an adult multi vitamin will do). I would check with your vet to see of they have any recipes. We had a book at my old clinic.

Unfortunately when I asked my vet about homemade dog food she looked at me like I was crazy. And asked "why would you want to do that?" So no help there.

stoneycakes · October 2014

Into+the+Kitty

Didn't you used to do your own dog food? Was it raw? Did that tag you?

TJ1979 · October 2014

I thought @nanabanana06‌ did too?

Brandiewine11 · October 2014

We do homemade dog food. I haven't switched to a raw diet, but I know many people who feed raw and rave about it. My dog has tons of food allergies and intolerances and commercial dog food just made her sick. I found a vet who actually supports my choices.

Due to allergies, we feed cooked salmon and sweet potatoes supplemented with whole raw eggs. We give her a powdered vitamin supplement that also includes probiotics. Most days my dog eats better than me.

But we have seen a HUGE change in her. She is more active, her arthritis is under control, and her skin and coat look amazing.

She's an approx 8y/o newfoundland that we rescued 4 years ago.

bumpuser9353653 · October 2014

How do you figure out portion sizes with home cooked meals for dogs?

Brandiewine11 · October 2014

rugbymama said:

How do you figure out portion sizes with home cooked meals for dogs?

Figure out what you are currently feeding and how many calories are in that portion (its on the bag). Then figure out the calories in what you are going to feed and feed the same amount. Every couple of days, do the "rib test" to ensure the dog is at an appropriate weight. You may have to adjust the number of calories up or down depending on your dog as they use a raw/homemade diet much more efficiently since it does not have the fillers that commercial food has.

Rib test

freezorburn · October 2014

The company we get our dog's food from has some good DIY tips as far as ingredients and quantity on their website. Here's one of their articles https://honeysrealdogfood.com/article5.php

Unknown · October 2014

This content has been removed.

stoneycakes · October 2014

theultimatesak said:

Into+the+Kitty

Didn't you used to do your own dog food? Was it raw? Did that tag you?
I'm no help on dog food, but omg that actually goes to her name when you click it! She's finally taggable

If that works, then she always was taggable. I just thought of a way to do it.

TJ1979 · October 2014

There's no @, it won't notify her. It's just a link to her profile.

YellowLily2013 · October 2014

I kind of tried this... But I couldn't keep up with it and didn't feel it was cost effective. But I learned that garlic acts as a natural flea/tick deterrent. (Eaten in relatively small quantities. Large quantities can be poisonous to dogs.)

Also, ground up egg shells provide a nutrient as well. (Can't remember what since it was 4ish years ago when I did the research.)

Eta: health fats are important too in addition to the meat, veggies, grains.

Anymore I just give my dog some table food / prep scraps that are healthy in addition to dog food. Her favorites are carrots and spinach! What a silly girl.

stoneycakes · October 2014

TJ1979 said:

There's no @, it won't notify her. It's just a link to her profile.

But it notifies you when someone quotes you and there's no @ on those. ITK where are you? We need to know!

Into+the+Kitty · October 2014

Do raw, it's amazing. My main source was the raw diet forums on dogster.com when I first started, not sure how active it still is.

Also, didn't tag me.

Into+the+Kitty · October 2014

Also, even if you could tag me, it wouldn't work because I don't check my notifications. Also, I don't get notified when someone quotes me.

TJ1979 · October 2014

I don't get any notifications. But I didn't know you got notified for quotes.

nanabanana06 · October 2014

I made my own dog food in a crock pot for Ein a few times. It was some meats, veggies, leafy green, chicken stock, and beans. Cook the crap out of it and serve. No grains, I don't do grains for animals. They aren't meant to be part of their diet. The kicker is that you'll still need to add in things like vitamins and minerals. Making your own dog food can be very dangerous as it doesn't give them certain minerals, like calcium, they really need. There are things you can do to add in calcium, like bone meal, but those add in cost. So, really you won't save any money by doing it, the correct way.

I feed my dogs a prepared frozen raw. After doing the gamut when it comes to high quality dog food we made a full circle and found a raw diet that is easy to get and not too expensive. We now feed K9 Naturals and it's pretty amazing food. It costs us about 60$ for 11lbs and that lasts both dogs about 2 weeks. So, 120$ per month for the dogs food. Not as cheap as Darwins, but that involves me having 40lbs of dog food in my freezer at all times. Which aint happening. Plus it was a pain to defrost if I forgot. K9 Naturals is already in little pellets like raw kibble and it's easy to defrost.

Also, to look at quality dog foods check out www.dogfoodadvisor.com. I personally only buy from the 5 star lists. However, it's a great tool for finding a great dog food. I always tell people though to try to stay away from grains and try to stay clear of Diamond pet foods. They are notorious for crappy meats and recalls.

TJ1979 · October 2014

FYI @nanabanana06‌ that links back to this thread?

nanabanana06 · October 2014

You are right, not all grain is bad. However, most dogs do not tolerate grains at all and should not have it in their diet. There are very few of the really good brands that even offer a grain variety. The only ones that come to mind ar Fromms and Acana. They both have a much better grain free variety of those brands, but they do offer a grain rich one as well. When you look at the nutrition on them though they lack the meat richness of grain free diets. They tend to be really heavy in the veggies and grains and low on the meat. Dogs may be omnivores, but they don't need nearly as much veggies and grains as we think they do. I do offer my dogs some treats that have oats or brown rice in them, but it's rare.

For cats grains are just a big no no. As well as veggies. Cat's are carnivors. If you must do a kibble then find one that is no grain and low veggie (I feed Orijen since it's an 80% meat and 20% veggie blend), but I supplement with canned cat food and a water fountain for them.

flummadiddle85 · October 2014

TJ1979 said:

I don't get any notifications. But I didn't know you got notified for quotes.

I thought you get notified if someone quotes your tag.

bumpuser9353653 · October 2014

So glad your mentioned Fromm, nana! We use Fromm classics for our pup and are happy with it.

nanabanana06 · October 2014

I fed the grain free Fromms once, it's a decent food. Ein just doesn't tolerate kibble, it gives her bladder stones since it's not acidic enough.

TJ1979 · October 2014

Would it be totally effed up to ask for @trawas01's dog food recipes, because I want to cook these meals for myself?

TJ1979 · October 2014

Okay, but for real on the oat flour crust.

TJ1979 · October 2014

I've used oat flour from gluten free oats in pancake recipes. I wonder if I could swap out the butter for coconut oil and make an MSPI plus nut and gluten free crust? Would 100% oat flour be too crumbly?

stoneycakes · October 2014

TJ1979 said:

I've used oat flour from gluten free oats in pancake recipes. I wonder if I could swap out the butter for coconut oil and make an MSPI plus nut and gluten free crust? Would 100% oat flour be too crumbly?

Lard makes a good crust, too.

freezorburn · October 2014

stoneycakes said:

TJ1979 said:

I've used oat flour from gluten free oats in pancake recipes. I wonder if I could swap out the butter for coconut oil and make an MSPI plus nut and gluten free crust? Would 100% oat flour be too crumbly?

Lard makes a good crust, too.

Crisco could work, too, if you're not opposed to using hydrogenated oils now and then.

TJ1979 · October 2014

Ugh. Lard or crisco either one, I can't do it. I mean, I could do it, but then I couldn't eat it.

stoneycakes · October 2014

TJ1979 said:

Ugh. Lard or crisco either one, I can't do it. I mean, I could do it, but then I couldn't eat it.

I'm pretty sure Crisco is full of soy. But you can get really high quality lard from farms sometimes. It doesn't have to be gross.

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