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New and Overwhelmed

This is the place to share your best homemade dog food and treat recipes with each other! Remember to use caution if your pet has allergies and to make any diet changes gradually so that your dog's stomach can adjust to the new foods you are introducing.

  


Member Since
05/02/2011		 
 
Barked: Sun Apr 29, '12 6:27pm PST 
Hi everyone. I am new to homemade diets for my dog. I currently have her on a grain & gluten free dog food with some supplements, but would like to switch her to something healthier-a homemade diet. I feel very overwhelmed when I am researching and reading books. Many of the diets include tons of supplements and tons of ingredients. Does anyone has a book or resource you would recommend? I just want to make sure she is getting the correct nutrition. She is also allergic to many foods including gluten and fish, which seems to make it more difficult. Another reason I want to switch is because her allergies (which I think are from pollen) are becoming horrible, so I would like to help her immune system by having a healthier diet.
Thanks!
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Maxwell

I'm triple- superior MAD- now!		 
 
Barked: Sun Apr 29, '12 10:21pm PST 
I like books too but ended up reading Mary Straus' info on dogaware over and over and combining that with Monica Segal's info in 'Optimal Nutrition' [a book] to make up Sassy's kidney diet.
http://www.dogaware.com/diet/homemade.html
http://www.monica segal.com/newsletter-archive.html

Pay particular attention to the book reviews, they should help you decide on a book or two to buy or find at the library. Besides Ms. Segal's book I have Lew Olson's book, some information is contained in these newsletters. Perhaps they will resonate with your preferences.
http://www.b-naturals.com/index.php?main_page=newslett ers

If I was going to buy another book I might chose Steve Brown's book, 'Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet'.

It is scary and a giant step to leave the made up stuff behind and feed your dog fresh food. It was easier for me, I started when the 2007 dog food contamination was in full swing and Sassy was diagnosed with kidney disease. Her health issues weren't caused by contaminated food but I didn't want her eating a quart of corn puffs a day for the rest of her life so I just did it. Read Sedona's thread here on balancing a diet in 21 steps so you can work with nutritiondata and you will KNOW that your dog is getting this much of this than that much of that.
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Home_Prepared_Food_Recipes/thre ad/640881

Have to put a plug in for Max's diet - prey model raw, no carbs at all. I thought he was fine and hadn't allergies but his eye goobers are gone now I keep grains out of his diet. I thought he was a 33 pound weakling, turned out he needs massive amounts of protein to grow muscle. I thought he just had nasty sticky dull undercoat, turned out massive amounts of fresh fat turned that stuff silky shiny smooth. For Max, carbs were indeed empty calories!

Keep reading, at some point it will all gel into a workable plan that suits YOU. Really.
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Member Since
05/02/2011		 
 
Barked: Mon Apr 30, '12 2:39pm PST 
Thanks for the advice! Yea, I did actually have her on a raw diet and she WAS doing very well-allergies gone-but refused to eat for days after a week...she just didn't like the raw, I don't know what it was, but it WAS great for her.
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Lucille

I am the Sock- Bandit!!!		 
 
Barked: Tue May 1, '12 6:27am PST 
Homemade diets can be just as healthy as raw. I use the same meat and ratios including organs, it's just cooked. (I don't bother cooking things like canned sardines, though). I don't add any grain fillers or veggies as a regular part of the diet, I give things like carrots in small amounts for healthy treats. I do give raw meaty bones regularly, too, helps with the teeth. I can often cook for the humans and the dog at the same time; I just use the same protein and take the dog's portion out before adding anything like onions, salt or spicy sauces.
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Terra

Bonzaiiiiiiii!!!- !!!		 
 
Barked: Thu May 10, '12 11:26pm PST 
@Lucille - how do you handle the lack of bone? Just curious. I've had Terra on prey model raw before, but it just hasn't agreed with her so now we're researching home-cooked foods. I just don't like the idea of the veggies/fruits/fillers and such.
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