Home Cooking for your Dogs (For Beginners)

[Ilghaus]

Due to the problems and concerns of many owners with recent dog and cat food recalls, more people are thinking about going to home cooking or raw feeding. This thread will deal with home cooking for beginners.

Home cooking for your dog does not automatically mean just serving left-overs. Many things that we eat are not suitable for a dog and in fact can cause issues with their health. Tossing in random suppliments also can sometimes cause more harm then good as too much of one vitamin or mineral can cause an imbalance in the ratio needed so that a dog can take in the nutrients and put them to use.

In most cases during most times I would say take your time and research, but you may not have that time right now. Maybe the only food that you have used has been put on the recall list. Maybe you just are very uncomfortable with feeding your dog with a food that you no longer trust. Perhaps looking at charts etc. are not your strong point. This thread will be only for ideas to be used in the short run. I can not say that any menus that you receive from here are complete.

I will try my best to research and verify information before posting here, but I am not certified and the only knowledge that I have is from some very basic courses and workshops and from my personal experience. Then throw in communication with people who I respect and believe to know what they are talking about. But as in all things when dealing with the health of your dog, the final responsibility and decisions are up to you. This information is only being given as some hints and things to think about. To really learn about dog nutrition you will need to read, research, and ask questions of people with whom you have confidence in.

[Ilghaus]

Start simple and add new items slowly. Abrupt changes and too many new items at once can cause tummy upset.

Pantry List you might have on hand:

Eggs
Plain unflavored yogurt

Rice
Brown Rice
Enriched egg noodles -- some dogs can not absorb nutrients from their food if their meal contains pasta.

Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
Califlower
Broccoli
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Grn. Beans
Cnd. Pumpkin -- this is the plain, no spices added variety.

Cnd. Mackerel
Cnd. Salmon

Chicken
Turkey
Grnd. Beef, lean
Grnd. Chicken
Grnd. Turkey
Rabbit
Venison
Fish
Pork, lean
Beef Heart, excellent source of taurine
Beef Liver, source of iron but large amounts can be overdone to the point of toxicity.


No Salt (found in grocery stores)
Kelp, source of iodine

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Wild Salmon Oil (capsules)


*Do not add sugar or salt to your dog's food.
*Drain and rinse salt water off of cnd. vegetables.
*Never feed cooked bones. Leftover bones from the family meal can be put in a pot with some water, add a small amount of apple cider vineagar, and cook for a couple of hours. Remove bones. Extended cooking and the vineagar will pull some of the nutrients from the bones. This water can then be used as a base broth to add to other food.


When most dogs are changed from a basic kibble diet to most or all home-cooked diet they will usually drink less water. Fresh foods have a higher water content even with being cooked.

Most home-cooked meals have less filler in them then a kibble based diet so the amount of waste matter will be less. Less yard clean up is a bonus.

[Ilghaus]

Pretty Basic for just a couple of days


Boiled chicken, rice, carrots, and green beans with a dash of No Salt.
May have to start with very small amounts of finely chopped veggies as some dogs may balk at bigger pieces/larger amounts.

Chicken can be substituted with other meat like lean grnd. beef and rice can be substitued with enriched noodles.

[Ilghaus]

Here is a recipe given by Dr. Clemmons from the Vet School at the Univ. of FL for some of his patients

8 oz brown rice (3 oz cooked in 6 oz water)
2 whole carrots (boiled and cut)
4 TBS Green bell peppers (chopped and steamed)
4 Broccoli Spears (boiled then cut up)
2 t Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 c molasses
1 can of sardines
4 oz tufu
3 oz meat (cooked in any way and cut up) original diet called for pork*

*A friend of mine has used this diet for her dog for the last two weeks and has substituted chicken and venison for the pork because that is what she had available. 

[Ilghaus]

Boiled chicken, rice, carrots, and green beans with a dash of No Salt.

I ran this by one of my new volunteers in Karl's Kids who is very into and knowledgeable on canine nutrition and she came up with these suggestions to improve the above diet that I had posted.  She also said to substitute the chicken sometimes with grnd. beef. And sometime in the span of a week throw in a little bit of beef liver one day, egg(s) --grind up shell and add into mixture for calcium once or twice a week, and if possible some Wild Salmon oil (comes in capsules) for omega 3's.

[Ilghaus]

I played around with one of the posted recipes today and did some modification with what I had available.

I got a large pot, threw in some whiting fillets, chopped up carrots and zucchini, brown rice, No Salt, and tofu and boiled until everything was soft. When it finally cooled down enough to give to the dogs they went wild. They just loved it. I have enough left for at least another day.

Next pot I make I'm going to use either chicken or grnd. beef, some broccoli and cauliflower along with the zucchini, brown rice, No Salt, tofu, and sardines. Before serving I'll sprinkle some extra virgin olive oil over top.

I'm using both fresh and frozen veggies for the dogs. A great way to use up older veg. that might not still be in the prime as to looks. Also my three Shepherds each have different supplements that are added to their meals for their individual needs.

 

[Ilghaus]

For breakfast tomorrow I'm planning on fixing egg w/crushed shell omlets for the pack. I have some cnd. oysters to toss in along with a tiny bit of grnd beef (saved when the family had hamburgers) and little bit of slightly dried out shredded cheese.  When I toss it into their bowls I'll put a nice big spoon of plain unflavored yogurt on top.

For their dinner they will then have another bowl of the fish stew mixture that I made today.

If when you make a big pot of whatever mixture it would be best to freeze any that you don't plan on using within 3 to 4 days.

[Ilghaus]

Cooking bones in a pressure cooker

Information that I have been picking up from others.

**You can cook chicken bones and all for about an hr and a half or a little longer and they turn to mush.

**Fish that is full of many little bones (and thereby cheaper) can be put into a pressure cooker till the bones are so soft you can't even find them.

[springingpups]

egg(s) --grind up shell and add into mixture for calcium once or twice a week

If you wash eggshells as you use them and set them out to dry on your counter, then put them through a coffee grinder, it's easier for dogs to utilize the calcium.

[SistaHelen]

Cooking bones in a pressure cooker

**You can cook chicken bones and all for about an hr and a half or a little longer and they turn to mush.

This is true, or they "crumble" apart instead of splintering (according to my vet).  Chicken bones cooked in other ways or for less time are worse for dogs than feeding the bones raw, as they are more likely to splinter.  The only downside to the pressure cooking is the prolonged heat does destroy some of the nutrients in the bone marrow.

[Pat J]

1 large eggshell, (washed) dried and crumbled=200 gr. calcium: or after they are crumbled, put them in a bag. I measured...1 heaping teaspoon = 200gr. Calcium.

Not to the point of calcium, but have you tried feeding your dog BANANAS? Belle and Lu looked really funny the first time they tried them, but now they love them...good for potassium, too. So now every time I peel a banana, they are right there for their share...we go through a banana really quick!

[Ilghaus]

My guys love bananas. This is a good way to use up those that get to mushy for my taste. I also feed apples and strawberries that are too soft.

Bananas I will feed raw, but things like apples or pears I like to cut up and toss in the cook pot for a bit to make sure the dogs can break the fruit down to get all of the nutrients.

Lets see some of the fruits that I have fed:
Bananas, apples, peaches, pears, strawberries, blueberries, and cantaloupe.
I wash the fruit just like I would for the rest of the family. I always peel apples etc. because of the pesticide residue that could still be on the fruit and also I don't want the family to eat that waxy junk that is put on so many apples to make them shiny and fresher looking.

Many sources say to skip:
Avacado and grapes.

[Pat J]

Definitely "NO" to grapes and raisins. Not that I have access to avacados (so I don't worry about it), but in talking about this on other lists, some of them have said that their dogs go out and eat them OFF THE TREE (!), and never had any problems.
Belle's first time with a strawberry was hilariou! She sort of took it gingerly in her mouth with the pointed end out, looked up at me and rolled her eyes, took it into the DR and dropped it (where Lu snapped it up). '
'Tis funny, they seem to have a dual coaching role. Tonight we tried broccoli and cauliflower.THIS time, BELLE snapped it up. The broccoli, Lu would pick up, hold it for a momoent, (evidently) decide it was too "hairy", drop it, and do it all over again. When she got too close to Belle, SHE grabbed it. Same thing with cauliflower:it's like LU trusted me TOD with the fruit and BELLE trusted me tonight with the vegetables! (I did find out that Lu liked the veggies a LOT better with chip dip!)

[Marty]

Rain teethed on frozen bananas!  It is a great treat on a hot summer day - peeled of course

My dogs also love fresh fruits like melons of all kinds, kiwi, citris  - yes even lemons, any edible berries .... and fresh veggies are also a big hit around here from green beans, jicama, romaine lettuce hearts, carrots, brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cukes, parsnips  etc.  I do stay away from celery because it is terribly high in natural sodium, which I had been giving the dogs as a snack until informed by a human dialisis patient....who knew.

Rain is funny about certain meat textures though.  She will eat steamed warm shrimp but will immediately spit out cold steamed shrimp. She also won't eat the cheaper deli roast beef.  I had bought some and didn't like it so I decided to give it to the dogs.  The look on Rain's face was priceless - after drooling all over as I tasted the stuff she took it greedily, paused, tipped her head down and let the meat fall out of her mouth onto the floor...her version of YUCK!

[Kirsten]

How might I substitute tofu for eggs in a homemade diet?  Sometimes I have left over tofu and I know it is an excellent protein.  For humans it is a complete protein.  I don't know how complete it is for dogs.  Tofu coagulated with calcium sulfate also contains usable calcium.

So would I just substitute based on protein content and not worry about the calcium?  And is tofu a complete protein for dogs?  Lastly, does tofu tend to make dogs gassy?

What about seitan or wheat gluten?  Can that be safely fed to dogs?