Any ideas to make homemade dog food (lab, fleas, chew)
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For those of you still checking on this thread I found this. If you can get past the soundtrack it's more or less the way I may do it but for now just the chicken. This guy feeds his dogs just as good as I would feed myself but he's got the technique down for sure. The grinding is more work but the way he does it sure makes convenient in the long run. When he does the beef I did not see that he included any bone. With the chicken and turkey I think he does. I may not even grind. It's trial and error for a while.
Will mix with canned pumpkin, and sardines or canned salmon, and add raw ground chicken (bones/meat)
They get lots of fresh veggies daily
Obviously the treats would be about once a week, and the cooked/raw mix would be added to kibble.
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Your dogs will love you! But your recipe is a bit protein heavy. Generally dogs need 1 gr protein per day per pound so each on needs @ 90 per day. I love your recipe and I would add low salt broth and a couple bags of brown rice. This also gives them more to eat, volume wise and it fills up their stomach.
Maybe? I read 5:1:1 ratio (proteinrgan:veggie), so I was trying to make sure it was not too much organ meat heavy.
The tracheas are collagen based (or something like that, outside of the ration calc).
Actually I probably need more veggies, so perhaps a case of string beans from Costco or some fresh spinach (but I heard not too much of this one).
I'm really hesitant on feeding the raw backs/feet/necks... but the majority of what I read says it's ok.
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We always did this for our late dog. When our dog had stomach issues we started and never went back. We would alternate chicken, lean turkey, salmon and just serve with peas and carrots, rice, pumpkin, pineapple, green beans, yogurt. Sometimes I would boil chicken and rice with broth, other times stir fry in olive oil a pineapple/pumpkin turkey rice extravaganza. And baked salmon with yogurt was always popular. We sprinkled omega 3 fatty acid pill contents in when she got older and had joint issues. My dog's myriad of health problems cleared right up with this diet. At one point we had been told she had all sorts of chronic complaints which would shorten her life. Its amazing how much different diet can make.
Dogs do not need carbohydrates or humans for that matter but that's another story. They are domesticated but if they were wild they would not get them at all or very much. That said, they have adapted over many years to the foods that humans feed them. There's no such thing as protein heavy when describing a dog's diet. They are not humans! Their diet can be deficient in vitamins and minerals, so that's a consideration. I do know this, most cheap commercial dog food is really bad so anything is an improvement. It may be "balanced" but everything else about it is bad.
I did make a batch of raw food at first and the dog wasn't much interested. I did chicken with some bone, liver, carrots and peas. I had it all portioned out nicely with each container holding 2 days worth of meals. So I cooked it and the dog loved it, so that's what I'm sticking with for now. I may try feeding raw again, she may like it, who knows? Since then I've kind of perfected the technique and made it easier. I cook the chicken or pork (beef is too expensive) in a big stock pot with a small amount of water at the bottom and I cover the pot. Once it is cooked and tender, I remove from the pot and let it cool. I then cook the organ meat. So far I've used liver and kidney. I set that aside and let it cool. I then heat up some frozen peas/carrots, already chopped and let that cool. I de-bone the chicken and shred, same with the pork. I chop up the organ meat and mix it all together, muscle meat, organ meat and veggies. I don't use rice or anything like that. I don't include the bone any more but I supplement with ground egg shells for calcium. The dog seems to be doing well on this diet. It's a bit of work but I prep at least two weeks worth of food and she seems to really like it. The dog is getting spoiled but that's OK.
I think there are very healthy dry dog foods. It is silly and dangerous to make your own. What we do is carefully choose commercial dog food, and for the evening meal we doctor it up with fresh vegetables, any leftover meat or fish and broth. The dogs love it and we know the dry food is providing measurable nutrition.
I think there are very healthy dry dog foods. It is silly and dangerous to make your own. What we do is carefully choose commercial dog food, and for the evening meal we doctor it up with fresh vegetables, any leftover meat or fish and broth. The dogs love it and we know the dry food is providing measurable nutrition.
Hello? Are you serious? Please - it seems to me "silly and dangerous" to tell people that home-cooked is somehow inferior to commercial food!
You can say "Oh! There is a danger of bacteria!" And I can tell you about all the recalls of commercial food for, whoops, you guessed it, bacteria!
You can say "Oh, what about nutrition and dietary balance!" And I can tell you that people in general are not stupid. People, in general, certainly have the capacity to understand nutritional basics. Although, granted, a lot of people seem to want to follow some nutritional myths, but that holds true whether one buys commercial or makes their own.
On the other hand, when one makes their own dog food, you know EXACTLY what is going in to the food. This offers a clear advantage over trusting an anonymous corporation with your dog's health. Especially when THEIR motive gets down to one word: profit, and there are more than plenty sources for cheaper food sources that translate to more PROFIT, but are not something you would EVER feed your dog if you knew the source.
And, if making one's own dog food is silly and dangerous, then feeding your dogs leftovers is also silly and dangerous. I think you should rethink your statement.
Hello? Are you serious? Please - it seems to me "silly and dangerous" to tell people that home-cooked is somehow inferior to commercial food!
You can say "Oh! There is a danger of bacteria!" And I can tell you about all the recalls of commercial food for, whoops, you guessed it, bacteria!
You can say "Oh, what about nutrition and dietary balance!" And I can tell you that people in general are not stupid. People, in general, certainly have the capacity to understand nutritional basics. Although, granted, a lot of people seem to want to follow some nutritional myths, but that holds true whether one buys commercial or makes their own.
On the other hand, when one makes their own dog food, you know EXACTLY what is going in to the food. This offers a clear advantage over trusting an anonymous corporation with your dog's health. Especially when THEIR motive gets down to one word: profit, and there are more than plenty sources for cheaper food sources that translate to more PROFIT, but are not something you would EVER feed your dog if you knew the source.
And, if making one's own dog food is silly and dangerous, then feeding your dogs leftovers is also silly and dangerous. I think you should rethink your statement.
Will mix with canned pumpkin, and sardines or canned salmon, and add raw ground chicken (bones/meat)
They get lots of fresh veggies daily
Obviously the treats would be about once a week, and the cooked/raw mix would be added to kibble.
90 lb dogs.
Chicken backs - or whole frames - any poultry part - no problem whatsoever, given the size of the dogs. Any trachea you can get - no problem. AMOF - they provide a significant source of all those joint supplements we buy, but from real food.
Marrow bones, knuckle bones. Keep an eye on these - watch for when they get them down to splintering. Some of that is ok - the bones digest in the stomach. But a lot of splintering offers risk.
The ONLY objection I have EVER heard raised against raw that had ANY rational logic was germs. So, I always SCALD what I give the dogs raw. One exception would be if I and the dogs have harvested game ourselves. Then, if they will eat it, I let them. My experience has been that they typically WON'T, as it is too strange.
Commercial meat operations are exposed to much more serious concentrations of possible infection than either home-farmed, or hunted, and this is true at several points in the process of harvesting commercial meat.
Obviously, you can't scald ground mixes. For them, you need to trust your source. Personally, I generally don't buy raw food that is ground by the supplier. I do make occasional exceptions, but not as a habit.
I prefer neck bones to marrow or knuckle bones for the dogs, as they have more meat. I do use marrow and knuckle bones for stock to cook my dog food. I do let the dogs have a chew on them after cooking, for a spell. All that cartilage and tendon is a great source of all those supplements we spend good money for, for joint support (chondroitin, etc). I let them clean the bones well, and then take them away. The marrow is very rich, so if you have a dog with a weight problem, you want to be aware. Sometimes the rich marrow will give the dogs digestive upset, as they are not used to it. I've seen a dog throw up the marrow often enough. They still love it.
Guts. Liver, kidneys, heart, tongue, lungs, etc. All are great food - and they can be the major source of protein and nutrition. But generally speaking, I try to keep them at 10-20% of the overall. I've not seen any significant evidence that higher percentages cause problems. I have no proof either way, but common knowledge is that 10-20% is a good proportion. No harm, no foul - I stick with that percentage. I know that some wildlife researchers are saying that some wolves in a pack will get one particular section of the game as their diet. Like, one wolf gets the legs. Another wolf gets the liver. Another wolf gets the stomach, etc. I have no idea about how speculative this is (although it sounds pretty speculative to me!), but it leads me to rethink concerns about too much guts as a percentage of diet.
Short version? What you are doing sounds fine!
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