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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to cook all my dogs meals?

55 replies

Mummysgirl12 · 28/02/2022 11:03

I don't know if I am missing something so I want wisdom or advice from the crowd.

Two rescues, treated like royalty. One began being aggressive to the other (newer) dog. We hired a behaviourist, it all was linked to food. At the time we were feeding Forthglade and it isn't nutritionally complete so my dog was hungry....then aggressive.

We then found Pooch and Mutt but it will cost me £3a day to feed them which feels expensive. They're both under 10kg.

My dogs LOVE roast chicken. I bought a roast chicken, 1.9kg from Asda which was £2.80. I will roast it later, have some of the meat for my dinner, maybe DH too (he is fussy and doesn't eat much) and then boil up the meat and carcass, add rice, peas and broccoli and this could make a good 4 days worth of meals especially if I couple it with the dry food they refuse to eat unless it's with roast chicken.

Is this bonkers? Time isn't the issue, I WFH and no kids.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 28/02/2022 11:05

You should probably ask a vet rather than AIBU.

GeneLovesJezebel · 28/02/2022 11:06

Mine gets kibble for breakfast and home cooked for dinner. I just cook it while I’m doing ours, and often give him some of what I’m cooking for us. So he gets rice if we’re having curry/chilli, pasta if we’re having that.

Elphame · 28/02/2022 11:08

Take a look at Butternut Box - it's lightly cooked real food delivered frozen. All the benefits of home cooked without the hassle and you can be sure it's nutritionally complete as well.

My pair love it. Bowls are licked clean.

If you ask someone who uses them for a discount code then you can get a 50% discount on a trial order

Original poster
Mummysgirl12 · 28/02/2022 11:15

@GeneLovesJezebel

Mine gets kibble for breakfast and home cooked for dinner. I just cook it while I’m doing ours, and often give him some of what I’m cooking for us. So he gets rice if we’re having curry/chilli, pasta if we’re having that.
and he is fine with that/responsive etc?
OP posts:
BottleBrushTree · 28/02/2022 11:15

Mine is a slightly too fat 12kg dog. I cook for her 500g chicken mince, mixed diced frozen vegetables, rice, with rosemary and ginger. She gets that once/ day usually with a small amount of kibble. Lasts usually about 5 days prob. Also has raw chicken wings from time to time.

Tried other minces but she’s not too keen and either are we as when she eats beef or pork mince she leaves noxious gas in her wake.

Original poster
Mummysgirl12 · 28/02/2022 11:16

@Elphame

Take a look at Butternut Box - it's lightly cooked real food delivered frozen. All the benefits of home cooked without the hassle and you can be sure it's nutritionally complete as well.

My pair love it. Bowls are licked clean.

If you ask someone who uses them for a discount code then you can get a 50% discount on a trial order

I'm trying to find an economically viable solution as I find Butternut Box very expensive. I also don't have freezer space :(
OP posts:
Spidey66 · 28/02/2022 11:19

My husband buys and cooks liver a couple of times a week for the dog. She loves it and it's cheap. She also gets any leftover dog appropriate food from our dinner if there's leftovers eg some potato, rice, meat, veg.

RincewindsHat · 28/02/2022 11:20

Haha! Do they refuse to eat the dry food because they know there will be roast chicken if they hold out?

Do what works for you. My two rescues have a tin of good quality wet food between them every day which is somewhere around £2 a day if I manage to get it at a discount, and then they often get a little bit of what I eat in the evenings too. They are both in rude health, very glossy, muscled and fit and considering they were street dogs reliant on goodness knows what for their meals before I adopted them, they've basically won the lottery in life and I am not worried about feeding them indulgent food every now and again. I have been known to cook them sausages for their dinner especially, and will often give them a tin of sardines each as a treat because the oils are good for their skins and coats. I love spoiling them and so long as they're happy and healthy, who cares if I feed them more indulgently than other people might choose to. I'm sure my two would prefer the roast chicken option now you've suggested it!

magicstar1 · 28/02/2022 11:24

I tried a few different kibbles for our rescue, and we mix in some wet food or fish for her too. She loves chicken but unfortunately is allergic to it so that's a huge no.
I often cook a piece of salmon, or ray for her. She'll have a poached egg if I'm having one etc. If it's easier for you to cook for them then do it...I know the rescue would boil up mince and veg to mix in with the dogs' kibble too.

gogohm · 28/02/2022 11:26

Mine has had burns for 10 years no problem, recently moved to senior but used to have burns alert.

TheMarmaladeYears · 28/02/2022 11:26

There's nothing wrong with home cooking for your dog but I'd be thoughtful about cheap chicken since it is usually grain fed. I'd also be getting a second opinion because I suspect the behavioural issues are about rather more than food, too.

MsHampton · 28/02/2022 11:28

@Mummysgirl12

I don't know if I am missing something so I want wisdom or advice from the crowd.

Two rescues, treated like royalty. One began being aggressive to the other (newer) dog. We hired a behaviourist, it all was linked to food. At the time we were feeding Forthglade and it isn't nutritionally complete so my dog was hungry....then aggressive.

We then found Pooch and Mutt but it will cost me £3a day to feed them which feels expensive. They're both under 10kg.

My dogs LOVE roast chicken. I bought a roast chicken, 1.9kg from Asda which was £2.80. I will roast it later, have some of the meat for my dinner, maybe DH too (he is fussy and doesn't eat much) and then boil up the meat and carcass, add rice, peas and broccoli and this could make a good 4 days worth of meals especially if I couple it with the dry food they refuse to eat unless it's with roast chicken.

Is this bonkers? Time isn't the issue, I WFH and no kids.

Without detailed knowledge of dog nutrition you are unlikely to be giving the dogs the right balance they need. You can buy supplements but honestly, I'd just find a good complete food for them. There are shitloads of options out there for varying budgets.
MsHampton · 28/02/2022 11:28

@Mummysgirl12

I don't know if I am missing something so I want wisdom or advice from the crowd.

Two rescues, treated like royalty. One began being aggressive to the other (newer) dog. We hired a behaviourist, it all was linked to food. At the time we were feeding Forthglade and it isn't nutritionally complete so my dog was hungry....then aggressive.

We then found Pooch and Mutt but it will cost me £3a day to feed them which feels expensive. They're both under 10kg.

My dogs LOVE roast chicken. I bought a roast chicken, 1.9kg from Asda which was £2.80. I will roast it later, have some of the meat for my dinner, maybe DH too (he is fussy and doesn't eat much) and then boil up the meat and carcass, add rice, peas and broccoli and this could make a good 4 days worth of meals especially if I couple it with the dry food they refuse to eat unless it's with roast chicken.

Is this bonkers? Time isn't the issue, I WFH and no kids.

And never ever ever feed your dogs cooked bones. It's so dangerous!
SmolCat · 28/02/2022 11:42

You’re really tethering yourself to this is all I’d say. You don’t mind the extra effort now but it’s possible you will if you fall ill or get busy or go on holiday. Also are you 100% sure you’re giving them the right amount of what they need? Are you giving supplements in addition to the rice etc?

There are other options if you didn’t want to do this. Different dog (www.differentdog.com) is hand cooked food. Or there’s raw food. (There’s a huge number of raw brands but www.allaboutdogfood.com rates them and you can sort by price etc.) With both of those options you know that the food is nutritionally complete so you’re not missing out on giving your dog any vitamins, minerals etc.

I raw feed but if I couldn’t do that and my dogs weren’t eating then I think I’d stick to a good basic complete dog food and mix it with different things each day to make it more palatable: bone broth, chicken, salmon oil, raw egg, etc. A maybe give them a few raw bones every now and then. Raw chicken wings for example.

Speaking of raw chicken wings - you’re not giving your dog the cooked chicken carcass bones are you? They can have raw but not cooked.

stressincontinence · 28/02/2022 11:51

in theory I think this is fine but you need to make sure they are getting the right nutrients. I feed mine raw and the recommendation is around 10% offal, 10% bone. obviously you can't feed cooked bone so you'd need to make sure they were getting the correct calcium from somewhere else. Not sure if cooked offal is equivalent to raw or if you'd need to give a different amount...

Wineat5isfine · 28/02/2022 12:14

Sounds fine to me. My dog has a very sensitive stomach and it’s taken us a while to find the perfect combo for him.

He has 1 x egg scrambled and mixed with kibble for breakfast. Dinner is roast chicken mixed with kibble and diced steamed veggies and / or rice.

FinedNotFine · 28/02/2022 12:18

My dad has a 9kg dog whose about the right weight.

She has 2 scoops of dried biscuit type food in the morning, then in the evening will have roasted chicken or beef or other meat, bit of rice, peas or other vegetables.

She's a very healthy dog, but fed really cheaply.

Maui69 · 28/02/2022 12:23

YABU. They're dogs.

JellybabyGina87 · 28/02/2022 12:25

I cook for my dog too. He has boiled chicken, mince and beef. Now and again I buy the packs of roast chicken slices and he'll have that. Last dog loved boiled eggs but this one doesn't. He also has Bakers dry food but he only seems to snack on that rather than eat as a meal in one go. He won't go near wet dog food at all. He's a small dog so I don't mind cooking for him as he doesn't eat a huge amount.

GeneLovesJezebel · 28/02/2022 13:03

Mine will eat the small trays if necessary, so I have some in for emergencies.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 28/02/2022 13:08

If you have the time to do roast chicken and you can afford it, why are you asking?

BeagleBeagled · 28/02/2022 13:10

What about feeding Harringtons dry food and then add a little extra like an egg, fish or meat? This is what I do now. I used to make my dogs food for the last few years of his life. He wasn't able to eat any dog food without becoming very ill. It did take a lot of time and effort, I used to make enough for the week and freeze it.

DemiDaisy · 01/03/2022 22:34

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Figgyboa · 01/03/2022 23:04

I did it for the first 5 years of my dog's life. Not out of choice but due to necessity (he has an allergy to a common ingredient in most dog foods). Never again!
Firstly, it so hard to get a balanced diet. Ours ate ground turkey, mash potato with various supplement powders and oils. Chicken is literally one of the worst things to feed a dog. It got expensive, with all the powders and oils and was more time consuming than you think ( I also work from home). Thankfully we found a prescription dog food that he loves. It's made out of hydrolyzed protein so no allergy issues

MrsSkylerWhite · 01/03/2022 23:07

Our rescue wouldn’t eat dog food. She lived healthily and happily on home made “dog” food for just over 15 years(various meats/rice and mixed vegetables with supplements as necessary from vet).