Should more people prepare homemade food?

[CEvert]

Just wondering why don’t more people prepare homemade food for their dogs?
You know what you are putting into the meal.
Everything is fresh.
If you do not like giving raw food you can always cook it.
My pup loves it and licks the dish clean.
If you shop around, the cost is not much more expensive than commercial food.
Every now and then I get some good quality meat for a meat loaf but I end up eating half of it myself.....LOL.

[LabradorMama]

My labs are fed a raw diet - minced meat (basically all off cuts) from the local butcher and a veg/fruit mix which I make myself about once a month, portion out and freeze. They also have raw meaty bones which I get from the butcher or a wholesaler. I think it works out cheaper than commercial food and I'm happier knowing exactly what they are eating and that the meat is fit for human consumption

[JKramer]

Well, they have been eating raw food for millions of years and it’s only been the last what couple hundred years or so that man has modifying their diets.
It’s like someone giving you some concentrated high nutrition space man meal replacement capsule.
I know what I’d rather eat.

[Tillypo]

JKramer.... My point exactly tinned dog food was invented in the 1930's and dried later than that. Before that dogs ate raw or scraps of the table.

[HopeForTheBest]

The problem is that there is SO MUCH conflicting information out there, it can make your head spin.
I've now taken the step and stopped giving mine bought dry food. At the moment I am basically giving them a dog-suitable version of whatever we are having, with a view to possibly maybe going raw at some point.

Given the amount of fruit and veg that ddog1 has always eaten, I am unconvinced that she would do well on an all-meat diet, so I am heading for a 40% meat, 30% veg and 30% carb. When I put her on a high-protein, no-grain dry food she reacted very badly (soooooo many poos, and the farts were unbelievable), so I think a mix is the right way to go for us.

I did give them both rib bones (raw) today and they went down EXTREMELY well. But again, even the thing with bones is controversial - feed chicken bones, don't feed chicken bones, large cut bones are ok, large cut bones are not ok etc etc. It's a minefield!

I bought my first pack of frozen tripe today too. I think that will be breakfast tomorrow morning (for the dogs :o ). Should I mix it with something or just give it as-is? And do I need to defrost it? I gave the rib bones frozen.

[ender]

Raw feeding is straightforward, but some people seem to enjoy making it complicated. Best to find a raw feeding forum or site that you trust rather than listening to the uninformed (my ex vet falls into this category). People who haven't a clue tend to be very free with their warnings about how dangerous it is

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

HopeForTheBest - some raw feeders do veg, some don't. I give it now and then as he enjoys it.

Don't confuse meat content with protein content though. Chicken breast for instance is about 30% protein.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Oh and good luck with the tripe...don't breathe in . I hate fish but mix it with sardines as it mask the tripe stench a little!

[Tillypo]

With bones the easiest way to go is do not buy weight baring bones from large animals, this is only because it can damage the teeth and no other reason. Chicken bones are fine raw frozen or fresh, in the summer i tend to give mine all their bones frozen as if they are lollypops. Don't let the anti raw feeders sway you into going back, the crap some people have said to me is unbeleivable the best one is oh you don't want to feed raw it will turn them wild. As for the tripe as you haven't given your dog it before I would mix it with what you would normally feed as you may find it comes out the back end quite quickly. I have been feeding raw now for 4 years and it was the best thing I ever did.

[HopeForTheBest]

What is confusing me a bit is the amount recommended: 2 - 3% of adult body weight.
I have 2 terriers, ddog1 weighs 7.5kg and ddog2 weighs 6kg.
That's, what, 150g of food per day for ddog1, right?
They feed twice a day, morning and evening. I know I shouldn't compare to dry food which is obviously "bulkier" but 75g of food in one go just seems so very, very little to me.
Or is that only meat, so if I was giving eg veg or rice etc with it, then that wouldn't count?

ender but that's exactly the problem! There are so many forums and opinions, I don't know which one to trust!

[Tillypo]

Hopefor the best..... Dog1... 150g of food a day in two meals
Dog2.....120g of food a day in two meals. I don't feed veg or rice with their meat. It may not seem alot but with a raw diet there is alot less waste coming out the other end they absorb alot more hence why they go to the toilet alot less, so need less food.

[moosemama]

The larger quantities of commercial food are down to the percentage of the ingredients that are basically filler, useless to the dog and go straight through - hence bulkier stools.

With a natural diet nearly everything is absorbed and metabolised so there's less waste and the dogs' nutritional and energy needs are met via a much lower intake.

I can't do tripe. I did years ago for my old GSD girl, but I seem to have gone soft in my old age. Just the sight of the stuff turns my stomach these days. (In my defence, I've been vegetarian for 30 years now and it's just about the only thing I absolutely refuse to feed them.)

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

HopeForTheBest the thing to remember is it is a guide only amount wise and is trial and error to a certain extent. Smaller dogs often metabolise at a faster rate than big dogs and can need more than a big dog percentage wise.

I have just got my 7kg terrier to start putting weight on at 250g per day. He needs to be around 8kg, he will still be lean at that as he is a very leggy BT. He has gone up to 7.5 kg this month. I will drop back to around 200g as that seems to be maintanace for him. Try an amount (maybe in the middle at 2.5%) and see if they lose or gain and work it from there.

[HopeForTheBest]

Yes, I've noticed that just switching from bought dry food to home cooked food has reduced what's coming out the other end significantly!

That 150g doesn't include chew bones, though, does it?

[Tillypo]

No don't count treats in amount of food per day. For treats have you tried chicken or duck feet or the inners of pigs ears instead of dog chews. I also roll mince into balls or sausage shapes cook in oven then freeze them, also roasting liver,hearts or kidneys in oven and you can keep those in an air tight container in your fridge for three weeks. I don't buy any dog treats at all I make my own. I also give them whole eggs shell included on the garden as it can be messy they throw them around and then squash them so they are dead then eat it all.

[HopeForTheBest]

Ddog2 is a chewer. She's about 10mo (rescue pup, with us since July) and is constantly chewing things, so I need to give her things she can carry around and chew anywhere ie on my bed.
They do get pigs ears etc and I've started giving them raw bones now too, but those they have to have on a towel in their dens, absolutely NO moving around with those!

Ah that makes sense fanoftheinvisibleman. Ddog1 is 7.5kg but skinny. She could easily eat more and not be overweight.
Ddog2 is good at 6kg and I wouldn't really want her to put on any more, but then she's more likely to be eating chews so her meal intake has to be less.

Would a ground-up egg shell each per week be ok calcium-wise? Feeding in garden is not an option (teeny tiny garden of ground floor flat) so I'd rather give them things like that in their bowls.

[Tillypo]

Yes you can put them on their food, even when you use eggs for your family cooking never through the shells away just give them to the dogs.

[moosemama]

Hope, I give mine eggs in their bowl and just smash the shell so it's mixed in with the white and yolk.

... mind you, Lurcherboy then carefully picks around the shell and leaves it all.

[moosemama]

cross post

[HopeForTheBest]

Ds made the mistake of asking why I was drying eggshells on the radiator. Before he knew it, he was grinding said eggshells with my pestle and mortar :o
Dogs had them mixed in with dinner as I suspected they might just pick them out if I left them in big bits.

Another rib each at lunchtime today. I did somehow think it would be messier giving raw bones, but actually they really do stay on their mats in their dens and gnaw away.

[Tillypo]

My three don't move anywhere when they have their bones it's great to watch all you hear is nom nom nom.

[Butterflylovers]

My vet advised not to give bones but if you do, don't give cooked as they can splinter. She also said even raw ones can too. She also advised not using weight bearing bones... so a little confused.

[HopeForTheBest]

Tripe for breakfast went down very, very, very well. I mixed from frozen with a little warm porridge oats (to help defrost it) and it was lapped up before I even got a whiff of it.

And, for the first time EVER, ddog1 (who is a very take-my-time kinda eater) was finished first :)

Butterflylovers did the vet say not to give any bones at all? I know cooked bones are out, but no raw?

[Butterflylovers]

She advised against it but said if you do then use raw non weight bearing bones.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

You will find a lot if vets against raw but not all. No disrespect intended to my vets or their knowledge but judging from the surgery shelves, they make an awful lot of profit in Royal Canin. Funnily enough this is always the cure all for tummy troubles .

Some vets on here may wish to correct me (happy to be put right if I am wrong) but I have been led to believe that nutrition recieves scant coverage training.

[ender]

I've found that vets don't know any more about raw feeding than the rest of us, although some are interested enough to find out about it and perhaps raw feed their own dogs.
My previous vet told me it was dangerous to give dogs raw meat because it was full of bacteria, so I changed to a pro raw feeding vet.
There's no scientific body of knowledge that can be taught in vet school, no profit to be made from raw feeding so why would anyone want to fork out the money for research?