Dog food?

[NH homesteader]

I am looking at moving from all store bought dog food and making most of my dogs' food. We have plenty of meat available, etc. I do not want to do a raw diet, I have a young daughter and these are house pets, and I am not interested in having raw meat around my house.

Anyone have experience doing this? Suggestions? Or places to go for information?

 

[Southern by choice]

What kind of dog?

 

[NH homesteader]

A Chow/Australian Shepherd/golden retriever mix and a Spanish Alano

 

[Southern by choice]

how old

 

[NH homesteader]

My mutt is 6 and my Alano is 2. The Alano is high energy and needs a lot more protein than the mutt. He's a lazy chow!

 

[Southern by choice]

I like Earthborn. I raised my pups on a mixture of 2 different types of it and another feed.

I prefer chicken based feeds. Beef is #1 for allergy causes. Lamb is better than beef but for many dogs it can cause intestinal upset.

Alano-
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/dog-food-formulas/grain-free-holistic/large-breed

Chow mix-
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/dog-food-formulas/holistic/adult-vantage

Ok- I am a dolt... just realized you want to make your food....
I misread and thought you were switching and didn't want to do raw.

Making your own food is truthfully very time consuming and expensive. I left the post in case you were interested anyway.

 

[NH homesteader]

Is it that expensive? Mostly in meat?

I'll check those out thanks! My chow mix has to have grain free food, we've been using Taste of the Wild. Otherwise our lovely vet has to ahem... Attend to his anal glands.

Do you have a starting point for where to look for homemade dog food recipes? Or any idea of portions?

 

[Baymule]

We butchered roosters and I canned the bony backs and feet (scalded and peeled, toenails cut off) for the dogs. I put in rice, squash, and green beans too. I do feed a good dog food, all meat and no grain. What I canned is not a complete diet, but will be used to break up the monotony of kibble.

 

[cjc]

I have two dogs with health issues. One with chronic pancreatitis and one with stones that just won't go away. I am forced to cook for them because the dog food is either missing something or has too much of another thing. Our vet gave us this book: http://completeandbalanced.com/recipebook.html and I would highly recommend it.

It was expressed to me by my vet its important to use lean meats. I use white meat chicken or turkey and sometimes tuna and salmon. I only feed salmon once a week as it's a fatty fish and because we live by the ocean and my husband loves to fish we don't have to pay the expense of buying salmon. I use canned tuna once a week as well. I always boil the chicken or turkey to remove fat. I add a bit of brown rice and a vegetable. Some vegetables I have to stay away from but a few good ones are broccoli, carrots, spinach, beans (in moderation). I also add a TBS of cod liver oil and safflower oil to my mixture. It's important you ensure all the vitamins and nutrients are in the food you make and this book would help you achieve that.

 

[TAH]

I did
1/2 cup of oats
A handful of spinach
A handful of peas
A handful or carrots
1 cup of chicken or turkey
1 tsp of coconut oil
1 egg
And sometimes cod liver oil.