# homemade dog food - am i doing this right?



## abigail1989 (Nov 22, 2011)

I watched a show about animal rendering. After watching an entire cow, intestines and all, get mulched into sludge, and then hearing that said sludge is commonly used in dog food, I decided I wouldn't be feeding my dog store bought kibble anymore.

So today, I made him dog food. A few pounds on lean ground beef, which I cooked and rinsed to get all the excess grease off. A few pounds of spinach, boiled. A few cups of brown rice, all mixed together. I use a half cup of the mix, stick a raw egg in the half cup serving, and that's his food for the day.

He is an 18 pound terrier shih tzu, about a year old.

Am I missing anything? Too much/too little? Any input?

I hope this is alright, I have a giant bag of the stuff in my freezer lol.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

It's not particularly balanced. What about calcium? There is a way to prepare your own dog food (raw or cooked), but you need to do it right or your dog will suffer from deficiencies. I don't know very much about preparing a homecooked diet, but I'm sure someone will come along with more info.

There are dog foods with higher-quality ingredients. Not all of them have rendering-plant glop in them.


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## Little Wise Owl (Nov 12, 2011)

As an occasional meal, I'd say what you've made is okay but it is no where near balanced and if fed regularly you might end up with a sick dog. Cooked homemade diets, from what I understand, require a lot more math and thinking in terms of what you need to supplement back into the diet after cooking. I suggest you do a lot more research on homemade diets before you commit to one. I think they're a great choice if you know what you're doing. Also, in my personal opinion, raw feeding is a lot easier than homecooking. 

Here are a few links with information about homemade diets:
How Do I Know if I am Feeding a Nutritionally Balanced Diet?

Calcium – Balancing Your Dog's Diet

Raw Diet

Cooked Diet

I would suggest looking at more sites and maybe buying a few books. Tom Lonsdale's "Raw Meaty Bones", Ian Billinghurst's "The BARF Diet" and Monica Segal's raw and home cooked nutrition books would be a good place to start. Also, don't feel discouraged if it may seem intimidating or if vets or other people give you a hard time. Just research, research and research and you'll eventually be able to form your own opinion and ideas on how to feed your dog a healthy diet. 

Good luck.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Don't rinse off the fat! Fat is really good for the dog. Spinach isn't the very best veggie but can be used occasionally. Brown rice needs to be cooked to a complete mush or you will see it in the poop - be warned!! I analyzed a hamburger/broccoli recipe once, with calcium added it came out really nice.

Add 1/2 tsp of the egg shell ground into a powder per pound of raw meat fed and it will do just fine for right now. You could invest in some beef liver and add about 1 ounce per pound of meat if you want. And buy a can of sardines/mackerel/salmon to mix in for natural omega 3 rather than from a processed oil.

Love the links Little Wise Owl posted but the recipe I would use is http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/low-glycemic/

Not sure if the amount is right or not. Feed and evaluate his body condition after you have fed through this recipe. Remember it is good to feel the ribs but only see a hint of the last couple. I don't go by weight - Max gained 15% of his body weight in lean muscle on raw and would be a skeleton if I took him down to his previous healthy weight!


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## InkedMarie (Mar 11, 2009)

If you're serious about home cooking, get a subscription to the Whole Dog Journal. Earlier this year, they did extensive articles on home cooking. Once you're a subscriber, you can order older issues. You can also look up the yahoo group ThebPossible Canine, it's also a fb group.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

The WDJ series from 2007 is online at dogaware.com. I suspect that is what put the idea in my head to be brave enough to go for it. Good reading, am sure the new series is even better!


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