home cooked meals

[raynefalls]

I have taken my Danes off Iams canned food. I used to feed them half a can mixed with their Canidae and both started having mush poo problems. And since I can't find a canned food that Brin can stomach, I now mix their kibble with what I call sludge. It's:

2 lbs ground turkey
1 lb ground pork
2 lbs chicken livers
1 lb chicken gizzards cut up
1 14.75 oz canned salmon
about 3 cups water
10 to 12 fish oil caplets
2 1/5 cps quick cooking rice

put all ingredients, except rice, in really big pot. Cook until brown and yucky, you have to keep stirring it or it turns into sludge meatloaf and burns on the bottom,then turn off stove and add rice.

It smells god-awful, but they just love it and no more stomach or poo problems. :) I put in 1 cup of sludge with their kibble and the sludge lasts a little over a week refrigerated.

[CarolB]

If you are feeding salmon you really don't need the fish oil capsules but if you do use them add them just before feeding. Don't cook in with the mixture you are using.

[raynefalls]

Thanks Carol, I'll do that.

[3SPOILEDDOGS]

I know it has been a while since you posted your diet recipe, but I wanted to respond. I rescued our Dane, Zeus about 3 weeks ago, he was very skinny, and needed to gain weight. I make a concoction of chicken backs, vegetables, and rice. I slow cook the chicken backs and vegetables all day, then put them in the blender, bones and all, and blend thouroughly. You end up with a grayish "mush". Then I cook the rice in the same water the chicken was in, so as not to lose any of the nutrients. I mix the end result with his kibble at dinner time, add a little broth, and he loves it! I also give him evaporated milk over kibble at night for the large calorie/fat content, just until he gains enough weight, then I'll back off.
Any input on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

[Susanne]

When I want to add something to the diet when some of my dogs won't eat raw.

5lbs of Chicken Backs
5lbs of Chicken Hearts
2lbs of Liver
10eggs
2 cans of Jack Mackerel 15oz

I grind all the ingredients with a grinder. Bones and all. I then divide into 2 equal parts since I can't cook it all at once.

I place mixture in 8 cups of boiling water with 1/2 cup of olive oil, return to a slight boil and then I add 4 cups of rice, Cover and reduce heat. It normally ready in about an hour. I let cool and they love it. I have had this last for a week or more for 5 dogs.

Sometimes I will add deer, deer heart, deer tongue, pork, beef, beef hearts, beef tongue, rabbit, whole fish, turkey, whole squirrel and veal. Depends on what is available. No more than two different meats at a time.

[3SPOILEDDOGS]

That, too sounds like a good alternative. I will try that recipe to see if I can make it strech a little farther. Thank you for your recipe, it's greatly appreciated, and by the way, I am happy to report that Zeus has picked up some weight, and is nowhere near as bony!

[MarkD]

Once she gets off the puppy kibble ,I want to feed Molly the same food I've been feeding my 9 yr old lab for the past 4 years.
I buy ground beef,fry it up,drain off the fat.
Boil mixed veggies
Boil Rice
And then I combine all 3 and put them in freezer bags.
He gets this twice a day and his last check up the vet said he was in great shape.
I also add Glucosemene and dog vitamins I get from a local pet store.
The odd meal I through in a can of salmon or tuna .

[themelmom]

I have been trying to make homemade food to mix with the Canidae I feed my Danes. I like these recipes. Any more?

I usually do ground beef, mixed veggies, and brown rice.

Do these recipes make stool more loose or more solid?

[MarkD]

With our lab the stools are much smaller and solid.

[Aurora Reigns]

Do any of you feed home cooked meals exclusively? Our pup is 6m and we've had no luck with kibble, so yesterday I gave her ground beef and rice and she LOVED it and today she's only had one poo and it was firm!!! (lately she's had about 5-6 per day and they are total mush)
I know that she should have more nutrition and I'm also not sure how much to feed her. I'd like to add veggies, but do I need a multi-vitamin too?
Any suggestions is appreciated!

[CarolB]

You can google dogs home cooked meals and come up with some recipes but good heavens that's alot of work. Go raw. It's alot easier.

[Aurora Reigns]

Really??? Everytime I look at going raw, I get totally overhwelmed and I figured that Homecooked would be easier!??! I definately would be interested in learning more about raw and how you do it? Would you mind PM'ing me some tips?
Heather

[CarolB]

Try this web site http://rawfeddogs.net/
It's really easy. We were all a little scared at first but most dogs do so well on it. It is what dogs are designed to eat. We will help you.

[Aurora Reigns]

Thanks Carol,
I will take some time to read through that and then I'll read through the raw feeding section. One quick question, what is the approximate cost of feeding raw to a Great Dane??

[Shamu]

Do any of you feed home cooked meals exclusively? Our pup is 6m and we've had no luck with kibble, so yesterday I gave her ground beef and rice and she LOVED it and today she's only had one poo and it was firm!!! (lately she's had about 5-6 per day and they are total mush)
I know that she should have more nutrition and I'm also not sure how much to feed her. I'd like to add veggies, but do I need a multi-vitamin too?
Any suggestions is appreciated!
I fed my first dane home-cooked, and I raised puppies on home-cooked -we didn't have kibbles at that time. That was 15 years ago, and I don't remember exactly what I fed her, but it included beef, chicken, rice, oatmeal, cottage cheese, vegies, milk for puppies, and vitamins and minerals.
And as others are saying, it is A LOT of work. Especially with a puppy. You need to balance it correctly - make sure protein/fat level is right, calcium/phosphorous, all vitamins, amount you feed, etc. And you need to be able to see if dog is starting having growing issues so you can correct the diet. What works for one dog, doesn't necessary works for another dog, so you really need to be able to notice any problems earlier.
Now I was thinking about feeding my dane pup homecooked, since we had problems with kibbles too -but knowing how much work it is, and how easier it is to do it wrong, I decided not to do it.

[CarolB]

I really can't answer that because I have so many dogs (11 all raw fed). I do feel it's cheaper than kibble tho because of the way bags of kibble have increased in price. Once you get used to raw you look for sales etc. and buy in bulk so your prices come down. I really have never figured out what the price per dog is per month.

[Aurora Reigns]

Thanks Carol, I've just posted some more questions in the raw food section. Thanks also IM123.
Heather