Making dog food
My poor Daschund-beagle mix, Noodle, needs to lose a little weight, but is having digestive issues with the prescription food. It's basically a super low-cal, high fiber food. So, I'm thinking about making his food. Does anyone else do it, what do you use, and how does the dog like it?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
20 Comments:
my beagle likes fat free chicken broth cooked down with rice.You can also add carrots cooked down and pureed as well as beets and celery and peas.Add some boneless chicken breast or what I do is when food lion or other markets has whole roasters on sale for like 59clb,you can't go wrong.You can actually get a nice meal out of it yourself then just keep picking the rest off for the dog,plus you have a nice broth to pour over the rice with cooked down carrots and celery,don't use onions
cook4u at 2:53PM on 09/21/09
watch out for the salt. dogs aren't supposed to have a lot of it. my cousin's dog lost a lot of her hair because the family was feeding her dim sum leftovers.
AnnieNT at 2:56PM on 09/21/09
I have never in my whole life had leftovers from dim sum : )
BananaMonkey at 3:14PM on 09/21/09
My bf's 9 year old golden retriever/yellow lab mix needed to lose weight too after he turned into a fatty dog. The vet recommended 1 can of drained, unsalted greenbeans every night with his 1 c of low calorie food (total feeding=once daily). It keeps him nice and svelt and he loooooves his green beans. I would imagine you'd need to use less veggies on a smaller breed, but ask your vet!
joyyy at 3:29PM on 09/21/09
During the dog food crisis I took our dogs off their food and we switched to a ground turkey veggie rice mix. 1 pound of group turkey lasted about 2 days for our two. To this I added 1 cup of rice, 1 cup of frozen string beans small cut, and chicken broth about 1 cup. I browned the meat, and added the other things let it get room temp and kept it in the fridge. I did this every other day for months till I found a food I trusted.
I don't know if you know about the raw diet which is what some people with our breed feed their dogs. I don't like playing with raw chicken so I don't do it.
I use Natural Balance food Fish and Sweet Potato. The dogs love it and my oldest doesn't get her wheat allergy problem. They have lots of flavors for those with food sensitive allergies. Also a low calorie choice.
JerzeeTomato at 4:33PM on 09/21/09
@Jerzee--I'm a little uneasy about the raw diet, too. He already has tummy issues. I have a couple questions about your recipe (which I'm going to give a try--looks like he'll love it). Can I use brown rice? Do you cook the rice in the broth?
beth1 at 5:25PM on 09/21/09
Dunno about weight loss, but I've been making my dogs' food for years from this book - basically oatmeal, mackerel, carrots, garlic and "healthy powder" (recipe from the book), which gives the pups some extra nutrients. Excellent reviews from my vet (of my dogs, not specifically the book).
sarajane at 5:38PM on 09/21/09
I am trying to get my porky lil Dachshund , Baby, to lose some weight too. I have been boiling chicken and mixing it up with a some rice to give it some "fluff" I feed her once a day, and give her a light treat or two in between. I also take her out for more grueling walks that include uphill trekking and stair climbing. I am beginning to see results finally. Hope that helps. :)
Melicious1 at 5:51PM on 09/21/09
Have your dog attend one Christmas dinner at my mother-in-law's house. I'm not sure he would be willing to eat the food that she "cooks", even if he is starving to death, but if he hides under the table by my feet, maybe he can help me out.
salpico at 5:52PM on 09/21/09
@salpico- the only thing I've ever found that he won't eat is McDonald's fries. Think about that.
beth1 at 6:34PM on 09/21/09
Here are some of my favorite dog cookbooks I highly suggest any dog owner use. They are full of dinner recipes and special treats. I would also suggest the book Food Pets Die For by Ann Martin if you want to know about commercial dog foods. http://www.amazon.com/Food-Pets-Die-Shocking-Facts/dp/0939165562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253575789&sr=1-1 I have one dog who needs to be on a low fat, high protein diet. My dogs both eat Innova EVO low fat dry dog food, and I am very pleased with Merrick wet foods. Thanks to EVO low fat, she's dropped weight, and her cholesterol level.
I'm certainly not passing judgement as our dogs get plenty of table scraps, but if the only food he's turned down are mcd's fries, take note of what extra snacks he gets, because to a 10-pound dog a few bites of hamburger means a lot more than than it does to a 100-pound person, their calories add up a lot faster.
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Dog-Biscuit-Cookbook-Wagging-22/dp/1933662956/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253575501&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Food-Dogs-Vet-Approved-Gastronome/dp/1580174248/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253575534&sr=1-12
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Dog-Bakery-Cookbook-All-Natural/dp/0836269195/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253575593&sr=1-1
I also love dehydrating food for our girls if you have access to a dehydrator. They LOVE homemade jerky and sweet potato chips with no extra additives besides what I season them with. I find when I make my own treats it's a lot easier for me to reach for those than to be tempted to share unhealthy foods, and unhealthy commercial dog treats.
With some good homemade eats, and some exercise I'm sure your pooch will drop the pounds in no time. Good luck!
bobcatsteph3 at 7:40PM on 09/21/09
@beth1 - I cook for my two dachseis, too. Check out this thread, you may find some good info.
brooke29 at 8:00PM on 09/21/09
Well, my dog does not have digestive issues, she is just a real spoiled bitch. I purchase food, open it, put it in her dish, microwave it, stir it, place it in front of her and she sniffs it and walks away. This is my life. Around day 2.5 of her hunger strike and my impending bankruptcy regarding the multitude of food purchases for her to disregard, one of 3 things happen.
1. I make her scrambled eggs and toast to mix in one of the disregarded cans of food and she eats it with happiness.
2. I make her a plate of whatever we are having for dinner and she eats it with happiness.
3. I do the most logical of the 3 and go to the store, buy a package of hearts/livers/gizzards and cook them low with chicken broth, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley and whatever other random broth veggie I have laying around. I add whole wheat couscous at the end and mix a cup full of this muck over a bowl of puppy chow (she is 14...she likes it, whatever) and she eats it with happiness.
Moral of the story? Im a fucking chump when it comes to this silly bitch dog and she knows it.
ChelleyD01 at 10:03PM on 09/21/09
Lots of great advice here. I have not had a dog for 15 years, but I had a retriever for 16 years and I think it was his diet. Our dog got fat quickly and he seemed to have sensitive skin as well. I was reading Prevention Mag at the time and there were suggestions and recipes for daily feeding and biscuits. The biscuits were too much work at the time, but I took the daily feeding suggestions and got into a routine.
I made two servings of oatmeal and put two eggs in his bowl and poured the oatmeal in and stirred. I put approximately 1/2 cup of bran, a couple of dollops of cottage cheese, some milk and let it cool. I added any leftover vegetables and served. He lost the weight and his skin sensitivities seemed to disappear. The article mentioned that while dogs are carnivores we don't have to give them meat, but we need to provide them with protein which was the egg, milk and cottage cheese. Our dog would eat leftover salads if he liked the dressing. Limas were a hard sell, but if there were enough of the other food he ate them. Remember if you go natural to expect a change in bowel habits-be quick and know to adjust.
Seems like a lot of work, but we got into an easy routine as we cleaned up after dinner. We fed him once a day and gave him a couple of large dog bones during the day to tide him over.
I have a client that got a rare breed-Eurasier-and was advised to go the raw food direction. This dog has a lot of digestive problems and the vet feels that the diet was the problem. I don't know since I am not a vet, but I would cook any food.
janaatwg at 10:39PM on 09/21/09
Probably not "super low-cal, high fiber" but here is my recipe for two 100 lb. labs. Lasts a couple months, so it is worth the time, I do it on a weekend.
10 lbs chicken on the bone (thighs are the easiest, only one bone) skin removed
1 lb carrots
few cloves of garlic
any sad veggies from the fridge
Cover with water plus a few inches, and simmer the hell out of it, until meat falls off bone. At least 2 hrs.
Remove food to cool, add 5 lb bag of rice and 2 lbs chicken livers to broth. Cook rice, while removing bones from chicken.
Mix the whole mess together and freeze in quart size bags.( I fill the sink with ice water and throw the bags in there to cool.)
I feed the dogs high quality dry food with a cup of heated rice mix.
-------------------------
Some times I make extra broth for chicken noodle soup for the human part of the family. It smells so good cooking, the kids get jealous of the dogs!
GunBarrelGirl at 11:55PM on 09/21/09
well, since my name is pooch, and i own 4 rescue doggies i'll give you my recipe's which i've been using forever....
1) the usual chicken, brown rice thing....
2) turkey meatloaf: 10# ground turkey - approx. 6-8 large raw sweet potatoes, shredded, a dozen eggs, cooked (in chix broth if you have it) brown rice or oatmeal (depending upon how much you want to add in, if baby is on a diet, use little starch and bump up the veggies.... fresh or frozen veggies, 2 bunches italian parsley, chopped... sometimes i put dried cranberries or fresh blueberries in it...
mix together and bake like a meatloaf. you can use a double pan, putting the loaf in a perforated pan so the grease drips down..... but with turkey, you shouldn't have this problem. sometimes i'll throw in some ground chuck for a variation.
of course you can vary your veggies and amounts, sometimes i use acorn or butternut squash, or pumpkin instead of the sweets.... my dogs love this meatloaf, they are like little sharks circling around my feet when i heat it up for them..... i love watching them eat it ... especially my nearly toothless and blind guy named babbo .... it's the highlight of his day....
pooch at 1:55PM on 09/22/09
My mom get this stuff from the local health food store and mixes it with ground turkey. http://www.happydogfood.com/
the_o at 2:58PM on 09/22/09
Well, we tried it today. This week's batch is ground turkey, brown rice, fresh cut green beans, carrots, and chicken broth (low sodium). gave them about 1/2 kibble, and 1/2 turkey stew, and added about 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese. They inhaled it. Loved it. Thanks for all the help.
beth1 at 5:47PM on 09/22/09
@beth1 - you're going to have very happy, spoiled doggies! the cottage cheese is a good idea, i'll have to remember that one....
pooch at 9:07PM on 09/22/09
I cooked rice brown and white regular and I added the rice after I browned the meat and the broth to moisten the food ever so slightly.
JerzeeTomato at 3:47AM on 09/25/09