# (My) Homecooking-yeah, my dog loves it.



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I decided to give home cooking a whirl. I figured it's a close second to raw (which I can't/won't do), and I just knew she'd love having different foods to try. I started a week ago. I purchased chicken, turkey, and steak-a different offering every day. I've been cooking it in some olive oil, then I add the crushed vitamin, probiotic/enzyme powder, bone meal, mix it all in and top it with with wild salmon oil. The first day she attacked it and ate exactly half. She ate a few of the blueberries, a few chickpeas and a carrot, but that was it. She finished the rest at dinner. Second day I figured I'd serve the meat first, veggies/fruit later. She ate half of the meat, and ate a few veggies later on. Same the next days. DH says he thinks she doesn't like the fish oil, so I omit it . She takes two micro bites and walks away. I've been leaving out a small dish of kibble, _just in case _(I've been free feeding her all along). Now, she turns her nose up at my cooked offering, looks up at me as if to say "Pahleese!" and walks away, no veggies/fruits. This morning what do I find her eating? Kibble. :doh:
I refuse to take it personally.


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

try looking up some recipes on the net. Someone here posted a recipe with lamb or beef which looked pretty good. Can't remember where it was though. 

Also are you frying the meat or making it more like a stew? I think making a stew or casserole type meal would be best from what I read.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

The Deer meat can be subsituted for other kinds of meat. Dexter still loves this one! I just cooked up my 2nd batch the other week.

Dexter has also been picky about eating this meal sometimes and not eating... he likes variety, so he gets Chicken Stew in the morning, but he is still picky sometimes. Lately Dexter has been eating everything in front of him. 

Deer Stew

1 lb. ground meat (deer), plus 1 Tablespoon of oil
1 1/2 cups brown rice, uncooked
4 cups of finely chopped vegetables (I used large sweet potato, celery, carrots, zucchini)
7 cups of LOW sodium chicken broth

Brown up meat, drain grease. Add the chicken broth and all the vegetables and rice. Bring to a boil and simmer with gentle boiling for 5 minutes. Then cover and cook for 30 minutes.

I plan on cooling in refrigerator, then scooping out 1/3 cup servings and put the servings on the lightly greased wax paper or foil....freezing, then put the servings into a ziplock bag. Some of the liquid will need to be drained off, mixture does not stick together, so just create a meat mound on the wax paper.

Dexter loves the stew! He stayed in the kitchen the entire time I was cooking.

I now served 2 servings of the deer stew (thawed and slightly heated) with 1/4 cup kibble on the side at night. I let the kibble soak up with the stew liquid that was present on the plate. Cool it off first at least 5 minutes before feeding to you Hav. If you have a meat temperature gauge, make sure the temperature is below a 100 degrees before serving the food.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Thank you Daniel and Linda!! 
I'm going to have to try your stew recipe Linda, using another meat for the venison.
HOPEFULLY she'll go for it then.


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## Chasza (Dec 10, 2008)

Just a couple of thoughts.......you could just top the kibble with some meat to make it easy.

THe other thought I had was about the multi. I have to feed homecooked to my special needs dogs. I use a capsule vitamin and only use a bit at a time (one capsule last a while)....anyway...I don't know how the crushed tablet tastes, but the powdered vitamin tastes just awful (B vitamins are nasty tasting -- I know b/c I tried it just to find out what the guys were tasting!!). So, what I do is take a small bite out of the food, sprinkle on the amount of vitamin, roll it up in a ball, and let them eat this first. ( really, it's just a quick swallow) This way, they get the nasty taste out of the way, and then I set the remainder of food down for them to enjoy. This may not be an issue with the taste of the tablet, but it might be something to think about.

I don't add in broth. I just do meats and well cooked grains/veggies that are mushed after cooking. I will add a bit of water to this as I mix it up in the bowls. If I make casseroles or something like that, again, I don't add in broths. I prefer it this way....but if you do add broths, I would limit the amount and make sure it's not only low salt, but also that it has NO ONIONS or garlic or other funky spices in it.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

That is a great idea about the multi tab Chasza. I'll hide it like medicine. I bet she is tasting the vitamin!! Per her weight I give her half a crushed tablet that tastes like beef (per the bottle). It smells like fake meat and vitamins. _Yum_. I got her Angel Eyes today that I want to try. It's a dreadful brown powder and I'm sure it tastes as bad as it looks, so I KNOW I'll have to hide that in something. Do you give salmon oil? I wonder if she hated that, the vitamins, or both. I thought the oil would be something dogs would like.
If I added meat on top of kibble, I'd have naked kibble left that she ignores. I'm going to try again tomorrow!


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Keep at it, Beth. It sounds encouraging! I am waiting 'til Sept. or so to start serving some homecooked meals to my boys. We've just been way too busy this summer and I'm going away again in two weeks and just don't have the 'head' for it now. I also want to wait 'til Sept. after Ricky's next set of bloodtests are done so I don't mix things up. I'm working on getting his ALT much lower with what I'm doing now. 

Anyway, homecooked food - so long as it's balanced with vitamins, oils, supplements, and all the dog needs - is 2nd best to raw, so good on you!


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Found out the other night that Dexter loves Sweet Potatoes! I planned on giving Dexter some cut up chicken (small serving), so I added some cut up Sweet potatoes (small serving) as well. The plate was licked clean. (This was an extra meal after his usual meal).

Sweet potatoes are loaded with vitamins.
Scrambled eggs are enjoyed also.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Linda are you feeding him homecooked exclusively?
Do you crush the supplements in the food?


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Dexter is still getting some kibble in the diet. Sweet potato, brown rice, beef, and carrots are loaded with vitamins. 

I would not know what else to add. Dexter gets some scrambled eggs about once every 1-2 weeks (loaded with protein). Dexter gets cheese snacks once in awhile. 

Guess I need to figure out if Dexter needs any extra vitamins.


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## Chasza (Dec 10, 2008)

Linda, if you are giving more than 1/2 homecooked, then you need to start looking at supplements, such as calcium, to balance the phosporus that is in the meat. Kibble has tons of calcium added b/c grains have phylates that block the uptake of calcium.....but if you are feeding close to or more than half homecooked, then Dexter might not be getting enough calcium. As far as vitamins go, I just am not informed enough to give advice (but it is something I am trying to sort out since I have to feed homecooked full time).


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I bought some powdered bone meal and add it to the meat. I also found a vitamin gel that I rub on the inside of her cheek, then she can't spit it out.


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## wooflife (Jul 1, 2008)

Has anyone ever tried Dr. Harvey's as a way to get a balanced homecooked recipe?


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Never saw that one. Thanks. It looks good, but she can be such a little boogie with the fruits and veggies. She'd push them all aside. After some growing pains, we pretty much have the routine down by now. One thing I did notice was that her tear staining has gotten worse with the homecooking. I just may keep changing her diet up and see what works the best. I want to try Go! canned and maybe rotate it with the fresh meat.


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## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

I too am looking for home cooked meals-Frannie needs to be off the SO diet so now I am on the hunt. I do have a call in to the Vet School in MO in hopes they can guide me. I also hope to get a diet for Paige and Rommy since Frannie will be eating "so good".

Pat (humom to)
Miss Paige
Mr Roman
Ms Frannie


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

It's really not as hard as I thought it would be. My only two doubts are that I get nervous that I'm not getting the vitamin/mineral amounts right, and I have a picky dog who refuses to eat anything but meat. I'm trying to supplement a canned meal to maybe cover my bases on that. There are some good books on Amazon about the homecooked diets. I'm sure all three of them will enjoy their new cuisine. Good luck.


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## Chasza (Dec 10, 2008)

Beth,

I don't recommend using bone meal, b/c it also has phosphorus in it -- and that is what you are trying to balance the calcium with. I used NOW brand powdered calcium carbonate from iherb. One teaspoon has 1200 mg -- so one bottle goes a very long way.

You might want to order Monica Segal's book - she just published the second edition of k9kitchen. In it she lists the guideline ratios of each nutrient. I have it, but only recently purchased, and haven't had time to read this second edition yet.

Feeding only meat doesn't seem to allow for fiber to be in the diet -- which helps in elimination. Because mine are grain allergic, I use items such as quinoa and tried amaranth (but my guys couldn't digest it), and organic corn grits (oddly, they aren't corn allergic and this works well for them. I use organic only b/c most corn is genetically modified). Anyway, these are items that do contain calories - which my guys need since they are on a lower fat diet due to chronic pancreatitis. When I didn't have that issue, and they ate more meat, then I gave well cooked veggies (about 1/3 of the diet). But, I really suspect that you need fiber.

I don't agree with feeding raw bones, personally. I don't like the safety of it unless it is ground bone. But, people who do are giving a percentage of bone and if it is the proper amount, then it acts like fiber in pushing the meat thru (too much will cause constipation). But, in this case, their dogs are getting something to move the bulk thru and only feeding meat is more likely to cause problems, I suspect. In the case of feeding ground bone, then that isn't going to act as a fiber substance, imo. 

I mix my foods together --- if you mix in the meat with well cooked veggies, or grains, then will your dog eat it since it is all mixed in together?? I take a small portion of the meal, and to that add in any supplements and give that in one or two bites before the main meal. That's b/c I have to take the vitamin out of the capsule, and it tastes bad so I don't want to mix it up with the entire meal. I do mix up the calcium in the meal, as it is tasteless.

I understand about the vitamin thing -- I have been giving a portion of a human vitamin which I spent hours and hours researching out due to an elimination diet. Before the elimination diet, I used Thorne Research Canine Basics (but it has beef flavoring, so I had to stop using it). Thorne makes human grade vitamins, so I was more comfortable using their brand. But, it is a wee bit pricey, but I felt better about it. Even so, at this point, I would be most comfortable using this with homecooked, but still doing some meals of something like EVO canned since I think any single multi may be lacking in something and giving too much of another item ---- it's a really hard issue. But, if you feed a variety of homecooked meals, you are more likely to cover all the bases than if you just fed chicken, chicken, chicken since something like beef will have a different nutrient profile. I don't believe in feeding all available foods since some may be needed for an elimination diet if food allergies ever show up -- but I do believe in having a rotation of 4 or 5. Eggs, red meat, white meat, fish. Sometimes I topped with ricotta cheese - which was a huge hit (again, this was before the fat issues came into play -- so now I have to be more conservative).

Lynn


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

For a consultation with a pro . I'd spend a few bucks and get some great advice. http://www.betterdogcare.com/?page=about Can't say enough about Sabine.


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

I just may do that Dave.


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