Those of you who feed homecooked...

what recipe do you use?

Mollie was on raw for a bit and it did not go well. At all.

I'm not willing to go back to kibble, so I was thinking about trying some homecooked recipes.

TIA

I'm thinking of these two to start...
(these are made for a 50 pound dog, I would just make big batches for her.)

3/4 lb hamburger (12 oz)
1/4 lb plain yogurt (4 oz)
2 oz liver
6 oz pureed sweet potato
1350 mg of calcium
2 EPA fish oil capsules
(I would leave out the calcium as she will still be getting a chicken wing once a week for her teeth, and instead of giving her the fish oil capsules she will get half a squirt of the Grizzly Salmon oil I have.)

and this one...

3/4 lb chicken (12 oz)
1/8 lb cottage cheese (2 oz)
1 egg (approximately 2 oz)
2 oz beef kidney
6 oz mix of cooked cabbage and zucchini
1350 mg of calcium
2 EPA fish oil capsules
(some thing with leaving out calcium and fish oil.)

I think I'll pick up everything for both of these tomorrow. I plan on switching things up a lot because she can be such a picky eater.

I feed homecooked to all of mine now and since Sophie has allergies to so many proteins and veggies, it's a fish based diet.

I use either bluefish or sole, organic potato, organic spinach, small amount of ground almond (for more protein and some fat). I make their cookies with the above ingredients as well. Oh, and I add a calcium/phos. mixture as well.

I add banana in the a.m. too and a few other veggies. All but Soph get other proteins such as cooked chicken and beef added.

I've been having blood run on Sophie due to another possible she was having and she's doing great. I've been feeding this way for over a year and can't believe how healthy, free of any and all allergy symptoms and how much she LOVES her meals.

Sophie couldn't stand raw, not just with her allergies but she just didn't like it. I do wish that I could feed raw but I'm just as happy knowing every single thing that goes into my dogs...and all human grade.

With 2 very furry faces (bearded dogs) in the house, I would never be able to safely manage raw anyway.

Looks good but remember that the calcium must have a phos. balance. The chicken wings are great for that as are ground eggshells.

Thanks Doc, I do plan on doing some fish with Mollie, though it will most likely be whatever I can find that is the cheapest with still being healthy. Thanks!

Right now Frodo, Izzy and Inky are staying on raw. If this works well with Mollie though, I may try and switch Izzy over too. She looks great and I can tell she feels great on raw but it just does not do well coming out the other end. Pleasant, I know. :lol-sign:

Yes, I remember the assault on the dog run while I was trying to persist with raw for Soph.

The loose stools did a number on her anal glands as well...it was awful.

Yeah, I really just don't know what is with Izzy's stool. The only way it is firm is if she is eating like, chicken wings, and at 46% bone that is just not even a long term option. I really think she needs to have a binding agent, and she can't have white rice or potatoes or she starts to chew at herself. I'm hoping yogurt, sweet potatoes, etc. will maybe clear it up. Now that I'm thinking more about it I think I'm going to try and switch Izzy over tomorrow as well, just as a trial run.

On the other hand, Frodo and Inky are doing absolutely amazing on plain raw. They've never looked/felt better. These animals will be the death of my, I swear!

Here's Frodo today with his pork shoulder:

That is such a cute picture, it's just about as big as he is....he must be thinking SCORE!!!!!:lol-sign:

It's so great when they're really doing well on such a healthy, natural diet.

The recipes you have there look good! The second one, especially. : ) I obviously don't feed homecooked... but I do know some one who feeds it successfully, and according to her, the key is variety. I would feed as many meat sources as possible (just like with raw), and an assortment of vitamin-rich vegetables; broccoli, tomato, spinach, carrots, capsicum, kelp, etc.

I'm not sure if one chicken wing a week is an ample source of calcium?

Poor Izzyyy. How long has she been having bathroom problems? =( Have you tried adding any digestive enzymes to her diet? Gonzo went through a LONG detox period, and it was disgusting... I'm fairly positive that was due to him being fed kibble so strictly for all of his life, and a lack of good flora in his system, on top of his sensitive tummy. It probably took a month before he was all good again. I over-did the bone for a while to firm things up.

He was definitely all about trying to eat the whole thing yesterday, lol. He was only allowed to eat about 8 ounces off of it, then it went in the fridge and he got more this morning. It should last him a few more days. Izzy, on the other hand, had to be blocked in the living room as she thought she too should be able to have some. As if!



I ended up making the first one, though I just realized I forgot the liver. I'm not too disappointed as I know it will probably cause loose stools for a while anyway. My goal is definitely to have as much variety as possible, the batches I make will probably last 3 or 4 days, so I'll try something new each time. Mollie can be very picky if forced to eat the same thing for a while.

I really need a meat grinder, lol. Turkey alone here is $5/lb when it's groung :yikes: I can't afford that! It'll be so much cheaper to grind my own food. They'll be getting stuff like squirrel, deer, etc too. Everything I feed raw that I can get off bone. I found last night at the store that they sell a lamb/veal/beef ground blend, it's only like $3/lb, so they will be getting that for sure too.

I haven't worked out the math yet. This was a really spur of the moment idea. I even ended up going out to the grocery store at 9pm last night to get ingredients, lol. I'm not sure if I should be shooting for 10% edible bone still? I have more research to do, but it's not a problem for me to feed her more than one chicken wing a week.

Uh, her whole life? Her system is a PITA. I was given a digestive enzyme for her by a friend who feeds raw, not sure the brand, and it didn't seem to help all that much. We've been doing raw for about 50 days now, and it hasn't shown any real signs of improving unless she has almost 50% bone.
I'm going to try this homecooked with her, but if she starts chewing herself again or loses the energy she's had since going on raw, then we'll be going back to raw asap. I just want to give this a go.

If we do go back to raw I am considering feeding her mainly small animals (mice, rats, guinea pigs, quail, etc.) because it will allow her to have bone in every meal. Not the best option, but if it clear up her issues, then we'll try it.

Also, last night at the grocery store I looked at the fish they had set out...nothing under about $8/lb :yikes: I'm hoping they just set the expensive stuff out at night and have cheaper stuff at the fish counter during the day.

I feed 50% home cooked along with 50% kibble.

Those recipes look pretty good! I might try them out myself

My recipe includes long grain brown rice usually, I know you are not interested in grains........but honestly, my two do better with rice than white potatoes so that is why I use it.

Mine goes like this:
2 1/2 lbs chicken (normally thighs 'cause they are cheaper), hamburger, or ground turkey
1/2 lb chicken livers/gizzards or beef liver
12-14 oz of dark green veggies..........most of the time it's spinach
1 big sweet potato (microwaved and smashed)
2 cups long grain brown rice (sometimes I use oatmeal instead)
2 tablespoons of minced garlic (I cheat and use the pre minced in a jar)
4-5 cups water
I cook the meat with the water in crock pot until done (remove chicken bones if necessary) then add the rice, cook until done, then add the rest.

They get dollops of yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, things like that through the week as well. A knuckle bone each week too. I also add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to one meal a day.

But like I said, I use 50% kibble as well. When I didn't use kibble (during all the big dog food crisis) I ground egg shells and was sure they had some fish every week too.

Thanks Cooper!

I might give your recipe a try, and if the brown rice will help Izzy's stool I may just give it a try. I just know she can't have white rice or white potatoes or she starts to chew her paws. Right now I'm trying to stay open to most options

I forgot to say that that recipe makes a full 2 quart crock pot and normally does Phoebe and Orson 3-4 days with mixing in Kibble.

Orson (75 lbs) gets 1 1/2 cups kibble and 2 cups cooked 2 x a day, and Phoebe (weighs 38 lbs) gets 3/4 cup kibble and 1 cup cooked 2 x a day. Plus their little tidbits thrown in.

EDIT! Those meals are BROKEN up into 2 times a day..........they don't get that amount at each meal!! ACK! hahahaahha, I reread the wording and thought NO NO NO!!

so one meal for Orson is about 3/4 cup kibble and 1 cup cooked, and phoebe is almost 1/2 cup kibble and 1/2 cup cooked plus their tidbits.

LOL, okay I was thinking, DANG those dogs eat a lot!

Izzy get 6 or 7 ounces and Mollie gets about 4 ounces, so anything I make is going to last a while. Especially when they are also getting chicken wings.

Oh they would surely eat it if I let them...........and they would also be fattened calves