Anyone feed regular (ie, 'human') food?

[casablanca1]

I've always mulled the idea of just giving my dog portions of just normal food instead of kibble. She gets good kibble, but really, why do we use dog food? Pet owners used to just feed 'human' food to their dogs until pet food companies went into high marketing gear around WWII. It's easier to pour kibble, but I wonder how healthy it is. I'm fussy about what I eat (I'm not an organic/vegetarian fanatic or anything, but I find Salisbury steaks creepy), and I find myself reading the dog food label and thinking, no way would I buy this for myself. So, does anyone do the 'human food' for their dogs, and how does that work out?

 

[Renee750il]

Quite a few here feed homecooked or raw diets to their dogs. Mine get the Innova EVO, but right now money is tight and between the cost of gas to get the food and the cost, they've been eating more raw or homecooked than kibble. They prefer the EVO, but they're certainly not turning down the other, lol!

There are quite a few threads on the subject here.

 

[casablanca1]

Yes, I saw that the moment I'd hit 'post.' That'll teach me to post in haste. Though to be honest, I wasn't sure what 'raw' meant. It sounded a bit gross. The day my dog eats anything raw, I'm emiting a girlish scream and running away.

 

[Renee750il]

You'd be screaming quite a bit around here, I'm afraid, lol! My bunch sometimes eats very raw - they love fast food . . . like rabbit, groundhog, squirrel . . . very raw

 

[Mordy]

it works out extremely well, but you need to be aware of certain specific nutrient requirements that dogs have - for example a correct ratio of calcium to phosphorus is extremely important, or your dog can end up with serious kidney damage.

when starting out, i'd stick to tried and proven recipes, such as for example offered in dr. pitcairn's complete guide to natural health for dogs and cats, or monica segal's "K9 kitchen your dogs diet: the truth behind the hype".

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

My three dogs are on a raw/kibble diet and will soon eating completely raw. Their diet is completely balanced, we use our vet's recipe.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

I know people who freak out at the thought of seeing a dog eat raw meat. I am a vegetarian, but for some reason, handing my dogs the raw flesh of another animal doesn't bother me.

 

[Bug]

Ive always wanted to get my dog on a home cooked diet, but sometimes I dont have time to cok fod for him every night.

 

[CreatureTeacher]

Our fur-kids are raw diet kids. Check out some of the other threads on the subject, Casablanca. It's great stuff!

 

[Mordy]

you don't have to cook every day. even if you only have minimal freezer space, you should be able to prepare at least a week's worth of meals in advance.

 

[becca_4321]

I am curious to about the raw. If we had porkchops for supper and I wanted to feed my dog raw meals, how much do you give them? 1 pork chop, 2?

 

[CreatureTeacher]

It depends on his weight. They say to feed 2% of the dog's body weight a day, but that's strictly healthy, high-protein food.

 

[sammielover]

1/2 raw 1/2 solid gold diet. It works great for my puppers.

 

[Lazarus]

I know people who freak out at the thought of seeing a dog eat raw meat. I am a vegetarian, but for some reason, handing my dogs the raw flesh of another animal doesn't bother me.

Doesn't seem that wierd, I mean if they where never meant to eat raw meat, I m sure our canine friends would not be around at this time.

It's just the thought that our little friends actually eat raw meat, I mean, god forbid if in some freak accident the skin of my leg was "skinned" and then fetched on by our dog...