Feeding Your New Puppy
YOU CAN COOK NATURAL HOME COOKED FOOD FOR YOUR DOGS
I have wanted to start a website for everyone who has even thought about getting away from traditionally feeding your dog the everyday dry kibble and canned dog food.
This page details my opinions, observations and beliefs regarding canine nutrition. I am not a nutritionist or a veterinarian. I am not here to tell you what you should feed YOUR dogs, just to share what has worked well for mine. Some people feel most comfortable following a specific diet plan exactly as it is written while others, myself included, prefer to combine elements of different diet plans.
Canine nutrition is of special interest to me and I have decided to try a number of different diet plans in recent years because of this. I started out feeding whatever kibble was recommended by my veterinarian and nothing more - no table scraps, no leftovers, no fresh foods of any kind. After reading in various books and articles about supplementing kibble with meat, eggs, and cheeses, I tried that but these additions were small - kibble was still the main diet.
For 11 years I have searched the internet for as much information as I could obtain. I found there were lots of breeders, single dog owners and veterinarians advocating the feeding of raw, whole foods to dogs and eliminating kibble entirely in order to promote optimum health. Including raw meaty bones. I was not comfortable with this and decided against it. Needless to say, I spent A LOT of time reading and researching (and still do) the various diet plans, opinions, and feeding recommendations. After all this I decided to make big changes to my dogs diet.
During those 11 years I have been raising standard and miniature schnauzers. I can tell you I have been cooking for them. I feed them what I would feed my children, husband or grandchildren. They are part of our family and we love our dogs very much. They are our "furry children".
Our oldest schnauzer is 11 years old and still runs around and plays and is full of energy. She has no signs of illness and is a very happy dog. She has been on a diet of rice, chicken and vegetables for 11 years. I started that because I did not like the ingredients that were listed on the canned or dry dog food packages. There are ingredients that I looked up online and became very concerned about. I would not have fed my family that ingredient, so why feed my dog that. I was worried that she would not get the "nutrients" from natural home cooking that she would get from the cans or dry food. So I started to read reports upon reports from veterinarians, nutritionists and breeders who moved away from the idea that canned food and dry dog food was the best and they started to feed their dogs home cooked natural food. Eleven years ago, you were told don't feed your dog scraps from the table or anything other then the commercial dog food. That was good for the commercial dog food companies, not our dogs.
I started with Maggie our first schnauzer and she did great. All the problems that schnauzer were suppose to have, she never had. No dry skin, no eye problems, no kidney, heart, or pancreas problems. We even brush her teeth. When we had her spayed at 9 years old, the vet told me she was amazed how healthy she was and how beautiful her teeth were.
Five years after we got Maggie we got our first Standard Schnauzer, Annie. We started her on a natural diet. At 4 years old she is beautiful and full of energy.
We now have three other schnauzers and they are all on a natural diet.
When we heard about the dog recall this past April, 2007, I was so upset for the many of families who have relied on proper handling of the commercial dog food for their pets. My heart went out to the pets who became sick and died and their families. I thought that I should have written this sooner.
If you want to change your dogs life and make them happy and healthy and have them look forward to the food you feed them, you can do this. You can cook for your dog or dogs.
My husband and I like to go cruising. We are going away for a week. I will not be at home to be sure my dogs have their home cooked meal every night. What do I do? I cook ahead of time and freeze it. I have just frozen 100 bags of food. It took me all morning to cook. Then I froze it in individual freezer bags proportionally for each dog. All my grown up children have to do is microwave it and put it into each dogs bowl and there you got it, dinner!
YOU ALL CAN DO THIS, I PROMISE!
If you have to go away for a few days, you plan ahead of time. If you work all week you can do this one morning on the weekend for the whole week. If you want, you can spend a morning and cook for a whole month and freeze it. It does take me a little more time then opening a can of dog food or pouring a bowl of kibble to feed your dogs, but if you love your dogs, like we love ours, it is worth it!
Now I have looked into the raw diet. I think it works well for some people. I know it is approved, but I don't want to take the chance of getting my dogs sick from raw food, so I cook it. Of course this is all up to the individual dog owner.
Currently I feed a diet that I prepare myself at home. It was hard giving up the kibble but with the help of top breeders and some vets I talked to who liked what I was doing, I decided to finally do away with the kibble. When I started to look at the bag of kibble wondering if there was anything that I left out of their diet, I could see they received more vitamins and minerals then the bag of kibble offered. The grains and high protein and vegetable diet my dogs get is satisfying and healthy. I add Bone Meal and Brewers Yeast to their diet by putting it in the homemade biscuits I make them and the homemade kibble I make for them. I believe that a home prepared diet contributes to my dogs health.
All dogs should be fed, by volume of the total amount fed each meal, 25-50% meat
The meat can include:
Beef
Chicken
Turkey
Fish (Dogs like Fish)
The easiest way to start this program is to use ground meats. Take the portion to be fed, mix with 1/4 cup of water, and cook on the stovetop, oven or in the microwave until the meat is cooked medium (pink) to medium-well.
Take this meat portion, including the water, and add it to the rest of the ingredients listed below.
Add a variety of Vegetables routinely. We recommend:
Carrots
Broccoli
Peas
Cauliflower
Mixed Vegetable (without corn)
Squash, Cabbage, Beans, and others like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, yams, and root vegetables are all excellent additions to the diet. Sweet potato is especially good, inexpensive, easy to prepare, and readily accepted. Sweet potato should be cooked, and can then be used a portion at a time over a few days. They can be mashed and mixed so well into the diet that all animals will accept them. Carrots often need to be cooked lightly or shredded/chopped finely, or they may not be accepted or completely digested.
Dairy products can be included sparingly. Our favorites are: Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
Grated Cheeses
Fruits:
Our dogs love apples, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, and we offer new varieties of fruit to them. Grapes are not recommended.
Eggs are great to feed, make sure you cook them before you feed them to the dogs. We recommend 3 or 4 eggs a week.
Leftovers can be fed as well, as long as they are good food and not excessively fatty or sweet.
Grains are important One of our favorite grains to use is white rice. Many dogs have digestive problems, which improve when rice is fed. But you can use cut up cooked potatoes, pasta and whole wheat breads. Our dogs love spaghetti and meatballs with sauce.
The variety component should be just that: fed for variety, one thing one day, and another thing another day. Don't get caught up in a routine where you are feeding the same things all the time. Variety is just as necessary for your dog as it is for yourself.
WE WARM OUR DOGS FOOD. 25 SECONDS IN THE MICROWAVE. WHEN WE ARE NOT TRAVELING, WE KEEP THE MEATS, VEGGIES, GRAINS, FRUITS, ETC. IN INDIVIDUAL CONTAINERS IN THE REFRIGERATOR. AT DINNER TIME WE PUT IT ALL TOGETHER IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL BOWLS AND ZAP IT IN THE MICROWAVE FOR 25 SECONDS JUST TO GET THE CHILL OUT. THAT IS ALL IT TAKES WHEN IT IS PREPARED IN THE REFRIGERATOR READY TO GO. IT WILL TAKE YOU AT LEAST 2 MINUTES TO MICROWAVE A BAG THAT HAS BEEN FROZEN.
Remember: Not to give your dog; chocolate, grapes, raisins, onions, bones that can chip and choke them or rawhide bones. The rawhide bones are very bad for their digestive systems. You can bake your own biscuits and treats.
Please remember when you are changing your dogs diet you need to do this slowly. Add a new ingredient and see how it reacts with your dogs stomach. If it looks like everything is good, add another new ingredient and so on until you can eliminate the commercial dog food altogether. Just like a baby who is first learning about new foods their stomachs can get upset, so you need to start slowly.
If you have any questions we are here to help you and you can email us anytime.
Bonnie