Homecooked Food?

Hey everyone,

I'm new here, I've been reading through the forums and haven't seen too much about this. I am strongly considering switching up to cooking food for my dog, she's an 11 month old Lab and I want to have her as healthy and happy as possible. Can anyone help me out with some pros and cons to homecooking for dogs? I am aware that I would be responsible for getting her the right nutrients and whatnot. Does anyone homecook for their dog? I'd appreciate any and all info, whether it's positive or negative, I'm just looking for information more than anything. Thanks in advance!

_andy

well, the pros are that you have full control over everything that your dog eats, you can pick the quality and type of all ingredients you want to use and of course the preparation methods. since you use fresher, less processed ingrediens, the diet will be healthier overall.

the cons are basically the same - since you are responsible for the composition and preparation of the diet, you have to know what nutrient requirements need to be met, how cooking methods affect those nutrients, you have to go shopping for all the items you need, and prepare batches of food every so often.

i've fed a home cooked diet for a while but now feed a combination of mostly raw (meats, bones) and a small amount of cooked foods. if you have any specific questions, i'll be happy to answer.

Another thing you have to look at is can you get ingredients that are organic - meats that haven't been produced using hormones, drugs and other toxins? It's somewhat easier to get good organics in grown foods, but meats are more difficult - and much more expensive, unless you happen to know a small farmer who doesn't use all the chemicals pushed by the feed lot buyers that will sell you a beef and/or poultry for the freezer.

Raw or homecooked is a great way to feed your dog, as long as you can readily get the ingredients you need. If you follow Mordy's advice you don't need to worry about getting the nutrients balanced, though! We're very privileged to have the benefit of her hard-earned knowledge - it's very gracious of her to take the time to share it with us and our pups!

I feed homecooked quite often...when I have time anyways.....I buy chicken from the grocery store in bulk..its the chicken you and I would buy for dinner...so I'm not too worried about spending money on organic..personally I can't afford that...and if its good enough for me to eat..I don't think my dog is going to complain any time soon..

Just like Mordy said..its a great thing to do for your dog..but personally speaking..it is alot of work..regardless of what you may have heard...unless you are planning on cooking portions every single day..you're going to have to make time and buy a heck of alot of meat...cook it all at once...and mix it together with the other ingredients..and then freeze it in portions..that way its much easier...all I have to do is pull it out of the freezer and put it in the oven just to warm up a bit for five minutes...

If you're interested..please do some research first....I'm still learning new things every day...you'll have to make sure that its well balanced..most importantly..in fats, protein, and ph/ca rations.... if those things are way out of place..then your dog may experience some problems later on...

There are alot of good books out there...and some of them even have some starter recipes that are properly balanced...you have probably heard of Dr.Pitcairn somewhere along the way..his book is quite informative but I personally feel his recipes just overflow with carbs and grains...so make sure you read alot of different books and make up your own mind...and if you do decide to go along with homecooked food...I use a nifty online tool to help me analyze the nutrition in my ingredients..its made for human purposes but it works well in both cases...lol my gift to you haha!:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

If you have any other questions, I'll be glad to help out as much as I can..and of course...our dog food expert here hahah...Mordy will be around

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful information! I've been tracking down different sources and doing a lot of research on it.

I have decided for now to switch her to Innova Evo while I research the subject in great detail. I definately want to make sure I am giving her everything she needs, so right now the Evo will work just fine.

Does anyone have any recipe tips or maybe websites with recipe ideas? Thanks again!


_andy