Switching Foods... Questions?

[Backward_Cinderella]

This morning my parents and I got into an argument about what my dogs are being fed. They're feeding them Pedigree Adult Formula, which I know is crap. I've been wanting to start feeding them a home made recipe from my Modern Dog magazine that sounded just right, especially because it tells how to edit it for different sized / aged dogs (god knows I have a heck of a variety)
Any way, my mom finally said, fine, if I wanted to deal with it, that I could have at it.
YAY!!!
I mixed a batch of it up (its basically rice and chicken with a supplement in it, varying for each dog) and they LOVE IT.
Now... They get fed twice a day, and the second time, I'm not usually home, except my two days off. If I make a HUGE batch in the morning, and refrigerate the second portion, will it be o.k. seven hours later? And even more to the point, can I make, say three days worth one day and refrigerate it? Or is this not a good idea?
If you need to see the recipe, I'll post it, but I'd rather not type more than I already have at this moment, my carpel tunnel is beginning to bug me.
Thanks in advance, everyone!!

 

[PoodleMommy]

Making some ahead should not be a problem.

When my dogs have needed to be on chicken and rice because they were sick, I have always made up a big batch and put it away for a few days with no problem.

However, I would be careful with home cooking without doing a TON of research.

Chicken, rice, and a supplement does not sound balanced at all.

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

What else should I feed them? There's more than that in the recipe, but off hand w/o looking at it, that's what stuck out most in my mind. lol

 

[PoodleMommy]

I have no idea what you should feed, lol.
I looked into home cooking a few years ago and realized there is just way more to it then people think... so many different things need to be incorporated into the dogs diet.
While doing that research, I actually found this site and thats when I learned about holisitic foods and after more research I decided it would be easier to just switch to one of them instead of doing the homecooking myself.

I am NOT saying it cant be done, just that it is very difficult and alot of work.
There is a good book written by Dr. Pitcairin (sp?) that tries to explain homecooking (I was still confused after I read it).

Have you considered switching to a high quality food and supplementing with regular food? thats what I do now.

 

[Zoom]

There are a number of people who feed homecooked/raw on here, I bet you could find a lot of answers and links from them. Try doing a search through the Dog Food forum and see what that pulls up as well.

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

You know, I thought there was a dog food forum, I guess I didn't look closely enough. LoL I totally FAIL at noticing things sometimes. Thanks guys. I'll check out that book, see if its at the library, if not I'll order a copy. Thankies!

 

[bubbatd]

I personally have always left it up to the best balanced dog food I can affored ,,, Oliie is on Canidae right now .... I'm sure many can do their own thing with good results ... I really don't trust my judgement . Plus if I have to board or vet , I don't have to worry about my TLC.

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

PS
If a mod happens to read this, could you move it to the food forum?
THANKS!!

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

I hadn't thought about boarding. I usually just have them bring their food with them, and they get fed separately from our dogs, Bear being a brat about food, like he is.

 

[Zoom]

What I have found to be easiest, as least for me and until I can do more research, is to simply buy a very high quality kibble (mine are on Innova) and then supplement with the occasional bit of raw chicken quarter or hamburger or bone, what have you.

 

[ihartgonzo]

It is AWESOME that you're convincing your parents that your dogs deserve better food. C: Props for that, first of all!

Home-cooking can reallyyy be tricky. I have never tried it, mostly because I am lazy, and feeding Raw is just that much easier... and in my opinion, much healthier. Home-cooked (and Raw) diets can definitely work wonders for your dogs health, but only if it's properly balanced. If it isn't, you are much better off feeding a premium kibble. (Check out dogfoodproject.com for a ton of information about good/bad kibbles)

What kind of supplements are you adding? Usually, a home-cooked diet entails cooked or pulped veggies, bone meal, some kind of fish body oil, as well as the meat and grain... at a minimum.

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

I noticed today that the supplements are past date, so I borrowed some of my neighbor's Kibble which is Canidae. They're not too excited about it, but they're eating it. lol I ordered some supplement from a website today that I've been ordering all my grooming supplies today - its by total pet. I bought several different ones. The website is petedge.com

 

[Lizmo]

My dogs aren't excited about Canidae either, and I've heard the same from others. Try TOTW, I just switched my dog over and she loves it like her EVO! lol

 

[showpug]

I don't if you have a Costco in your area, but their Kirkland brand kibble is something to consider as well if money is an issue and the home cooking doesn't work out. I say this because it would probably be quite easy to convince your parents of it because it's cheaper than pedigree with much better ingredients. Just an idea if you need a back-up kibble plan.

Home cooking is a great idea too and if you want to be sure you are balancing it properly, you may want to consider consulting Mordy. She can help you come up with the right formulation. Her info is on The Dog Food Project website.

 

[Backward_Cinderella]

Thanks showpug!!
I don't know if we have a costco here or not... We do have a sam's club, to which I have a membership. Do you have any idea if they have anything like what you mentioned?
I think what we're going to do is try home cooking two or three times a week, and go the rest with kibble, at least until I have more time.
Money is not really an issue with us. I have a rather large fund put away for my doggies... I've been putting $20 away every weekly pay check since i was fifteen. Haven't spend much of it either, because my cousin is a vet. She takes care of my babies free, except for meds.
I'll check out that website. Thanks everyone!

 

[minpinluvrs]

I'm feeding Canidae, Solid Gold, and Instinct right now. I have 5 dogs with all different tastes, but they're each happy with the food they're getting at the moment. I'd love to be able to home cook for my dogs, but I feel they're better off with the premium foods that have everything they need in them. I know there are others here who will say otherwise, but if you're doing it yourself, it's too easy to miss one thing that they need. On top of the above mentioned commercial foods, I do supplement with fresh sirloin steak, cooked chicken, some hamburger, and cooked vegies (hey, they like them, so I won't argue...lol!!) but I only allow that to make up about 15% of what they eat in a week, so I'm hoping it's keeping them pretty well balanced