The cooked diet

[DoggyMom]

After much contraversy about feeding my dog Purina, I've decided to go with a cooked version of the BARF diet. I would do the raw, but I just can't stomach giving Lily raw foods. So, now she gets cooked chicken, turkey, beef and pork. I mix in rice (which she loves) and sometimes cottage cheese and cheddar cheese. She gets eggs mixed in on occasion. I tried fish just the other night (grilled halibut) and she went nuts :D I've been using this new "diet" for almost 3 weeks now, and we are doing really good.

My only worry now is that she may be getting a bit too much protein in her diet. Anyone know of any good ways I can substitute or some good supplements I could give her to make sure she's getting the good vitamins and minerals she needs?

[Brandi's Mom]

HOME COOKED FOOD

With a sheltie the most important thing to remember is that they will gain weight if kibble is added to this diet. Do not feed kibble based treats to your dog when feeding home cooked foods if your dog has allergies. This diet eliminates all wheat, wheat gluten, corn and corn gluten from the dog’s diet. I use frozen raw chicken wings for chewing with my sheltie and no rawhide or biscuit based dog treats. It gives her a source of calcium, phosphorus and potassium as well as keeping her teeth very bright and clean.

I alternate the protein source every other week between chicken and fish for proper Omega 3 and 6 levels. I buy the bagged chicken leg quarters at Wal-Mart and it gives me 3 weeks worth of protein at 2.5 pounds of meat (bone in). The other source I use for protein is Jack Mackerel (2 -15.5 oz cans) for one week of food.

The following is the diet my dog has been on for several months. It does make a difference.

2.5 lb. Chicken (stewed with the skin off, bone in, with fat removed and cooled)
2 lb Green Beans (fresh frozen thawed but not cooked)
1 lb carrots (fresh frozen thawed but not cooked)
4 eggs cooked
4 apples cored and quartered
1 cup cooked brown rice (optional if your dog is over weight or tends to gain weight easily)
2 oz parsley (a natural antibiotic)

Supplements given with this diet can either be crushed and added to the food after it’s prepared or given at intervals during the week, which ever is more convenient for you

A good quality pet vitamin (your choice in brands)
Acidophilus one capsule per day put on the food after thawing. You can get 120 caplets of this at Wal-Mart for around $5.00.
Calcium, phosphorus and potassium if you don’t feed the chicken wings as chews.

Preparation takes about an hour.

I have found that using a blender to grind the vegetables and fruit is the best way to insure that all ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Add two cups of water or the fat free broth from the stewed chicken to the blender and blend a container full of the thawed vegetables. Strain the water out of the vegetables into another bowl and add the water back into the blender (you won’t be able to get all of the water out, but there will be enough to allow you to use the same water over and over to blend all of the vegetables, fruit and eggs. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and then de-bone the cooked and cooled chicken and grind the meat into a paste in the blender using the same water used to grind the vegetables (this way all nutrients left in the water goes back into the food). Add the chicken to the vegetable fruit mix and stir thoroughly. Place ½ c of the mixture in sandwich bags and freeze. This recipe will give you about 8 to 10 days worth of food, feeding twice a day.
You may want to watch your dog for either weight gain or loss and adjust the amount fed accordingly. My sheltie maintains on ½ cup of food twice a day nicely, but yours may need more or less depending on his activity level and or metabolism.

Hope this helps you

Judy

[DoggyMom]

Thank you for the info :) I will definitely try the diet the way you make it, although I would have to leave out the carrots, as Lily doesn't like them. Lily doesn't currently take any pet vitamins, any good suggestions? I was thinking the 8-in-1 multi-tab daily vitamins for dogs (I saw those on the petsmart website).

[Sweettuth]

I know how difficult it is to give a dog raw food, I'm a vegitarian, and at first the idea grossed me out. My dogs have been eating raw for almost 4 weeks and are doing quite well. When you feed a dog raw food, they are getting more nutrients since when you cook the food it kills some of the nutrients. Also when they chew the bones it cleans their teeth, people that feed raw have dogs that are 10 years old and never had their dogs teeth cleaned. I have also been told that dogs digest raw food easier. If you are intersted in this, you should check out the website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ You will gain so much information if you join this group and look at the past messages. Here's another great website: http://rawfed.com/myths/

[LABATORE003]

SLED DOG STEW


I like to suppliment my dogs with a little concoction I came up with, not unlike a few suggestions up there. I take about 3 cups of rice, 2 pounds of beef, chicken, or whatever meat you feel like, my boys like tuna fish, corn, broccoli, or choose a veggie, and 4 eggs and garlic cloves. cook the rice and brown the meat. Add the meat and rice to the eggs and vegetables in a baking pan. Add a little bit of olive oil and the garlic cloves, about 3 whole ones. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I usually save up the fat scraps and ligaments from chicken, steak, you name it, as long as it isn't marinaded or have too many additives, and add them in the mix. If you can find it, a NATURAL, no additive bouillon cube or two is appealing. The result is a thick, sticky meal that can be either added to current dog food, mixed right in or served alone. I suggest a cup of water to it, especially in the winter time, and heating it up. My boys just gobble this stuff up. The key ingredients are the rice and the garlic. The rice kind of absorbs all the flavor and acts as a chewy medium while the garlic aids in digestion and (this really is true!) helps keep away parasites, especially fleas. Try it out, let me know what you think.

[DoggyMom]

Thanks, definitely going to have to try that.
As for giving Lily the raw diet, sorry, but no. I tried to give her some chicken with the bone in once and she choked on the bone to the the point where I had to take her to the vet to have it removed. Once was more then enough to scare me off giving her anything raw. I know the raw diet would probably be better for her, but I'd rather give her cooked foods for now, until I get more used to the idea of a raw food diet :)

[poketmouse]

How big was the piece of chicken you gave her? A lot of people make the mistake of giving a small piece of food to their dog thinking it will be safer. Even for small dogs, a lone drumstick, a wing, or a neck is dangerous territory. Does your girl gulp her food or politely chew it? If she's a gulper, give her something big, like a bone in chicken breast and try partially freezing it. The bones there are small, and there is a very small chance of choking. Don't give up on a raw diet just yet!! You obviously love her if you are willing to cook entire meals for her. Raw does take a little getting used to, and it may take some researchto settle your fears, but once you get going, you'll be amazed how easy it is, and how happy it makes your pup!:D

[DoggyMom]

It was a drumstick, and she is a gulper. She tends to gobble her food like it's going out of style now.
I've been doing a lot of research into the raw diet now, and I have an appointment with my trainer (who recommends the BARF diet) to discuss the diet and my fears of Lily choking on the parts :D

[Brandi's Mom]

Those will be fine if they contain the following supplements: Calcium, phosphorus, Potassium, magnesium,, Iron, copper, zink , manganese and vitamins A, D, E, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pyrodoxine and Vitamin B12. I like to include a fish oil tablet every other day as well on the weeks that I am not using the salmon.

[Nancy]

Just remember their teeth. If you only use cooked foods, you need to give them something to keep their teeth clean or brush them every day.

[DoggyMom]

I don't brush Lily's teeth every day, but I do once a week. She's never had bad breath that I've noticed. Occasionally, she does munch on a dentabone, but she doesn't really like them. She does love her toothpaste, I use Hartz beef flavor toothpaste for dogs.
I did have the meeting with our trainer to discuss the raw diet, and I've decided against it. Lily is doing very well so far on the cooked foods with supplements. I am going to stick with this for now. I plan to slowly introduce raw foods (the BARF diet) into her diet, see how it goes, but very slowly (especially after the whole bone/choking incident) I don't want to change up her diet very quickly, since she has had tummy problems in the past.

[Lolakitty]

I had my pups on a home cooked diet for several years, and we all really enjoyed it. I liked making their food and knowing exactly what was going into it, and they thought it was pretty yummy :D
I belonged to a couple of great online groups of other folks who had been doing this for years and years, and their input was absolutely invaluable in terms of figuring out proper levels of vitamin and mineral supplementation to the diet, as well as many other things. :)

[Brandi's Mom]

If you use the supplement Acidophilus her tummy problems should disapear. This is a pro biotic enzyme that aids digestion and will help her body assimilate her food.