Started the Homemade diet today (for the dog)

[Bleenie]

I previously posted about my Rottweiler and her constant hot spots. I know she is allergic to Soy and after switching around her foods so much I have decided that she must be allergic to something else that's in store bought dog food. She was getting Cortizone shots monthly to "treat" them, but they have recently not been working very well to control them. I picked up a Whole cut-up Chicken at the store last night along with a couple bags of Brown Rice, I already had soem Frozen Green Beans at home.

I boiled the Chicken, drained it, de-boned it & let it cool for a while. then I cooked 2 cups of Brown Rice that quicky turned into about 9 cups!! (i forgot how that stuff expands!)

After the chicken cooled a little i put it in the food processor along with the bag of green beans & chopped it all up. Then I added it to the rice and mixed it all together. I ended up having to use some of the Chicken stock because the mix was a little dry, but just enough to moisten it....I didn't wanna give her all that extra fat.

She really liked it. I was worried about her just gulping it down but she went slow and licked the bowl totally clean. I am going to continue this diet and see how she looks in abotu a week...I am REALLY hoping it helps clear up the hot spots and gets her back to her beautiful, old self.

PS. She is a 9yr old Rottweiler, about 85-90lbs. I plan on feeding 4cups a day and see how she does, I also don't want her to gain a ton of weight either.

 

[joedie]

I feed mine the Raw diet. My dogs weigh 150, 65, and 60 lbs. No cooking involved. I feed them raw chicken backs, duck carcasses, turkey knuckles, venison. It used to cost me $129/mo for Proplan and they really picked at it all day. I can buy a months worth of raw chicken backs and it costs $65/mo. It's really not the money but I think it is much better for them. No more bad dog breath and the poop turns white and blows away after awhile. Not stinky either! They drink ALOT less to because they don't need the liquid to digest all those fillers. They eat it right up, bones and all, no need to debone it. They are carnivores after all and IMO don't need the fillers. Google it and see what you think.

 

[radiodog]

I thought about raising my own chickens to feed my dogs, but with 11 dogs that would be a lot of chickens!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I would suggest you add some raw chicken backs or necks to the diet, or some raw large beef bones. This will help with tartar and plaque build up from eating such a soft/moist diet.

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
depends on the size of the dogs,,a 25 lb dog only needs around 1/4 lb of meat/bones/organs a day..and they dont need all every day.raw feeding is very simple and easy,,people make to much out of it,,just grab a piece of chicken breast or whatever meat you feed that day and throw to the dog and your done..they need 2-3% of their ideal adult body weight per day.very simple and very healthy,no need for fillers,grains or veggies.Throw in a little fish or fish oil once in a while and its all good.

 

[Akane]

1 of my roosters can feed the 20lb shiba and 70lb akita for a couple days with a few other small things like beef rib bones or giving each one the breast from a quail. My freezer is currently full of the 200 quail I butchered over the summer so sometimes they are dog treats. Since it's winter I actually just whack the head off a rooster, split the skin, and throw it in the dog yard. They eat on it over the next few days. A friend gets a deer carcass every deer season and just tosses it in her backyard for the winter. It takes them several months to polish it off. We also can get boxes of bones free from the local locker. Just gotta call on a day they are butchering something and they'll give you whatever you want. It is amusing to watch an akita try to walk around with an entire beef leg bone longer than her own body. They end up eating very little dog food and I'm not paying for much of the rest. You do have to keep in mind the ratio of organs, bone, and muscle meat you are giving but otherwise it really is not complicated or expensive to keep a dog fed on all raw. Just call around to hunters and places that raise or butcher animals. We are getting an elk soon. There are several ranches around so we just purchased one all prepackaged for ourselves and ask they throw in all the extra parts they normally can't use anyway. We'll use the steaks, some of the ground meat, and the dogs will get the rest for a whole heck of a lot cheaper than bags of dog food. My husband wants some buffalo when that's gone so we have a couple places to call on that and see if they will make a similar deal. It should be even funnier to see a large dog with a huge bison femur.