Switching our dog to a homemade diet

[Sydney65]

Hey guys!
Awhile ago, I started a thread on a possible food allergy for our 5 year old, Yellow Lab Comet. Since then, we have switched kibbles to try and find a possible allergen, and started him on equine glucosamine for possible joint issues. I have also really wanted to switch him to a fresh food diet. The rest of the family is hesitant because it would be twice as much as kibble. I have read them articles on the issues with highly process kibble, and am throughly convinced myself that fresh diet will be better for him. My mom is 50/50, but my dad would rather me cook him his own food using the leftovers from animals we hunt, and animal proteins we can get from the store to feed him fresh. So, I've taken up the task.
I don't want to use chicken as animal protein, since I think it may be an allergen. My dad fishes and hunts deer in the hunting season, so any animal protein we can use from that would be great. If we have to buy turkey, or other animal protein after that, we can do that as well. I plan on looking at the vegetables and fruits that were included in the custom diet that Ollie set up, and pick 2-3 of those to add to the animal protein. So really try to recreate what Ollie setup for us.
for vitamins and minerals, I will probably just pick a 5-8 in one vitamin from Amazon or Chewy, so if someone has a brand or supplement like that to suggest, please do.
Then, I plan to look at articles made my veterinarians on what percentages of his diet should be made up of what, and try to apply that to what I end up making. We still have a bag of kibble to use up, so I have time to get his recipe together. Any suggestions are welcome.
My biggest concern would be not including enough vitamin and minerals in his diet, and causing more harm then a processed kibble would. I would preferably get the veterinarian made fresh food from Ollie, who uses human grade products, nothing artificial, and other natural ingredients for the food, but, my parents are convinced that even if cooking it ourselves i more expensive, thats the better option. I don't know why, I think they think I'll back out because its to much work, but I'm pretty determined to get him off kibble after reading this article. Thanks guys for any suggestions!

Hi, I'm stumbling in late to this conversation, but to get an idea of percentages, RDA, etc., you might look at Honest Kitchen. Several yrs ago, our boy had a seizure,they cldnt fig out why, labs were fine. W/o going into gory details, his condition worsened & he died. He was old - it wasn't that death had come, it was how horrid it was. When we got a new pup, w/i months, he started having the same symptoms. He was dx by a different vet w/hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, and his labs weren't good at all.
The vet was skeptical that there was a correlation- different breeds,different ages, but same symptoms, except I didn't witness a seizure this time.
The only similarity was the brand of food I was using, which was a well rated kibble. He had to have a bland diet for months consisting of cooked chicken.
Story shortened, we switched to HK, & that "puppy" is now at the old age of his predecessor & still going like the puppy he was w/no further issues.
When we crossed over, we used the base mix mixed w/the cooked chicken he was already getting, and have stuck w/it since then.
Since it's made of accessible ingredients that are dehydrated, you shldnt have much problem replicating the nutrients. We've adopted more dogs since, including one going through HW tx, and they all get the same thing. - I cook a lot of chicken. But we couldn't be more satisfied w/the results.

 

[Weeg]

Alright! I'm very excited! Were getting all the ingredients for the turkey recipe I posted, and I think we'll be adding Mussles for Manganese, and Herring as well! I'm hoping to make up his first dinner when we get home tomorrow, so he'll start on it tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm so excited! Thank you!

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Looking forward to the update!

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

The joys of feeding raw... ran out of dog food and too late to get the premade frozen from the pet store.

Dogs fed from a 5 minute trip to the grocery store a lady in line asked if I was having a party. Got the strangest look when I said no just ran out of dog food lol

Not an everyday meal, but will do the trick for today.

 

[Weeg]

The joys of feeding raw... ran out of dog food and too late to get the premade frozen from the pet store.

Dogs fed from a 5 minute trip to the grocery store a lady in line asked if I was having a party. Got the strangest look when I said no just ran out of dog food lol
View attachment 2613718
Not an everyday meal, but will do the trick for today.

Looks perfect! Hahaha!
I'l post pictures of Comet's first meal! I'm very excited to start him one something healthy.

 

[Sydney65]

The joys of feeding raw... ran out of dog food and too late to get the premade frozen from the pet store.

Dogs fed from a 5 minute trip to the grocery store a lady in line asked if I was having a party. Got the strangest look when I said no just ran out of dog food lol
View attachment 2613718
Not an everyday meal, but will do the trick for today.

I get that. Especially when trying to round up a month's worth of chicken while the covid rationing was on.
dogs have to eat, too.

 

[Weeg]

Hey guys!
Turns out were going into town today instead, so I'm getting all the stuff today.
I have one question, it doesn't seem like the Asian market is gonna have Turkey liver and heart just sitting out for sale, do they?
If they don't, do I ask the person behind the counter, or do I have to find a butcher that is willing to sell me the organ meats. I know there are butchers in town, so I could probably call on the way there and see what they have, I'm just wondering were you guys get your organ meat like heart and liver, and were the best place for me to get it may be. Thanks!

 

[Weeg]

Well, it seems to be quite the challenge to find heart, liver, and turkey necks anywhere lol! I feel like such a weirdo asking everyone if they have Turkey organs haha! The first butcher didn't do poultry, and the second had no organs leftover.
As soon as we pulled up to the Asain market, I instantly released it was way to small to have any of the meats we need, I was right.
So, sounds like were gonna get a whole turkey, fish out the organs and give that to him. Then, buy ground turkey and hopefully some kind of boney meat when we get the turkey. For some reason I didn't imagine this to be so difficult, haha. What do you expect when you're running around looking for animal organs though lol!

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Sorry I didnt see this! Stupid work

Maybe try that website I posted earlier. Could possibly get all your larger bulk meats local and get the specific organs needed from that site?
The Asian market close to us in Everett is pretty big, so they have pretty much everything. Never been to a smaller one.

 

[Weeg]

Sorry I didnt see this! Stupid work

Maybe try that website I posted earlier. Could possibly get all your larger bulk meats local and get the specific organs needed from that site?
The Asian market close to us in Everett is pretty big, so they have pretty much everything. Never been to a smaller one.

Ya, I can imagine that it really depends on were you live, and that influences the size of the stores, hence the Asian market size. Our only one was in a pretty tiny area, so it was SUPER tiny.
I'll check out the site, thanks for the link! For now, I ordered "Guts and Glory" vitamins, that are made as a organ replacement supplement. I'm just going to use it for when we can't get ahold of any organ meats.
Hmm, Everett market is good to know. Were actually going to Bothell every now and then to see family, so that may be a stop we can make to pick up organ meat. Were also getting 3 roosters for butcher on Saturday, and all the organs, bones, etc, from that are going to be dog food.