“Homemade food is a great option for many pets, but we recommend that owners avoid general recipes from books and the Internet and instead consult with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist,” Larsen said.
Is One Type of Food Better Than the Other? As long as your pet's nutritional needs are met, it doesn't really matter if he or she eats store-bought or homemade food. Unfortunately, too often, homemade food lacks key nutrients.
Cooking for your dog offers benefits like diet management, appeasing picky eaters, and bond-building. Common home cooking mistakes include using unsafe ingredients and not preparing balanced meals.
A similar research conducted by Belgium scientists, titled “Relation Between the Domestic Dogs: Well-Being and Life Expectancy, A Statistical Essay,” revealed that dogs who had a high-quality, homemade diet (not table scraps or industrial, commercial pet food) extended their life expectancy by 32 months.
Homemade meals may even make it possible to feed your dog well for less. Even when you add the cost of a vitamin/mineral supplement and calcium, it can still cost less than commercial food (like, as little as $3 a day).
While popular, vets generally don't recommend making your own raw dog food because of the risk of bacterial contamination or possible public health risks. If your dog has any medical issues, consult with a vet or veterinary nutritionist to make sure the homemade diet works for your pet.
Switching from a commercial diet to a homemade diet, or even varying the ingredients in a homemade diet, can cause some dogs gastrointestinal upset. Make changes to your dog's diet slowly, over at least a couple of days, to allow your dog's stomach time to adjust to the new food.
Home cooked diet for dogs: main ingredients.
Our suggestion if you want to prepare home-cooked meals for your pet is to start small. Plan to feed 2-3 home cooked meals per week and keep your dry food.
Storing Homemade Dog Food.
Once you've prepared a batch of fresh food, store it in the refrigerator for about four days or freeze it for up to six months in an air-tight container or resealable bag.
Your dog needs protein (chicken, beef, lamb, duck, etc.), fat from meat or oil, carbohydrates like grains and vegetables, and essential fatty acids, often from plant based oil, oatmeal, and/or eggs. Eggshells provide a good amount of calcium, along with other dairy products.
As an electrolyte, salt is an essential part of your dog's health. It helps keep body fluids in balance and plays a role in muscle and nerve function.
The short answer is, yes! It is perfectly fine to combine homemade cooked food with kibble. Some will argue otherwise, but it is actually a myth that adding homemade food to kibble will stall or create digestive problems for your dog. The key, however, is in how the food is prepared and the ratio of the combined food.
Even the best recipes often don't provide enough of certain nutrients, such as calcium. Your pup needs supplements if you're feeding them from scratch.
Current research supports that there are benefits to real ingredients over extruded diets and that there are no significant differences in digestibility between raw and cooked diets for dogs, whereas there may be some potential hazards in feeding raw for both the dogs and pet parent.
Lots of pet owners who switch their dog to a raw food diet from dry dog food (kibble) notice immediately that their pet is drinking far less water than they used to. They become worried. But fear not, this is normal as your pet is now just getting some of their required hydration from their new diet.
The amount of food your dog needs depends on their size, lifestyle, age, and other factors. Consult your veterinarian or pet nutritionist if you're unsure how much to feed your dog. As a general rule, the serving size for a portion of homemade dog food should equal two to three percent of an adult dog's body weight.
Good choices include oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, barley, and pasta. White rice can be used to settle an upset stomach, particularly if overcooked with extra water, but it's low in nutrition and should not make up a large part of the diet. All grains must be well cooked.
Yes, chicken and rice is a great special treat meal for most dogs and also a good way to calm their stomachs when they're sick. What is this? I love it because it's so versatile and you can really suit it to your dogs tastes and give them a meal that they'll love!
Yes, dogs can eat rice. In fact, you may have noticed rice featured as an ingredient in commercial dog foods. However, a rice meal on its own should not be a daily affair – rice should only be part of a varied diet that offers all the nutrients your dog needs.
Plain rice is the way to go—your dog will still find it delicious. Use whole grain oatmeal and steer away from quick oatmeal. In particular, do not give your dog flavored instant oats that may have a lot of added sugar, or even sweeteners, like xylitol, that are toxic to dogs.
Feeding dogs a diet made with natural, real ingredients, such as beef, chicken, lamb, peas, spinach, carrots, and blueberries, can do wonders for their overall well-being — promoting heart health, increasing energy level, making coats shiny and breath smell better, improving eyesight, and even impacting a dog's stool.
Free Feeding, Preferred by Dogs 100% Of the Time
Too much food can mean extra weight, which adds stress to joints and the heart. If you opt for free feeding, make sure you are only putting a healthy amount of food in the bowl (ask us about the best nutrition options for your pets).
While dogs don't actually need large amounts of fruits and vegetables to live healthy lives, certain ones do make suitable treats on occasion and can even provide health benefits. Broccoli is high in fiber and vitamin C and low in fat. It is safe for dogs to eat, raw or cooked, as long as no seasonings are added.