Nothing says loving like homamade food

[BoneYardDog]

I have 2 long haired Chihuahuas named Dozer and Digger they are both a bit over 1 year old...

They are very finicky eaters, we bought "high quality" dry dog food as suggested by our vet...

Problem is they will not eat it or pretty much any other dog food (tried at least a half dozen kinds), the vet says when they are hungry enough they will eat...

Well we tried letting it sit there for 2-3 days and they still barely touch it and I came to the realization that I do not agree with the concept of "when they get hungry enough they will eat".

So I decided that I wanted them to enjoy eating and now make their food myself. I want to make sure the food I make them is healthy and I am not missing something they need in their diet...

Here is the receipe:

1 cup hamburger, stir fried in 1 tbsp canola oil
2 boiled eggs, chopped. yolk removed.
1/2 cup cooked plain oatmeal
1 small jar baby food carrots (no onion powder in ingredients)
1 small jar baby food green beans (no onion powder in ingredients)
2 Tbsp cottage cheese

All mixed up together and served warm...

I also give them a 1000mg liquid capsule of Omega 3 fish oil...

I have noticed a marked improvement in their general behavior, much more alive and seemingly happier...

This also stopped the "runs" and the gas issues we had before i changed their diets...

So am I doing good by them or hurting them, am I missing out on any nutrients that they may need that they are not getting???

TIA

[Mattie]

Well we tried letting it sit there for 2-3 days and they still barely touch it

I wouldn't fancy eating food that had been there for 2-3 days either

You are supposed to change the food daily when you are trying to get your dogs to eat like this but it has worked well for your dogs, homecooking is much nicer for them.

[emmabeth]

That sounds a lot nicer than dry food...

But I am afraid you are likely missing out on lots of things - primarily calcium.

Your diet would be better balanced if you added in a few raw chicken wings several times a week.

Also, why remove the yolk from the egg?

If you keep the variety of foods as wide as possible, you can achieve balance over time which is far more natural - but cutting out bone content entirely is not good long term.

[BoneYardDog]

Well we tried letting it sit there for 2-3 days and they still barely touch it

I wouldn't fancy eating food that had been there for 2-3 days either

You are supposed to change the food daily when you are trying to get your dogs to eat like this but it has worked well for your dogs, homecooking is much nicer for them.

I really didn't think leaving dry dog food out would make that much difference, if it is in a bag it doesn't seem to be that different than if I changed it out every day from the dish...

I did try many different brands so actually did end up changing it out pretty much every day. It did not seem to matter...

Thank you for you answer...

[BoneYardDog]

That sounds a lot nicer than dry food...

But I am afraid you are likely missing out on lots of things - primarily calcium.

Your diet would be better balanced if you added in a few raw chicken wings several times a week.

Also, why remove the yolk from the egg?

If you keep the variety of foods as wide as possible, you can achieve balance over time which is far more natural - but cutting out bone content entirely is not good long term.

That is why I posted, to get more informed...

What would be the "lot of other things" I am missing? (Besides the calcium)

Oh I do realize that they need something to chew on to clean their teeth so they also do get a Nutri-Dent Greenie once a day for teeth cleaning...

With the baby food vegetables, oatmeal and cottage cheese I was not sure what they added and what I was still missing...

I am really not comfortable with feeding them raw meat, it is something I will have to research further, not saying I wont do it, just not comfortable right now. Any other ways to add calcium, maybe a skim milk cheese stick?

I looked online at other dog supplements and the Omega 3 fish oil capsule seemed like the only supplement being talked about...

Are there doggie vitamin capsules that I cannot find?

I do want to do good by them so I really really appreciate all replys I get to this question...

[Mattie]

I wasn't getting at you, many people think it is ok to leave dry food out but by being out, especially on the floor, it picks up a lot of dust etc. which makes it unappitising.

[emmabeth]

Its really hard to say - baby food is for human babies, dogs need different things.

I looked at home cooked food but I didnt think i could reliably sort out the phosphorus/calcium balance properly myself so went to raw.

There is lots and lots of info on raw feeding out there, just google BARF feeding, raw dog diet etc.. also look up books by Dr Ian Billingshurst.

[HenrysDad]

Oh I do realize that they need something to chew on to clean their teeth so they also do get a Nutri-Dent Greenie once a day for teeth cleaning...

With the baby food vegetables, oatmeal and cottage cheese I was not sure what they added and what I was still missing...

I am really not comfortable with feeding them raw meat, it is something I will have to research further, not saying I wont do it, just not comfortable right now. Any other ways to add calcium, maybe a skim milk cheese stick?

I looked online at other dog supplements and the Omega 3 fish oil capsule seemed like the only supplement being talked about...

Are there doggie vitamin capsules that I cannot find?

I do want to do good by them so I really really appreciate all replys I get to this question...

I don't know why you wouldn't be comfortable with raw meat. Dogs fare better on raw meat (cooked meat doesn't contain the same nutrients as raw meat does) and they (and cats) are not susceptible to the kinds of diseases humans are susceptible to if they eat raw meat. Dogs evolved as not only predators but as scavengers, so they can eat a certain amount of bacterial load that would kill a human.

You ought to look towards digestible natural items for the chewing...a lot of those artificially made stuff (Nylabone, Greenies) contains gunk that isn't digestible, and dogs can die of blockage by biting off too much of something (even if the product says it's digestible) because it won't break down fast enough in their stomachs. Zuke's Edible Dental Chew Bones (Z Ridge) seem to have better ingredients than the rest of them, but don't leave the dog unattended with it and always monitor what your dog's chewing on. Merrick's also makes a whole host of natural digestible, non-plastic, non-starchy chew treats, like their Moo Tubes (cow trachea) and Flossies (cow tendon that are shaped in a swirly shape). Old West Company makes the best bone chew, a Shank Bone that doesn't break off little chips like the knucklebones do.

P.S. I'm new here but have been watching IMOTD for a while now and love it. Victoria rocks!

[Mattie]

Welcome HenrysDad,

Unfortunately some dogs are allergic to raw meat, I have one and I know several others. We have to feed to what is suitable to our dogs and research the different ways.

[HenrysDad]

Welcome HenrysDad,

Unfortunately some dogs are allergic to raw meat, I have one and I know several others. We have to feed to what is suitable to our dogs and research the different ways.

...How utterly bizarre. I don't think I've ever heard of that. I've seen people recommend the feeding of raw meat if the dog is allergic to other foods, but never an "allergy to raw meat". Is this a British thing or something?

Are you sure you don't mean that the dog (your dog) has an immunocompromised system that cannot handle the bacterial load that other dogs can? That's quite different from an allergy, it's a tolerance issue. Or when he eats raw meat does his skin break out in hives/lose his fur/he has an anaphylactic reaction? o_O It just sounds weird to me...what kind of dog do you have?

[thistledown]

Regarding the raw eggs: I have read that egg white on its own renders some B complex vitamins unavailable for the dog's system to utilise. If you add the yolk this is not a problem as the yolk counteracts this effect.

I'm not a nutritionist - this is just what I've read. However removing part of an egg, which is one of nature's whole foods, seems to go against the grain of what nature would have intended for a canid snack.

[Mattie]

Are you sure you don't mean that the dog (your dog) has an immunocompromised system that cannot handle the bacterial load that other dogs can? That's quite different from an allergy, it's a tolerance issue. Or when he eats raw meat does his skin break out in hives/lose his fur/he has an anaphylactic reaction? o_O It just sounds weird to me...what kind of dog do you have?

With my dog Joe, JRT/Whippet, he has a lot of food allergies including dairy foods, brown rice and raw meat, he is fine with cooked meat. His allergies come out in a form of seizure, he has the wobbles, can't stand up, head weaving from side to side and is still conscious.

I also know of a Weimaraner who was reared on BARF became allergic to raw meat, beaf is the worse. I also know other dogs that can't eat raw meat but they are not as bad as Joe or Enzo.

[HenrysDad]

With my dog Joe, JRT/Whippet, he has a lot of food allergies including dairy foods, brown rice and raw meat, he is fine with cooked meat. His allergies come out in a form of seizure, he has the wobbles, can't stand up, head weaving from side to side and is still conscious.

I also know of a Weimaraner who was reared on BARF became allergic to raw meat, beaf is the worse. I also know other dogs that can't eat raw meat but they are not as bad as Joe or Enzo.

Huh. Wow, weird. Thanks for the clarification. The more you know, right?

[D]

I cant feed Bella raw as anything with bones in it makes her sick, so she gets a small amount of raw mince occasionally as I found it helps maintain a healthly coat

[Winterwish]

Just would like to add that now and then,maybe twice a week,the egg shell itself can be a source of calcium.
It can be given just broken up I suppose,but most people put it in a little grinder so it becomes more of a powder and can be added to the meal.

(if you do it,and use say,a coffee grinder,please make sure you don'tuse the same grinder fro your coffee just in case of salmonella.)