Making you own dog food

[rockyracoon]

I've been thinking about this for a while as the hound has been getting the squits a bit too often lately, vet has ruled out bacterial infections etc and thinks it's probably digestive problem. Does anyone make their own dog food who could give me a bit of advice, I'm also considering a raw diet, anyone feed their dogs this way. I was looking at the food for sensitive stomachs in the pet shop today

[Suetheramble]

I had a working collie and it was a constant battle trying to keep things under control. Chappie is mild and suited her and although I put on 100% fresh meat prior to this she became lifeless; the vet told me unless the dog has the whole carcass there will be a vitamin deficiency. Never got the problem 00% cured though>

[rockyracoon]

Oop, some of the question was left off, the sensitive stuff was rather pricey, thst's why I thought about makng my own.

Thanks Sue, this is a very recent problem, poor Yogi has had 3 weeks worth of antibiotics over the last 5 weeks, the vet said if the diarrhoea comes back we'll have to look at diet. He's nearly 6 years old and never had this problem before.

[seadogg]

My terrier got that way till I put her on John Burns holistic foods. Be a bit expensive for a big dog though. Their web site got good info about diets plus a free diet line to phone.

[lankeela]

Feeding raw is ok if you have the time and inclination to prepare it to ensure you get the right combination to provide everything that is needed in the diet. I feed a combined diet, raw chicken wings for breakfast and a complete food with a little meat for tea. Ratter is the 'expert' on raw feeding on here. Making your own food would also be quite a challenge but there is a lot of info if you google it.

[RATTER15]

We feed ours only RAW they get butchers human grade meat, chicken carcasses, bones and all, the bones are harmless as long as they are raw. fresh sardines when we can get them, green tripe is great and really cheap if you can get hold of it. research "BARF" and RAW feeding on Google and look up the book "give your Dog A bone" its a great way to feed but requires work.

[Leapers]

Hi
I have never done it myself practically but i am currently studying an animal science degree and covering nutrition we had to be able to balance home made diets.
http://books.google.c...d%20dogs%20nrc&f=true

This is the best book there is around according to my lecturers it includes all the nutritional values for which foods contain as well as your dogs requirements that you can work out pretty straightforwardly. But it seems that creating your own food can prove to be very difficult without having side effects in one way or another which commercial feeds all have balanced and sorted, although even some popular commercial feeds it seems do not know what they are doing either.
Hope this helps!

[rockyracoon]

Thanks all for your input, it's quite daunting isn't it, doesn't help he weighs around 7 stone so it's quite a lot of food and I'm concerned I won't get the balance right. Lankeela, combination diet sounds like a plan. Ratter, I'll google what you suggested and have a read. I do have one concern about the raw feeding though, when Yogi is given a bone or the suchlike his behaviour changes, it's like he goes back to the wild, he gets very territorial and worries someone will take it off him, he buries them, digs them up and buries them again, so I end up just throwing them away.

Seadogg, I'll have a look a the costing on that, thanks for the recommendation.

[rockyracoon]

Wow thank you leapers, that's a stroke of luck, asking the right question at the right time. I'll give that link a gander.

[lankeela]

This one was on Leaper's link too and it sounds the sort of thing you are looking for: http://books.google.c...urce=gbs_similarbooks

[lankeela]

Just ordered it for myself from Amazon.

[Ann]

I worked on an advisory line at a Petfood manufacturers and we always recommended plain chicken and rice for dogs with diarrhoea. Try it for a few days and see if his digestion seems better.

[Ann]

^ cooked chicken

[rockyracoon]

Thanks ann, but done that, made no difference at all, except to make his pooh bright yellow. Lankeela, that book looks promising, thanks.

I feed him some of that Natures Menu yesterday, he loved it and stools this morning where much better. Shame it's a bit pricey.

[RATTER15]

rockracoon, we don't feed recreational bones, we only feed bones that they will eat over the course of a few minutes so no worries about them being buried. Don't worry about the size or weight of your dogs, they all cope with a RAW diet very well, our dogs aren't exactly small weighing around 11 stone a piece and we have three of them. If your dog gets possessive about his bones or food, that is just down to training.

[rockyracoon]

Thanks Ratter, it is only a problem with, as you say recreational bones, anything else he'll gladly give over. Hopefully I'll get a few minutes to myself tonight to have a google BARF and RAW. Think I'm apprehensive ad t seems a bit alien after going from pouring food from a bag into a bowl to giving taw meat and bones. I also read that eggs and the shell mixed into their food is ok, any thoughts?

[rockyracoon]

Sorry taw should read raw, bloody iPad.

[Nosha123]

Not sure if it helps but my cat gets a dicky tummy after any antibiotics or vet procedures. I give him a squirt of pro-kolin which is a pro biotic. He likes taste and it sorts his bottom in just a day or two

[julieblue65]

I have one dog that suffers from colitis, none of them like raw, and even if I mix a bit of raw meat with their normal diet, it gives them all diahroah. They will eat a knuckle bone, but do need persuading and I have to smear some marrow over the bone first.

I know some people, Ratter included, that swear by raw, but as Lankeela says, if you dont have the time and inclination to do it properly, and your dog suffers with digestion problems, why not give the dog a daily probiotic? This new one from Lintbells is excellent.

http://www.lintbells....ducts/yumpro-bioactiv

Or for more serious digestive problems

http://www.lintbells..../yumpro-bioactiv-plus

I have just changed my dogs diet to one with no grain from CSJ, and the feedback from owners of dogs with digestive problems reads well, and with the CSJ Champ food at £10.65 for a 15kg bag, is a lot cheaper than other brands too.

http://www.csjk9.com/range/csj-champ_p140.html

http://www.csjk9.com/...oduct=45&idcategory=5

[julieblue65]

I get my bones from a Company called Natural Instinct, and they do sell raw food complete with the appropriate additives to make life easier.

http://www.naturalins.../Country-Banquet.html

[rockyracoon]

Julie, thanks for your advice. We thought we had cracked it with this new food but we came home last night and he had crapped in my bedroom, he must have been desperate the poor thing, he's never done anything like that before. I'll look at the links you gave me, it's going to be trial and error to see what upsets him. The shame of it all is that this food has given him a new lease of life, he's bouncing around like a young'un.