Home cooked diet for dogs?

No experience with cooking (don't cook for myself, much less a dog! LOL!), but I would certainly try what you are contemplating were I in your situation.

I just wondered if you have tried any of the ground, whole products. Before I went to a cooked diet, I would try one of these. I would add one or two capsules of NOW Foods Super Enzymes to each meal. I would probably add either a serving of plain yoghurt or kefir per day, or a probiotic like iFlora (an hour before a meal, not with the meal). I would also make sure that her meals were at least as warm as room temperature... I have had a couple of dogs which would hork up whatever was too cold for them.

I am assuming that diagnostic testing has been done, and that no reason for this behavior has been determined... is this correct?

Pork is real bad for their pancreas and should never let dogs eat it or have it in any food. It cost me $600 to learn that one the hard way and my 12 year old Lady almost died . Chicken, rice, carrots, green beans are the best for the dog. I cook for Lady due to her pancreatitis. Once a dog gets the problem it never goes away. It is there for life. With all the dog food scares lately I don't blame you. We lost a dog due to tainted food so I cook for all of my 8 dogs. They are healthier for it and happier.

Most ddb people do raw or bil-jac frozen. you need to feed her more than just chicken- dogs need red meat, even on a prey model raw or home cooked diet. We feed our dogs in their crates so they can't drag it all over the house and cut it into manageable pieces (leg quarters cut into thirds- no weight bearing beef bones, etc). No veggies needed.

Since you have had issues with so many different types of dog food I would suspect that the problem may be with her gastrointestinal tract and not the type of food. There are a number of conditions with chronic diarrhea and weight loss or the inability to gain weight that should be ruled out. In some dogs the pancreas does not produce enough digestive enzyme to digest the protein, fat and carbohydrate in your dog's diet. It does not matter what you are feeding in this case, you'll have diarrhea.

There is another GI condition called Inflammatory Bowel Disease where the lining of the stomach or intestine is filled with inflammatory cells that prevent normal digestion. We don't know what causes this, but it may be a malfunction of your dog's immune system. She could even have a food allergy, but diagnosing a food allergy by trying different foods is usually a frustrating process.

I'd suggest you make an appointment with your Veterinarian to rule out primary diseases of the GI tract as a source of the chronic diarrhea.

Your "high quality" kibble may be TOO high quality. Many dogs, including mine, have diarrhea if fed high-protein, high-fat kibble. I feed Costco's Kirkland brand chicken and rice kibble to my large dogs. It maintains a glossy coat and helps keep teeth/gums healthy. Eukanuba kibble, however, gave them horrible diarrhea.

Go over to YahooGroups and do a search on 'raw feeding dogs' and 'B.A.R.F. diet for dogs' and you'll find the groups that are doing this. Consulting with them will help a lot.

My oh my all these dog lover's answers ! I love doggies too!

I've cooked up a link for you:) Good Luck No worries. I make my dog breakfast sometimes and lunch and dinner. I'll make her a sandwich and a glass of milk and place it in front of her. I love her, and her 11 month old song Blaze

Top 5 To Try

* Healthy Low-Fat Diets for Dogs With Special Dietary Needs

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People make home diets for their dogs for a multitude of reasons--to address health concerns, because they believe a minimally processed diet is better than a commercial one, or to provide specialized nutrition for working or performance dogs. There is no one correct diet for all dogs; there are many ways to feed a home prepared diet, whether raw, cooked or a combination.

Types

1. Recipes for home-cooked diets typically use vegetables, carbohydrates such as grains or pasta, and meat in roughly equal proportions, with added supplements. Raw diets rely primarily on raw meat, bones and organs, sometimes with cooked or pureed vegetables added. Some dog food companies have formulated grain-based dry dog food to which you add raw or cooked meat to make it a complete meal.

Function

2. The American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition lists several resources to help dog owners formulate diets to address canine health concerns, from allergies to cancer. For instance, Dr. Clemmons, professor at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, notes that a home-cooked, high-fat, low carbohydrate diet may slow some cancer growth in dogs. Owners of dogs determined to have food allergies may opt for a customized home-cooked "elimination diet," according to Michigan State's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Considerations

3. A home-prepared diet does take a little more work and usually costs more, compared to a commercial diet. This depends on how cheaply you can find meats and other ingredients. Some dog owners claim that the savings in veterinary bills and the ability to nutritionally manage health problems offset the higher food cost. Make cooked food in large batches, and freeze it for convenience. You have several options when feeding a raw diet to your dog--commercially prepared raw diets are available at some pet stores and through distributors, or you may simply choose to feed inexpensive cuts of meat from the grocery store or a butcher.

Supplementing a Home Diet

4. It's critical to supplement a home-cooked diet with calcium, available in a bone meal formula for pets, or as a human supplement. Those feeding a raw diet feed either whole or ground raw bones, which supply dietary calcium. Other useful supplements include B-vitamins, vitamin C and fish oil capsules for omega-3 fatty acids.

Warning

5. Work with a veterinary nutritionist, or follow the recipes and guidance in one of the books written by veterinarians, when formulating a home diet for your dog. It is not complicated to do it correctly, but feeding an unbalanced home diet to your dog can cause serious health problems.

Here is an excellent book with many homemade dog food (and cat) recipes written by a Veterinarian.

(cooked recipes)

There are also recipes for dogs with specific ailments.

http://www.amazon.com/Home-Prepared-Dog-Cat-Diets-...

How frustrating.

Have you tried limited ingredient kibble, or maybe something like EVO canned, which is 95% meat, but has the necessary added nutrients?