Homemade dog food

[Laura-sakura]

Does any one out there make their own pet food? Does it take a long time? Have you seen an improvement in your dog? Any good recipes?

[mullein3]

I used to make my dog food..i would bake him biscuits..with wholemeal flour.. cheese..bran,,parsley..and he used to eat them as fast as i made them..if you knew how they made dog food you wouldnt feed it..the stuff in the cans is processed until it looks like talcum powder all sorts of rubbish goes in..then they start to add chemicals and flavours and it turns into what you see..they even have some chemical or substance to turn it into meaty chunks!!..the dog i have now is homeopathy reared he has never had any chemicals not even his booster thats all been done by tissue salts..he used to have fish poached ..or chicken as a puppy...now he has james wellbeloved as thats allergy free dog food..and chicken or tuna..with parsley and nettles added..they use all sorts of diseased animals in some of the food and you cant be sure if that will affect your pet..i used to have a booklet on this subject but i cant find it..my dog also used to like goats milk and weetabix..he has allways had a lovely coat and has been healthy...here he is..

[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j309/mullein /P4280010.jpg[/IMG]

[mullein3]

also this dog i have now sheds less hair than my previouse two golden retrievers..and its in better condition..i used to feed my last dog on pedigree chum and a dry mixer..but when i bought this one i bought him allready homeopathically reared so i kept him too it..and when i bought this one 8 years ago thats when i started to look at what was in dog food..its nasty!!

[mullein3]

and before anyone criticises me and says they cant afford fresh food..i can assure you that you can get a can of tuna for less money than a can of dog food..and you can buy chicken in bulk which can also work out cheaper..

[heathfield]

If you look at the ingredients on a can of dog food, you'll normally see a meat content of about 4%, the rest often being some cereal - with a huge amount of gelatine! A friend of mine with two young Labradors would give them meat only every third day. The rest of the time it was cooked vegetable leftovers, like potatoes and cabbage stalks with some gravy poured over. They'd wolf it down, and I've never seen healthier looking dogs in my life!

[Laura-sakura]

Thanky you for your interesting answers. I am well aware of how dog food is produced and what it contains and this is exactly what has put me off buying it.
I am considering changing my two dogs' diet gradually but I will be getting a puppy in September and i'm a little worried about what I should feed him...would it be ok to start him on a "natural" diet or should I stick to the puppy food for a few months?

[mullein3]

no start him as you mean to go on..as he needs the best he can get when he is growing..i was given a diet sheet with my dog and he had weetabix and goats milk for breakfast ..then chicken and james well beloved ..and later on he had marmite on toast..for a snack..and i think he had a milky feed again at tea time..

[markja]

heathfield,

my dog can't read and he's cr*p at percentages as well.so he'll eat anything that goes in front of him. bit like the irish dog chewed a bone, stood up and found it was his own leg, joke.

[Lollyhoney]

My stepdad cooks up the chicken carcass in a pressure cooker for about an hour (I think) and it makes up meat which he mixes into their dried food. One carcass makes enough for a week for 2 dogs, if kept in the fridge!! It's all natural for them, no additives/ preservatives and cheap too!! They love it!!