Yesterday I started out explaining why we’re home cooking for our dog. In short: his health was a mess. We’ve been at it for a while now, mostly experimenting, but we’ve seen incredible results already.
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The first thing we did was to throw out all our previous “insights” into what he could and couldn’t eat. We had been working on one thing, one issue, one symptom at a time for so long that we no longer felt confident that any of our notions were correct. I pulled a couple dog cookbooks off the shelf and flipped through. The pattern that emerged was, essentially, mixing a meat protein source, starchy stuff (like sweet potatoes), fruits and veggies, grains, and supplements. I found this article from Whole Dog Journal to be useful in weighing ingredient possibilities, especially this:
It’s important that the diet you feed your dog is “complete and balanced,” meaning it meets all of your dog’s nutritional needs. It is not important, however, that every meal be complete and balanced, unless you feed the same meal every day with little or no variation. Home-prepared diets that include a wide variety of foods fed at different meals rely on balance over time, not at every meal. Similar to the way humans eat, as long as your dog gets everything he needs spread out over each week or two, his diet will be complete and balanced.
Our next step was to start testing ingredients to see what he tolerated. We started with a base of quinoa and mixed vegetables, which we steamed, because we had fed those to him in the past with no reactions, then we futzed with the proteins. Keeping the base the same, we tested tuna, pork, and lamb. All those were good, so we added in some whole wheat pasta, then varied the vegetables. Who knew that Cooper loved Brussels sprouts so much! We then added steamed spinach to the base, which went well, then we tried steamed kale, which did NOT go well. In fact, the kale experiment was the first time in nearly three weeks that he had diarrhea. So, kale is off our list! He’s also good on sweet potatoes and white rice. Next up: brown rice and squash. We’re also going to try turkey and salmon in the next round of proteins. As for ingredient testing, this chart has been incredibly useful.
But here’s our key: We are only changing ONE ingredient at a time. We isolated a few things that we could count on and only make one change at a time. Yes, it’s making this process take forever (we need to cook a new batch of food nearly every day), but it’s helping us isolate what works and what doesn’t.
While we’ve been working through our ingredients list, I also downloaded this PDF guide from The National Academies that details the minimum daily requirements for vitamins and minerals. I know that ultimately he will get much of his requirements from his food, but while we’re testing and to be extra safe, I wanted to get him on supplements that would get him to his daily minimum. Using the guide, I downloaded the labels for a handful of supplements. I’d be happy to share my comparisons with you if you’re interested, but after a lot of number crunching, we decided on these vitamins with this calcium supplement. Combined, the two get him almost to the full daily requirements outlined in the guide. He also gets a scoop of pumpkin with breakfast and a scoop of coconut oil with dinner.
My ultimate goal is to nail down a few proteins, a variety of fruits and vegetables, some of the carbs, and a couple grains… then go to Sam’s Club and buy them in bulk. Ideally, I’d like a freezer stocked with daily portions so that we aren’t cooking every day, but I’m not willing to do that until we have a solid rotation of possibilities. On Facebook, Lisa suggested preparing batches in the Crock Pot (genius!!) and on yesterday’s post, Pamela recommended Dr. Pitcairn’s book (which I actually have), so I’ll be doing a bit more tweaking before that stage.
I read tons more, in addition to talking to our vet, but the resources I’ve linked here are the ones I found most useful.
Preliminary results: His stomach is the best it’s ever been. Ever. In four years. His coat is shiny, and his eyes look clearer. I think he seems happier, too, but John says we can’t quantify that. (But, trust me. He seems happier. 😉
So, there you have it! I’ll let you know how everything progresses, but thank you to everyone who shared your experiences yesterday. So helpful! If you have any more questions or comments or have a favorite recipe, please do share in the comments!
Mom Kim here- Have you tried broccoli and cauliflower? Broccoli especially is a good cancer-fighting veggie. I guess I am sorta lucky with the Beagles – I have yet to find anything much that they don’t like and things that don’t like them. ANY kind of protein – ANY kind of veggie altho I have not tried Kale and they don’t eat lettuce. Pasta, cottage cheese, yogurt, shredded cheese (any milk product in small and somewhat less frequent amounts) and any berries (I did not know you could give strawberries to dogs – no problems but I also feed in small amounts). Oh they still get their kibble – I just look for things I can substitute.
I definitely think I’m going to start adding berries, too. All those antioxidants! He does well with steamed broccoli and LOVES cauliflower! So glad your pups love and tolerate so much variety!!
I’m really enjoying this series about home cooking for dogs! I started supplementing homemade meals as a way to cut costs on expensive dog food. The crock pot is great if you’re working with tougher cuts of meat. A dash of turmeric to the blend of ingredients does wonders for itchy skin and joint issues since it’s a natural anti-inflammatory. Though i’m not sure if that would bother Cooper’s sensitive system.
Keep us updated!
P.S. Broccoli farts are otherworldly! I have to stay far away from crop dusting range. 😀
The cost thing is such a good point. Glad you brought that up! We decided to track how much it costs to make his meals over a few weeks and compare it to the cost of kibble for the big dogs over the same time period. I’m curious to see which will come out ahead, and I’ll be sure to share our results!
Yep, it can be a challenge. But it sounds like you’re approaching Cooper’s diet pretty scientifically.
BTW, for a grain, I used oatmeal with Shadow. Most people don’t think of feeding oatmeal to their dogs. But I found it was easily digestible (much better than rice), really cheap, fast to cook, and nutritious.
If you switch out the grain, I’d definitely put oatmeal on your list to try.
It’s on the list!! Great suggestion, Pamela! Thank you!
I’ve toyed with the idea of cooking for my crew, but haven’t taken the leap. Luckily they are okay on kibble.
I recommend checking out dogaware.com . Mary Straus writes about nutrition for The Whole Dog Journal and Dog World. Many of her articles are on her site along with a lot of other information and resources.
Thanks so much for sharing that resource! I hadn’t yet encountered it but am bookmarking it now! Thanks, Dawn!
Afraid this may be a stupid question, but how did you know how much to feed him? That is what stops me from switching from kibble to anything else. Thanks!
That is definitely NOT a stupid question, Michelle, and I wish it would’ve occurred to me to address it! It’s really unscientific. Basically, we had a weight on him, and we know what his “ideal” weight should be. We started out by giving him an approximate amount based on the ingredients. It was about 1/4 cup meat, 1/4 cup non-meat protein, 0.5 cup of veggies and potatoes. We’re weighing him about once every week and a half to see if he’s gaining or losing – gaining, we’ll decrease; losing, we’ll increase!
Dash has an inclination for ear infections. It’s tough. We eliminated chicken but now it seems beef is doing it. Or at least, bully sticks and chews with beef in it (which he got to have quite a few times during Thanksgiving break). The vet said to me last night as I was picking up the ear drops that since he has the proclivity then he will be getting the infections. Made me feel so defeated! But alas, we shall keep pursuing and trying to give the guy the treats and tastes he wants but that won’t knock him out!
Ughhh. Ear infections are NO fun. I totally get the defeated feeling, but pursuing possibilities sounds like the right path! Out of curiosity, have you tried bison? Coop can’t do chicken or beef, but bison chews have been great for him!
I just had a few questions one about the salt substitute, why is it needed? Isn’t there enough natural sodium in the ingredients? And second like Michelle, how did you know how much to feed him? Did you just double the amounts on the fvc chart? I liked Pamela’s suggestion of oatmeal, it’s has more protein than rice and it is usually gluten free unless it was contaminated through processing or shipping methods.
I still need to do some research for Cash before I make any changes to his diet, I don’t think we have the same selection of vitamins available in Canada that you do.
Maybe I typed it wrong! He doesn’t need extra salt – he needs extra calcium! I didn’t realize just how high the calcium requirement is, and I”m not confident we’ll achieve it with his food, which is why I’ve added in the seaweed calcium supplement. We just guessed on the quantity of food based on getting the right mix of ingredients. Now, we’re monitoring his weight to see if he gains or loses any (we want to keep him right where he is, about 42 lbs). If he starts to lose weight, we’ll increase the quantity. If he starts to gain, we’ll decrease. So far it seems like we’re pretty close and he’s staying the same. He had weighed 42.6 at his annual exam a few weeks ago. This past weekend he was 42.4!
How exciting that it’s going so well! I’m sure the extra work is SO worth it to finally have him feeling better. You put together some great resources and information here for anyone who wants to try this.
Thanks, Jan! I do think it’s worth it – and this past weekend we went to Sam’s and got a bunch of stuff in bulk. It was way cheaper! Then we cooked a few batches for the freezer. Long term, I think that’ll be our best bet!