# its official. no more kibble for my dogs



## ruckusluvr (Oct 28, 2009)

i just finished my last bag of kibble.

we are feeding home cooked 

Raw would be sooooo much easier and possibly cheaper than home cooked, but for my own reasons (ocd, raw meat= huge eww factor) i will not go raw.

I tell ya, it took me months of research to learn the *best* way to build a recipe. 

and i know the prices are different everywhere, but i can feed home cooked for the same price of buying kibble (chicken soup for the dog lovers soul)


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## bdb5853 (May 21, 2010)

What supplements are you using for your home cooked recipe?


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Well, congratulations on your new feeding route! I'm a firm believer that a home prepared diet is better than a commercial one. 
What kind of recipies will you be doing, out of curiosity. I considered doing homecooked once, I get bored with raw, and enjoy cooking, but obviously went with raw in the end. 

Wouldn't the "ick" factor come into play just as much, if no more doing homecooked? I don't have to handle my dog's raw meat much at all, no more than one would cutting it and putting it in a pot, pan, etc.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Congrats! You have to do what you're comfortable doing! Let us know how it goes!


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## SaltyDog (Mar 10, 2010)

I'm very interested in learning more about your recipes please :smile:


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Congrats on going homecooked but as CP pointed out, don't you have to handle the raw meat to cook it anyway?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i'd be interested in learning what your recipe is...i cook for my 13 1/2 year old shih tzu who doesn't have teeth....


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## ruckusluvr (Oct 28, 2009)

sure. if you want a basic recipe please send me a PM

it does contain fruits, veggies, and some grains, so its not something i feel like a lot of people here would feed. it IS mostly meat though, and since its cook at home you know what is in it. so i feel its safer than kibble.

guys, i *cant* handle raw meat. i just cant. person issues. i dont handle raw meat when i am cooking for my dogs even. i have it set up so i dont even have to LOOK at raw meat.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

ruckusluvr said:


> sure. if you want a basic recipe please send me a PM
> 
> it does contain fruits, veggies, and some grains, so its not something i feel like a lot of people here would feed. it IS mostly meat though, and since its cook at home you know what is in it. so i feel its safer than kibble.
> 
> guys, i *cant* handle raw meat. i just cant. person issues. i dont handle raw meat when i am cooking for my dogs even. i have it set up so i dont even have to LOOK at raw meat.


well, they might not on raw LOL, but here? 

nichi gets veggies.....and brown rice and quinoa......i've never figured out why fruit is included..that's why i wanted to know....

ya know...if you post it here, others who home cook would benefit...i'll show you mine if you show me yours LOL


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## ruckusluvr (Oct 28, 2009)

the different veggies and fruits have different nutrients. feeding a good variety eliminates the need for supplements.

*waits for raw feeders to comment on how they are unnecessary junk food and dogs dont even get nutrients from it* have mercy on me.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

ruckusluvr said:


> *waits for raw feeders to comment on how they are unnecessary junk food and dogs dont even get nutrients from it* have mercy on me.


Well I can't help it. It's the way dogs are built. They were never designed to digest plant material. I didn't design them so don't fuss at me but they ARE designed to eat meat, bones and organs and nothing else.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

ruckusluvr said:


> the different veggies and fruits have different nutrients. feeding a good variety eliminates the need for supplements.
> 
> *waits for raw feeders to comment on how they are unnecessary junk food and dogs dont even get nutrients from it* have mercy on me.


so, for instance, you're adding --- let's say carrots for the vitamin a or beta carotene and maybe blueberries for what, vitamin e and selenium off the top of my head? LOL

i am a raw feeder....so, call me schizoid....

i believe, however, with a cooked diet, it's a whole different ballgame....

the recipe i make for nichi doesn't include fruits...i guess it never occurred to me to include it...since i use berte's immune blend and berte's green blend (full of minerals and such)

but this batch was:
chicken - roasted
beef liver
beef heart
hamburger
sardines (canned in water)
carrots - yellow and orange
broccoli
cauliflower
berte's immune blend
berte's green blend
quinoa
brown rice
chicken hearts
chicken liver

the ratio was about 75% protein to 25% veggies + supplements...

i had figured that carrots had enough sugar...so i would not have thought to add fruit..


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Well I can't help it.


well, you could help it...you just choose not to LOL


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Re- you are 100% correct. Homecooked is a completely different ballgame and cannot even be compared to raw or even kibble. It's a class of it's own. Which is why I cannot provide help or knowledge when it comes to homecooked. 

I think it's great that rukusluvr has made the switch over to something better than kibble! Because all that matters in the end is if we have our dogs AND our own best interest in mind :biggrin:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> Re- you are 100% correct. Homecooked is a completely different ballgame and cannot even be compared to raw or even kibble. It's a class of it's own. Which is why I cannot provide help or knowledge when it comes to homecooked.
> 
> I think it's great that rukusluvr has made the switch over to something better than kibble! Because all that matters in the end is if we have our dogs AND our own best interest in mind :biggrin:


thanks, natalie....if i could put my girl nichi on raw, i would....but she lives with my mother in law who is in her seventies....i know she would do whatever we wanted, but i won't make her do it..and nichi barely has anymore teeth and she is almost 14 years old...

once a month, i make her food....she's perky...nutro won't kill her like it did my other three shih tzus, so there in lies the compromise and i'm happy she will live out the rest of her days eating well...

nothing wrong with home cooking, as you state..but it is a science and it does take researching to make sure everything is given that needs to be given.

not every dog can go raw and not every human wants to.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

magicre said:


> well, you could help it...you just choose not to LOL


Hehe, You misunderstood what I can't help. I can't help that dog's bodies are designed to eat and digest meat, bones and organs and they don't have the proper equipment to properly digest plant material. I didn't design dogs nor was I consulted in the process. I don't think I would have changed anything if I had been consulted. :biggrin:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Hehe, You misunderstood what I can't help. I can't help that dog's bodies are designed to eat and digest meat, bones and organs and they don't have the proper equipment to properly digest plant material. I didn't design dogs nor was I consulted in the process. I don't think I would have changed anything if I had been consulted. :biggrin:


hehe...no i didn't misunderstand :biggrin:


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

RawFedDogs said:


> Hehe, You misunderstood what I can't help. I can't help that dog's bodies are designed to eat and digest meat, bones and organs and they don't have the proper equipment to properly digest plant material. I didn't design dogs nor was I consulted in the process. I don't think I would have changed anything if I had been consulted. :biggrin:


She didn't misunderstand you, you misunderstood her!!!  

But you could help from posting up about it...I think most people here know your agenda inside and out. Posting it up when it really isn't needed (since people are allowed to disagree with you) doesn't do any good. Respecting ones wishes not to feed raw is important, even if you don't agree with the choice :tongue:


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

RawFedDogs said:


> Hehe, You misunderstood what I can't help. I can't help that dog's bodies are designed to eat and digest meat, bones and organs and they don't have the proper equipment to properly digest plant material. I didn't design dogs nor was I consulted in the process. I don't think I would have changed anything if I had been consulted. :biggrin:


of course i didn't misunderstand you..nor do i devalue what you're saying.

on the other hand, i have a dog that i'm not going to switch over....and the reason is moot....

perhaps if she lived with me, i would buy her grinds to compensate for the fact that she might have three teeth left...

but she doesn't...

right or wrong in your eyes...okay. 

but to ask my mother in law to feed raw and she has a heart condition and is in her seventies...i won't do....

so home cooked, whilst second best, is better than kibble....and that's what nichi is fed....

plants make for great fibre. is there some nutritional value? i think there is...as to grains? i think there is, if the proportions stay at 75 protein sources and 25 everything else in percentage...

i don't cook things to death and i don't grind them to death...but home cooked is a whole different animal....and, as long as she eats..which she was not doing before....then she has a chance to make it to fourteen happily....

i never look forward to my dogs' dying....and i've certainly had my share since 2009 - three so far...fourth one in the wings...fifth one approaching...and you are as soft as i when it comes to our dogs....i've read every single post you've ever written....you love your dogs and you do right by them...

i love my dogs..and do the best i can with each one...and if it means giving a little bone with every meal because malia doesn't tolerate no bone meals? then that's what i shall do...because she doesn't do as well as my younger pug...with fat, like pork and rich foods like organs and rich muscle...or feed home cooked to my nichi? i will do that, too.

so, no i didn't misunderstand....but i won't further debate the finer points of how a dog is created to eat...when circumstances dictate otherwise.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Ruckus, I'd love to hear more about it, and how you figured out how much of what to feed. It's something I'd consider for sure for my frenchie...would have no clue where to start LOL.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

*Home Cooked*

I am a raw feeder and I think you are doing way better for your dog than any store bought food. I still feel raw is best and getting over our own ick feelings is just responsible dog ownership. There are cases where the dog is aged or lives elsewhere and homecooked is the next best thing. I am in no position to judge as you are doing what you feel is your best. Good job.


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