Anyone here cook "natural foods" for their dog?

Also, the breed, activity level and if the pet is overweight also need to be considered.

My mother just boils the turkey or the chicken and pulls it off the bones when it's cooled. She puts about 5 pounds into gallon baggies to last a couple of days. She adds the meat with the dry food (iams), not mixed, just next to each other like she was feeding a person. Sometimes she gives them cut up hot dogs so they three tastes that they like in the dish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darthtang AW 

Natural food for a dog is not cooked. This is an oxymoron. The dog has only been domesticated for about 100 years. This is not enough time for their digestive system to evolve to truly handle cooked food. Thus why many premium kibble foods low temp cook the kibble. So as not to kill certain enzymes, prebiotics, and probiotics. (Contrary to popular belief, iams is not a premium food).
Depending on why you are looking into this there are several options and ways to approach a dog's diet. What are your goals and what is the problem. Also what is your budget?
Darth (think i am gonna get irritated) Tang

My dog will not eat raw meat, unless maybe it's human intruders, and you should see the dog foods he won't touch including Eukanuba at $50.00 a bag. He will eat the iam's for now, and after about a month he tires of it and won't eat it anymore, and then we will go on the hunt for another brand.  He does really like Slim Jims....and his favorite food is tuna in a can or broiled salmon. He will eat all canned cat foods.

I think my 96 pound German Shepherd is really a big kitty in disguise. On the plus side, I don't have to worry about a stranger trying to distract him, or poison him with a piece of raw steak.
 

Natural food for my dogs is anything that hits the floor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefraff 

Natural food for my dogs is anything that hits the floor.

LOL...Tamerah too, and anything left on a plate sitting on the coffee table, any left over food in the puppies dishes, and whatever Atticus leaves behind...besides what my Mother shares from her plate.

Cranberry,

16 wonderful years, I would just spoil the pooch with whatever she likes to eat, and make her comfortable as possible.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cranberry 

If we can reverse this, I could get 6 good months. I'll take 16 and 1/2 years! I'll know a little more Friday.

 

There are low salt commercial products, but geez, taste is important in the golden years. She actually wouldn't eat it at this point.

LOL...I understand completely...we love are our furbabies too. I had an 18 year old cat, and it took him 10 minutes to lay down because of arthritis, we made him a bed and put a heating pad in there for him.

When my dog was ill, I fed her boiled chicken and rice. Once, she started to feel better I started to add veggies peas, green beans, beets and carrots. Occasionally she would get some pumpkin paste, blueberries or apples.

There are some high protein low carb diet dog foods out there that might do what you need. I know someone who has 3 elderly or older Great Danes and she raves about the raw diet. I think she feeds each dog one raw chicken back a day. Don't know if that would give your dog everything it needs or not.

I am about 2 weeks into my new Beagle. He has the same discerning tastes the 2 13" Beagles I had did. If it fits in their mouth.........

No kiddin? Hmmm. Wonder if a quick boil would do the trick. At least you could control the sodium that way. Might even drop some weight which I know probably isn't a priority but would sure help out.

What kind of stuff does the dog like to eat?

Sorry about your pup Cranberry.  Take a little peace in knowing that I was in the same situation with my Boston two years ago and he pulled back from death's door and gave us another wonderful year and a half.

I don't have any advice on diet, but maybe this will give you a starting point:  http://www.2ndchance.info/homemadediets.htm

OK, for for the set without feeding amounts your dog should have around 600 calories for it's size.  I know they aren't complete diets, but for a short time it shouldn't be a problems, but discuss them with your vet.  I hope I didn't duplicate any, but it should give you a good starting point.  Sorry some of them are sideways.  If you click on them, they will enlarge.  I just figured pictures are better than trying to type them all

And this one out of my internal medicine book. 

My parents prepare their dogs food. A Lab, 6, and a Chessie, 2. Lab is about 90lbs, Chessie is around 110,  both just slightly overweight. They're going for coat and joint care, as they're both physically larger then they should be and are extremely active dogs with lots of time swimming, so skin/coat care is important too. Basically the same bulk of the diets already mentioned, grounded beef or chicken breast, rice, veggies, boiled eggs, sardines and other fish. Cooking foods is more of a convenience thing. Don't always have the time at dinner for raw. That said, they feed as much raw as they can, necks, chicken feet, plus others, seen them gnawing on a big bone often. They supplement, not sure what...