OT: Make your own raw dog food-OT

kweitz

with apologies to @THEBuckeye was wondering if anyone in this crowd makes their own RAW dog food. I have been using a recipe from the makers of DinoVite dog food supplement, which calls for 10# raw chicken (with bones), ground up, along with 18 hard boiled eggs, 10 cups cooked white rice, 2 cups DinoVite supplement, and a tube of Lick-O-Chops fatty acid supplement ( also from the makers of DinoVite). does anyone out there have any experiencing making their own dog food?

northGAcock

kweitz said:

with apologies to @THEBuckeye was wondering if anyone in this crowd makes their own RAW dog food. I have been using a recipe from the makers of DinoVite dog food supplement, which calls for 10# raw chicken (with bones), ground up, along with 18 hard boiled eggs, 10 cups cooked white rice, 2 cups DinoVite supplement, and a tube of Lick-O-Chops fatty acid supplement ( also from the makers of DinoVite). does anyone out there have any experiencing making their own dog food?

You do know they make this stuff and sell it in large bags right? Just kidding but curious what motivates you to make it yourself? I don't make mine for clarity in response to your question.

ColtsFan

I have seriously thought about it several times as my Boxer has severe food allergies. I eventually found a food that agrees with her so for now, I'm sticking with that.

Paging, @DuckDogDr he may have some insite

kweitz

@northGAcock, I have 3 dogs, one was my Mom's, a Bijon mix with lots of skin allergies. I did some research into kibble, the history behind it, ingredients, and how it's made. It's pretty disgusting what goes into kibble. Since I started making it 6 months ago, the Bijon has been 90% better. The money saved at the vet makes it worth it to me. 

Legume

I have two labs, I am quite sure I could not afford this.

northGAcock

kweitz said:

@northGAcock, I have 3 dogs, one was my Mom's, a Bijon mix with lots of skin allergies. I did some research into kibble, the history behind it, ingredients, and how it's made. It's pretty disgusting what goes into kibble. Since I started making it 6 months ago, the Bijon has been 90% better. The money saved at the vet makes it worth it to me. 

Interesting....so if i understand, you save money and you insure there are no ingredients your dogs are allergic to. More questions for you......Does this end up as a dried kibble product or a mushy (can type) of consistency? How do your store it and what is the shelf life?

kweitz

Ends up mushy but firm. I freeze it for at least a week in deep freeze before thawing and feeding. Had to spring for a Weston commercial grinder to process the whole raw chicken thighs. 

Simcan

I don't currently do this anymore as our dog is really my wife's dog and does OK on grain-free kibble, but I used to make my own dog food when I had bulldogs (one, Chunk-style, is my avatar).  I would buy (or sometimes just be given) big bags of chicken backs/necks or, if those weren't available, wings or legs (thigh on, bone in).  Sometimes I would mix it up with beef bones (sold for stock) or maybe turkey. Often I would throw in gizzards, hearts, liver, etc. which butchers would just give me from breaking down chickens and ducks and so on. Anyway, I would mix up the meat about 75/25 with a slurry of various veggies made up in the food processor: sweet potatoes, squash, various greens, some apples or pears, basically whatever I could find to keep it varied and cheap. I would also add some tinned mackerel at the time of feeding, sometimes, or maybe some salmon skins.  In other words, I did not really get scientific about it and it was always varied as much as possible. I kept the "product" in meal-sized portions in the freezer, which I would keep enough in the fridge thawing to always have some on hand.  The dogs thrived on it, I will say that. And also, it was way less of a pain than it sounds, and cost less, not more, than kibble.

fishlessman

im only half way there, blue wilderness and hardboiled eggs with the shell. if my britt had more energy he would explode. wish this was bigger earlier, my last dog grew up as a cone dog most of his life with skin allergies, tried a whole bunch of vets

Simcan

I would add it does not have to be an all-or-nothing approach as I would feed the dogs kibble if I was away at a cottage or something, or if for some reason I did not have raw food made.  

Dobie

After losing a champion pedigree Doberman years ago when China was poisoning with imported contaminated ingredients I fed raw for years and when the dogs got older I cooked for them. With big dogs there no need to grind. Bone in chicken parts, pork, turkey etc. You want organ meat, skin and bones for the meat portion. Veggies like carrots green beans with cooked rice, eggs (raw or cooked) sweet potatoes. The dogs health is paramount. If they're healthy they can eat things that would kill us and lick their chops for more. Older dogs benefit from cooked as their immune system weakens. I used a pressure cooker. Ingredients I used were sourced at less than $1 per pound much cheaper than premium dog food and human grade. 

DuckDogDr

@ColtsFan  @kweitz I've actually been considering doing it myself the past month. 
I think it's a noteworthy idea ... However I don't think a lot of people realize the time involved in doing meal prep PROPERLY. 
From experience balancing beef and dairy rations when I was in college it is VERY DIFFICULT to get a properly balanced ration (diet). (Correct number of fats to proteins to carbohydrates)
If you're considering doing it I would highly recommend consulting with a boarded animal nutritionist before hand. Food for thought too.. If your dog is allergic to chicken in kibble .. It's allergic to the fresh chicken from the grocery store .. So adds another complexity to the home brew equation.

i would not encourage anyone to follow recipes from Dr Google or X supplement company pushing their products . They don't know the individual calorie or health issues your dog has
.