Home cooked diet for yorkie

[nrmns14]

Hi
My yorkie is nearly 6 months now and when got him he was on wet dog food (pedigree). All my previous dogs had been on dry food so we switched him to that gradually. We have been through nearly all brands available at the pet shop now but after a few days he starts just picking at them.
About a week ago I was cooking some turkey mince for myself and my bf's tea and thought I would put some in his bowl to try. Put in 50% turkey mince and 25% veg and 25% mashed potato. He absolutely loved it and even whined when I was making it up as if to say hurry up and give me some of that!
Since then he has been on a homecooked diet (always using the same ratio i.e 50% meat, 25% veg and 25% starchy food but mixing up the varieties plus adding ground up eggshells for calcium). He is loving it and I'm happy he's eating.
Was doing some research though and apparently raw meat is better for my pup? I was a bit wary but he tried some raw steak and gobbled it up. IS this really safe with chicken? It really does worry me. Is it ok to give raw beef but cook my chicken? Also if I give him a bit of meat on the bone should I let him gnaw on the bone a bit then take it away or just let him eat it...?
Thanks for any feedback

[Ellie May]

He eats hard food for a few days and then gets picky over and over because he knows he'll eventually get what he wants - a new flavor. Pick one good quality kibble, put it down 2-3 times a day for 15 or so minutes, pick it up, repeat next meal. No treats. No edible chews until he learns that he has to eat what you put in front of him.

Homecooking is fine although it is a precise science. An unbalanced homecooked diet could result in some very serious health problems. The diet being fed now is unbalanced. This is even more important in a young pup. It is strongly recommended to not feed puppies homecooked food.

There are many raw feeders on YT. They will probably see this and be able to answer your questions. Just giving raw meat in place of cooked does not balance the diet though. And you are right. While opinions vary, there are risks to giving any type of raw diet. There are threads in the health and diet section where we have talked about the pros and cons. It isn't a diet that I would consider for my pups because the safety concerns are way too great for my liking.

[nrmns14]

He gets a new flavour because he actually ends up not eating any of it for several days. It's also impossible for me not to give him treats as I'm in the process of training him. Albeit he gets healthy treats (such as carrot) a lot of the time but he needs trained.

Can I also ask why you think that diet is unbalanced as I cleared it with a nutritionist and she said it was fine (but she requested I add the eggshells and also feed oily fish once a week)?

Thank you for advising me on the risks of raw food.

[Ellie May]

If he knows he is going to get treats, then there is no reason for him to eat his meals. If he isn't getting any treats and not eating for several days, then I would talk to his vet. Some vets will want you to keep switching foods or putting toppers on them and others won't.

What were the credentials of the nutritionist? Many people call themselves nutritionists and really have not been properly trained. Egg shell is fine, but is that being balanced with phosphorus? What about trace minerals? It is very dangerous to give a homecooked diet with just egg shell. If you go to petdiets.com and read about the credentials that the recipe creator has - that is what you're looking for. They really should be both a veterinarian and a nutritionist. If it isn't done right, you may see skeletal, blood, heart, and eye issues.

[pandaleigh]

I feed Tashi dry food (Evo), and if she starts getting bored of it, I'll cook up some liver, mashed yams, and peas, brown rice and feed her dry food mixed in with it. It's very rare that Tashi will get bored of her food, but I feed her a homecooked meal at least twice a week. I just make sure she's getting all her nutrients from her dry dog food and that's more of a "nutritional" treat.

If she's getting bored, maybe you could do something similar? Maybe even boil a liver, keep the juice and pour some onto her dry food with a little bit of chopped up liver?


I started home-cooking her meals because I had a nasty habit of handing her "a little bit" of whatever I was eating, and I realized that she's really small, and feeding her food with salt, lots of seasonings, probably was horrible for her. She seemed confused about why she wasn't allowed to eat my food anymore, so I started making her little meals I could give her once in a while that made her think she was eating people food. She gets really excited when she sees the tiny tupperwares that I keep her food in come out

[NewYorksBrandy]

I haven't had a problem for my pup to eat till she got sick..The vet suggested we do a mix food to get her to eat again. I give her science diet kibble and healthy extension canned food. it's not so expensive but the vet has worked it out for us because Brandy is picky. home food id tricky because of a balance in a meal and low blood sugar in your pups food. Ask your vet to make something up. You can try science diet for you pup they have different taste for food sweet and reg.

[andreag08]

We are feeding Bear a similar home cooked diet, meat (mostly chicken)
, fish occasionally ( he likes salmon)
,veggies, fruits . . He is getting one multivitamin a day.

Dogwell chicken jerky for treat ( the only treat he will eat) .
Raw Goat milk for dogs a couple of times a week, he loves it.


Bear is two years old and so far doing great! Perfect health, shiny hair, white theeth, no alergies . ..

In my personal opinion, and I am not a nutrition expert, any home cooked organic fresh food is better then the best kibble.

We are home cooking for us every day so we just take his part out before we add seasonings .

[nrmns14]

Thank you everyone for the advice.
Like Bear our dog is thriving on this diet with increased energy, excellent coat and is generally looking noticeably healthier than ever so I am going to trust the nutritionist

[betterthanlife]

Originally Posted by nrmns14

Hi
My yorkie is nearly 6 months now and when got him he was on wet dog food (pedigree). All my previous dogs had been on dry food so we switched him to that gradually. We have been through nearly all brands available at the pet shop now but after a few days he starts just picking at them.
About a week ago I was cooking some turkey mince for myself and my bf's tea and thought I would put some in his bowl to try. Put in 50% turkey mince and 25% veg and 25% mashed potato. He absolutely loved it and even whined when I was making it up as if to say hurry up and give me some of that!
Since then he has been on a homecooked diet (always using the same ratio i.e 50% meat, 25% veg and 25% starchy food but mixing up the varieties plus adding ground up eggshells for calcium). He is loving it and I'm happy he's eating.
Was doing some research though and apparently raw meat is better for my pup? I was a bit wary but he tried some raw steak and gobbled it up. IS this really safe with chicken? It really does worry me. Is it ok to give raw beef but cook my chicken? Also if I give him a bit of meat on the bone should I let him gnaw on the bone a bit then take it away or just let him eat it...?
Thanks for any feedback

Since the government could care less about what humans eat, I am guessing they care even LESS about what pets eat. I fed my Yorkie (she lived until 15) a diet of grains (I varied them), different meats (organic and free-range), and veggies. She was a very healthy dog - her bowel movements also looked very healthy. I noticed the bowel movements of dogs who ate commercially prepared dog food burned the grass, and looked odd in terms of color and consistency. Keep in mind, if you want to do this for your dog, it is a big commitment. Not everyone can - in terms of time and money. I heard that WHOLE FOODS has a dog food that is in the freezer section that is supposed to be better than most. However, WHOLE FOOD also sells frozen vegetable from CHINA. One cannot be too informed these days.

[chachi]

I looked into doing homecooked and really researched it and there was alot more to it than giving egg shell or a vitamin to get it to be balanced. You had to make sure they were getting the accurate amount of vitamins and minerals each. Also a dog can eat people type of food a long time and just suddenly have a case of pancreatis spring up on them so its not what I would do. Ive seen on here where a dog had an issue of pancreatis from just being given a little bit of turkey

[betterthanlife]

Originally Posted by chachi

I looked into doing homecooked and really researched it and there was alot more to it than giving egg shell or a vitamin to get it to be balanced. You had to make sure they were getting the accurate amount of vitamins and minerals each. Also a dog can eat people type of food a long time and just suddenly have a case of pancreatis spring up on them so its not what I would do. Ive seen on here where a dog had an issue of pancreatis from just being given a little bit of turkey

The issue I have is taking advice from people that sell dog food (vet offices). I like objective advice. Are you aware of any canine nutritionists that do not benefit from selling food? I have not looked. I was going to look into this more, as I am looking for a dog at the moment.

[chachi]

Originally Posted by betterthanlife

The issue I have is taking advice from people that sell dog food (vet offices). I like objective advice. Are you aware of any canine nutritionists that do not benefit from selling food? I have not looked. I was going to look into this more, as I am looking for a dog at the moment.

Well I agree with you vets arent the best on nutriton many are constantly recommending science diet so that says it all. I think I read they really dont get alot of indepth schooling on nutrition but I dont know how accurate that is.

[betterthanlife]

Originally Posted by chachi

Well I agree with you vets arent the best on nutriton many are constantly recommending science diet so that says it all. I think I read they really dont get alot of indepth schooling on nutrition but I dont know how accurate that is.

Since most doctors I know, know practically nothing about nutrition, I am not surprised at all. I need to start looking into this more. My yorkie did fine on her diet, but who knows - she may have had good genes

[Ellie May]

Board certified veterinary nutritionists usually don't sell dog food. That, however, doesn't mean they don't agree that Science Diet is a good food (because it is).

It greatly concerns me that owners are out on their own trying to come up with adequate diets for their pups. I used to do this. Completely regret it. So I hired a veterinary nutritionist who took care of the important details for me. I was then able to feed the ingredients I wanted, but with the vitamins, minerals, and portions she thought best (because she went to school for this for 10+ years and I did not).

There are many people that call themselves animal nutritionists. The problem with that is..where were they trained? Who is backing them? How do you know what they are doing is safe and correct? I could probably just put a website up right now and call myself an animal nutritionist. That doesn't mean I have any clue what I'm doing...

[betterthanlife]

Originally Posted by betterthanlife

Since most doctors I know, know practically nothing about nutrition, I am not surprised at all. I need to start looking into this more. My yorkie did fine on her diet, but who knows - she may have had good genes

One more comment -despite some lingering questions, I still would provide my diet to my dog, rather than give him/her commercial dog foods that are available. I simply do not trust what the ingredients are, and how they are processed. Look at what the government says is okay for us to eat! As an aside, Congress just voted that pizza, in school lunches, could be considered a "vegetable!"