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Originally Posted by stingrhea  I have been feeding William cooked chicken breast and white rice due to his feeling so bad with pain. He loves it and I was wondering if it is bad for them to eat only this for a diet? I added a bit of cooked carrot the other night and he loved that too, along with a little taste of applesauce. From reading dog cookie recipes, I see that those are ingredients that are used for that. Can he get too much chicken? Not enough of something?
Please help.
~Melody |
It sounds like you're doing well with the beginning of home cooking! I would recommend you look around and also post in the "Yorkie Health/Diet" section-there's tons more information there.
While the chicken and white rice is probably healthier than some commercial dog foods on the market, there are a few things you can do to make this diet even healthier for your dog:
-Make sure you supplement-dogs need vitamins and minerals like calcium, Vitamin E, Omega 3's, and others to be at their optimum of health. I use a book, called "Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats" as a guide for supplements and home preparing dog food. Other members use this guide as well. You may want to check with your vet to see if s/he has specific guidelines to follow for your individual dog.
-Change up the ingredients every so often-you're already doing great by adding carrots and applesauce, and you're doing it correctly by adding only one new thing at a time. This way, you can see if anything doesn't agree with your dog, and adjust the food accordingly. Try ground beef instead of chicken, grated zucchini instead of carrots, sweet potato or potato instead of rice, etc. Also, brown rice is a healthier option to white rice.
-You might want to try adding some dairy to your dog's diet, such as cottage cheese, grated cheddar, or some yogurt. The dairy will add protein to the diet, and yogurt is excellent because it promotes good digestive health. Make sure you get the best yogurt possible-an all-natural or organic plain or vanilla flavor is best. If that's not available, just make sure there is no artificial sugar, or artificial fat in the yogurt, and stick to natural fruit flavors like peach or strawberry.
-Give healthy treats-my dogs like frozen green peas, pieces of baby carrots, plain cheerios, pieces of fruit like apples, peaches, and watermelon. Just make sure not to feed them any seeds, onion, garlic, chocolate, or raisins.
Best of luck to you in your next homecooking adventure! Please feel free to PM me if you need any help or have questions.