[deb22]

Aw, thank you! That's my Marcel, and he's blushing!

It sounds like you're into homecooking - so, the first question is: how are you supplementing calcium? That's the most import supplement when homecooking - is she getting that? When I was HC, I made my calcium from eggshells, but you can also by it - as in Solid Gold's Bone Meal or similar.

Veggies: dogs don't need veggies, but they are fine to add to the diet. If you give them raw to retain vitamins - they should be pulverized to ease digestion. If cooked - best to steam, then puree - to ease digestion - but then you should add the multivitamin (which you are) to add in the lost vitamins from cooking. If you notice your dog poo-ing out undigested veg (ie, you don't puree) - then, basically, they didn't get anything out of that veg. So, if she picks around it - it's not too bad.

Carb: again, you don't have to be too strict here, as dogs aren't dependent upon them as they are on protein. Be careful w/ things like wheat and similar allergens. Brown rice is pretty safe.

Protein: most important part of meal. You should vary this - not just chicken. If you do use chicken, try to use organic. Fish is excellent as well!

There are alot of recipes in the stickies at the top of this Diet Section. I've moved on to Raw, so I don't have any current recipes in mind. I used to use a sort of ratio - as in 70% protein, 15% carb, 15% veg - approximately. At her weight, maybe about 1/3 cup or so per meal, 2x per day? Start around there, then feed to condition.

Good post. I didn't know all this. Thanks.