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Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom  I wish it was that simple  .
I now feed raw, but used to cook. When I cooked, I consulted a nutritionist to help me make sure it was balanced. A dog's "RDAs" aren't linear, so you can't really say "a 3lb dog needs 2mg of vitamin abc, so therefore, a 6lb dog needs 4mg" - it just doesn't work that way.
If you want to cook longterm, I can't recommend highly enough that you consult a nutritionist to get you going. Unbalanced diets can be very dangerous to a dog's health, esp. when it comes to cal-phos ratio, which isn't easy to figure out at all. We've had entire threads, exhaustive, on just that subject here at YT...and still we were all left scratching our heads a little. Anyone remember that cal-phos thread  ? |
I couldn't agree more! If the calcium to phosphorus ratio isn't correct (1.2 parts of calcium for each 1 part of phosphorous (1.2:1)), they can have cardiac, skeletal and neurological problems.
Calcium & Phosphorous in Dogs* - Chinaroad Lowchens of Australia -
It's also very important that a dog on a homecooked diet get bloodwork done every six months to make sure they are getting the proper nutrients.