Homemade Dog food recipes
 

Hi there,

I am a new yorkie owner and I think I have the finickiest yorkie ever! Its beginning to get stressful. I have tried just about every dogfood you can think of. My Bella is 4 months old. The vet says she is healthy. I finally gave in to her today and fed her chicken. Her tummy has lost her puppy pooch. She gobbled the chicken up! I am wondering if anyone has this same problem and if they make dog food themselves and have any good recipes. I am worried about her not getting the nutrients she needs from dog food. But she has tried just about every sample there is!

Thanks!
Yorkie mom in training

They can really make you worry, can't they? Gus will even turn his nose up to home cooked food sometimes.
Quite a few people home cook for their dogs and have shared some great recipes (and book suggestions). Look in the Yorkie Health and Diet section. Here is a link to one of the sticky threads...

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75933

Welcome to YT. :)

I just noticed your avatar. Your yorkie and cat are beautiful.

Welcome to YT.

Last year when we had the dog food scare I did some home cooking which worked out well for my two. I was always second guessing whether or not mine were getting the correct amount of nutrients and vitamins in the food I was serving them. So, I've since moved to Dic Van Patten's Natural Balance (Ultra Premium Formula)Small Bites kibble, that is always left out for them. In the evening, I serve my two Natures Variety Raw Beef Medallion's (one medallion for each). Whenever I make salmon, I always give each of mine a very small raw piece.....They go crazy for salmon.

From my experience each Yorkie is unique, and it take a while to find the perfect system that works for them. You have found a great forum community here and were always willing help out our members.

ItsPuppyLove - Thank you so much for your reply and sweet words. Yes they can worry you! I have already had an episode for low blood sugar and worry that Bella will go through this again. Bella and her big sister the cat Tinkerbell are pretty active during the day so she really needs those calories. I will be sure to check out that section. What a great community it is here at Yorkietalk. Lots of good info.

Girltime - thanks for your reply. One thing that I think about is "how much" to feed her if I am not giving her dog food. She is 2 lbs currently. Reading the back of the dog food bag seems to make things a little easier. I am assuming the Natures Variety Raw Beef Medallion's are part of a raw diet? Do you get that at a gourmet pet food supply? I will ask about that. I wonder if that would be hard to feed them when you are out and about?

Welcome to YorkieTalk.:) I homecook for my Yorkie. I don't do it because she is picky, I do it because I think it is tons healthier for her.:) I have found that knowing how much to feed is not too difficult. You should feel the ribs and not see them. Usually dogs need about 40 calories a day per pound of body weight. This may be able to be reduced post spay/neuter. You just calculate how many calories in the batch of food and divide so they get the right amount. Of course all dogs are different so caloric needs will vary slightly from dog to dog. I found the hardest part is supplements and calculating protein amounts.

Just want to say welcome to YT! Lots of knowledgeable people here!

Here is a link to Natures Variety website and their interactive food calculator.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/ifc.la...5879YrO34191AB

I leave the dry Natural Balance Kibble out all day....Then in the evening I give each of my Yorkies a beef medallion. You should be able to locate a retailer from their website.

Best of luck

Hi Ellie Mae - Thanks for responding. I am curious as to what kind of supplements you add to the food? Gosh 40 calories per pound is nothing! So I guess it seems it would be hard to at least be able to get 80 calories in her.

I use a supplement that is only available through a vet or nutritionist. It is called BalanceIT K (NOT BalanceIT L). There are tons of others though. This one is easy because it already has calcium in it which is a big concern when homecooking.

Thanks Ellie Mae. Bella goes to the vet this week so I will be sure to ask. I have been cooking chicken and have been able to get her to eat the chicken mixed with her puppy stew canned food. I give her a carrot during the day to naugh on and she seems to like that (mainly for her teeth). Until I find a hard dog food that she will eat. I also think that she may of lost her appetitie for a bit when she was refusing to eat and seems to have it back now that I am feeding her what she wants! I want her to enjoy eating and want her to be healthy.

I just homecook for mine a couple times a week. I usually make baked salmon rice and vegetables or chicken rice and vegetable

Another thing I make is eggs rice and vegetables. Sometimes I add a little cheese too

Unfortunately Bella turns her nose up at eggs. But maybe if cheese was added she wouldn't. The salmon would be good for her with the omega 3's. Good advice! Thank you!

I home cooked the chicken with rice and veggies and Topper turned up his nose and wouldn't even get close to it. Well it made the big dog happy, she is greatly enjoying it!! I would love to fatten Topper up a little because he is so tiny but I haven't found anything he really likes. He eats small amounts of his dry food usually during the night but he has yet to finish a whole serving which is just a handful. Any suggestions on how to fatten up a picky eater? He is just 3.5 pounds and you can feel his spine. I know that the vet says you should be able to feel a dogs ribs but he just seems to small. Of course I keep comparing him to my dearly departed Gizmo who was a bigger build and 9 pounds.

I have a question. How much dog food is she eating in proportion to how much homecooked? How much does she weigh? Is she eating atleast 1/4-1/2 cup of dog food a day?

Feeding
 

I have a year and half name brady he did the same thing he tried nutro small containers it lasted 2 months now i boil chicken breast and add carrots brown rice or pasta and peas he likes it but he will only eat once a day i dont know why he eats about 3:00 in afternoon and do you think that is ok

I had picky eaters too, until I started feeding Primal. It's a pre-made raw food that comes either frozen or dehydrated (just add water). All three of mine go crazy for that food! I generally feed them the frozen but the dehydrated is great for traveling or when we're out and about.


Primal Pet Foods: Wholesome Raw Food for Dogs and Cats


Diana

Is this what you mainly feed every day? If so, you may want to check and make sure the RDAs are properly balanced for your precious little one. Homecooking is *awesome*, but you do want to be sure the diet is specifically balanced. One great place to get that done is at balanceit.com. :)

I feed Primal too and all of mine go just nuts for it! Our rescue chi was kind of blah-blee about food (and underweight) and then I started him on Primal and WHOA...he cannot inhale that stuff fast enough - loves it!

Recipes
 

Where can I find good home made recipes for my Morkie?

My Mac is the same way I home cook for him now he loves it also dehydrate him sweet potato apple and carrot for treats. I feel 100% better cooking for him because I know what he is eating.

Do you think Primal would be ok for sensitive stomach?

Personally, I think that every dog is different and what works for one may not necessarily work for another. It's trial and error to find something that works for your dog, and the reason for the sensitive stomach plays a part as well. My yorkie has IBD. He didn't do well on any of the RX diets we tried, and also didn't do well on most commercial foods. Our vet wanted him on a novel protein, and we finally switched him to Primal frozen lamb patties. He does awesome on that food and hasn't had a flare of his IBD in months. But it is also not a diet that is typically suggested for IBD. It just happens to work for him.

Diana

My little girl has been turned into a MONSTER by my adoring husband. He's spoiled her with treats and human food like eggs, chicken etc that she wonlt even touch any kibble now. ( I could KILL Him!) THEN.. if she was hesitating at all with what he gave her, he'd give her something else. So now..she will make herself ILL waiting for us to give her something that appeals to her sat that moment. The nutritionist I spoke to said that fr an adult dog I should shoot for 40% protein ( 50% for puppies) 40% complex carbs, and 20% veggies. I make batches of food and freeze it. My little girl is 3 lbs so a serving for her is a good solid 8th of a cup twice a day. Once the food is done I press it into the little measuring cup firmly and dump onto a baking sheet to freeze. I label the bags with the different recipes an rotate them so she doesn't get tired of any one.

SOme of her favorites

diced beef, quinoa, diced tomato, spinach, and squash * Cook the beef forst then add quinoa to beef with half unsalted stock and half water. The beefy taste will cook into the quinoa.

diced chicken, rice, peas and carrots( break the skin on the peas or they can't digest the celulose coating to get the nutrients) *cook rice with a little unsalted chicken stock.

diced Lamb, potatos ( sweet or regular) , apples, and pears

and if she is REALLY finniky and has waited too long and the bile production has amped up as result, SHe can NEVER resist bacon fried rice.

take a strip of LOW SODIUM (and preferably no nitrates)bacon and cook in a pan until crisp.Leave the oil in the pan. Add 1/2 cup diced organic chicken breast, 1/2 cup cooked rice, 1/8th cup small diced sweet potato, and 1/8th cup frozen peas and carrots. with about 3 tablespoons unsalted chicken stock. Cook until the veggies are soft, chicken is done, and liquid is almost gone. Crumble the bacon strip into tiny pieces. and mix it all up. This is her absolute FAVORITE.. but I only use it when she has made herself ill because even low sodium and no nitrate bacon is still not good for dog.

I also make sweet potato apple, beef and chicken crunches for treats..dice whatever you are using..potato, apple, beef or chicken into small cubes, COok in 250 oven until almost completely dry. Will store for up to a month in the refrigerator. ( if you have any left) Doggis love them!

I'd leave out the veggies at first and just do the chicken and rice. Or top favorite kibble with chicken....

This is not a properly balanced diet for home cooking and I would advise against it.

Hopefully you are using a recipe from a veterinary nutritionist with appropriate supplementation.

Petdiets
Balanceit

When Scottie was under a year old and was super finicky with a very sensitive stomach, I did my fair share of reading up on home-cooking, feeding raw, freeze-dried/dehydrated, and kibble.

I agree with above comments that each dog is different. I also agree that it's up to us to make sure our furbabies get sufficient/correct amount of nutrition. Thing is...I believe that what is a balanced diet for humans is not necessarily a balanced diet for dogs. We kind of live in a world where humans diet fluctuates on 'trends' - not so great for dogs...

Anyway, I definitely didn't want to cook, because it seems that dogs get most of the nutrients from protein in the raw form. I read that feeding raw is amazing. But raw gets very messy, it's expensive, and I don't think it'd be possible to make sure his diet was balanced.

Finally, I opted to stick with a high quality kibble. I can count on it to be a balanced diet and that's most important for me for Scottie.

The only times I cook for Scottie is when he gets an upset stomach. I've also made him a bone broth when he recently got sick for a longer duration, which was great! And then, I usually I ease him back into his normal routine with rehydrated freeze-dried meals (I use Orijen, but I hear Primal and the Honest Kitchen is really good), which is easier on his stomach. When his poop looks great again, I transition him back to kibble.

Oh and just to add to my above post, I've read that dogs require a lot of nutrition from the internal organs of animals, which usually isn't included in home-cooked meals (chicken breast/ground beef etc is great when they're sick, but it's not enough nutrition for daily meals). And then when/if you include internal organs, you have to be very careful about proportions. It's just too big of a headache for me to keep track! :cool: