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10-11-2010, 07:48 PM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Clay City, Illinois
Posts: 1
| homemade diets? I have been reading the posts on here about homemade diets. I just recently got a yorkie pup and I want what's best for him. I have never heard of the brands that were mentioned. Where can I get them? Also, if I wanted to get things from the grocery store, what should I get? Please help me help my little man. |
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10-11-2010, 08:36 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Posts: 12,693
| WELCOME TO YT!!!!! If you're going to do a homemade diet, I suggest you do it under a doggy nutritionist's guidance (just to make sure they get a balanced diet). If you want to go with kibble, I think it will be a bit of researching, but you can find it.
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10-11-2010, 09:33 PM | #3 |
T. Bumpkins & Co. Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New England
Posts: 9,816
| Most nutritionists will suggest you feed the pup commercial food for the first year. I agree that you need a professional to properly balance the dog's diet for you. I have been home cooking for my pups for 10 years now and each dog has its own diet and ingredients with supplements added. Each dog has a recipe I follow that was made just for them. Good luck!
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10-12-2010, 06:27 AM | #4 |
YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 280
| I've been doing a combination of homemade and pre-made raw for years. It's not that hard or expensive, especially with smaller dogs. Keep in mind that this whole concern over ensuring a 'balanced' diet is relatively new. Until the 1950s and 60s, dogs were fed table scraps. And many of them did perfectly fine. In fact, you have to remember that dogs EVOLVED to eat table scraps - the modern dog is a descendant of the prehistoric wolf who slowly migrated to human campsites, eating human scraps because it was easier and more reliable than hunting. So, keeping this all in mind, it's important to remember a few things - First, dogs are mostly carnivorous. They do best on meat and bone. In fact, according to the canine nutritionists I've talked to, meat and bone should be about 95% of a dog's diet. Second, you have to keep in mind that dogs in the wild eat just about every part of the carcass, which includes bone, organ meats, etc. Gross, I know, but that's what they do. Third, a balanced diet is all relative to the needs of each individual dog. Active dogs require more food. Fourth, dogs were NEVER meant to eat grain. Their bodies cannot digest grain and diets with grain can wreak havoc on their health. Nature's Variety is a great way to give your dog a high quality raw diet (Nature's Variety). Use the store locater on their website to find a store near you that carries this brand. If the store carries Nature's Variety, they will also likely carry many other high-quality natural brands. I have two yorkies. One of them has been eating Nature's Variety raw medallions for years and loves them. He had a number of gastrointestinal issues when I adopted him from the pound years ago, all of which went away when we started Nature's Variety. My other little guy, Alex, has severe skin allergies. For now, we are not using Nature's Variety because it contains a small amount of vegetables, which (in some dogs) can aggravate skin allergies. Alex gets a mixture of meat (beef, chicken, bison, organ meat, etc) as well as plain pumpkin and plain yogurt. I use bone meal supplements, as well as salmon oil, acidophillus, and some whole food supplements I got at my local natural pet store. Until recently, Alex was getting his meat raw, but I've recently switched to lightly cooking the meat because he has to do a course of prednisone for his allergies (prednisone weakens the immune system, thereby making him more susceptible to becoming sick from bacteria. Therefore, while he's on the prednisone, I am cooking the meat as a precaution. Once he's done with this round of prednisone, I will switch back to serving the meat raw, which he LOVES). The trick for me to feeding a homecooked meal is finding the time to do all the prep work. I try to keep things easy and organized. I buy large quantities of meat, divide it all up into small ziploc bags, and defrost as needed. I keep defrosted meat in small tuperare containers in our refrigerator and dole out for each meal. I don't measure things and rather just feed based on activity level that day. I use small bowls to assist with portion control and try to remember that my dogs' stomachs are pretty small. I feed twice a day (AM and PM). Oh, because of the importance that bone plays in a dog's diet, I give my dogs marrow bones at least once a week. You can get these in most meat sections. I give them to my dogs raw and they LOVE THEM. They suck out all the marrow and chew on the bones for hours. Not only are they a great treat, but they will also keep your dogs' teeth shiny and white. Feeding homemade is really easier than I thought it would be. There are a number of books out there. However, Nature's Variety is an excellent alternative, especially if you're short on time.
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