Doggie Diet Dilemma

[Vinniedoggy]

If you cook for your dogs, I suggest you get a good book about raw/natural nutrition. I've been using the raw/lightly cooked method with my dogs for years and have had awesome success. For Vinnie, my older yorkie, we've been doing Nature's Variety raw medallions for about 6-7 years now. He loves them and has been very healthy, with few tummy or other issues.

Alex, my newer yorkie, has been on a mostly home-prepared raw diet. However, when he started Atopica (an immunosuppresent used to treat severe allergies), I started lightly cooking his food to prevent any foodborne illness. You basically want to rotate meats and choose only lean cut meats. You also need to add organ meats, as these are essential for good health (chicken livers, beef liver, and chicken innards are all good and easy to find). Add some veggies (Dr. Harveys makes an awesome dehydrated veggie mix that you just rehydrate and serve). You can also add pumpkin, egg, and plain full-fat yogurt.

If you're preparing your own food, it is imperative that you also add some bone meal. This can be found at any good dog store that specializes in natural nutrition. You may also want to add some other supplements, depending on your dogs' needs.

I bought a couple of good books on Amazon on raw/natural nutrition for dogs.