I would have had Callie on the ideal balance because I like it and the company but I have a picky little turkey and I'm to much a worry wart about her eating I can't do the tough love they will not starve themselves thing because I think she would

I don't know how to cook so that's kinda my problem if Callie stops eating and likeing what she is eating now I will probably just bite the bullet.

Cooking for the pups is really not that difficult. It is not the same as cooking a meal for humans.

I agree. It is not hard at all. It is sometimes just not a lot of fun. Our pups do very well on their kibbles, so I'm comfortable and am so grateful for dog food. In a perfect world though I would cook.

Thanks for the article. It says right in the article that there is nothing scientific to back up these pet owners opinions. So that is just what they are...opinions. There isn't going to be one magic food that works for every dog. And for every food there is going to be people that have had a negative experience with it. This article just so happens to name a couple of them. I was at pet smart the other day and was looking at the specialty food that was on the wall next to the vets entrance (I can't think of the brand right off hand). It's a brand I've heard mentioned on here as a good one. It was full of crap, by products, liver, other nasty stuff like that. You couldn't pay me to feed it to my dogs. Other people swear by it...all opinions. I would love to get some real evidence that says exactly what we should be feeding our pets. This article doesn't have any.

There is a lot of information about dog foods/diets on this website:

PetDiets - VNC putting pets' health first!

Blue Buffalo... I do feed my dogs the fish and sweet potato. I appreciate the article being posted, so I can learn more and made me think.

But, for around here, after Piccolo had pancreatitis about 5 years ago, I kept her on the vet prescribed food for three years. When I finally decided I was going to try and switch, BB was on the list of foods, that might be okay. So I switched her very slowly and now give all three the food. All appears to be well.

Honestly with all that has gone on with Piccolo, I really do not want to rock the boat and switch again unless it is necessary. Kind of the quote, "If it ain't broke it, don't fix it."

Which is why, for now at least, we are going to stick with BB. It's been the one food Rhett can consistently tolerate with his very sensitive tummy.

Homecooking is easy. It's not rocket science. The nutritionist gives you the recipe. You just have to read and follow directions. It's just time consuming. Taycie's diet is formulated strictly for her and her needs, however it consists of 3 things.. a sweet potato, white potato and eggs. All I have to do is scramble eggs and bake potatoes.. Not hard at all. Then I just weigh everything out and freeze. Done! Easy.

When I give Max a homecooked meal, he eats it, then looks at me like, "That was a great appetizer. Now where's my kibble?" :p Anyone else have this problem?

I think he needs the dry, crunchy stuff along with the fresh food.

My dogs like kibble but they are frenzied over real food. While I think the kibble I feed is safe and completely nutritious, it's processed and therefore I don't think as good as home cooking (when properly done using high quality ingredients).

Um...not me. At all. If I don't add a little something to Yoshi's kibble, he looks at me like I've lost my mind. :( Thankfully, my other 2 aren't like that. But if I don't give them diced chicken in their kibble, it just wouldn't be fair.

You guys that homecook, approx how much would you say you spend $$$ on dog food each month? Just curious. Homecooking is always something I thought I would do one day, but well, I'm fairly lazy ;) but I am still just curious. I know the purchase of Balance It (right?) is probably the most expensive up front cost. Also, do you make like a months worth of food, or would it go bad before then? How often are you cooking in other words?

I really don't know how much it costs. I just buy and cook. :p Yes, the Balance It is a bit much, but lasts for a few months so it is not expensive...just have to buy it up front.

I cook daily....I was going to cook batches and freeze, but changed my mind. It does take a bit of time, but not horrible.

I think Cathy might know the cost...she is pretty good at keeping track of these things.

Balance It is about $50 but it ships free. I just replaced a bottle because it expired before I ran out. It is a big bottle. Lasted about 8 months.

Ingredients, you can make as cheap or as expensive as you want. I like organic and fresh.. so I do spend more.. But if you shop sales and price stuff it really isn't that bad. Right now I can get great potatoes at farmers markets.

If I can't.. Trader Joes is pretty inexpensive. I just made 40 days up and froze everything.. it cost about $35 for the potatoes. Eggs are what I will spend money on. I buy from a local farmer and it runs about $10 a week. But I don't care.. I don't skimp on the protein.

Then, there are other things that you have to consider, you need a good scale, and decide how you want to store everything. I buy quart size freezer ziplock bags, weigh out my potatoes and freeze individual portions. Then all I have to do is defrost a portion and add eggs. I have added the eggs before and done the entire meal, but I prefer to add the egg fresh.. Because it is preservative free the eggs get ugly frozen.

That's it.. probably runs me about $40 a month. Not bad.. RX food would be her only option.. and the cost would be right about there or more..