By reading the ingredients people think they know what there dog should be eating but in reality they don't different foods effect dogs different then they effect humans and different foods are needed for nutrition for dogs then for humans. I don't think every vet promotes commercial dog foods as the best but even if they do I think it would be because they worry about the dog getting the right nutrition others ways or about the dog being safe. I certainly would trust someone who studyed animal nutrition over one who didn't study anything. We as humans don't know what is best for our body's otherwise we wouldnt need to take certain vitamin pills not to mention being overweight is an issue a whole lot of Americans have.

Home cooking hasn't solved all my problems. See Teddy's bladder thread in sick and injured.

*Shrug* We could just say 'this is a man with no degree in anything animal related, no experience in canine or feline nutrition, and his rankings are simply an opinion like anyone else'. The fact that on nearly every page of this thread there has been mocking and jokes about him being a dentist can only be said so many times before it's not funny anymore/gets old. JMO. Not trying to be snarky or anything. It can be said once and be done with it.

Fwiw, I completely agree with you and like to let folks know who may not that this guys website should have NO bearing on their decisions regarding their pups food.

Honestly, home cooking is not that time consuming. I cook for four pups right now and it takes me about 30 minutes each evening to prepare everything. It would be a snap for one pup! You could make it for a week at a time.

I am VERY happy with the diets I am feeding right now. My Armani and Pippi have always had weight issues. They are litter mates and I am convinced it is just a genetic thing...maybe metabolism? I don't know. Anyway...... I found myself having to put them on a diet every year and they hated it. When they would lose weight, I would put them back on regular food and they would gain the weight back. After a few years of this, I did a consult with Dr. Lenox, the vet nutritionist here in my area. She is the same one who had done Cookie's diet and the food that I fed Cookie was so much more in volume than dog food and she loved it....SO I decided to try it for Armani and Pippi. Meal time was always stressful previously...Pippi was stalking other dog bowls for other food and was miserable...I was feeding her less than 1/4 cup of food twice/day...just nothing. Then, I would fill the bowl with green beans and she started hating them. Anyway..........they went on home cooking in January and they have lost the weight and are maintaining now. They are both happy because they have more food than they did and they are not fat!! Makes me happy! :)

As to your question, perhaps someone will have that answer.

Oh I know. I'm not even looking for anything to fix a problem or be the miracle of all miracles. He's actually doing perfectly fine right now. Lol. I think it's just for my peace of mind. Which may be ridiculous but whatever!

And the differences in ANY of the foods I've fed have all been minimal. I'm just a weirdo who pays attention to small things that normal people wouldn't. I am sure he would be perfectly fine eating Purina all of his life. But I guess I want more than fine. With him being a part-time sports dog and just very active in general, I prefer to keep him in the best shape possible and being fueled by what I feel is the best diet possible for him.

I know through the years I've been through so many different opinions and foods. I guess you could call it an odd hobby. These forums used to make me crazy. All the different fads, what one person would start feeding, lol. Honestly 90% of the foods I fed in the early days I wouldn't touch now. I think I've finally found 'the' food with Farmina. Homecooking isn't out of the question still. It's just a matter of me biting the bullet.

There is also Rayne Clinical Nutrition. They are willing to make Winston's diet for me in peel and serve shelf-stable packets. I don't know the cost, it may be higher than I can do here but there is a value in having some shelf stable stuff around. Dr Remillard told me about the company and said if I send in the diet she made for Winston they can make it. He is eating the $25 diet "beef and peas" which is a high protein and moderate fat diet. He does awesome on it. He lost weight and he stopped biting his feet.

That's great!! To be honest one of the things I worry about is gaining weight. He's almost perfect right now. So it would be tricky to get the amounts to feed right. lol. I mean he would get fat if he was eating more than 1/2 cup per day of kibble. He's 17lbs and active. I have seen smaller dogs who get fed more than this! I guess it's just metabolism like you said. He does get some wet food too though.

I did look at a lot of the diets on the BalanceIt website. I worry about him just eating around the carb source LOL. Even when I use canned food, if there's peas in it, or any kind of vegetable, he typically leaves it in the bowl. No idea how he does it but he does. I mix it so well with the kibble. haha

It is not tricky for a vet nutritionist. I have no more weight issues with them and they get more food than they did previously.

Cookie also eats a lot of food and does not gain weight, not to mention the fact that it has kept her IBD and lymphangectasia controlled.

George's weight is also perfect. I don't have to do a thing but follow the recipes. No thinking at all...I love it and wish I could do it for all of them!

like this? :eek:

Home cooking is really not that hard before i had tried home cooking with Callie I had only ever done deviled eggs, pancakes and cakes. I asked a few questions and made two weeks worth each time it was really easy. Callie just didn't take to it and I was not comfortable starving her to force her to eat it because of her sugar issues and the fact she is the to stubborn for that. I'm testing her tastes ocasionally to see if she likes certain things because I do plan to try again. So I had to find a food I wanted and felt comfortable with for Callie. I knew a lot of people trusted and like royal Canin and I respected a few of these people so I looked it up and I liked the research they put into the food and through searching I saw a review from someone who worked at royal Canin for a few years and said stuff I really liked. Considering they have vets on staff they certainly know more about what my dog needs then me. These ingredients people like to call bad seem to work great for thousands of dogs so who am I to say my dog dosent need them. I bought my first bag and my extremely picky princess loved it and will even go to her bowl on her own and eat some. No break outs which has happened with a lot of holistic foods, no it itchiness, and she is doing great. We are halfway through our second bag.

You could do an all meat diet and use the BalanceIt carnivore blends. Dr Remillard also has an all meat chicken diet for $25.

Here's Dr Delaney making carnivore blend for his dog Billie.

He's kinda hot....wonder if he'd come over and cook for me :p


Maybe he'd even wear that apron ;)

I was going to do this but I thought I recalled someone on here telling me it wasn't advisable. But this would certainly be the easiest and Jackson would LOVE it.

All jokes aside regarding Dr. Delaney. You should just shoot him an email and ask him about the product. I'm sure he would be willing to answer your questions.