Sharing Homecooking Tips

[woodturningcrea]

Hi Everyone,

I've been homecooking for Punkin for 5 months now. I would love it if those who homecook would share their tips.

Here are a few of mine:

-I steam veggies to help them keep more nutrients
-I cook for 4 weeks at a time and freeze everything (that's freezable)
i.e. I even freeze brown rice on a cookie sheet and when it's frozen I dump it in a ziploc container. I also freeze scoops of sweet potatoes and veggies this way too.
-I defrost in the fridge for 4 meals at a time so that I'm not always digging in the freezer.

I look forward to hearing what everyone else is doing.

Thanks

[Dawn125]

The only thing I cook for my pups is chicken. I usually boil a whole chicken or whatever cut I find on sale (thighs sometimes). I let it cool and seperate the meat and put it in the food processer with some of the broth from cooking it and chop it into little bits. I bought little clear plastic cups with matching lids at Smart & Final. I put 1/4 cup of the minced chicken and broth in each cup and stack them in the freezer. I can put the little cups right from the freezer into the microwave to defrost each night. I mix one little cup of chicken with dry food and split it between my two yorkies and larger dog. They all three love it. A whole chicken usually makes enough for about 3 weeks for the three dogs.

[Tiger's Mom]

someone told me that if you give them "fresh" food, instead of pure dog kibble that their poop really smells . . . is that true?

I feed my Tiger Innova dry food mixed with merrick wet food (just a T. to coat for better flavoring) and his poop smells . . tolerable of course. It has been a while since he ate just purely kibble so I cannot remember which is more "potent"

[Baby Blessing]

Originally Posted by Dawn125

The only thing I cook for my pups is chicken. I usually boil a whole chicken or whatever cut I find on sale (thighs sometimes). I let it cool and seperate the meat and put it in the food processer with some of the broth from cooking it and chop it into little bits. I bought little clear plastic cups with matching lids at Smart & Final. I put 1/4 cup of the minced chicken and broth in each cup and stack them in the freezer. I can put the little cups right from the freezer into the microwave to defrost each night. I mix one little cup of chicken with dry food and split it between my two yorkies and larger dog. They all three love it. A whole chicken usually makes enough for about 3 weeks for the three dogs.

I freeze broth liquids also steamed veggies in the large ice cube trays and empty them into freezer bag to later be put with whatever. That is what I am going through now (whatever) never knowing what Baby Blessing will eat since that bad episode with the dry food. I sure hope soon she will get back onto the dry food, today she had a bit of dry food (she wouldn't touch it unless it had the cottage cheese on it.) I managed to get her to eat a bit more about an hour ago fixed same way. Patti
Hopefully she will do better soon, her eating habit now is a worry to me.

[Dan & Corinne]

Jazzie spits out veggies so I grate and grate and grate. I don't cook or steam the veggies just chop them up real fine so they have to eat it. I alternate between Ribeye Steak, Chicken and Veal Liver. Sometimes I add crumbled goat cheese or scrambled eggs.

No salt, no garlic but I do add fresh herbs & olive oil.

1/2 mama's stuff and 1/2 kibble for dinner.

When Jewel was sick, I boiled chicken with herbs and saved the boiled water after some serious straining and let her drink the "Chicken Water" so she would drink more water and not have to have it forced into her. Then both girls got to eat the meat.

[bettyeanne]

I sometimes save the "pulp" from carrots, apple, etc. before adding anything else such as gingerroot to our fresh juice [we love to juice]. I add a little of the juice to the pulp and freeze it to add to Toto's raw diet. I also cook a batch of chicken tenders [a dozen or so] with a little garlic powder & parsley and freeze it in "Food Saver" packages. Two or three strips will feed Toto for a week or more as she only has about a teaspoon, minced in her food at a meal. Works for her!!

[Kona]

When is it okay to give Yorkies meat and veggies? Kona will be 3 months this weekend. I don't want to upset her stomach. Should I cut them up very fine?

I'm new at all this so any info would be fantastic. I'm sure Kona would thank you too!

Michelle

[Sugar's Mom]

Originally Posted by Baby Blessing

I freeze broth liquids also steamed veggies in the large ice cube trays and empty them into freezer bag to later be put with whatever. That is what I am going through now (whatever) never knowing what Baby Blessing will eat since that bad episode with the dry food. I sure hope soon she will get back onto the dry food, today she had a bit of dry food (she wouldn't touch it unless it had the cottage cheese on it.) I managed to get her to eat a bit more about an hour ago fixed same way. Patti
Hopefully she will do better soon, her eating habit now is a worry to me.

I cook chicken for mine sometimes too. So far, I have only given them the white meat and if it is to be the complete meal, I give about two tablespoons shredded chicken each. is this enough. I leave dry food down all the time but feed wet (or cooked in the morning, then for dinner. i worry constantly that I am not feeding them enough. how much is enough for a two pounder, a three pounder and a five pounder. They eat almost no dry food.

[woodturningcrea]

Originally Posted by Sugar's Mom

So far, I i worry constantly that I am not feeding them enough. how much is enough for a two pounder, a three pounder and a five pounder. They eat almost no dry food.

From what I can tell it's a bit of trial and error. It depends on the calories of what you feed and how active they are. We did discover that Punkin lost some weight when we first switched over. Our vet explained that human food does not pack on the weight like dry/wet dog food does.
We are currently feeding Punkin about 1/2 - 3/4 cup food twice a day - sometimes more if we are extra active with her. Most days she gets a brisk 30 minute walk -weekends often more.

I like this book http://tinyurl.com/ocorn it has recipes and feeding amounts for different weight dogs.

See if your local library has it - that way you'll see if you like it before purchasing it.

There are so many schools of thought on homecooking that you have to find what works best for you and your furbabies. A supportive and knowledgable vet helps too

[woodturningcrea]

Originally Posted by Dan & Corinne

When Jewel was sick, I boiled chicken with herbs and saved the boiled water after some serious straining and let her drink the "Chicken Water" so she would drink more water and not have to have it forced into her. Then both girls got to eat the meat.

I really like the boiled chicken water idea. Punkin doesn't drink a lot of water, The vet believes it's because of the water content in the food she eats but I would feel much better if she drank more - especially since the weather is getting a lot warmer.

[myriamha]

I bought this book the only drawback is that it has only 4 recipes for dogs under 5lbs, but the good thing is that it's packed with nutrition info and worth buying

[Lola LaRue]

Is it possible for someone to start posting their recipes? Lola is the pickiest eater and I would love to add something new. What did the 4 recipes contain?

[Baby Blessing]

Baby Blessing favors combination of chicken breast, carrots, mixed with cottage cheese. (sometimes plus other veggies) For treats she will choose grated carrots over anything else any day. Only way I can get her to eat the dry dog food is to coat it with cottage cheese, and then it is maybe I will and maybe I won't. Thanks for the information on the book. Patti ~~Baby Blessing~~