Homecookers: Kibble/How often do you cook?

[Suzy]

Do you supplement with any kibble? If so, what kind? How often do you feed it, and how much of the day's food is in kibble?

And, how often do you cook for your yorkies? Do you make a bunch at a time and freeze, or cook daily?

Thanks!

[Ellie May]

No kibble here, homecooked only. We make a big batch every 7-16 days and freeze it. She gets around 3/4 cup a day.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Do you supplement with any kibble? If so, what kind? How often do you feed it, and how much of the day's food is in kibble?

And, how often do you cook for your yorkies? Do you make a bunch at a time and freeze, or cook daily?

I use the kibble, Orijen, for grazing...they are free to eat it anytime, so I don't measure anything w/ the kibble.

For their a.m. and p.m. meal, I feed boiled/shredded chicken breast (cooked w/ a bit of butter and Mrs. Dash Table Blend) and Parmesan sprinkles, and their supplements. I make the chicken about once every 7-10 days so I don't have to cook daily.

[Lexi Rae]

i try to sneak dry kibble in lexi's food, but she spits it out most of the time..
she does eat it in the morning when i feed her oatmeal... i know the dry kibble is good for her teeth, and at least she getting some nutrients.
i usually get the merricks dry. i just finished the candae, she didnt like it too
much, unless shes starving, she might go for it in the wee hrs of the morning,
but i always leave some out for her just in case shes hungry

[Yorkiedaze]

I gave you information on home cooking awhile back and as I said, I home cook only. NEVER do I feed dog food. It isn't even real food.
I make it up and freeze about every three weeks. I've home cooked for 48 years.

[Yorkieluv]

We don't give any kibble at all...They only get homecooked meals, and we cook every 3-4 weeks, and freeze in 2 day portions

[Suzy]

Thank you all for your input..

Yorkiedaze and Yorkieluv, I know you both are absolute homecookers-a couple questions:

1. How does your vet feel about homecooking?
2. Do you brush teeth daily, or how do you keep teeth healthy?
3. Have you come across any ingredients that DON'T work well for your dogs (they are allergic, don't like, don't do well on?)

Thanks!

[Yorkieluv]

Hi Suzy

Actually, our vet is fine with the homecooking as long as they are getting the supplements that they need. I told him what I was feeding Miko and Emma, and he was fine with it. Thank goodness!! He knows the troubles that we've had with Miko and dog foods.

As far as the teeth go, we use Petzlife oral gel and put it on their teeth I would say once every other day now. Emma will let me do whatever I want to her teeth. She would even let me floss them. She lets me get things out of her teeth and use the baby finger toothbrush. Miko is another story. He lets me do it, but gets tired of me messing with his mouth quickly and gets a little anxious. I don't like to stress him out, so I try to be quick and efficient.

The only thing that they both hate is beans!!

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Hi Suzy

Actually, our vet is fine with the homecooking as long as they are getting the supplements that they need. I told him what I was feeding Miko and Emma, and he was fine with it. Thank goodness!! He knows the troubles that we've had with Miko and dog foods.

As far as the teeth go, we use Petzlife oral gel and put it on their teeth I would say once every other day now. Emma will let me do whatever I want to her teeth. She would even let me floss them. She lets me get things out of her teeth and use the baby finger toothbrush. Miko is another story. He lets me do it, but gets tired of me messing with his mouth quickly and gets a little anxious. I don't like to stress him out, so I try to be quick and efficient.

The only thing that they both hate is beans!!

Thanks for the input...I'm trying to decide whether or not to go off kibble completely. I still give them kibble sometimes in the morning right now-that way I think it at least helps clean their teeth, and they get whatever vitamins/minerals I might be missing when I cook.

I try and brush teeth, but I'm not that good at being consistent, and my Emma (like your Emma) will let me brush her teeth, but gets fed up after awhile. Milli is like your Miko, and gets freaked out, but I hold her down and do it quick anyway! Sometimes mommies know best!

I haven't talked to our vet about homecooking since I just started, and I'm not sure how they'll feel about it We'll have to wait and see!

[Yorkieluv]

Good luck talking to your vet about it!! Most of them are against it, but hopefully your vet will be okay with it. I was kind of scared to tell my vet, but I just told him about how much I had researched it, and he didn't fight me on it and said that's fine. I see what you mean about the kibble, but if you brush your dogs' teeth anyway, I don't see any reason to continue it. You could always get one of those bones that Yorkiedaze gets from the butcher/meat store...Take the marrow out of it, and let them chew on it. It really helps clean the teeth. Also chattiesmom gets a certain kind of bone from the butcher/meat store that she gives her furkids for healthy teeth.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Yorkieluv

Good luck talking to your vet about it!! Most of them are against it, but hopefully your vet will be okay with it. I was kind of scared to tell my vet, but I just told him about how much I had researched it, and he didn't fight me on it and said that's fine. I see what you mean about the kibble, but if you brush your dogs' teeth anyway, I don't see any reason to continue it. You could always get one of those bones that Yorkiedaze gets from the butcher/meat store...Take the marrow out of it, and let them chew on it. It really helps clean the teeth. Also chattiesmom gets a certain kind of bone from the butcher/meat store that she gives her furkids for healthy teeth.

I can't give them bones Emma gets really possessive of bones, and gets to be a mean girl when she has them. Also, we had a close call once, so we stopped giving her anything at all like bones/rawhide/bully sticks, etc. since Emma will cram the whole thing into her mouth at once, and will choke it's awful, so we avoid anything like that. I guess I'll stick to nylabones and brushing teeth!

[Yorkieluv]

Oh my!! How scary We don't give our dogs rawhide or anything like that either. They scare me for that very reason...
We do give them nylabones under supervision They're pretty good about the nylabones.

[Suzy]

Milli doesn't do that...but I don't know how I'd keep it from Emma if Milli had it, so we just keep 'em out of the house. I don't have this problem with Nylabones at all-I think they're too hard and don't taste as good or something.

[Yorkieluv]

Thank goodness Miko is such a passive and docile furbaby because my Emma can't stand for Miko to have something and not her. She doesn't like to share. Everytime he gets a toy to play with, she will bark playfully in his ear until he drops it and lets her have it. And she's 1/3 of his size!!

[bellaismybaby]

I home cook too. Sometimes it lasts a week sometimes a few days..depends on what I make. Todays menu is boiled organic chicken with a little whole wheat pasta and zuccini. They loved it!!