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Who makes their own dog food and has a recipe to share?

YadaYadaYada

YadaYadaYada

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Feb 2, 2016
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Our 10 year old dog, Merlin, has been having serious issues lately with his skin. Itching like crazy, biting and causing sores, mainly on his backside and around his tail. He has been seen by a vet and we were given a special shampoo and have to bathe him every other day (Which he absolutely hates!) and he is on Cefpodoxime and a probiotic. He is wearing the cone of shame 24/7 and if you take it off even for ten minutes, he is back at the biting and itching. He does not have fleas, the vet thinks it might be fungal, they did take a skin scraping and he is going back on the 7th for a follow-up.

We did change the dog food for all the dogs a few months back because we were having supply issues, I’m wondering if it might be the food and I’m considering making my own food. However, I don’t want to feed an inappropriate diet, or one that is lacking in any way, so I’m wondering if anyone has a recipe for dog food that they use? Of course this is something I will discuss with the vet too.

So, all that to say that if anyone has a recipe they use, I would greatly appreciate it!
 
@Austina, thank you! I am just kind of a wreck about feeding the dogs something I make, don’t want to make a bad situation worse. These look great though.
 
@YadaYadaYada I’m sorry you and your sweet dog are going through this. Here are a couple of groups that you may find helpful.

I don’t know if you belong to fb but I find them to be a valuable resource for various things





hiccpet.com

The Top 10 Homemade Dog Foods to Alleviate Allergies and Itchy Skin | HICC PET

Discover the best homemade dog food recipes to help soothe your furry friend's itchy skin and allergies. Learn about the causes and symptoms of skin allergies in dogs, the benefits of homemade dog food, and get a list of the top 10 recipes. Plus, find tips for switching to homemade dog food to...
hiccpet.com hiccpet.com

Good luck
 
missy said:
@YadaYadaYada I’m sorry you and your sweet dog are going through this. Here are a couple of groups that you may find helpful.

I don’t know if you belong to fb but I find them to be a valuable resource for various things



Good luck
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I am on FB, off to check them out, thanks so much. After what we went through with Dexter and his eye ulcers earlier this year, I’m trying to be much more proactive and not rely on the vet, I just have a real feeling it’s the food.

Thanks for your help!
 
I made my dog Daisy’s food the last couple years of her life. Very simple: baked chicken, rice, and veggies. (Broccoli, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, and she enjoyed blueberries as well.)
 
monarch64 said:
I made my dog Daisy’s food the last couple years of her life. Very simple: baked chicken, rice, and veggies. (Broccoli, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, and she enjoyed blueberries as well.)
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Did you add any vitamins or supplements? Maybe this is more complicated in my head than it needs to be :roll2:

So sorry about your loss of Daisy, it is so hard saying goodbye to a pet.
 
YadaYadaYada said:
We did change the dog food for all the dogs a few months back because we were having supply issues, I’m wondering if it might be the food and I’m considering making my own food.
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how do the ingredients of the old food compare with those of the new food? Asking because if you don't know what is causing the issues e.g. chicken vs. turkey, etc, then you won't know what is okay or not to put into homemade food.
 
Lookinagain said:
how do the ingredients of the old food compare with those of the new food? Asking because if you don't know what is causing the issues e.g. chicken vs. turkey, etc, then you won't know what is okay or not to put into homemade food.
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Good point, my plan is to see if the vet thinks allergy testing would be beneficial. Part of the problem is we change flavors, so we will get beef and then chicken next time, turkey the next etc because the little dogs are fussy eaters. We did this with the old food too, so it didn’t seem like it would be a problem. I just can’t figure out anything else that could be causing this so the food seems a good place to start.
 
Have you tried any of Dr. Judy Morgan's recipes? She has a few cookbooks out -- here's one you might take a look at.
 
One of my friend's makes her dogs meals with: chicken (or pork), rice, sweet potato and pureed green veg. She also does a mince beef hearts and veggies recipe. She adds a lot of turmeric to her dog's food because she adds it to her kids food for anti-inflammatory purposes. And she spikes her dog's food with apple cider vinegar.

Very healthy dog with a gorgeous shiny coat and lots of muscles!
 
Thanks so much @mellowyellowgirl, mmmmmm the apple cider vinegar is a great idea, wouldn’t have thought of that.
 
could it be that his anal glands need to be expressed? That can cause him to
do some of these things.

From the AKC website

Signs of Anal Gland Problems in Dogs​

  • Scooting the rear end along the floor or lawn
  • Excessive licking or itching the anal area
  • Straining or difficulty with defecation (pooping)
  • Blood or pus in the stool or near the rectum
 
@Lookinagain, he’s never had a problem with his anal glands but is this something you think the vet would have checked anyways to rule out? In any case I will ask about it, thanks for mentioning it.
 
YadaYadaYada said:
Did you add any vitamins or supplements? Maybe this is more complicated in my head than it needs to be :roll2:

So sorry about your loss of Daisy, it is so hard saying goodbye to a pet.
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You can add a probiotic
 
Yes I’d do!

And my senior dog has also had horrible itching / scratching recently too. The medicated shampoo did nothing and nor did antibiotics.

So I changed his diet. Once kidney issues, thyroid problems and Addison’s disease is ruled out that really only leaves allergies.

I used to feed them various combinations of rice, chicken (liver, hearts, gizzards as well as the usual meat), ground beef, ground pork, and various veggies including carrots, sweet potato, potatoes, lentils, cauli and broccoli. Also some beans sometimes.

Not knowing what item or items that my senior dog was allergic to I changed his whole diet. Now I give him either fish (salmon, king fish or other boneless varieties) or venison (because usually it’s the protein they develop allergies to) with quinoa and oats instead of rice and also swapped out his usual veggies for beetroot, zucchini, green beans, bean sprouts and peas. If I could get rabbit here that would be Ok too - it’s a good option for allergy prone dogs.

He seems to be totally fine now. My bank balance is suffering because this revised diet is a lot more pricey. But he is a dear old boy and if you can’t spoil a 13 year old doggie then who can you spoil?! And it broke my heart to see such an old man in so much discomfort.

I usually fry up the fish, add some scrambled egg then cook the quinoa and veggies in a separate pot until the water is absorbed. Ditto the venison chunks. A batch lasts a few days.

It’s easy in a crock pot too. Throw it all in with a few cups of water and let it cook down. Dogs generally are uncomplaining diners!
 
YadaYadaYada said:
Did you add any vitamins or supplements? Maybe this is more complicated in my head than it needs to be :roll2:

So sorry about your loss of Daisy, it is so hard saying goodbye to a pet.
Click to expand...

I didn’t add anything. My first goal with switching her diet was weight loss—she was a beagle who had gained an unhealthy amount of weight in the care of someone else. I didn’t remove fat or skim the broth of the chicken, so I figured she was getting enough protein that way. Instead of boxed/packaged treats like milkbones, I gave her raw carrots or blueberries. I cooked with butter and used cream cheese fairly often so would let her have the wrappers to lick.

I tried a few different meats and preparations before I found that chicken/rice/veggies was best. She would throw up beef, refused to eat turkey and pork, and also got sick on eggs. It was kind of like figuring out what a kid or elderly person could tolerate. I don’t think you’re overthinking it, you just want to make sure you’re helping, not harming!

Thank you, I miss her a lot. She was my annoying yet affectionate bestie. It’s been over a year and I’m still not ready for another pet.
 
@rocks, thanks for the probiotic suggestion, I actually requested it at the last visit, I do wish that vets recommended one routinely for general health.

@Ionysis, Yes! I remembered reading about someone feeding their dog a homemade diet in another thread but couldn’t remember who :twisted2:

Thanks for this, very helpful, also good to know to check for these other things to rule them out.

@monarch64, our first dog had to have medication daily and as a treat we would give him baby carrots instead of processed treats, he loved them!
 
YadaYadaYada said:
our first dog had to have medication daily and as a treat we would give him baby carrots instead of processed treats, he loved them!
Click to expand...

My guy has a sensitive stomach and I give him frozen green beans as treats, and once in a while a frozen strawberry.
 
I just made some dog food as a supplement to their dry food and thought I would share. We add this supplement regularly. The vet has told me this is safe as long as it is no more than 25% of the dog's food added to high quality, dry dog food.

Six to 8 large skinless chicken thighs, 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1/2cup green beans, 1/4 cup cauliflower, fresh oregano, fresh tarragon, about 2 TBSPs nutritional yeast and a bit of water. This goes in the pressure cooker with the chicken bones. I remove the bones after cooking.

The main ingredient is chicken but I add chicken liver, gizzards and different fruits and vegetables for variety. I also sometimes bake the mixture (no added water) into a loaf which the dogs prefer, but since my vet told me dogs have adapted to a constant state of dehydration due to the food we feed them, I only make the loafs about once a month.

This is intended as a supplement but my one friend had an old, sick dog and she used this base recipe (no dry food) at the end of the dog's life and told me her dog's condition improved for many months. Shiny hair, more energy.
 
Thank you so much @Lisa Loves Shiny, this is actually perfect because I have to buy wet food to mix in with the dry food for the little dogs or they won’t eat it. So maybe I’ll try this to supplement their dry food.
 
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