Dipping my toe into making my own dog food.

[Charlie]

Canagan.

It’s a tough one because he really likes it, has a lovely coat, perfect poos and it keeps him a good weight.

So although it’s expensive I think we do see a lot of benefits from it.

Gosh Jen it's really expensive £80 for 12kg? Don't dogs eat what their given? Mine do Other dog foods have good ingredients too. Nothing wrong with poo here on Skinners, all as it should be!! Adding daily salmon oil which is not expensive keeps their coats shiny, good for joints, eyes, brain etc. I buy 1 litre bottles for about £10 which lasts 3 months for 2 dogs.

It's all personal preference and budget. xx

 

[Jen]

Gosh Jen it's really expensive £80 for 12kg? Don't dogs eat what their given? Mine do Other dog foods have good ingredients too. Nothing wrong with poo here on Skinners, all as it should be!! Adding daily salmon oil which is not expensive keeps their coats shiny, good for joints, eyes, brain etc. I buy 1 litre bottles for about £10 which lasts 3 months for 2 dogs.

It's all personal preference and budget. xx

We get £68 for 12kg. So it works out £34 a month which isn’t too bad really.

Stanley would 100% eat anything he was given but he does have a sensitive stomach and when he was a puppy we tried a few different foods and he always had an unsettled stomach. Since he’s been on this he’s been fine so I’m probably saving a fortune in vets visits to be fair

 

[Selina27]

Since he’s been on this he’s been fine so I’m probably saving a fortune in vets visits to be fair

Yes, I thought along those lines when I read your post

I too like to get my dog food locally, I'm lucky to have 2 or 3 suppliers accessible to me. The prices can vary from shop even there, with one sticking to the recommended retail price and another selling the same food for £6.00 less, so it might be worth shopping around. Also the food that I use runs a loyalty card scheme meaning I get every eighth bag free, even if I pay full price with that it works out equivalent to purchasing online , over time. It might be worth enquiring?

 

[kateincornwall]

Along with Reubs, Nelly also loves Skinners Field and Trial which amuses me no end , a 15 kilo sack of either the Salmon and Rice or Duck and Rice lasts them about 6 weeks, but I do add a topper to it . Strangely , I buy whichever of the two is on offer and they never suffer any upset tums from flitting from one to the other x

 

[Joy]

I didn't reply to this thread at the time it was posted because I had only just started to feed Molly home-cooked food. We are now almost 4 weeks in and I'm very pleased with how it's going - although it's more expensive than kibble, not cheaper!

I have struggled to keep Molly at an acceptable weight for several years. She was always ravenous on the amount of kibble she was supposed to have and made her feelings known by howling and hitting the fridge! Consequently my OH had taken to giving her an increasing amount of titbits which had also started to become less and less healthy options such as turkey balls and cocktail sausages. In December she really didn't seem well - she went on her walks as a duty rather than a pleasure and had several bouts of sickness. Anyway, I decided to make a complete change in food and joined the 'Home cooked diets for dogs' Facebook group, which has very comprehensive files.

So good news - Molly is losing weight, has miles more energy, has stopped being sick and isn't hungry all the time.
Because she is having lots of good quality ingredients (pollock, chicken, lambs' liver, vegetables, ground eggshells) my OH is not feeding her any additional snacks. At the moment I am weighing absolutely everything and give her 2% of her ideal weight (which the vet has said is 40kg - she is tall and long), which is 800g. She has 75% of her allowance as animal protein and 25% vegetables.

I think she is not hungry because with 800g of food I can feed her small amounts numerous times a day. She always had 2 hours of walks a day but now she is more active on the walks I hope we are into a positive spiral.

Molly loves the food and I hope that, in the same way I've been able to change my own eating habits and lose weight without feeling hungry, the same will be true for her.

 

[M.F.]

Lovely to read about Molly!

When Snowie started on epilepsy meds (no longer on them), they made him very hungry. So I thought feeding smaller meals more frequently was a good idea. Turns out that apparently he never felt full because he never had a satisfying meal. I reverted back to the two normal meals, with supper being twice as big as breakfast, and that seemed better. He now gets 600gm per day of raw meat and bones plus veg and fruit. He’s about 35kg.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Canagan.

It’s a tough one because he really likes it, has a lovely coat, perfect poos and it keeps him a good weight.

So although it’s expensive I think we do see a lot of benefits from it.

I don't think that expensive if it lasts 2 months

 

[Selina27]

Interesting to read about Molly's diet change @Joy, I hope you continue to see the benefits and she feels more comfortable.

 

[kateincornwall]

@Joy , do you feed raw or everything cooked please ?

 

[snowbunny]

@Joy , do you feed raw or everything cooked please ?

I’m going to guess at cooked because, firstly that FB group doesn’t deal with raw and secondly, dogs can’t digest raw veggies

 

[kateincornwall]

I’m going to guess at cooked because, firstly that FB group doesn’t deal with raw and secondly, dogs can’t digest raw veggies

I thought so , I always cook our dogs veg for that reason x

 

[snowbunny]

I’m glad I don’t have to feed my lot 800g a day each - I’d be broke in a month
Yeah it’s definitely not a cheap option!

 

[Natalie]

That's great news @Joy . It was part of the reason I started cooking for Monty, when he was on restricted exercise he was clearly very hungry. Home cooking allowed me to bulk out tasty meat with low calorie veggies. I assume you are on the same FB site that I joined, I've since been kicked off as I didn't contribute enough but it's a brilliant source of info if a bit strict.

It's funny but now I cook a really restricted home cooked diet for the boys - well for Bear, white fish, rice, broccoli, sweet potato - I find it a bit less enjoyable. I used to delight in giving Monty a really varied mix of foods.

 

[Natalie]

On the subject of raw veg, bear eats a lot of raw carrots. Many of them he steals straight from the sack in the garage. They come out in his poo generally indigested , but the poos are quite firm. Of all the things he eats, the raw carrots are the least of my problems

 

[Natalie]

I’m glad I don’t have to feed my lot 800g a day each - I’d be broke in a month
Yeah it’s definitely not a cheap option!

Though when you are on your fourth brand of kibble with sacks of it the garage, trying to find a mix which suits your dog it's suddenly quite appealing! I only spend £5 a week home cooking for Bear - and Monty a bit- as 25% of his daily allowance.

 

[Joy]

@Joy , do you feed raw or everything cooked please ?

Yes it's all cooked but actually doesn't take long. The chicken gets cooked in a separate dish but in the oven at the same time as our meals and then when it's cold I remove the skin (because I want to remove some fat) and the white fish and vegetables get put in a covered dish in the microwave for about 5 minutes. I'm also feeding a proportion of oily fish (usually tinned sardines).

 

[Joy]

I've since been kicked off as I didn't contribute enough

That's strange. I've downloaded the files so I have all the information I need and I haven't contributed at all as it seems very strict about not just making chatty comments!

 

[Selina27]

It's funny but now I cook a really restricted home cooked diet for the boys -

How come Natalie?

Cassie is also passionate about raw carrots, raw veg in general. I'm lucky enough to have access to a lovely walled garden for most of my veg, she's forever foraging on the compost heaps where the excess gets put! Once when I was chatting to the gardener she busied herself digging some carrots up !!

I'm finding this thread interesting as I'm toying with cooking for Cassie, yet again. I'm happy with the kibble she's on but feel she would benefit from the variety of home cooked food.

Her waistline has expanded I feel as she's much less energetic on her walks in this wet dull weather we are having.

 

[Natalie]

That's strange. I've downloaded the files so I have all the information I need and I haven't contributed at all as it seems very strict about not just making chatty comments!

You also need to like stuff now and again, I think, if they see no interaction for a long time then they do state somewhere they will boot you out.

How come Natalie?

Just because of Bear's dodgy tummy. Although things aren't perfect, he does seem better on a fish /veg only diet.

At the start of the pandemic, I cut back a bit on the homecooked for Monty and bought some forthglade wet food instead. I've continued this so sometimes he gets homecooked fish and veg, sometimes the forthglade. I suppose.i could have cooked a separate batch for just Monty but don't really have room.to.store it in the fridge all week.

The good thing about coming for Monty was I based it around whichever reduced bargains I'd picked up that day at the shops , a mix of pork, lamb, turkey, chicken beef and fish. I also picked up a lot of frozen veg which made it much cheaper. ( And frozen white fish and chicken was much cheaper too)

If you've got a pressure.cooker, it's super easy to chuck it all in and cook in one go, reduces the smell and helps to get very soft veg which has to be mushed up to be easily digestible.

The other good thing is that you have a ready made healthy kong filling on hand.

 

[snowbunny]

Though when you are on your fourth brand of kibble with sacks of it the garage, trying to find a mix which suits your dog it's suddenly quite appealing! I only spend £5 a week home cooking for Bear - and Monty a bit- as 25% of his daily allowance.

I'm currently cooking up all the ingredients (I need a bigger pan!) having just bought everything. I shall have to add it all up and see what it works out at.