I am thinking about moving Tundra to a home made dog food diet instead of the dry kibble and canned food he gets now. Does anyone have any successful easy and affordable recipes to share

Hi....I've read that it is very hard to get the right nutrients in just feeding homemade. There are lots of websites - but they sound pretty complicated.

I feed Chubby dry kibble & homemade. I feed a Grain-Free Kibble & usually add chicken or beef - sweet potatoes & green veggies. I don't feed canned at all. Chubby's been doing fine this way.

A lot of us feed raw. Is that something you would interested in?

I helped my mother in law come up with a homecooked diet for her dogs as they've got health issues to consider. I don't follow exact recipes as I recommend mixing things up regularly so that they are exposed to a wide variety to ensure they get all they need, plus I strongly recommend the use of a general supplement as an added safety precaution. One thing you MUST remember on a homecooked diet is to add calcium to it. With manufactured foods calcium is already added in so you don't have to think about it. With a raw diet your dog would get it's calcium needs met through the bone they ingest, however homecooked diets you cannot feed cooked bone. So for a homecooked diet you will need to either give them a calcium supplement (vitamin or powder doesn't matter) and/or include plenty of eggshell in the diet (whether fed whole egg, crushed, or pulverized with a mortar and pestle). Some people seem to think additional calcium is an optional supplement on a homecooked diet, it is not, it is a requirement...please remember that for the health of your pet if you opt to do homecooking.

With my mother in law, I took into consideration her dogs' health conditions and formulated 3 lists. A list of meats (chicken, beef, turkey, pork, etc), a list of seeds and grains (barley, rice, quinoa, flaxseed, etc), and a list of veggies and fruits (sweet potato, green beans, carrots, cranberry, etc).

So she had a nice, neat sheet of paper with 3 columns and the above mentioned categories listed out in each column. Then I took each of her dogs' individual weights, activity, level, and health into consideration to come up with how much (in weight) from each column should be in their daily rations (just as an example, 5 oz meat, 1.5 oz grain/seed, 1.5 oz veggie/fruit...I totally just pulled those numbers out of the air for demonstration purposes, do not use them as a guide!) and using that she would pick a meat (or meats) out of the meat column, then pick a grain and/or seed, then pick a veggie and/or fruit and prepare their meal as necessary plus add in their calcium supplement.

If you opt for a non-dog specific calcium supplement, speak with your vet to determine what calcium supplement and how much will be best for your dog. As a side, RMB's can add calcium to a homecooked diet should you so choose to use them, not to mention the teeth cleaning benefits they provide as well.

I applaud your efforts to find out more about homecooked diets, I am very much a fan assuming it is done correctly to ensure your dog is not lacking nutrients. Homecooked diets, like PMR diets, achieve balance over time and exposure to variety is important. I consider a properly done homecooked diet to be better than any kibble or canned diet on the market. Not quite as good as raw, but certainly a healthy alternative as I know raw just isn't feasible for everyone for a number of reasons. Please do continue to do some more research and feel free to ask away with any questions you might have.

Hi -I'm a real advocate of homemade and just wanted to say that everything you need to know about feeding a homemade diet can be found in Dr. Pitcairn's book - Natural Health For Dogs and Cats including recipes and detailed information about calcium (all calcium supplements are not created equal especially with respect to the ratio of calcium to phosphorus).

Hope this helps. You can check the book out online.

Good luck.