Hi there,
I became very disillusioned with commercial dog food, having tried everything, I started cooking homemade food for my dogs and within 2 weeks, an itchy skin condition, offensive smelling ear issue both cleared up and my dogs love the food. I am V happy, however, many friends are asking me to make it for their dogs but before I do I wanted to confirm its properly balanced and nutritional before I make it for others (bit of a respon so want to be sure). However, I cant find any nutritionists to help! Any ideas please?
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Hello and welcome to the forum. Well done for tackling your dog’s health problems - it’s good to hear that he is so much better on home cooked food. I can see your point re the responsibility of providing a well balanced diet. There are some useful links in this thread so maybe have a look at those. Whenever I research this on the Internet I am astounded at how much information there is and there are even videos on YouTube.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend a nutritionist to help with suitable recipes because I don’t know any. We have previously asked on this forum for recommendations but have had no response. Balance IT is an American website which provides suitable recipes. I am a member of the Facebook group ‘Home cooking for dogs’ and they too have recipes, some pinned to the top of the page under Files. There is lots of good advice on there. Rodney Habib writes for Pets Naturally magazine and has a Facebook page - well worth reading his blogs.
The advice re ratio of protein/carbohydrate and vegetables/fruit seems to vary so you need to decide the type of format you wish to follow:
- This website recommends setting the protein level according to the age and activity of the dog and points out that not all proteins are equal - some are highly digestible so the dog can be given slightly less.
- Here they say that ‘Many vets recommend a ratio of 40 percent protein, 50 percent vegetables and 10 percent starch.’
You need to ensure that your dog gets enough calcium and there are foods that provide this but if in doubt, calcium supplements can be given although some people give crushed and ground egg shells. More advice about that here. SF-50 is a good all round vitamin supplement. You could also consider supplementary omega 3 and 6 by using salmon oil.
I think it would be best for you to read up as much as possible and get comfortable with cooking for your own dog. Once you have the experience you could assist your friends with feeding their dogs a home cooked diet. Alternatively maybe give them your recipes and let them do the work themselves.
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Hello and welcome to the forum,
Dottie had lots of good ideas and links there. I suppose it is the fear of getting it wrong which holds many back from home cooking but I feel that even so called complete meals may need the odd addition of something. It sounds like it is working well for your dogs anyway and that is the main thing.
Thank you for your replys 
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