Homemade Dogfood and Common Foods That Can Prove Deadly to your Pet

Around 7 years ago I decided, after moving into a condo with grass, I had to have another dog. I never thought of any other path than a rescue. My first, Summer, was underweight, her coat was in terrible shape and her eyes dull. She couldn't keep down food either. In order to get her to eat I fed her chopped up chicken breast cooked in broth and steamed veggies, the same thing I was eating for dinner but without the seasoning. She ate and kept it down. Victory. I continued to feed her homemade dogfood until she was the proper weight, 6 lbs (from 2 lbs.), with a healthy coat and bright eyes. Summer has the typical Chihuahua personality, bold, brassy and smart. I got lazy and started to feed her high-grade Commercial dogwood. She was healthy but not quite the same gal. Seven months later I took on another rescue, also very ill, and unable to keep food down. I went back to my original idea of feeding her and Summer my own homemade dog food. Again, both thrived. I also decided to do some major research as far as the correct foods and forbidden foods, especially after the recall of a couple of years ago. This is what I found. First the good: cooked meat protein, raw meat is frowned upon for humans because of the recent bacterially contaminated meats found in the markets and this goes for your pets as well. Vegetables, steamed. Very good for animals and mine love them. A small amount of grains, should not make up a large part of the diet, rice is very good in small amounts. Potatoes, chopped, and about 1/2 tsp. of bone meal once a day. They will be very happy pooches with this diet. Now for the no-nos. I recently read a recipe for dog biscuits which consisted of biscotti dough and chopped up almonds. The author also added that any nut can be used instead of almonds. I was astonished. First, the biscotti dough is too high in sugar and fats. Secondly, walnuts and macadamia nuts contain toxins which would affect a dog's nervous system causing shaking and tremors. The nuts are also high in fatty acids. So you really have to be careful about the advice you are being given. Some other common foods that could prove fatal for your pet are onions which kill a dog's red blood cells because onions contain sulfoxides. Baby foods contain onion powder so they shouldn't be fed to dogs either. (A mistake I made but luckily nothing adverse happened) Grapes and raisins contain toxins which can cause kidney failure, even a few given a small dog can cause death. Cat food is also bad because it's generally too high in protein and fats. Ham and bacon is also too high in fat and salt and can cause Pancreatitis. (Now I have to eat my Pepperoni pizzas in hiding)

The best thing that happened to me was finding a book I use as a bible. It's 'Healthy Food For Dogs: Homemade Recipes' by John Miller. This book is chuck full of advice, recipes, etc. If you would like to check it out go to: http://c78e2hgojcoqfzaluhtaclaw46.hop.clickbank.net/. I highly, highly recommend it.

Get back to me with comments or questions. Would love to hear from you. (The picture is Summer with her favorite person playing on the DS. Notice the eyes;))

Feeding Your Dog Homemade Dogfood to Ensure a Long, Healthy Life

The two main reasons for my foray into making dogfood myself are right below with their favorite person. That and a friend losing a precious pet to poisoned petfood. A lot of pets, unfortunately lost their lives before a huge petfood recall in 2007. The deaths were due to a chemical melamine which was traced to wheat gluten used in the petfood and bought from a company in China. My friend's dog died in a great deal of pain from loss of kidney function. I just could not imagine that happening to my two rescues, Summer and Autumn.

In fact, I had started feeding my dogs my own food because they were in pretty bad shape when I first got them.

Brief overview, Summer, the beige Chihuahua, is from a puppy mill and had been badly mistreated, caged and pregnant most of her life until shipped off to a kill shelter. Autumn, my little Brindle, was on her own without food or water for quite a while because her owner became ill and couldn't care of herself, let alone my Autumn.

To get them on their feet as soon as possible I started feeding them pureed chicken braised in broth and mixed with pureed vegetables. Didn't have a clue what I was doing but it worked. Then I started buying them 'the good stuff', the pet store brands. However, their coats, eyes, energy just weren't the same.

So I started doing research and came up with tons of information as to what is good and almost more importantly, what is NOT good for them. Then I started gathering recipes, both for meals and for treats. Now, at the ripe old age of 15 each, they are healthy, active and the best natured animals you would ever want in your home.

A bonus about making your own dogfood is the lack of additives. And variety. My two get bored with the same thing day in and day out.

Summer's favorite is stew. I brown 1 lb hamburger meat (or ground turkey or chicken) and add about a 1/2 tsp. bone meal, some chopped cooked potatoes (not much) and a handful of steamed veggies (baby carrots, broccoli, string beans, cut small or peas, 3 kinds usually ). They love it. They're coats are glossy, eyes are bright and just full of energy. People often stop to pet them and coo over them which they love. The people we run into are usually shocked at their ages. Pretty good for two old girls. Cheee, maybe I should be eating their diet, they do look good.

Aside from food, I just want to vent a little about having pets. They need human relationship. What they don't need it to be put in a cage (sometimes called a crate, but it's a cage) or left in a yard around the clock. If a person can't spend time with them, don't get a pet. But I hope people will share their home with a dog or a cat from a shelter. They will benefit so much and as will the animals. Actually, if you're reading this, this paragraph will probably not pertain to you. But if you agree, or even if you don't agree, let me know.

I'm attaching a link for the best book on homemade dogfood written. It's the one that got me started so if you're interested, take a look.

All questions and comments welcome.

http://c78e2hgojcoqfzaluhtaclaw46.hop.clickbank.net/