[hayduke]

I have used kirkland dog food ( generally considered medium grade and a good value at $.60/#)for 30 years without problems for 2 golden retrievers and a gordon setter. I just got a 1yo english setter,whose breeder recommended iams. I was shocked to read the low quality of the ingredients.(corn)
So I started reading about dog food. It seems the best rated foods have lots of high quality protein,(chicken,lamb,etc.)but they cost say $2 a pound or more.

Why not start with a medium grade food like kirkland lamb and rice and add your own real chicken(breasts are $1/# on sale sometimes) or beef ($2 /# on sale for flank steak)?

That way you could avoid the hassle of adding all the necessary nutrients needed if you were starting from scratch, but would get the benefit of high quality meat.

If this has been overly discussed before, I am sorry, and just a pointer to such a discussion would be appreciated.

 

[SaltyDog]

Absolutely no reason you can't, but you do change the balance of the food

 

[xxshaelxx]

I am no expert, but I just wanted to point out the fact that everyone here says dry food and raw food digests at different rates, and when mixed together, can cause more problems and health issues than would be wise to deal with.​

 

[DaneMama]

The reason why it's not a good idea because raw or whole meats digest at a different rate and require different enzymes to digest. Due to this it can cause skme digestive upset in some dogs. You can definitely see how it goes and decide from there!

 

[hayduke]

I was going to cook the chicken and steak of course. Does that still mean "raw"?
And I was also going to add cooked eggs,probably the cheapest source of good protein at 2 cents a gram. We have also given our dogs cheese without problems. And they all like Tofu,but I have read maybe that is not good.
For carbs, we always have rice,potatoes,oatmeal,carrots,etc.

But I am not sure of all the other "essential " nutrients for dogs . I suppose vitamins,calcium, fish oil are also in the house and would not be difficult.

 

[DaneMama]

Why cook the meat? Cooking destroys most nutrients found in meats and dogs are equipped to handle raw meats very well (it's their natural diet). The only reason to feed carbs to dogs is to add bulk to their stool, not for nutrition because they cannot derive nutrition from them.

 

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

I am no expert, but I just wanted to point out the fact that everyone here says dry food and raw food digests at different rates, and when mixed together, can cause more problems and health issues than would be wise to deal with.​

i agree with this. also the whole point of kibble, is that its CONVENIENT. and any idiot can buy a kibble, and pour it in. also, all you really need is meat in a dog food, so if you were buying the meat anyway, there;s no reason to add it to medium dog food. just buy a little extra meats and feed them by themselves.

evo can be purchased for around 1.91 a pound which is decent for convenience.

 

[g00dgirl]

No, cooked meat is not "raw" as we feed it.
Adding raw meat to a kibble fed dog's diet is better than nothing. They will benefit from getting some "real" food. Just do not feed kibble and raw in the same meal. Raw is digested (and needs to be digested) much faster than kibble so they should be fed at least a few hours apart. I would probably feed raw as the first meal of the day so that their digestive tract has had all night to clear out.

 

[hayduke]

This is all very interesting.

have been reading more dog food reviews,,and most of the ones available here are in the low end.

All the really cheap ones are bad, but many of the higher priced are not very good either.

Danemama....you dont worry about bacteria in chicken and beef? What essential nutrients are destroyed by cooking? And the from-scratch recipes I have seen all recommend around 1/3 meat,1/3 grain or potato, 1/3 vegetables, no?

 

[g00dgirl]

Why do these posts sound so familiar?

 

[DaneMama]

Danemama....you dont worry about bacteria in chicken and beef? What essential nutrients are destroyed by cooking? And the from-scratch recipes I have seen all recommend around 1/3 meat,1/3 grain or potato, 1/3 vegetables, no?

I don't worry about bacteria one bit because the anatomy of the dog and their digestive system are built to handle high bacteria loads. We have fed our dogs raw meats for years without a single problem. Cooking destroys essential enzymes and nutrients.

Of course homecooked diets are going to include 2/3 plant matter (starch and veggies) because your dog needs something to add bulk to their stool so they don't have constant diarrhea, which is what will happen if all you feed is meat exclusively. The reason why we don't see constant diarrhea when feeding an exclusively raw diet is because we feed raw bones which act as a constipating factor and adds bulk to their stool.

 

[hayduke]

when i fed my golden bones it wore her teeth away.we dont do that anymore

 

[rannmiller]

What kind of bones?

 

[Gia]

I've known plenty of dogs that have lived a long life eating low to medium grade dry dog food mixed with fresh, real foods. Meat, cooked or raw, will always be a good thing for your dog to eat. I have mixed raw meat with kibble on a regular basis with nothing but great results. I also tried cooking the meat, first, but I didn't notice any benefit from it and it takes longer! :wink:

There is nothing wrong with Kirkland brand food, as long as your dog digests it well and has good health.

 

[CorgiPaws]

When it comes to my dog's diet I have a longer list of things I DON'T want to see in it than things I do. Adding more meat is a good idea but it doesn't take away the ingredients of the lower quality kibble. that being said, Kirkland isn't too bad actually. Definately leaps and bounds better than anything in its price range.

 

[hayduke]

the grocer had whole chickens for 67c/lb and potatoes for 40c/lb today so we cooked up 20lbs of chicken and 20 lbs of starch for about the price of the worst possible commercial dog food....what else should we add? vitamins? fish oil? calcium?other supplements?

 

[PUNKem733]

the grocer had whole chickens for 67c/lb and potatoes for 40c/lb today so we cooked up 20lbs of chicken and 20 lbs of starch for about the price of the worst possible commercial dog food....what else should we add? vitamins? fish oil? calcium?other supplements?

If you wouldn't have cooked the meat, and forget the potatoes, you wouldn't need any supplements.:wink:

 

[CorgiPaws]

the grocer had whole chickens for 67c/lb and potatoes for 40c/lb today so we cooked up 20lbs of chicken and 20 lbs of starch for about the price of the worst possible commercial dog food....what else should we add? vitamins? fish oil? calcium?other supplements?

Cooking the meat is killing nutrients.
Adding the starch is just pumping in the carbs- CARBOHYDRATES ARE NOT NEEDED, they're actually the root of a LOT of problems, and I recommend cutting that right away.
If you stick to just mostly meat, some bones, and some organs from a variety of animals, and feed it all raw, there will be no supplements needed and you'll be doing the best possible thing for your dog.

 

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

the grocer had whole chickens for 67c/lb and potatoes for 40c/lb today so we cooked up 20lbs of chicken and 20 lbs of starch for about the price of the worst possible commercial dog food....what else should we add? vitamins? fish oil? calcium?other supplements?

seeing the ingridients seperately makes me sad i feed kibble. oh well.

 

[CorgiPaws]

oh well.

I'm sorry, but I can't wrap my head around this mentality when it comes to the well being of pets. The "I know what I'm doing is damaging but I don't care enough to fix it." way of thinking just makes me SO sad for the animals trapped in the middle of it.