doggie diet

[clairbullies]

my girl recently had stomach problems and was ordered by the vet to give her rice and ground meat. she liked it so much that it helped her start her eating appetite again. Now that she is alot better we tried to switch her back to her regular dog food, but she wont eat it. didnt touch her bowl for 2 days. so i gave her the ground beef and rice again and boy, she was very happy and gobbled it up. is it ok to keep her on rice and ground meat. Can anyone give me feedbacks on home cooked meals.Are they good for her. I want to give my girl a healthy diet.

[weimlover0816]

Lou3 knows more about the benefits (or lack there of!!) of a complete diet of home-cooked meals for your dogs......

I say mix it. Mix in some beef and rice with your dog's regular dog food.... i do this all the time with my weim, and she loves it. Sometimes i mix in yogurt instead. she loves that too!!

[LoveNewfies]

I did a home cooked meal of chicken, rice and carrots for about 4 months because my dog was ill and wouldn't eat dog food. I simply added a supplement, Health Essentials gravy, to ensure she was getting proper nutrition. She grew beautifully.

[goombaya]

It is not healthy to continue to feed this diet over a long period of time. Many vets reccomend feeding rice with either chicken or beef to aide an upset stomach. I feed it whenever one of mine gets the runs.

However it is not a balanced diet. So long term its not a good choice. Adding supplements to attempt to make it balanced can be dicey as you dont know how much of what to add.

[lou3]

thanks for the compliment weimlover.
No this diet is not suitable for the long term nutritional requirements of your dog. You can mix a small amount with her regular food to make it more palatable, but this is not a good idea long term as it is difficult to determine the energy values and may cause the dog to gain weight. I have a picky dog that gets gravy on her feed to make it more palatable and she eats it right up.
not going to go through everything that is lacking with the rice and ground beef diet, the list is too long. Far better to work on finding a proper food she is happy to eat. Flint River Ranch appeared to work for another forum member who had a very fussy dog.
Lou

[lou3]

also just wnat to add that regularly mixing other foods with the regular dog food isnt a good idea (ok once in a while for a treat) because it will reduce the intake of the normal food and this may mean the dog doesnt get the full RDA of certain nutrients.
Lou

[ayl715]

I always cook for my dogs or mix it in their kibble.I cook fish, meat, egg, veggie, rice ....... and also give them supplement. They enjoy they meal very much.

[Dax]

I cook for Ariel & Dax too. I have lean beef, fresh or frozen vegtables, sometimes add barley, beans or lentils. They also get raw meat in small amounts every couple of weeks although I find they like it a little too much which may lead to being protective of thier food.

Mix with dry puppy food at about 50/50 at least one meal a day.

I do this becuase I want them to have vegs that aren't reduced to a powder by processing. I give raw bones (whole legs & hip bones) that even after a week don't show any where and throw them out after about 1 week.

I have consulted my vet before doing this and it is based more on the chew behavior than anything else. I do worry that they are eating too much and may become fat(although both don't have excess fat on them now) - that is why I would love to see what the research shows. Surely it must be published somewhere. It would of course be in the best interests of dog food companies to tell us that dog food is the only & best way to feed our pets.

I have found that I can introduce new vegtables, meat, beans, etc. without any bad side affects but as soon as I try a new dog food even if only for training treats - runny #2. It has always made me wonder - what's in this stuff!

[MarioLuigi]

As long as your dog is eating, I'd mix the two. Try a little vitagravy on it to see if she would be more willing to eat with something on it. If so, babystep her off the meat and rice.