[animalfarm]

What are the pro's and con's of feeding your dog home prepared food compared to purchasing food at the store. Are there any limitations I need to know about if I am cooking for my dogs as well?

[Lara's mom]

When you cook for your dog you know exactly what goes into their food. The stuff that ends up in most commercial dog food would make you sick!!!

It is however, time consuming.

For me, it is worth the time it takes to prepare my dogs food.

[Wolfsnaps]

Homecooked is more time consuming. I would recommend having a freezer to keep food that you cook and cook in large batches. The problem with cooking for your dog, is that you have to make sure that you are balancing nutrients (whether each meal itself is balanced or your dog is getting balance over time). I think this is the biggest issue with home cooking. You really need to do your homework on what ingredients to use and how much.
On the plus side, you control everything. SO there wont be preservatives or unnatural things in the food. And you can rest assured that there wont be any recalls in your kitchen

Commercial dog foods vary a lot. Too many of them are junk and the ones that are really good are pricey. If you know what you are looking for, you can avoid the bad ingredients and save yourself from having to cook for your dog the rest of its life.

I dont cook for my dogs, they get premium kibbles. But they also get healthy leftovers and raw meaty bones.

The choice is yours. Just make sure that the dog is getting the best you can give it.

[Lara's mom]

In my opinion, the best you can do for your dog is to look up some websites on home cooking for dogs or ask those of us who do our own cooking. However, it is also important for them to have some dry food so, again, do your homework. You want to get the very best dry food that you possibly can. The extra money you spend on quality food is well worth it. Again, you could ask for suggestions from the members.

[TotalTag]

Research shows that feeding dogs a natural diet of raw meats helps control fleas and ticks. Something you may want to consider.

[Lara's mom]

I asked my vet about feeding a raw diet and she is dead set against it.

[MrAndrew]

A dog can get by on home-prepared food, if done correctly. You really need to know exactly what you are doing in order to ensure that your dog gets the proper vitamins, nutrients and proteins.

In my experience a combination of both raw / home prepared food and store-bought kibble is the perfect combination. Commercial pet food is all different and there are really great foods on the market as well as really crappy ones.

You need to take a look at the ingredients and remember that the first ingredient listed is the one ingredient that the food contains the most of, and it should be a single high protein source. A few really decent foods include Blue Buffalo, Natural Balance, Taste of the Wild, Wellness.

[lulusmom]

My vet wasn't keen on me feeding my dogs commercially prepared Primal raw chicken either but I didn't care because, 1) like most general practitioners, she is not a certified nutritionist and 2) also like most general practioners, she has received very little training in nutrition and 3) she is a huge supporter of Hills which makes some of the worst food you could possibily give your dog.

I have two dogs with endocrine disorders and both treat with internal medicine specialists. Their specialists are extremely happy with their improved bloodwork, resolution of allergies, weight loss and increase in activity levels since switching them from grain ladened kibble to a commercially prepared raw food. They, along with my other two dogs have been on raw food for two years and are thriving on it.

Aside from the myth that dogs needs kibble to keep their teeth clean, why would dogs need kibble in their diet??

[MrAndrew]

This is the first I'm hearing of the 'kibble teeth cleaning' myth, but as for why feeding kibble, the answer is quite simple: you know exactly what is going into your dog. Every commercial kibble product has the nutritional analysis, how much protein, minerals, etc. as well as ingredient listings, etc. With kibble you are guaranteeing that your dog gets the exact amount of suggested protein/nutrients/etc. Raw food is great, don't get me wrong, but you need to supplement that raw food to make up for whatever minerals, vitamins, etc. you don't include.

[CorkyMax]

There are many things I could print here about commercial dog food and what crap it is, But I have said it all before in this forum in many places and I just am 'sick' of repeating it all!! I am only giving you this for thought (and it is only a tip off the iceberg!)---This crap is cooked at such high temperature that very little remains (If there was any to start with!) of any nutritional value including vitamins which are destroyed by heat, period!! And yes, you need to supplement home-cooked too as heat destroys most of the nutrients. Raw feeding needs a lot of studying but if you do it right--the dog is getting much more nutrition because there is no heat to destroy! I believe you should supplement no matter what/how you feed---and that takes some studying too!! You want to know about commercial crap---Put appropriate words in your browser on the order of: commercial dog food/cons---etc.

[lulusmom]

I have four dogs and a constant rotation of foster dogs and I personally don't have a lot of time to make a raw food complete with supplements, etc. Thank goodness there are commercially prepared raw food diets out there that are 100% balanced and require no additional supplements. Primal and Natures Variety are two of them.

Complete Raw Diets for Pets: Canine Chicken Formula
Nature's Variety: Chicken Formula: Raw Frozen Diet for Dogs and Cats | Nature's Variety

[Pet food store owner]

I, myself believe in more of the raw diet which the dogs can assimilate better than anysthing else. The question however was what is the difference between grocery vs natural commercial ie. innova, origen etc... The difference is in the meat inclusion rate 1st. Grocery foods get their protein for the most part from glutens obtained from Vegetable and grain sources as the "natural" brands should get theirs from Good quality meat sources. 2nd, the difference is where and what the fatty acid sources are. Grocery, anywhere from mystery fats(animal fat but not specific) to natural where they should have at least 2 sources of fatty acids that are specific. Generally the caloric density of a grocery brand is alot less than the natural brands because of the meat inclusion rate. This all being said, some of the natural foods that have a following in my opinion do not measure up to what they claim to be.

[Lara's mom]

A woman in my building switched her dog to a raw diet. For a while, everything went well. Last week the dog suddenly became very ill and landed up in the hospital with salmonella poisoning. I can't imagine where else he could have picked it up except from eating raw chicken...

I don't like commercial dog food either. I cook for mine. They get one meal of homemade and one meal of Orijen.

Her vet told her the dogs illness was the result of feeding the dog raw chicken and uncooked ground vegetables. So far, she has spent close to $800 treating him.

[Pet food store owner]

Dogs have enzymes in their mouth to take care of potential salmonella. It is confusing for them to get salmonella if that is what they had. One has to look back to where dog's come from to get the idea that they are meant to eat raw foods. There has not been enough time for the evolution of their digestion system to adapt to a commercial grain based diet.

[Yogi]

Though raw food is no longer an uncommon diet for dogs we need to remember that in fact, dogs can contract issues including salmonella. Though dogs in their beginning ate raw, so did humans. To expect humans to go back would introduce what many have seen in raw diets for dogs. There are pros and cons in this mainly that introducing a dog to a raw diet that has been on dog food for years can have an effect on their organs. As human systems have acclimated to cooked and processed food, so has that of dogs due to introduction of dog foods. Dog foods high in those things dogs need and little to no grains has been around for years. It is just a matter of looking at the packaging the same way we do when we shop for food at the grocery store for ourselves.
Even vet nutritionists will tell you that if you feed your dog processed dog food and its yearly check up comes back fine, than there is no need to change.
Raw food should only be looked at as an alternative if one feels that it can better the dog. As there is no real certainty that it will, than it is and should be left to the owner if they wish to take the chance.
I am not a proponent nor am I against raw feed but too much with too little has been found on sites over the past few years and much has turned into heated debates.
Just because one persons dog does fine does and not way should it imply that another persons dog will.
The only person I ever knew who ate raw in any fashion was my late grandmother. Every time we had a family get together and she brought out hamburger for the grill she would take a small hand full and eat it. Granted, she lived to 92, but there is no way you can convince me that eating raw meat helped her live that long.
Raw eggs was thought to be good for dogs for years but there have been an increase in salmonella cases in dogs due to this over the past several years.
Foods You Should Not Feed Your Dog
Just a few precautions, granted a couple on the list seem odd...

[Pet food store owner]

Dogs and humans have totally different dietary needs. I am not a proponent of raw foods as it actually takes away from my own business as an owner of pet food store, but dogs digestive systems have had not enough time to adapt to commercial diets for the most parts. True there are wars on the internet regarding the feeding of a raw diet vs commercial, but the potential benefits of raw far outway the benefits of a commercial diet. That being said, there is many good commercial diets out there but we need a road map on how to decipher them against the foods that seem somewhat simular.