Step by Step home made diet

I thought it would be a nice addition to the nutrition section to have a step by step diet that can easily be prepared at home for a fraction of what a high quality kibble would cost. I love preparing meals for my dogs as I know exactly what's in the food, where it is coming from and how much of each they are getting. Remember this is not a end all be all diet but rather a base to work with and to be adjusted to fit each individual dogs needs in accordance to the work the dog is doing. I have tried to provide measurements and pricing as accurate as possible and hope this helps a little.

This is what I am feeding a 60lbs dog with a medium to heavy workload (1 1/2 hr walk, weightpull etc.)
First of all I start out with a thoroughly clean bowl, especially since I am feeding raw and I don't want my dogs to digest unnecessary bacteria or dirt. Just think about yourself here, you wouldn't want a sandwich served in a dirty ashtray either right?


Next I add 1 teaspoon of organic kelp. A dog under 50lbs would get about 1/2 teaspoon. Kelp is a valuable source of Vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B12, C, E, G, S, calcium, chlorine, copper, idodine, iron, lithium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, silicon, sulfur, zine, chromium, cobalt, manganese, niacin, riboflavin, sodium and thiamine. Kelp aids in digestion, healthy skin and coat, has healing properties, provides resistance to infection and parasites. 1 teaspoon of kelp is approximately 0.5g and since a 500gram bag of kelp costs about US $7.80 that teaspoon costs me less than a cent.


The next item I add is a 1/2 teaspoon of Bee pollen. Bee pollen is a whole food in itself and it contains Thiamine (Vitamin B-1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Niacinamide (Vitamin B-3), Pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6), Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B-5), Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin A (Alpha & Beta carotene), Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin B12, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Copper, Chlorine, Iron, Silica, Phosphorus, Selenium, Sulfur, and Manganese. You could call Bee pollen natures multivitamin since it is packed full of good stuff. A 500 gram bag of Bee pollen costs me roughly US $15 and again since I use such as small amount it costs less than a cent for each feeding.


Next up is a few ounces of organic yogurt. Kefir is a better option but unfortunately I am unable to purchase that around here. I guess thats the downfall of living in the sticks, lol. This is about two teaspoons full. Yogurt provides alot of benefits as a probiotic, aiding in digestion, promoting healthy bacteria and fighting some unhealthy bacteria. A 650 gram tub of yogurt costs me US $4.30 and since I am using about 0.32 fl oz -> 9.07 gram = US $0.06 for each feeding. As you can see we have added a whole lot of good stuff to the dogs meal already yet we have not even spend 10 cents on it.


-More to come-

 

Next in line is our oil. Dogs thrive on fat and use it as their main source of energy. I feed my dogs Herring oil. It is cheaper than Salmon oil but just as good and since Herring is very low on the food chain the oil usually doesn't have to be distilled to remove unwanted metals, in return leaving you with a more high value product. It is rich in marine omega 3 fatty acids. You usually use 1/2 teaspoon per 15 lbs bodyweight. So in my case I use two teaspoons. A bottle of Herring oil costs me US $19.78 for 500 ml. Two teaspoons are 10ml of oil which means one feeding costs me US $0.39.


Now that we have most of the "supplements" out of the way we can get to the "meat" of the diet. My main source of food for my dogs is Chicken since it is high in protein and is very cost friendly. Chances are if you live in a larger polulated area you will be able to get Chicken in bulk for very cheap so I won't add any detail on the price. I give one medium size drumstick or chickenleg.


I also add chicken gizzards, heart and liver for additional nutritional values such as vitamin a and iron. Again, chances are you will be able to buy these items in bulk or even get them for free from your local butcher.






-More to come-

 

Since we are working our dogs a bit more throughout the summer time they get lean fairly fast on a chicken based diet so to help them keep their weight steady I add a few satin balls every other day to their meal. For the exact recipe on how to make those please google Satin Balls (make sure you have moderate filtering turned on or you might be in for a surprise, lol). Anyway, you don't have to add these but I don't like my dogs dropping weight too fast and I also don't like cutting my dogs food down. If they get too heavy we increase the workload a little bit to adjust for the extra food. The dogs love these and they really help putting weight on a dog and make their coats nice and shiny. Be careful though as Satin Balls will put weight on a dog quick so you don't want to feed them too often.


Another thing we add is a soft boiled egg. I don't like feeding them raw since they have an ability to restrict the uptake of biotin in the dogs system which can lead to defiecency. Eggs are great because of their concentrated form of protein as well as fat, which again is used for energy.
Eggs cost me US $3.26 for 18, making it US $0.18 per egg.


Next I add a mix of fresh vegetables. I like to mix these up depending on what is on sale but there are some that I like to keep around at all times such as broccoli, carrots, celery and spinach. For this meal I used fresh carrots and broccoli, boiled until soft and pureed.


-More to come-

 

The last actual ingredient I add to my dogs meals in the summer time is a sports/recovery supplement such as Vertex or K9 SuperFuel. In this case it would be the SuperFuel. I use one scoop per dog. This really helps a dog recover from a hard afternoon of exercise, especially under extreme weather conditions. For an exact ingredient list of K9 SuperFuel please refer to Animal Naturals website. The cheapest place I have found for this product is bodybuilding.com. You can buy a 4.27 lbs tub for US $38.27. For a single dog that should last you at least two months if not longer.


To finish the meal off I add one cup of bottled water. That way the dogs won't gulp the food down and the added water will help mix up the SuperFuel powder and help in the dogs digestion.


As you can see we have spend approximately 2 US dollars on this wholesome meal that will provide the dogs with everything they need to thrive and be healthy. If you live in a larger city chances are that you will be able to feed this exact meal for almost half the price. Don't be cheap and pump your performance dogs full of the cheapest feed you can get your hands on. Spending that little extra now will safe you a lot of money down the road in vet bills should your dog get sick from the cheap McDonalds type kibble.
I hope some of you get a bit of enjoyment out of this post and I hope it helps point some folks in the right direction.

 

Nice job. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

u feed this 1 time a day im guessing?

 

Yes...thanks for taking the time to share this!

This people is a good base for a keep feed!

YIS

 

Feed in raw seems intimidating, till you read a post like this.

you cover everything in this diet too!

Would there be about the same protein as a 3-5lb. chicken meal(organs included)? once a day :confused:

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. That makes it all worth taking the time to write stuff like this up. Impact, yes this would be fed just once a day. I only give a bit of SuperFuel in water in the morning.
Buck, I would say the 3-5lbs Chicken with innards will have a little more protein overall but it is hard to say without doing a full calculation of the meal. I believe 1lbs of chicken has about 16 gram of protein but I would have to look that up. You just have to make sure that the phosphorus:calcium ratio is correct. It should be 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus. When feeding raw there is usually too much phosphorus being fed and that can be corrected by feeding additions such as yogurt, greens, broccoli and other calcium rich foods.

 

hey i use superfuel also.. but havnt in a while... do u notice that it keeps water weight on?

 

I have never used it but I know it has creatine in it and creatine will make the dog hold some water. When you supp with creatine you want to make sure the dog has plenty of water available or they can dehydrate.

 

@Impact
Boston Bully is correct. SuperFuel does have creatine in it but in my opinion I don't believe them to be very significant amounts. I wouldn't compare it to supplementing with pure creatine monohydrate. However, creatine does have a hydrating effect by drawing water into the muscle cells so I imagine that there is a minimal retention of water. Creatine is great to build lean mass but personally I feel safer using it within a product such as the SuperFuel rather than supplementing with a 100% pure creatine like some keeps out there recommend. In my opinion whenever you work out a dog they should have access to fresh water at all times anyway so to me its a given to keep them hydrated when I give this product.

 

Excellent post! Thanks for taking the time to share this with everyone.

 

Close.

Creatine isn't necessarily a hydrating supplement. If the dog isn't taking in enough water, it will cramp. Trust me. And the cramps suck. I've been laid out on my back from quads cramping from using creatine. You'll also get water retention with creatine. Monohydrate is the worst at it, but it'll happen with any form.

 

Really Thank you for taking the time to put that all together and share with us!

 

Next up is a few ounces of organic yogurt. Kefir is a better option but unfortunately I am unable to purchase that around here. I guess thats the downfall of living in the sticks, lol.

Assuming that kefir is the same product as it is in Greece, and I don't have any reason to believe otherwise, it is the byproduct of a fungus cultivation in milk overnight. You get a piece of this fungus, it looks like a sponge in jelly material, you put it in a jar and add milk and let it there for a night or 24 hours, it depends on the size of the fungus and the milk quantity. Then you drain it, the liquid staff is kefir and your fungus is a bit biger and it gets biger everyday. It is that simple, the fungus I described is the fresh, energised form but I think it also comes in dry form which means you could order it from somewhere and produce unlimited amounts of kefir for whatever use.

 

ive never had a dog cramp, but i will also add that i use other products to keep the cramps away. i always add my Creatine to water and have other fresh water on hand always.

threads like this are great, thanx again IBM

 

damn Lot of info in this thread.... lol

 

I am glad that people found this thread useful and thanks to everyone for their input on creatine.

 

like buck e ownes stated....feeding raw seemed a little intimidating. you couldnt have explained things any better. great post