Mixing Cooked food with Dry diet

15 years ago

My little 6 pound chi takes Natural Balance Ultra Premium dry right now. I try not to give him any human food (although when visiting grandma he gets stuff sneaked to him), and I sometimes give him some of the Natural balance food roll (looks like a sausage). The only treat he likes are Nathan's mini hot-dogs, and he rarely gets those (maybe 5 little tiny hot dogs a week).

He seems very healthy. He doesn't eat more than a half a cup of the Natural B a day, and has a shiny soft coat and solid stools (usually a small stool maybe twice a day). Would it be beneficial to cook him some chicken and rice/vegetables once a week as a treat and supplement? I don't want to make him dislike the dry food, as I don't plan on cooking every day, I just wanted to give him a boost with some natural food every now and then. Any thoughts?

What is the best thing to cook for him? He is not a big eater by any means.

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Comments (3)

mazer415
15 years ago
You could add the rice and veggies, in your case I think it might not happen but you might be creating a monster, some dogs will get picky about having those nice cooked treats and then refuse their dog food, which in your case is great stuff. Try it out, and see how it goes...good luck
lilliepad
15 years ago
My Chis have always eaten a good quality dry food,nothing else.I never fed them from the table or any other "human" food and never wet the dry.When my older one was attacked and injured,she wouldn't eat for several days.When she acted like she might be ready to eat something she would have nothing to do with the dry food,even when I wet it down with broth,so I got the bright idea to cook her some chicken breasts that I had in the freezer.BIG mistake! LOL She gobbled it down and for several weeks that was all she would eat,which was fine because she was still healing,but I'm not cooking chicken for the dog when I don't cook for myself and DH any more than I have to!LOL She still won't eat the dry stuff but I found a moist one that she likes and that is what she is eating now.Anyway,as mazer suggested,you might be creating a monster,so if you aren't prepared to continue that type of diet,I wouldn't start it.LOL If he is healthy and enjoying the food he is getting now,why add anything else?
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debd18
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There are a lot of good foods you can add to your dog's diet without having to spend a lot of time cooking that are an improvement over plain kibble.

Honest Kichen makes a variety of foods that are raw and dehydrated. The ingredient list is very good. Some of their foods are complete meals and some of them need to be supplemented with meat. There are decent canned dog foods you can use for this that are 95% meat like Evangers and Wellness. Evangers has more exotic types like buffalo, pheasant, and rabbit, too.

Another good supplemental food is Sojo's Europa, which is a dried vegetable mix. You can also give them leftover vegetables from your meals, canned salmon, eggs, leftover chicken or turkey, beef, yogurt, and fresh fruit.

The main thing to do is not vary too much from day to day so his stomach doesn't become upset and make all changes very slowly. Have a basic diet for everyday and add the supplements in small amounts. For example, my dogs get kibble and Europa everyday, the meat type varies every couple of days and other extras are given in small amounts. They get yogurt every morning as a snack. They handle this amount of daily change without a problem. I did initially add each new thing one at a time and over a period of about a week before adding anything else.

Also, you should do a little research on foods that are toxic to dogs before adding human foods to his diet. Some of these are chocolate, macadamia nuts, onions, grapes and raisins, and also you should avoid tomatoes and citrus fruits.

Of course, a lot of people now are using a raw meat diet, but I never have so I can't advise on that.

Mixing Cooked food with Dry diet

Comments (3)

mazer415

lilliepad

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