I feed my dogs a partially homemade diet. I add raw carrots, green beans, and blueberries to their food that I put through the processor. The rice should be brown, because their aren't many nutrients in white rice.

I give my dogs the veggies, various meats (one at a time), including ground turkey, chicken, beef, and salmon, and a prepared mix of grains, nuts, and herbs called Sojos. I think variety is the key to giving them a healthy diet. I also sometimes feed them pumpkin, eggs, apples, cottage cheese, yogurt, and watermelon.

My vet said the best indicator of a healthy dog is their coat, and my dogs have beautiful, shiny coats.

Chicken and rice alone is not a balanced and complete canine diet. The most dangerous problem with that diet is calcium/phosphorus imbalance, which can lead to nutritional secondary hyperparathyrodism which causes bone loss. If not corrected, that diet could also lead to life-threatening hypocalcemia causing muscle tremors, seizures, coma, and death. There are other nutrient imbalances as well, but that is the most dangerous. Also despite what the pet food manufacturer's say, variety is the spice of life for dogs too. Changing the meat source and carbohydrate source every once in a while (I do it every 3 months or so) ensures a better mix of nutrients.

If you are going to be making food at home, which I encourage, please do some research on it. Dr. Pitcairns' Natural Health for Dogs and Cats has some good recipes. There are recipes online. Chicken and rice is fine in very short term when trying to encourage a dog to eat, or when it has an upset stomach. But it is not a long-term diet.

Glad the incontinence stopped and she gained her weight back. It's great that you're willing to make her food to keep her healthy. Just do a little research and get a good recipe. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask. I've got lots of resources here.

Dr. Pitcairn's basic Doggie Oats (modified by me to make things easier)

5 cups raw rolled oats (about 11 cups cooked)
3 pounds (6 cups) raw whole, ground, or chopped turkey
1/4 cup veggie oil
1 cup cooked veggies
10,000 IU Vitamin A (optional if using carrots)
400 IU vitamin E
1 adult multivitamin, crushed
About 5-6 grams calcium supplement with phosphorus in 2:1 ratio- bone meal is good

Bring 10 cups water to boil. Add oats, cover, and turn off heat letting oats cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Then combine remaining ingredients and serve.
Yield: 18-19 cups, 230 Kcal/cup
Ration in cups: toy breeds 1-2 cups; small 4 cups; medium 6-7 cups; large 8 cups; giant 9+ cups.

You can substitute different meats and grains for variety.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much Meghane. I am giving her 5 very small meals a day to be sure she keeps it down. I add kelp meal to the chicken's feed and I think that might be a good thing to add to Carmen's food. Also, I tried mixing a scrambled egg with her food this morning and hope she keeps it down.

I can't tell you the difference in this dog in the last week. She is like her "puppy self" again. We thought she was near death just a month ago and I guess not!!! She is deaf now and probably has peridontal disease, but other than that, shows no signs of old age.

I, too, like to give my dogs homemade meals of healthy foods.
I also give them a Pet Tabs Plus at bedtime (they think it's a treat). I also put a supplement on their food called Welactin. It's made a noticeable difference in my older dogs.... bringing out their puppyhood again. And my Mom's old dog's coat is nicer than it's ever been.
Here is a link to buy it.
http://healthypetscom.stores.yahoo.net/webynula2.html

I don't know about the vomiting, but my old gal had a bout of problems with diarreha this time last year. I am really busy and didn't want to keep making chicken and rice, so I get the Eukanuba Low Residue Veterinary Diet dry food from the vet.

Originally, I kept the low residue in the house for emergencies when I didn't have any chicken in the house, or it wasn't covenient to cook it. Seemed like my dogs would get into something and then they would have the runnies and it was just easier to keep the bagged food for those times. As soon as anybody shows any sign of stomach upset, I feed that.

Old gal would be on a round of meds for the diarreha and low residue food for about ten days and then I would ease her back onto the Nutro Sensitive Stomach over a 2-3 week period. Unfortunately, after a week or so back on the Nutro, she would start with the diarreha again. Vet told me I could keep her on the low residue indefinitely if need be. Apparently it had something to do with where her food is digested (brain cells are dead at this moment - holidays). He claimed that the low residue would give her enough of what she needed??? Megan speak up please if this is not your understanding of the low residue food.

Any event, I kept her on low residue for about 3 months and then eased her back onto the Nutro in the early Spring. Knock wood, she has been fine with the Nutro Sensitive Stomach. We have the Metronidazole in the house and any sign of diarreha, I go back to the low res food. I don't know if it would help with a vomiting issue, but you could ask your vet.

While cooking the food for the dog is really healthy and nutritious, I don't have time. I use the easy route. I guess if I had no choice and old gal couldn't eat the low res, I would be cooking up Megan's conconction (in fact, I am bookmarking it, since this post will probably jinx me;-).

I hope your dog continues to gain weight and good luck with feeding her the homemade food.

Some dogs seem to have a sensitivity to grains, corn is a big culprit, that causes leaking. When you took the grains out of her diet that may have been what stopped it.

Lisa

For those of you who said you don't have time to make homemade, that is what Sojos that I mentioned above is for. It gives you a basic nut, herb, and grain mixture (they also have a grain-free mix) and you just add the raw veggies and meat. You don't have to worry about all the additions to the grains or supplements. It's about as easy as homemade could be.

I grate my veggies to make about three days worth at a time and keep bags of frozen ones on hand. Sometimes they have the same meat we do for dinner, and other times I cook ground meat and freeze it in portions for them. Of course, some people will want to feed the meat raw.

Anyway, I've been pleased with it and wish I'd found it sooner, because in the past my efforts to feed homemade always ended up failing.

I've had great success with Nutro Lamb & Rice for my one Border Collie who gets diarhea just by looking at other foods. Has a beautiful coat as well for going on 12. I'd stack that brand up against any of the other "name brands". All you have to do is a side by side comparison of the list of ingredients to see that most Lamb & Rice formulas do not have Lamb as the main ingredient and usually contain a corn or other grain filler high on the list if not at the top. My sister who is a vets assistant ragged on about how good her stuff was that the vet sold, I cut out the ingredient labels of Nutro vs vet stuff and asked her to show me where hers was superior.. it wasn't, it was full of corn meal and a few added vitamins. Purina's the same and so is Iams, Science Diet etc.. read the labels.