I switched to feeding mine homemade because (1) they were being finicky and dog food is expensive to just throw away and (2) all canned dog food seemed to give one of them diarrhea. I have four chihuahuas. I buy the big package of ground turkey and cook enough rice for 6 servings. When they are both cooked, I combine them. That will last a week in the refrigerator. Sometimes I will add a can of carrots or mixed peas and carrots but they don't seem to like it with veggies. They usually pick around the peas and I find a bowl full of peas. lol I season with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder. I warm it up for 15 seconds in the microwave since it's pretty cold out of the refrigerator and they won't eat it cold. Can you say very spoiled.

I used to feed my dog a raw egg, oatmeal, milk, and a little dry dog food in the morning. In the evening I gave her half dry dog food and half homemade. I cooked the ground turkey, chicken livers, brown rice, and vegetables. She has always ate whatever I put down for her but the cooked is a lot of trouble.

Years ago, Rocky the yorkie was diagnosed as diabetic. He absolutely refused to eat any of the prescription diet dogfoods available for him. His vet said we could feed him boiled chicken breast, so that's what he started having. The other dogs were still eating kibble and table scraps. Eventually a bite here or a bite there of the boiled chicken would get tossed to somebody who was staring particularly hard.

After three years, Rocky left us for the Rainbow Bridge, but by then other furkids were pretty used to getting boiled chicken mixed in with their kibble. Once Rocky was gone, the boiled chicken became leg quarters (cheaper by the bag) and the kibble was being left untouched in the dish.

Today we have three rescue yorkies and three American Tundra Shepherds who eat primarily boiled chicken and table scraps. They go through 5 lbs. a night, we use the bagged chicken quarters we get at Wal-Mart or when the grocery stores put them on sale. They also get any other type of meat we might be having, or (on their birthday) they get a special meal.

A couple times a week, DH will make a box of mac & cheese or fix scrambled eggs with milk & cheese to mix in with the meat. They like the flavored rice packages, and don't care for the plain rice. They like tuna packed in water, mashed potatoes with gravy or baked potatoes with butter & sour cream.

DH does 95% of the dog cooking ... I cooked when we had kids living at home, I figure since he's retired and I'm not, it's his turn. LOL.

Leg quarters is what I bought today. Got a 10lb bag for just a little over $6.00. I thought that was pretty cheap "dog food"!*S*

I'm a believer in a good commercial kibble for dogs. I don't have picky dogs because I don't overfeed them. They both hover around 87 pounds of lean muscle. They each get about two cups of kibble and I split a can of no salt green beans or carrots between them. Other times it's a 1/2 small can of wet added be tween them. Can lasts two nights. Tonight I gave them a couple of spoons of cottage cheese in their meal.

Onions and to a much lesser extent garlic contain a compound called thiosulphate that can cause severe anemia and liver damage. Never give dogs onions as the concentration is quite high. Garlic has just trace amounts but should be used with care if at all.

Ground turkey is not a good choice unless you are absolutely sure the skin isn't being ground into it also. That skin and it's fat is a good way to give a dog pancreatitis down the road.

When I have had ill dogs on a rice chicken or the bland diet I prefer (cream of wheat,hard cooked egg, cottage cheese and sugar) if I had them on it for more than a week I had to buy supplements to add to it. Yeast powder and some B vitamins I think. It's been a while.

There was a lady (vet? food scientist? UC Davis?) on a tv show once who showed all the many supplements one would have to add to home cooked dog food to even come near the nutritional requirements met by a good quality kibble. There were like a dozen or more bottles or jars on the table.

If dogs won't eat it's cuz they aren't hungry and they can hold out for quite a while before giving in. Remember back in the wild they had to fast for long periods of time sometimes. Most people overfeed their dogs.

If a dog has a skin condition and you suspect allergies take it to the vet. It's not common for a dog to have a true allergy to dog food. It is more common for it to be allergic to the bowl it eats or drinks from if it's made of plastic. Most skin problems are not food related although poor nutrition can of course aggravate them.

I've always understood that there has to be a bunch of vitamins and other necessary supplements added to homemade dog and cat food. They need these extra nutrients.

Of my 3 cats, there is usually one who doesn't eat the canned food I put down. But the other one (s) do, so I often have 2 or more cans in the frig, but they eventually get eaten.

Mine get dry cat food, and in the morning a portion of some canned. It started out as a treat, but now it's "required."

My aunt's little Shih Stzu (sp) scratches and she thought it had fleas. I checked, and she doesn't, so I suggested dry or sensitive skin.
The vet concurred with my thought, and told her NOT to bathe her, just brush her. Phew, I love dogs, but don't like the doggy smell that comes with them.

Reading Wildchild's post, I wonder if she may have an allergy...

Only when the dogs got older and sick did I do the chicken and rice thing. Good ole Purina lamb and rice for me. When I did do the chicken and rice for the elderly, I made a big batch and froze it in meal size portions so I just had to nuke it.

I would go broke feeding Tank homemade dog food and spend ALL the time cooking! He does get scraps mixed in with his dog food..

Bump, that 10-lb bag of leg quarters is what we feed, too. Four or five times a year, a grocery store will put the bags on sale for 3.99 each and we buy a freezer full. They do NOT go to waste. We also have a butcher who sells us a 55-gallon barrel of bones for $20 which we freeze and then dole out. Fall is coming, and the bones will include deer which the furkids just love.

I don't make our feed, unless one of them is sick. The vet has even warned us against doing that. The good quality commercial foods, are so full of minerals and vitamins that can't really be added as well at home. I do have her recipe for chicken and rice we use it they have an upset.
Mine are both young so they especially need the vitamins and minerals while they are building bone strength.
This is a pretty common time for dogs to develope hot spots. There are several brands of meds out there but we have had good results in the past with the Sulfodene.

When my dog had a problem with vomiting, I withheld food for 24 hours. Her firt meal, I browned just a little hamburger (probably about 4 ounces), then poured it in a pot with a half cup of rice and a cup of water. Heat it to boiling, then simmered about 30 minutes. She ate it over two meals that day, and has been fine ever since. She normally eats any canned food. And a few table scraps now and then. Good luck with your pups.

I gave Ruby home cooked food for a long time. Once a week, I would make a big batch.

I would cook up a pot of basmati or brown rice. Then I would mix ground turkey, chicken, lean beef or lamb with some oats, chopped fresh rosemary, chopped fresh parsley, and a minced clove of garlic. The meat gets cooked and mixed with the cooked rice. Then I would steam green beans and carrots, puree them in the food processor, and mix that with the meat and rice.

In the morning she got a small scoop of that mixed with, a tablespoon of canned pumpkin, a tablespoon of plain yogurt, and some chopped apple.

In the evening she got a larger scoop of the food, mixed with a ground vitamin tablet and the contents of a non-fish source 3-6-9 essential fatty acid capsule.

She loved it so much, it was a joy (and hilarious) to watch her eat.

I had to stop doing it mainly because I no longer had time to do it anymore.