Quote: melissa hoyer

... By the way, my vet is against raw too. Or at least he isn't exactly supportive...I don't give a hoot. He wanted me to feed her some crap Science Diet and didn't trust that I know my dog, which I do...very well in fact. I just ignored his advice and then on a return visit, let him go on and on about how great she looked prior to letting him know I was feeding raw....

This is one of my own secret pleasures -- letting the vet go on about how the dog has clean teeth and shiny fur and clear skin, etc., and THEN telling him/her that the dog is fed fresh raw food.

I especially like when I adopt a dog who goes in for the first checkup with dull fur, yellow teeth, crud in the ears, itchy armpits and paws, and maybe a yeast overgrowth...... and then three months later take the dog back in for a checkup and to show off the "new dog" !

 Quote: connie sutherland

Melissa, "Great minds".... etc.

I PMed the O.P. about Whole Dog Journal and their recent issue devoted to homecooked dog food. (Of course, they recommend raw, but they also help those who are not quite ready and want to try homecooked. It's a very detailed article.)

And YOU have directed her to the author of the whole "feeding dogs" series by WDJ: Mary Strauss. She is the DogAware site.

Well, I'm honored

I love WDJ - think every dog owner should get it! And Mary Strauss is an excellent resource...she helped me quite a bit with figuring out Grace's EPI.

 Quote: Melissa Hoyer

And Mary Strauss is an excellent resource...she helped me quite a bit with figuring out Grace's EPI.

She sure is.

AND she's not selling anything. I know there are some knowledgeable nutrition researchers, but it's so nice when the person you are relying on for solid info isn't selling consultations or supplements or food.

Well o'righty then - sounds like I have some reading to do. It's been an uphill battle to get this dog to eat & keep weight on her since she was a pup. First vet had her on Nutrical (pure calories) to gain weight. Next we took advise from a nutrition guy on Long Island that a lot of the NYPD dogs go to. He suggested the sweet potatoes & peanut butter (which she hated) to gain weight. She was extremely thin when she was under a year old because she never ate. He also believed in the raw diet & we tried the raw beef for awhile. Dog never liked beef - was always a project to get her to eat it. But, raw chicken? Issue isn't handling it, it's just got to be gross to eat. The raw beef came from Canada & isn't that where the recent toxic dog food was manufactured? So, I'm kinda glad we stopped that. I didn't know at the time, but got her from a bad breeder & have reason to believe she was bred from a bad gene pool. Don't think her mom showed (or maybe was allowed the chance to show) her pups how dogs normally eat. Thought I was doing o.k. since I got her to 95 pounds & holding. Will definitely look into your suggestions and thank you for them. I'm pretty clueless as to good nutrition for canines so I feed her what I think would be healthy for a human. What about livers & cheese? She loves chicken livers, gizzards & hearts. Always add shredded cheese to the ground turkey. She won't touch eggs; raw or cooked. She definitely prefers chicken & sardines to anything else. And, yeah my vet tries to pawn that science crap on us too. I use about a handful of the Nutro kibble just for filler - never thought it had nutritional value. However, it did seem to be a little more natural as far as kibble goes.

QUOTE: Issue isn't handling it, it's just got to be gross to eat. END

To a human, yes.

Think of a wolf. Think of what a wolf eats. :>

QUOTE: I feed her what I think would be healthy for a human. END

Not appropriate at all. This is a different species.

I took a quick look at the whole dog journal & will subscribe. I'm always looking to learn and there's a lot I have to learn and fast. Definitely don't want more cysts. BYW: vet says the cysts are from in-grown hairs. I do need help with the calcium supplements - know nothing about it. Are they available in a tablet form till I can figure out a proper diet? She's eating approx a pound of turkey, chicken, etc. twice a day.

 Quote: Donna Steinbuch

I took a quick look at the whole dog journal & will subscribe. I'm always looking to learn and there's a lot I have to learn and fast. Definitely don't want more cysts. BYW: vet says the cysts are from in-grown hairs. I do need help with the calcium supplements - know nothing about it. Are they available in a tablet form till I can figure out a proper diet? She's eating approx a pound of turkey, chicken, etc. twice a day.

The link someone else gave you earlier has actual recipes that are fine for the short term (or longer term if you add variety).

http://b-naturals.com/Apr2006.php

In the right column are two recipes with the appropriate amount of calcium.

I would order the WDJ issue on home-cooked foods immediately. On their web page, you can order back issues. It's July, 2007.

Dogs, like wolves, get most of their nutritional requirements from dead prey: meat and bones. Feeding just the meat without the bones (the calcium) is a very bad plan for the long term.

Commercial foods, of course, use calcium supplementation instead of the bones the dog would eat if choosing for himself.

Anyway, happy reading! I betcha you will end up feeding raw if you subscribe to WFJ. But even if you stick to home-cooked, it's better than commercial food (IMO) as long as you do it right.

 Quote: Donna Steinbuch

BYW: vet says the cysts are from in-grown hairs.

Possible.

Also often just an accumulation of toxins heading out of the body.

JMO.