Thanks Aaron, I don't know if this is what the OP is looking for I am gonna switch just the difference in volume fed is amazing. Old dog food (pro-plan LRG PUP) 5-5 1/2 cups a day.
Blue Wilderness 3-3 1/12 cups a day
WOW!!

For six months or so, I've been feeding my dogs a homemade, cooked diet. (A raw diet is not practical in my situation.) Before that I had tried several different brands of premium kibble, the last one being Natural Balance. They make several limited ingredient formulas, which can be useful for dogs with food sensitivities. I was having problems with one of my dogs, and that was the brand he seemed to do the best on.

Also, I came across this site in my research back then and found it to be very informative and educational.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main

Cooked?

Rather than where's the beef, I must ask, where's the calcium?

 Quote: aaron myracle

Cooked?

Rather than where's the beef, I must ask, where's the calcium?

Ha, I figured someone would ask this question LOL. I do understand that calcium is an issue in feeding a homemade diet that does not include bones. Each meal includes a supplement of calcium citrate complex (the bottle says the ingredients are calcium citrate and calcium carbonate), in an amount according to Lew Olson's formula in "Raw and Natural Nutrition for Dogs."

I also add digestive enzymes (b-Naturals), a multi-vitamin from Drs. Foster and Smith, Vitamin E and fish oil, and the one dog with the occasional coat problem gets biotin, too.

I understand why people are so passionate about feeding raw, but it's just not possible for me, so I'm doing something for my dogs that I hope is better than kibble. One of my dogs had chronic loose stools and scaly skin, and that has completely cleared up on the present diet.

Good point. An immuno-compromised dog, or a dog with digestive disorders might not do as well on raw.

Connie, I am following Lew Olson's calcium formula exactly. While I'm not feeding raw, which is theoretically the perfect diet for most dogs, I do feel that a homemade, cooked diet is superior to most kibble (as you said, assuming the mineral balance is correct). The ingredients come from a grocery store, it's not stuff that's sold to a commerical pet food manufacturer because it's unfit for human consumption (4-Ds, for example). There are no ingredients from China. The equipment I use for cooking is clean and sanitary. It's all food I would eat myself (well, okay, I don't eat organ meats, but many people do). I cook it lightly, which I think is way better than kibble cooked at temperatures comparable to a supernova for hours or even days at a time, and then processed even further until, indeed, every last nutrient has been destroyed and they have to add them back in.

Aaron, yes, it does take time to cook enough food for two Dobermans each week, and raw would definitely be faster. But I do have some questions about the practical and logistical aspects of feeding raw. Rather than going too far off topic in this thread, I'm going to start a new one, and I would be very interested in hearing about the experiences of others on the forum.

Edited by Cheri Grissom (12/29/2010 11:59 AM)
Edit reason: to reword a sentence

Sounds good.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

In my book, it's fresh raw, then dehydrated raw, then home-cooked, then premium canned, and then kibble.

That pretty much matches this chart: http://www.drmarty.com/feeding.htm But he doesn't include dehydrated raw