I have been researching the benefits of homemade food for my dogs for the past few months, trying to educate myself about nutritional requirements, ect. I have not completely ruled out raw yet (I would grind bones or add supplements as necessary), but I am not 100% sure yet. I have 2 texts (soon to order more) Pitcairn (raw) and Strombeck (cooked). Both of these books use grains as part of the recipies. What are the good/bad sides of feeding dogs grains? My dogs have no allergies that I know of.
Also, my youngest dog is high energy, I mean she burns up her food! I currently feed canidae, which they do well on, only a little unenthusiastic when there are no 'extras'. She eats 4 cups a day, which figures to 1800 calories (she weighs 53#). Needless to say, the volume out seems more than the volume in! Will she need grains as a back up source of energy, as carbs? Or is the meat/veggie ratio sufficient? Some of the recipies in the pitcairn book were pretty low in calories.
I am really leaning more to a cooked diet than raw. Any suggestions on books, ect?

It is my understanding that the volume out should be > less than the volume in . A good indicater of the quality of food being fed . Less out than in , dog is getting the most out of the food . The other way around (excuse the pun) just a bunch of crap in the food the dog don't need . I could be wrong <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dogs have no biological need for carbohydrates and also a lot of allergy problems can be attributed to grains -- but you state this is not a problem.

Why cook? raw food has natural enzymes that are destroyed by cooking process.
Why grind? The chewing action is good for teeth and I have not yet talked to anyone who had a problem from it (I am sure there is a freak accident *somewhere* but dogs choke on kibble too...

There are some good books and a diet plan available through this site. Also http://www.rawdogranch.com I would at least take a look at them before you make your decision.

I don't spend a lot of time with the ratio's. I believe the dogs diet should vary anyway so I don't see why I should try and achieve a certain ratio every meal, but that's just me. I feed some grains, mostly brown rice occasionally, but the bulk of the diet is chicken fed raw or turkey, and then i add on varing days, beef livers, gizards, hearts, hambuger, ground turkey. I also add in some veggies on occasion ( a couple times a week) and always put in some fish oils and vit E. to very her diet i'll give venison or some meaty beef bones instead of chicken or turkey. It seems to work well for me. She's very active and healthy and only seemed to be scratching when she lost her winter coat. I feed all raw, its just easier than cooking for her and the rest of us. To me there isn't really any benefit to cooking the food.

Thanks so much for the tips, guys!

I have done a lot of reading (tho not nearly enough) about the benefits of raw, two out of the three dogs would do quite well on raw, they could digest rocks, if they tried! the third, a poorly bred GSD, has a weak stomach, so we would have to see how it goes. I want to do what is best for them, and I am a bit of a skeptic by nature (me in the 1950's: you mean all the food is in a bag and dogs don't need extra meat? sounds like a fad to me <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> ). I'll read up more. Now I am leaning to raw. I just freak out about bacteria...

Tho ya know, the average kitchen is just crawling with salmonella, e.coli, staph aureus. for my micrbiology class we had to culture several areas of our homes and public areas. Guess what was the cleanest? Yup, the men's bathrooms. The yuckiest? Our own throats! (for various reasons) Toothbrushes and dish sponges were in the middle.

As far as the grains go, if it is not needed, as both of the books state, why would these authors include it in their recipes? Cheaper protein source? Fiber? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/182802.htm

Merck Veterinary Manual

Fiber IS good -- and is sometimes needed but can be provided by pumpkin, crushed vegetable matter etc.

Weak stomach? What do you mean? I put mine on raw because kibble always gave him loose stools. 2 years later, good blood tests, no regrets.

Just the opposite with mine, anything BUT kibble with cooked ground beef or chicken makes her yak and have loose, mucoid stools. She would require the most gradual transitioning because her stomach is quite sensitive.
thanks for the Merck link- I've been there for research on daily requirements. Excellent source!