Does anyone here cook for their dog?

I usually only cook when they are sick-Rice and boiled ground beef or chicken when they are sick with diarrhea. Once in awhile I make scrambled eggs, and a burger. : ) : )

Oh yes. I cook for my dog and I also give mine raw meat . I do not have the health problems and have 2 go to the vet every time I turn around. Do the research on this diet as it is called the barf diet, in order 2 get the nutrition right. I will feed mine a dry dogfood only if i am not here and my kids have 2 feed the dogs.( I thought that i would be specific on that as i do not want anyone thinking i am contradicting myself)Here is a website for u 2 go to that will tell u more about the barf diet.http://www.barfworld.com/http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.htmlhttp://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.htmlhttp://home.att.net/~hattrick-dals/Diet.htmlhttp://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htmhttp://whitedove1.com/Pom/BARF/diet.htmlhttp://dmoz.org/Recreation/Pets/Pet_Food_Preparation/BARF_Diet/I hope that these websites help u and give u the info u need on feeding your dog an all natural diet.If u feed ur dog the dry dogfood make sure that meat is the first ingrediants on the label. Dog foods like the grocery store dog foods are full of nothing but fillers and that is corn and grain products. Science diet and Iams is a dogfood that your vet will promote, but this is also a very bad dog food.You need a good quality dog food and in order 2 get that u will have 2 pay alot more for it. u get what u pay for.Someone stated on here that dog food doesn't kill ur dog, well that is not true. My dad had a 7 year old sheltie he fed diamond maintenance and this food was recalled due 2 contaminates in the food well it killed several pets and my dads sheltie was one of them. Go to diamonddogfood.com and u will find this out.Purina has had recalls for contaminated foods. Olroy has had recalls because of contaminates also.http://www.paws2heaven.com/What%20is%20in%20pet%20food.htmThe website above will tell u what is in pet foods u will be surprised.It will tell u the bad pet foods but will also tell u how 2 pick out a good one for ur dog.Dog food is not tested if it was then they would not have killed peoples pets by the contaminates in certain ones.If this food i am feeding is not really healthy then i ask this, why do i have a 19 year old sheltie in human years that has never been to the vet except for shots and checkups and being dewormed. I also have a 15 year old chow/husky that has done nothing but eat this diet since i got her 10 years ago from the animal shelter. I had a min pin that died of just old age of 18 years old, vet said natural causes of death (age) I cannot say this is not a healthy diet, i do feed my dogs fresh veggies also. For an extremely good dog food you have 2 spend alot on a bag of dogfood. with this diet, for me it is cheaper than that. I can feed my dogs on less than 50.00 a week and i have 10 dogs, so this diet is very contriversial and everyone has their own opinions of this, but this diet works for me and my vet says he does not agree with the barf diet, but it works for mine and 2 keep doing what i am doing.

you aren't suppost to cook for your dog because they will get spoiled and not eat the dog food and the food might not be to healthy for the dog. Just stay away from the generic brand of dog foods like Ol'roy, Gravy Train And other foods like that

Go Badgirl41.... BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) is Excellent. I've been feeding "Barf" for a number of years. Barf is by an Australian vet named Dr. Ian Billinghurst. Do your research, read Billinghurst's latest book, 2001, "The Barf Diet", published by Warrigal Publishing, PO Box 9064, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia 2795. Telephone: Code for australia followed by (2) 6334 2009Notes: Feed only very fresh food. Find an excellent local butcher. I freeze food in individual portions. SUPERVISE all meals, especially Raw Meaty Bone meals. If you live in Australia you will be able to buy pre-made Barf "burgers"..... in other countries?Here are two more sites:www.drianbillinghurst.comwww.BONSAH.com

Listen to Bad Girl 141 and Pippop. Check out their links. I think you'll be surprised about what you'll learn. As for the person that said dogs are omnivores and not wolves...if you do a proper raw diet you will see that you need to supplement with some veggies.Raw diets are sweeping the nation as people realize how much better they are for their pets. Another benefit of a raw diet is the teeth. You'll never (or rarely) have to brush your dogs teeth or get them cleaned. They are cleaned naturally with the bones, just like in the wild.

I don't typically, but I have in the past. My old lab mix needed home cooked food, and we made rice or pasta with chicken, goat, lamb, or beef (mostly just goat toward the end).As long as it is carefully balanced, homecooked food is much better than kibble. Dogs have been with us for hundreds of thousands of years... kibble has only been around for 30 or 40. Hmm.

i also cook for my 4 dogs at times i buy liver/ kidney and cook them up along with squash , carrots or any veggie they are allowed they eat certain fruits / lettuce / cukes /watercress . they still eat their dry food also

Well, you are lucky to have gotten so many responses to your question. Some of them are just plain wrong and some of them are great. HOpefully I'll be able to provide you the info you need to make an educated decision.First, I want to talk about commercial dog food. Dry food is a great thing for dogs because for you it is cheaper, convinient, and comes with the adequate levels of nutrition based on the requirements of dogs. The biggest problem is that most people do not know how to determine what a good quality food is. GENERALLY, if you can get if from a vet or from the grocery store, it is garbage. Popular brands like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, Pedigree, Royal Canin, etc all have fillers, by-products and chemical preservatives that DO make pets sick.Now, more recently smaller companies have been emerging, creating pet foods that are made with whole, fresh, human grade foods. They are typically a bit more expensive but that is because your pet is actually eating 'food" versus just left over renderings that are not fit for human consumption. Foods like Innova, Wellness, Canidae, Fromm, Solid Gold, Eagle Pack Holistic, Evolve, are foods that are made with these human grade ingredients. Dogs fed these foods live longer, less trips to the vet, you feed less, healthier coats, more enegry, and the "poo" less.Now, raw food diets and home cooking are becoming extremely wide spread and they are basically people taking it upon themselves to make their own dog food based on the ingredients of the above foods I mentioned. My big concern about raw diets is the fact that there have been cases of dogs dying of salmonella poisoning because the owner fed raw chicken and used unsafe preparation techniques. If done properly raw food can be really healthy but can be extremely dangers if not handled correctly.The other problem with raw/home cooked diets is that they do typically cost more and obviously take more time to prepare then a kibble based diet. Some people can afford this and that is great but for the average person, cooking for their pets would be an overwhelming task.The last thing to think about when feeding raw/cooked diets, is that it isn't as easy as the postings make it sound. No one mentioned the fact that even if you are feeding human food, dogs still need to receive 34% protein, 10% fat, vitamins, minerals, quality carbs, etc. Feeding a dog chicken and rice is not adequate. They might be healthy now but they are being deprived of essential vitamins and minerals found in vegetables or supplements. You need to research adequate levels of these ingredients to ensure that your dog is not deprived.OKAY, now most people are unaware of the fact that INNOVA has reently begun producing a food called EVO which is the only dry food on the market that is based on a raw food diet. It is a high protein, low carb food that mimicks a raw diet except for the fact that it is cooked at low temperatures to kill off possible harmful bacteria. This food is excellent. Innova is by far the healthiest pet food on the market and the company is acknowledging that raw diets are important but want to offer a safer, more convinient method to home cooking.Anyways, I've rambled on so here are the things to think about:-stay AWAY from vet/grocery store foods and "popular" brands.-decide whether you are prepared to go the home cooked method.-And finally, if you stick with dry food, do some research on the meaing of food ingredients and find one of the foods I mentioned. Your dog is lucky that you care so much about its health. Good luck choosing!