Homemade Dog Food: Adding fresh foods to your dog's commercial diet.

Maybe you are not sure you have the time to invest in a Homemade Dog Food Diet. After all, it takes a lot of time up front to determine if your diet is balanced and healthy for your dog.

You can add some fresh foods to your commercial diet to improve the quality of nutrition for your dog. As long as you feed at least half kibble, you don't need to worry too much about balancing the foods you add. Of course, you still want to maintain variety.

It is generally better to add meat rather than plant foods (grains, legumes and vegetables), since commercial diets are usually high in carbs and dogs have no nutritional need for them, while protein (meat) provides a number of benefits. Animal source proteins, including eggs, meat, organs and dairy are the best foods to add. If you are feeding a large percentage of homemade food, then it's OK to add some carbs, such as pasta, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, etc., but animal products should always be at least half what you add.

Most dogs do fine when fresh foods, whether raw or cooked, are added to commercial diets, but a few may have problems. If your dog develops diarrhea or any other digestive problems when you add fresh foods, try feeding the two types of food separately. You can also experiment with different foods and different ways of preparing them -- some dogs may do better with raw food, for example, while others do best when the food is cooked.

Here are foods you can add to a commercial diet:

Eggs: raw or cooked, such as lightly scrambled, soft or hard-boiled. Whole raw eggs are fine, as the yolks contain plenty of biotin to make up for what the raw egg whites destroy. One of the healthiest and easiest to add foods.
Muscle Meat (including Heart): any kind of meat, either ground or chunks (small enough to avoid choking).
Liver and other Organ Meat: feed small amounts of liver at a time, as it is rich and can lead to diarrhea, but it is very dense nutritionally and good to feed. Kidney is similar, but not quite as rich. Most other organ meats, like hearts and gizzards, are nutritionally more like muscle meats and can be fed in greater quantity, though a few dogs will react to these as well if too much is fed at one time.
Canned fish with bones: Sardines (preferably packed in water rather than oil), Jack Mackerel and Pink Salmon: Full of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and provides trace minerals. Bones are cooked to softness and are safe to feed (no need to add calcium to this food, since the bones supply it). Never feed raw salmon or trout from the Pacific Northwest (California to Alaska), as it may contain a parasite that can be fatal to dogs. Tuna is more likely to be contaminated with mercury, and does not include bones, which are nutritious. Sardines can be used to replace fish oil supplements; one small sardine has over 100 mg of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
Yogurt: plain, preferably organic. Whole milk (rather than low- or non-fat) is fine unless your dog needs a low-fat diet. Kefir is another cultured milk option. Dogs who have problems with cow's milk products may do better with those made from goat's milk.
Cottage Cheese or Ricotta Cheese: low-fat or whole milk.
Garlic: may help repel fleas (although this is anecdotal) and has other health benefits as well. Garlic can be toxic in large quantities. Give no more than 1/2 to 1 small raw crushed clove (one small part of a bulb) per 20 pounds of body weight daily.
Canned Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix): great for digestion, helps both diarrhea and constipation. Use in small amounts, as too much can also cause diarrhea.
Veggies: preferably pureed raw or can be steamed (whole raw veggies, such as broccoli or carrot sticks, are not harmful but can't be digested by dogs so they don't get any nutritional value from them). Good veggies include carrots, celery, all kinds of greens (kale, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy, dandelion greens, cabbage, spinach, chard, parsley, cilantro, etc.), lettuce (anything but iceberg, which is not very nutritious), broccoli, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, asparagus, turnips, parsnips, etc. Do NOT feed onions. Warning: If your animal is having any symptoms of arthritis, inflammation, respiratory problems or any other conditions that involve swelling or mucous, stay away from the nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant).
Pasta, Grains and Starchy Vegetables: some dogs with allergies, digestive problems, seizures or arthritis do better if grains are removed from the diet (this may also apply to starchy veggies). Dogs who need to lose weight will do better with added high-protein foods rather than carbohydrates (see Senior and Overweight Dogs above for more info). Commercial foods are high in carbohydrates, so it's best not to add more unless you are feeding a high percentage of homemade food -- if so, it's OK to add some carbs, but animal products should always make up the majority of what you add. Grains and starchy veggies, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter squashes, need to be cooked in order to be digestible. Grains include white rice, brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, barley and more.
Fruit: banana, papaya, apple, pear, blueberries, etc.
Green Tripe: not the bleached kind you get from the supermarket (which is not harmful but has very little nutritional value). Green tripe smells awful, but dogs adore it and it's quite healthy for them.

Using pre-mixes

If you don't like the idea of using commercial dog food exclusively, or don't want to do the homemade diet, you can use pre-mixes as a safe compromise. Pre-mixes can offer peace of mind for those who worry about the completeness of a home-prepared diet for puppies.

You might want to consider Dr. Harvey's!

Dr. Harvey’s Canine Products are the finest all natural products in the world. The star of the show is “Canine Health” the miracle dog food, a dog food pre-mix that has changed the lives of thousands of dogs. The positive results of feeding a natural diet are evident in a short period of time and the benefits continue throughout your dog’s life as you see a healthier, happier dog.

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