Puppy Forum and Dog Forums banner

Food Preperation & Storage Help!!!

958 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Kathyy 
#1 ·
Hello folks

Im going to be a proud owner of a doberman pinsher within this week. However i have some doubts as to the food im gonna serve him.

the recipe i choose is....

Boiled Rice

Carrots and Potatos

Eggs (thrice a week)

Yogurt (thrice a week)

Beef (and the problem starts here)


Since i've never used beef in my food before i have really no idea on how to prepare and store this meat.

Should i grind it and keep it freezer (for a week?) and then whenever i want take it out and brown in a frying pan then mix with the rice and veggies and feed my boy? or

Should i slice it into thin pieces and store it in the freezer and when i want take it out and boil it and add to the other ingredients and feed him? or

Should i boil the raw meat first and then cut it into pieces and store in my freezer?

for how long should i boil the meat?

i know its a long post but will make me and my boy way too happy if u guys can help. Thanks.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
You need to do more research on cooked diets for dogs. I know your missing calcium in that diet, and that is a big deal. And you not noticing this sends up red flags. The dog aware site is a great resource for cooked diets. I would also try B-naturals.com. Browse the rawfeeding links in the sticky at the top of the food forum. It is mostly raw feeding links but there should be some good basic nutrion links as well. I would also suggest searching the food forum for any topics about cooked diets.

Hopefully that will get you started, then you can post back here for help to fill in the blanks.

http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/cooked-diet/
http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#Balance
http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html#supplements
 
#4 ·
When I was first mulling over the idea of making my own dog food I had a similar plan as what you just described. The more research I did though, the more I gravitated toward a prey-model, all raw diet.
These are some of the most important things I've learned:

Dogs don't need rice or potatoes, the have no need for carbohydrates. Even though they can eat an omnivorous diet, they are carnivores. From their teeth to their large intestines, they are carnivores. Vegitables like carrots and peas are fine, but not necessary, and unless you blend them to a paste, they will pass right through undigested. Dairy is also not a good idea as most dogs tend to be lactose intolerant, from what I understand. Eggs are fine a few times a week, including the shells!
So, that leaves you with the beef, and that's not enough on it's own.
Think of a whole chicken. Mostly meat, some bone, and a little organ. That's what you want to shoot for. Include Green tripe, lamb or beef. It's like yogurt for dogs. Also kelp/alfalpha powder, it's their morning multi-vits.
The rules are:
No grain, no cooking, no salt.
80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ (1/2 of that liver).
Chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, duck, pork, deer, bison, rabbit, sardines, mackerel... variety is the key.
Cut things into the right sized chunks, put them in freezer bags, thaw as needed, watch your dog thrive.

I hope this helps
 
#5 ·
If you aren't experienced with feeding home made food it would be better to use a good quality canned food with or without kibble with your new puppy. Large breed puppies need careful feeding to grow properly. Please read through all of Dogaware, it is very good information.

I would use a raw diet on a dog without health issues. The only reason my elderly Sassy is on cooked is she has kidney disease. That means she cannot have bones and cannot eat enough meat to fullfill her caloric needs. Seems silly to give her the cooked rice needed for calories and raw meat so I cook her meat. I enjoy cooking for her but raw is also less work and much less mess.
 
#6 ·
Thanks to all of u for such excellent and well thought out advice.

But let me explain what i have in my mind.


Where iam its almost close to impossible to get canned food let alone kibble + canned food. So my only option is Rice + Meat + Egg Shells (for calcium as advised) i cant go for high quality Kibble as their availability is a problem. So having that in mind, and after reading through the links that have been given here this is the plan i have come to please suggest if it would work.

Rice (30%) + Beef (50%) + Organ Meat (7-10%) + Egg Shell (One Shell/Day) + Mashed Veggies (10%) + Cod Liver Oil

i hope this would help the puppy grow into an healthy adult whom i can cherish for his natural and well fed life :)

Please put in ur ideas guys :)
 
#7 ·
Since my old dog is sick I am trying to be very careful and precise feeding her. Can you get a hold of Monica Segal's book Optimal Nutrition? A new edition of K9Kitchen is coming out soon as well. You can look through her newsletters for a couple of examples of recipes she comes up with.http://monicasegal.com/aboutus/newsletter.php

I figured out my dogs nutritional requirements with the information in the Segal book but the OLD requirements are online for free.http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309034965&page=44 and entered them in My Preferences athttp://www.nutritiondata.com/ so when I entered ingredients into My Tracking the amounts of each nutrient my dog needs came up, not some general human amount. See if you can make head or tails of the NRC information. Nutritiondata has a wonderful nutrient search tool to find that elusive nutrient your recipe is lacking.

Vitamin A is real easy to come by, you don't need the cod liver oil. Fish body oil is a better choice if you are going to be able to use liver. I haven't worked on a diet for a puppy ever but I did find I didn't need any vegetables for Sassy's food. A teensy bit of liver was all the Vitamin A, copper and a good bit of the zinc and iron she needs. She gets 200% of most of the Vitamin Bs as well from something in her rice/beef/chicken/liver/banana/egg white diet.

Be very precise with the egg shell as puppies need just the right amount. Too much is very hard on growing bones. I don't have a clue as to whether there is enough phosphorus in the meat to fufill the needs of a puppy.

As to your original question about the beef. I love using ground beef. Drop it into the pan and cook it until it sizzles and smells good then break it up and add in the other ingredients. Make or buy it and you can freeze for long periods of time. Months at least. You can even grind and cook it then freeze it. It is much easier to handle it ground up as slicing is a lot of trouble. Dogs don't care if the meat is tender but you won't want your dog swallowing large tough chunks. Ground beef is always tender, just cook until it is brown all the way through. If you brown the ground beef, add in your raw rice and ground up vegetables and water the meat will be fine once the rice has finished cooking.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top