[mandieluu]

Ok Can U Guys Tell Me A Recipe 4 Dog Food?:rolleyes:

[Becca74]

Umm are u looking for anything special? Because if you aren't then you should just buy a puppy brand of dog food at the store that way you can't go wrong...

[labman]

There is absolutely no reason what so ever to mess around preparing your own dog chow. Much of the negative things you read about commercial dog chow are half truths, exaggerations, distortions, and outright lies. It is all backed by junk science. I have literally seen thousands of dogs with my own eyes thriving on Pro Plan and other of the despised commercial chows. I don't know where all the stories come from about how poorly dogs do on kibble. It is especially critical to give a puppy the correct diet. Too little or too much calcium, or the wrong ratio to phosphorus and it won't develop the sturdy joints it needs.

I do know many people are making money on alternative diets. Frequently there are banner ads here for them. People are paying to advertise what they are selling. If you are going to give your dog the complete and balanced diet it needs, you have to buy the ingredients somewhere. I see those people peddling alternative diets to make money as bad or worse than the puppy mills.

Most of the websites on dog chow are put up by kooks selling something. Here is a link to one of the more objective websites, Woodhaven Labradors Training-Nutrition Articles Yes they too are selling something, but as far as I know, it is dogs.

Suppose you knew a breeder that bred hundreds of dogs a year, mostly Labs, Shepherds, and Goldens. They provided all the medical care for most of them the first year. At the end of it, they did a complete physical including hip X-rays on all of them. They then spent $35,000 training them before giving them away. They have a large data base of breeding records. Dogs with any physical or temperamental problems are unfit for the program and are a waste. Their well equipped clinic and vet staff are available for serious problems as long as the dog is working. When the dog is no longer able to work, it is replaced at again the $35,000 plus a large emotional upheaval for the person depending on the dog. They have experimented with different diets and exchanged data with other such breeders. Don't you think that what ever they are feeding is healthy and safe? What kinds of controlled studies do you have backing your choice of diet? How objective are the sources of your information? Is your dog's health, their top priority?

I have been raising puppies since 1991 for a large dog guide school that does exactly that. What do they feed? They instruct us to feed Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy chow until 4 months and then switch to adult Pro Plan chicken and rice. I know enough of the people with the trained dogs to know they continue the Pro Plan. The group I meet with monthly for training includes people that have raised puppies for 6 different service dog schools. Some of them are feeding other premium commercial chows including Iams and Eukanuba. Any dog owner wanting a healthy, long lived dog can make this regimen work, leaving more time to spend on the dog. It is also relatively economical.

Please don't risk your puppy's health on any home made diet.