OKay, I give.  Remy is clearly a much more sensitive dog than I think - last night he had diarrhoea, mostly on my carpet (yick) and vomiting - mostly on the kitchen vinyl after some careful steering from me!  No apparent trigger either.  I rang the vet at about half 1 (many apologies given for waking him up...) this morning, but he didn't think it warranted an emergency trip - just water little and often, a little bit of bland food after 12 hours and keeping an eye on Rem.  So the chicken's cooking now, and the rice is nearly done...

...and I'm going to get him on home cooked food now, rather than waiting till his bag of sensitive food is finished.  He's been on that food after a suggestion from an american vet that maybe he has a food intolerance - he's had symptoms of hypothyroidism for a long time but his thyroid is normal, so I'm trying the food idea.  But I have to special order his current food, it ain't cheap, and TBH I'm starting to get uncomfortable with the whole idea of kibble - not least because when he first vomited last night there was still kibble in his stomach, a full 4 hours after his last meal (thinking exercise after feeding, bloat etc).  I'd rather know exactly what's going into his diet and how much, and I want to be in control of the sources too.

So, I'm asking here for any and all links, recipe suggestions, ingredient lists (both what to feed and what NOT to feed, I'm a little unsure on fruit and veg re. dogs), proportions of the different foods and so on.  I've read that 18% protein is the ideal, another site suggested 50% carbs but that seems a little high to me... but, it also doesn't tell me how much to give when moisture is taken into account.

Help please!  And apologies if I've asked about this before, I'm a little tired :rolleyes:

I wouldn't be too concerned about food still in the stomach a mere 4 hours after feeding. My dogs have vomited bone two days after last having them. A totally empty stomach is more likely to develop ulcers, too.

Sorry Remy has been poorly. Why are you planning to cook the homemade diet rather than feed raw? Last year I was thinking of doing the same thing and when I posted asking for advice a number of people asked me the same question. So I thought OK, be brave, read a lot and got good advice on here. I've now been feeding raw for about a year and haven't looked back. I'm certainly no expert, but the dogs are enjoying it and looking good.

Not wording things properly at the moment I think!  I'm looking at doing a mix of cooked and raw, I'm not comfortable with feeding raw chicken meat/wings for example but I will feed raw tripe/beef/rabbit mince and the like; veggies will be steamed briefly to make them more digestible.  But the mince definitely raw - for the digestive enzymes in it, so I can stop supplementing their diets, and of course the protein/amino acid content.

I have to admit I rarely feed chicken wings, they have a tendancy to go down whole, but I do feed lamb ribs and minced whole chicken (with bones in that). Are you not going to feed raw meaty bones at all? Veggies are just pulped up in the food processor and I only feed them 3-4 times a week.

Just to add. If you look at my original post there are some books mentioned in that which may be of interest (post was titled - Home prepared COOKED food - sorry can't do links).

Yes, in the evenings so I can keep an eye on Soli (gets rather guardy with tasty things).  Do you mean minced raw chicken or cooked?

Not sure I totally understand your question (I may be being thick!), but I feed minced raw chicken, bones included.

If your question was to me, I fed minced RAW chicken wings, but now feed whole RAW wings, but minced is fine although they won't have the benefit of cleaning their teeth with minced :D

My Q was to pedlee, and pedlee you did understand it correctly! :)

It's not just the feeding of wings I'm uncomfortable with - it's that whole raw chicken thing.  I know dogs aren't anywhere near as sensitive as we are sa far as bacteria and the like go, but I guess it's one of those things that's been so drummed into me my whole life, to cook a chicken properly, that I find it hard to counter!

I dare say I'll get past it in the end - in the meantime their teeth can be cleaned with RMBs from beef/pork :D

Nikita I do understand your fears about chicken, but dogs digestion is totally different to ours and they digest raw meat far more easily than cooked, and raw chicken bones are the softest bones for them! 

As you say their teeth will be cleaned with larger RMB's but a chicken wing is a little bit like flossing them too - honestly :D

Just try one raw wing and see how they get on!!

The main part of Jasper's diet as far as meat and bones are concerned is chicken wings!

Maria :)

I used to be nervous of feeding whoe raw chicken wings so I used to mince them, it is one of the most balanced raw meats to feed because of the ratio of bone/meat and fat so don't discount them, just mince them. 

I've been taking care of one or two rescue dogs for the odd days and even the ones that have never been fed raw bones in any way shape or form usually enjoy the occasional raw chicken wing - great for cleaning their teeth too!

If you google BritBarf you will find a site full of knowledgeable friendly people who feed a variety of diets - it's not just a raw feeding site and welcomes owners who feed raw, cooked, kibble or any variation in between.

Hope you get his diet sorted out :)

Nikita if you're going to do home prepared food it is essential you add calcium.In the form of whole bones,minced bones,crushed egg shells or calcium citrate.

As long as you are feeding meat that has been properly stored, ie frozen - not left out in the warm for too long etc, so long as you are good at hygeine, your dog should be fine with raw chicken.

Raw chicken is not really a timebomb waiting to go off, if you manage to feed yourself all these years without poisoning yourself you will manage to do so for your dog too.

Dont forget, dogs digestion is built with digesting not just fresh raw meat, but rotting carrion, other animals stomach contents, other animals faeces, etc. Fresh raw meat should not be an issue.

The other thing is of course, that dog kibble has been known to carry salmonella  and e-coli.

If you are feeding raw other meats, then you arent really cutting down on the risk by just cooking the chicken, other meats carry nasties too.

I feed four dogs on a raw diet, and one of those was 6 weeks old when he started and one is now 12 years old.... not a hint of salmonella, e coli or anything else.

Conversely, I know a friends dog got salmonella and then campylobacter, and eats kibble....

Thank you theemx, that's helped a great deal :)