HI i am thinking of feeding my collie a home cooked diet (NOT BARF.) I have heard some stories that when the food is cooked all the nutrients are gone. is this really true ?

No, not at all. If you think about it, that would mean that human cooked food had no nutrients, either.
:)

Hi, I feed raw, but no, not all the nutrients are lost in cooking, or else all us humans would be at deaths door!

What i would say though, is just cook the meat as little as possible, and mix in plenty of pureed veg, a good variety. There is no need to cook the veg, and yes, cooking veg will remove the majority of the nutrients from it. (Unless u just lightly steam them) Cooked veg taht is NOT blended is of very little use to a dog, as although once broken down they can digest the nutrients, they CANNOT digest the tough cell walls in plants.

Em

is liver ok to be given raw?

Hi Emma,

Any meat fit for human consumption is okay to be given raw to dogs. They do not suffer from the problems with bacteria that humans may contract from uncooked meat - their digestive system works much faster than ours, so bugs generally to not get the chance to hang around and multiply. The only raw meat that should not be given to dogs is meat that might contain worms - which would not be meat fit for human consumption.

Stacey

Just be careful not to give too much of it too often or you will overload him with vitamin a (or so I've been advised)

Wendy

Liver can give dogs the runs....badly! So don't give it in any quantity. For most dogs it's fine as a training titbit, unless you have a dog prone to urinary trouble - then all offal is out.
:)