# Home cooking



## Josiebear (Oct 16, 2006)

I don't think i've seen anyone mentioning home cooking. I know raw is pretty popular but i am reading about how it's bad to feed your dogs raw and yet the positive side of it. So i'm on the fence of it. I think i am more comfortable with home cooking with some Honest kitchen. However i noticed how Josie and my 4 year old sheltie get really excited over chicken quarters that i give now and then.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Cooking takes away many good nutrients/natural enzymes. 
If you do decide to go w/ homecooked~ do not ever feed cooked bones. 
Where are you reading raw is bad? If all the raw feeders had problems, then why are so many feeding RAW? Vets have their opinions and usually they are not pro-raw feeding(most don't have much knowledge on it, therefore believe what they hear, with no basis for their opinions)


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## Josiebear (Oct 16, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: onyx'girlCooking takes away many good nutrients/natural enzymes.
> If you do decide to go w/ homecooked~ do not ever feed cooked bones.
> Where are you reading raw is bad? If all the raw feeders had problems, then why are so many feeding RAW? Vets have their opinions and usually they are not pro-raw feeding(most don't have much knowledge on it, therefore believe what they hear, with no basis for their opinions)


Here is the article i came across when i was googling for some more infos about raw feedings http://www.workingdogs.com/vcbarf.htm

At first i really like the idea of it until someone mentions about the dangers. I did once give raw chicken quarters to Josie and my oldest dog and they both loved it. I guess there's always going to be an article out there that is going to try to scare you from feeding raw.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

There are dogs that can't and shouldn't eat raw for various reasons and there are a lot of dogs that do just fine on it. For people that don't feel comfortable or their dog shouldn't eat raw, there is absolutely no reason not to home cook for them. If my dog was capable of eating raw - and they do - I just can't imagine wasting time cooking for them when I don't even cook for myself.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

In this forum, you won't see much mention of homecooking because the raw feeders post here. And typically, raw feeders feed because they believe in the power of raw. Homecooking does change the food, but as Elaine mentioned, some dogs will do better with cooked food (my girl does). You may get more cooking responses in the Diet & Nutrition forum.

ETA: Every feeding scheme has trade-offs. There are concerns with raw feeding, with feeding kibble, and even with homecooking. You just have to pick what you are comfortable with and are able to do, and then do it. Sometimes it's a transition -- starting with homecooking, and slowly cooking less and feeding more raw, etc. Some dogs, may do well with mostly cooked, some raw, etc.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I think, sometimes the problem may lie with feeding a chicken /14 now and then. The dog is use to kibble, then you give him a leg 1/4-it may give them digestive upset, and if they aren't use to eating it regularly, will not chew it properly(eagerly wolfing it down). I am not against home-cooked. Whatever works for your dog is great, but maybe some dogs have problems w/ raw, because they are fed kibble, home-cooked, raw-the digestive tract gets confused. That and some who may start w/ raw are not doing the proper meat:bonergan ratio, so they see diarrhea or other issues-blame it on RAW instead of what they are feeding to create the right balance.
One other thing, dogs have digestive enzymes to take care of the E-coli and salmonella-their intestines are shorter, therefore the food doesn't sit there so the risk is minimal for contracting either. 
This is from a google search more to have you on the fence, good and bad 
http://www.google.com/search?q=raw+feedi...ex=&startPage=1


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

When I was googling information about raw diets it was one extreme or the other:

Either the diet was great and wonderful and nothing bad could come of the diet

or

The diet was horrible and evil and you would kill your dog if you tried it.

That's why I put a lot of faith into this forum since it is full of real people willing to give honest answers and advice. I even posted a question asking if anyone had ever had their dog suffer any negative side effects (bone impaction, sickness for the raw meat, etc) and I believe that *ONE* member said she knew someone whose dog had suffered from bone impaction. Other than that, the biggest negative was the time it can sometimes take to package the food! 

If you're worried just keep reading and try just supplementing your dogs diet here and there. As you start to feed bits of raw meat (I started by throwing Jerzey small pieces of the chicken I was making for myself before it was cooked, of course) and seeing that there was no negative effects it might help you feel more at ease. 

I think it is _extremely_ common for us to be afraid to feed our dogs raw food and bones but we have to remember that, as dogs, they developed differently and were created to eat these kinds of things. Dogs have only been eating kibble for MAX 100 years (generally the stat is just 60, either way it has not been longer enough for them to evolve in such a way as to be able to digest kibble efficiently) and before that it was just whatever the owner threw down for them. Anyways, I guess my main point is to just do what you feel comfortable with and continue to read about the diet to learn more. If starting off with home cooked is what you need to do start a transition into the diet then go that route, but I honestly think feeding kibble and supplement with raw would be the best way to start.


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