feeding a cooked diet

its been a while since ive asked anything about diet.

but at the moment, indie has burns dry food available to her and natures menu.
She will only eat these if she is really hungry.

ive been trying to do bits of cooked food for her, mainly the good bits of our meals, meat, vegetables and fruit where possible.

question is, what meat is best... is it best to keep to white meat and fish since its less fatty than red meat. and if i do feed red meat, whats the best way to cook it without getting loads of fat.

She wont touch raw meat or bones, so this is why i havent opted for the raw diet.
but ive noticed her coat isnt as glossy and soft as it used to be and i think this is cos im now on the fence and kinda half and half.

what other foods can i give to her to balance the diet out. she had a bit of scrambled egg in her food today, altho i assume poached egg would be best so there is no oil.
she has pate most days in her kong, altho i think perhaps this is bad for her being alot of liver?

and how varied do u think i need to be with her diet?

our own diet isnt really that varied, so does the dogs diet need to be varied? as in diff meats all the time and lots of diff veg and stuff.
she doesnt like rice or pasta but likes fresh noodles, are these ok to use instead?

seems like such a stupid question being that ive been on this site so long, but a recent thread on diet got me thinking when minihaha said she cooks for her dogs.
so wondering what u feed?

Oven baked pigs liver/kidneys
dry fry minced beef/lamb
boiled chicken
steamed veg - brocolli/cauli/spinach/
eggs - scrambled/raw (if scrambled add water not milk)
white fish - poached
You could also try tinned fish - sardines/pilchards/mackeral
fruit - apples/bananas - crushed/pureed maybe?

They have all of the above raw now, but just an example of how I cooked them in the past

ah thanks for that leospride.

she often gets the same meal as us, we eat quite healthy.
she would get for example, chicken, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, brocolli, cauli, sprouts (even tho she hates them), and sweet potatoes.

shes not keen on fruit which makes it hard, but will sometimes eat banana.

will try some of the other meats u suggested, altho the only fish she will eat is salmon,lol.

I can't really help with cooking advice (I'm a crap cook....honest !) so my lot get raw, but, if you are going to cook meat, make sure you don't include cooked bones as cooked bones are fatal !

You mention the coat isn't glossy or soft, but are leaving out fats and oils........they need both of these for a good coat, which is why many give flaxseed oil to bring the coat out nicer

With regards to Veg, as soon as it's cooked all the goodness is diminished for dogs, so pointless giving it to them. Puree raw veg and give small portions over the week, that's plenty.

And don't feed Salmon heads, all other fish is fine. Will she not even eat the little tins of Sardines in tomato sauce ? My lot love these as a starter

Thats ok

My dogs love all kinds of fruit, in fact they have never refused any food I put in front of them!
I tried sweet potatoes (yams) but they didn't 'agree' with them though they love a jacket spud now and again

As for salmon - I love it too much myself to give it the dogs but I let them lick the bowl

Jenny,

if you are serious about cooking her food, I would suggest doing some research on it. You mentioned that her coat is dry, yet you also mentioned 'red meat has alot of fat on it'. There is a thread about just now about fat in a diet, which i think would be beneficial to you. Fat is not a bad thing, in fact it is essential to a diet (EFA's) without this you get all kinds of problems, the least is dry skin and crackly hairs. Excess carbs are the things that cause you to put on weight, as they are stored as fat. Pure fat from meat is digested and not stored, dogs SHOULD be eating this.
There is alot of info out there, in books on the net (careful of the source!) which is a must for anyone attempting to feed a natural diet, even more so for cooking, you may need to supplement as you will be cooking away all the live enzymes. My suggestion would be to cook first, then cook a little until just cooked and raw inside... she will still love it but be getting the benefits of raw...

I do feed cooked meat to mine too, but not everyday, once a week or so they get the excess of my chicken/roast etc. Which is fine, but they are not having to survive on it everyday, if you get my meaning.
Best wishes,
j.

Hi Jenny the food you already feed sounds pretty good. I will add a few suggestions. I feed raw and cooked food .

Yes to noodles if Indie isn't wheat intolerant , they are only flour/ water/egg but are fattening and a refined food so not too many.
Scrambled eggs are fine occasionally,
Cottage cheese (the lactose is lost with the whey in the making process) is very good.
I steam veg for just a few moments, or you can blanch for a moment in boiling water then into cold water to stop the cooking process and then chop finely. (This breaks down the cellulose).

Any meat (though some dogs can't tolerate pork) not too much fat though. A good way to cook any meat for dogs is in a pressure cooker, you can also cook the bones (oxtail, sheep's breasts, sheep's head whole chicken, the dog gets calcium from the bones ) until they are soft then mince the lot and it comes out in a paste that sets in the fridge.
Another good way to cook meat or fish for a dog is to put it in tinfoil and seal it in then cook in a dish in the oven (this is very good for hearts too )
Fish you can place in a plastic freezer bag and boiled in a pan (or in microwave with the bag open). Boil in a bag is also good for tripe and keeps the smell in .
Have you tried porridge, preferably made with organic oats, no milk but a little cottage cheese.

Fish, Coley is the cheapest and costs me only £2.99 for 6 frozen portions, sardines are only 35p a tin in oil (pour the oil away, there is plenty in the fish) also tinned tuna (remember never buy fish in brine)
Beware when giving Indie your food that she is not having gravy from stock cubes or granules, they are high in salt.
If you cook meat in foil/ it has a small amount of gravy.
Boiled meat can be tough to chew but if you mince it this is no problem.
The cooked meat can be minced and frozen.Fish takes only a few moments to cook so is easy to serve fresh.

I am surprised Indie won't eat raw meat, I have never met a dog that won't eat raw mince. I never feed liver raw, many dogs don't like the texture so I bake or boil but it can give dogs diarrhoea, so I mix it with other meat (and rice which you dont feed).
Amy has a special adapted diet now, at almost 16 she has a problem chewing with a broken and worn down teeth so she has mainly soft food, rice or pasta with meat/fish/veg followed by a raw carrot to clean her teeth. For crunch that is not too hard she has Kallo or waitrose salt free rice cakes around 70p from the supermaket.

It may seem a lot of work but once you get a routine it isn't at all. I tend to cook for two days at a time and usually when I am cooking my own food so I don't even notice it. I steam all my own veg so it is easy to add some for Amy then take hers out after a moment .I plan meals ahead anyway and don't eat any processed or convenience food myself with the exception of tined fish so am always cooking .

I think variety is important, that way you don't get problems with food intollerance and the the dog is unlikly to lack any nutrients.

I don't feed onions or grapes/rasins but most other things, potatoes are ok but should be cooked not raw. I grow herbs and include a little thyme/parsley/sage and mint in the diet, some fresh but the thyme and sage go in with the meat in the foil parcels. Pearl barley added to a dog stew with meat/veg is good.

I can't list everthing I feed but this is a part of it..

thanks everyone for your advice.
i figure im spending probably £10 a week on her dog food, and she isnt eating it. so may as well use that money to buy her some meat.

she is a really fussy eater and has even been known to turn her nose up at chicken.

mind u, she did enjoy raw beef cutoffs from the butcher, but to be honest this was mostly fat, well being a cutoff i imagine it would be wouldnt it.

what i mean by fat on red meat, is im sure its fine raw, but when u cook it, doesnt it turn the fat into bad fat?

we are pretty healthy eaters ourselves, so most of the meat we cook indie can have too.

she wont touch tinned fish, not even sardines in tomatoes or in oil. and theres not much veg she will eat either, i think i will do wot u do mini, boil it for a sec and take it out, then cut it up finely.

i knew gravy was bad for them, but didnt realise it was cos of the salt, i often add a bit of gravy to her dinner, i shall stop doing that!!!!

she loves sweet potatoes though. and seems to eat her carrots. she usually picks out the broccolli and couli and puts it on the floor next to her plate and she does the same with cabbage!!

anyway, thanks for everyones advice, i'll keep it in mind when ordering the weekly shop. and may pop down the butcher for some heart and beef cutoffs as a treat