Homecooking for your Doodles

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A place to talk about feeding our doodles a variety of home-cooked foods, with recipes included. Ask questions, check on safe ingredients, share some tips. Please see The DK Cookbook Group for recipes, too!
http://doodlekisses.com/group/dkcookbook

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

As you read and research, also consider evolution. In humans, we know there have been great physiological changes in a relatively short period of time. Even our skeletons have changed within less than a hundred years. If you look at interesting trivia facts like the average woman's shoe size 100 years ago, I think it was something like a size 4, and now it's an 8, I believe. That's changed even since i was a kid.  The same has happened with dogs.

The Labrador Retriever or Poodle of today is not as similar to wolves as many people would like you to believe. Their digestive tracts are not nearly as short, their teeth are about one-third the size, and there are many other differences as well. Even when it comes to natural instincts like prey drive, my own labradoodle has gently lifted baby rabbits in his mouth and set them back down again unharmed, several times. Of course, another doodle might have killed them, but I doubt we could find a coyote or wolf anywhere who would have done what Jack did.

I hope everyone who reads this will do their own research and share what they find with us. I don't think there is any one "right" answer to some of these questions, but the more we question and learn, the better equipped we all will be to make our own choices on the best way to feed our own dogs.

I appreciate your participation and questions very very much.

 

[Diane Margetts]

Agree--don't think too many wolves would patiently wait for a little bird to regain itself after flying into a deck rail!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This photo needs to be submitted to some kind of contest...or to Hallmark.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

What a sweet photo!! And a sweet Doodle!!!

[Donna Vee]

Very sweet!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Not much "prey instinct" going on here. Too precious! I agree Karen, there has to be a contest out there somewhere waiting for this photo.

[Carole Haskell]

Keep in mind that if you serve your pups a high quality commerical(Blue Buffalo dry is our choice), you can still avoid commercial wet food and avoid the issues that can come with them. Once a week I cook 90% lean ground turkey, bake sw. potatoes, boil whole brown rice, steam an apple and thrown in blueberries.  I seperate this into 12 oz servings and mix one with every 2 1/3 cups of dry that we serve the boys each evening. Never had a less that steller checkup, no gas, no bad breath!  Great energy levels and they sleep like babies!  My biggest concern when people say, great I'll do that too, is food safety and handeling!  All of the rules you follow for other family members apply! I quickly cool down, ice baths make this easy, then freeze all but 2 servings. everytime I use one another is pulled out and placed in ther fridge.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A reference on frozen food safety, courtesy of F Parker:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/focus_on_freezing/index.asp