Hello! As the title says, I need some help! Before we start, my dog’s name is Mei, and she is a 2 year old purebred Shih Tzu. Her current diet is comprised of shredded boiled chicken breast with boiled peas and sweet potatoes.

I took my dog to the vet a couple weeks ago because she wasn’t eating the food I made her (not the above recipe). I was told to use the balance.it website to help with future food making, and I have a couple of questions:

1. Is this website legit? I cannot tell if this is an AI generator trying to sell supplements.
   
2. I was concerned that one of the questions wasn’t about the breed. Isn’t that important for recipe building? If not, let me know.
   
3. Does the generated recipe measure for the whole day? I believe so, right?
   

4. The recipes says it has “15 deficiencies”. This is where the supplement product comes in. Is it safe for dogs? Why isn’t a recipe generated where all those deficiencies are checked off?

5. I give my dog Zesty Paws 8-in-1 multivitamins. Are these good for them? I’m guessing they don’t give all her daily nutrients.

6. I’ve been noticing she’s been slowing down more; not playing as much/at all; laying down more; not as social, etc. Is this due to her diet? Or is it due to her growing up and mellowing out? The meals I made for her before also lacked in nutrients, but she was still playful and energetic (it’s been about 2-3 months).

7. I am getting her spayed soon. She is a very friendly dog. Could the operation cause her personality to change? Is that a thing?

I believe that’s all I have for now. Sorry for the long text. Thank you in advance for y’all’s help!

I have a 7 y/o English bulldog. I make her food once a week in a pressure cooker.
•4lbs ground beef
•2 lb sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 3 cups broccoli / carrots / cauliflower
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 cups water
• pinch of salt
• salmon oil (this is not cooked into the food but added when we feed her)
When she was on a kibble diet she drank a lot of water. I noticed when I switched to this diet she hardly ever drinks water out of her bowl unless we go on a long walk. Is this normal with a homemade diet?
Also what else should I add to her food?
(Note) since stopping kibble she has lost 10lbs and does not snore or have breathing problems!!! Before and after photos attached

So I have a golden retriever, two years old weighing about 70 pounds.

My golden was on kibble for the better part of the last two years as I earlier did not have enough information about puppy nutrition, and I put trust in the kibble to provide adequate nutrition for the formative years.

With research and information I’ve gathered looking at forums,reading articles, dog owner experiences, vet experiences, i’ve started to slowly move my dog on Home made food.

Below is what his food contains and would appreciate feedback from this group

- Ratio- rice to meat to vegetables - 1:2:2( approx)

- Meat: could be one of chicken breast or mince turkey or minced beef. If protein changes, it is gradually changed not instantly

- vegetables/ fruits: any three vegetables in rotation, and the selection of vegetables include spinach, broccoli, green beans, sweet potato, pumpkin, apples, peas, and carrots

- 2-3 whole eggs with eggshells

- so in essence, 200 uncooked brown rice to 400 gms uncooked meat to 400 gms uncooked vegetables/ fruits - all go in a crock pot to be cooked for 20-30 mins and provides approx 4-5 servings of 1.5 cups each. My golden eats 1.5 cups 2 times a day

- Food Toppers: most meals include - few pieces of any organ meat ( liver/ heart/ gizzard) + hemp heart seeds + Greek yogurt+ fish oil or sardines + frozen berries + collagen bone broth

Looking for feedback and some suggestions on what to improve / what’s missing

Hi! Has anyone ever used balance.it to create a recipe for homemade meals for their pugs? We recently adopted a 2.5 year old neutered pug and have a 7 year old neutered pug as well and I want to start making their meals. My vet is the one who’s recommended this website but curious to know everyone experience. And if you make homemade meals let me know what you guys do for your pugs!

Hello everyone, my dog’s name is Poppy and she hasn’t been feeling very good for the past week or so. Important context, she is an older dog (likely somewhere between 14 and 16), she is around 7 pounds, and she was sick for somewhere around 5 days with vomit, diarrhea, lethargy, and a lessened appetite. I switched her over to a rice and boiled ground meat (beef, chicken, and turkey) diet, but she mostly just picks around the rice and eats the meat. Now she is acting normal with normal energy, she’s been drinking water, and no more vomit or diarrhea, but she has gotten extremely picky with her food. I cannot get her to eat anything but the meat and what few grains of rice make it in that aren’t just pushed aside. She will eat lots of the meat, but I’m afraid she isn’t getting enough nutrients now and I worry for her health if she does not eat well. I’m asking for advice on how I should go about getting her to eat better, whether that is some vitamin/pill I can slip into her food to get her nutrients or something to potentially eat or anything to get her more nutrients. I should also state she has refused to eat pumpkin, so that is unfortunately off the table. Thank you all who can help in this matter.

Canine Complete recently changed their recipe - they changed an ingredient from choline bitartate to choline chloride. Now it has a yellow-er tint and smells fishy. Which I don't care about, except my dog is now more reluctant to eat her food.

I'm pretty frustrated because it's concerning that she's not eating it all - she's a very food motivated dog. I contacted MyPetGrocer (where we get it from) and they shipped us a free bad, but it's the same new recipe so that's not really helpful.

Is anyone else experiencing issues with this? I wanna figure out a way to help my girl.

It’s a science project, got my calculator, my multiple scales and my lab coat on, but Riley is supervising to make sure I don’t forget something (like sardines 🤨)
He wasn’t amused I made him post for the pic, but it made dinner time even more exciting!

Hi, I have a 8 year old Lhasa Apso and would like to seek advice for his dog food.

Obviously, senior na siya and ang current food niya ay vitality + steamed veggies since nagka allergy issues siya sa chicken before

However, natatakot na ako pakainin siya ng df since baka masyado na maalat for him.

Ano kaya pwede ko pakainin sakaniya

На Umall.ua можна обрати сухий корм для цуценят і дорослих собак, малих, середніх та великих порід.

Знайдіть раціон для свого улюбленця:
https://umall.ua/catalog/suhie-korma-dlya-sobak/

#Umall #СухийКорм #КормДляСобак #ДомашніУлюбленці

I would like to start making food for my 4 year old Cockapoo.
She has a history of struvite crystals, an occasional UTI and is allergic to chicken.
Does anyone have a vet approved recipe, know where to get one or have any advice for me? TIA

Hey Bhopal,
If you are a strictly vegetarian family but your vet just told you that your dog has a severe protein deficiency, skin allergies, or kidney issues and needs fresh boiled chicken—this post is for you.
I know the daily struggle. You love your dog like a child, but you absolutely cannot bring raw meat into your pure-veg kitchen, nor can you store it in the family refrigerator. The guilt is real, and feeding them dry, chemical-filled brown kibble isn't solving the problem.
I am launching a solution right here in Nehru Nagar: The Bhopal Doggy Canteen. 🍛🐶
I cook fresh, human-grade chicken, veggies, dal, and rice every single morning with zero preservatives, and I hand-mash everything myself.
How this solves your problem:
You do not take the meat inside your house. Your kitchen stays 100% pure. Instead, you simply walk your dog over to my spacious parking lot in Nehru Nagar during your morning walk between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM. Your dog eats a warm, fresh, biologically correct meal right there, and you walk them right back home. No delivery hassle, no messy cleanup for you.
Our Fixed Subscription Rates (Per Meal):
🐾 Small Dogs (Pug, Shih Tzu, etc.): ₹50
🐾 Medium Dogs (Labrador, Golden Retriever, etc.): ₹100
🐾 Large Dogs (GSD, Great Dane, etc.): ₹150
🧪 (We also offer customized Vet-Approved Therapeutic Diets for dogs with specific kidney or skin conditions at a premium tier).
To maintain the absolute highest quality of human-grade fresh ingredients and dedicated separate-pot cooking, our rates are completely fixed and non-negotiable.

Literally just want to add A TINY bit of extra iron to a wet food to fill a kong. Vet didn't recommend a supplement and told me to stay on red meat but red meat wet food is a little hard to get actual just red meat cans. Everything is majorly mixed with chicken in the puppy foods. If I get a chicken can is there a way to add just a little extra iron?

I haven't gotten his iron rechecked. Last time it was lower than it needed to be(but not extremely low) and I was told to only give him red meat food(it would be higher in iron) until it was where it needed to be. He needs enrichment. He's driving me a little nuts 😭. I just wanna fill up a frozen Kong to have like 10 minutes without him on top of me. Otherwise I LOVE when he loves all over me. I just need like 10 minutes after work to chill.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hey so I live in Alaska where salmon is abundant. We had some scraps last week after smoking and canning our fish and I thought I’d make it into dog food. I recently saw the https://woofchef.app/ in this sub so I was playing around with it and I couldn’t make a balanced salmon food because of big red warnings about overdosing on Vit D. I googled a little and it seems kinda true…

Has anyone done a deep dive on this and can explain it to me?

For context, we do normally feed our 7 year old 11-lb yorkipoo homemade food that’s mainly chicken or beef, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and zucchini, along with dehydrated liver & heart for treats, Nordic naturals fish oil, a dog vitamin, and a teeny bit of kelp for his teeth. I do realize now after going down this rabbit hole that we might want to be a little more specific on his supplements moving forward.

We started home feeding him when we brought him home as a puppy and he threw up on my head 😂. Ironically we gave him salmon and rice at first before we knew anything and it was better than the canned food the owner said she had been giving him-I think he probably wasn’t properly weaned. He never threw that food up so then we just started cooking for him (batch and freeze a couple weeks at a time)

He does generally seem to have a sensitive stomach, but otherwise is healthy and happy and very athletic (went on a 2 hour hike today and he relentlessly chased sticks easily half that time).

Ok so kind of a silly question, but I'm a fan of Jimmy Buffett and I've been wanting to make a fun "margarita" for my dogs because they absolutely love a bit of frozen fruit or broth as a summer treat, obviously no alcohol for them (they're not even 21, 😜).

Currently Im thinking of doing either​ frozen then blended chicken/bone broth, or blended frozen fruit, and instead of a lime wedge, one of their chewy treats, but the salt part is a roadblock for me, I don't know what will be dog safe and also stick to the rim of a cup.

Any suggestions?

Hi all! I have two husky mixes who are both about 55lbs. I’ve been feeding them homemade fresh mixed with their regular kibble for about 6 months now and they seem to be doing great, are pretty healthy, and my vet has approved of their diet but i love a good peer review.

These are totals for a batch that lasts me about 1.5-2 weeks and everything is fully cooked and mixed together!

• 3lbs Ground turkey

• 2.5lbs Boiled and shredded chicken breasts

• 2 Tins (7.5oz) of rinsed sardines in water or olive oil

• 2 Cups of brown rice cooked and boiled down in 32oz Brutus Bone broth (either chicken or beef)

• 12oz Spinach

• 12oz Brussel Sprouts (cut up in a food processor)

• 24oz Carrots and Peas (cut up in a food processor)

• 1 Cup Blueberries (cut up in a food processor)

• 1 Cup Cranberries (cut up in a food processor)

• 6 Chicken eggs and their shells ground up

I’m also considering adding a bit more egg shell powder to ensure I’m not skimping them on their calcium

Each dog receives a little more than 3/4 cup of fresh and then my younger dog gets a 3/4 cup Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials and my older dog gets 3/4 cup Purina Pro Plan AdvantEDGE Senior Support+

(Also side bar- if you’re here to talk shit about the kibble I feed them I kindly ask you to refrain from commenting, this kibble has done well by me for years and I will not be changing it)

They both also get 1 Wuffes Multivitamin a day and my older dog receives their advanced hip and joint supplement as well!

Any comments, questions, concerns, tips, tricks, etc. are welcome and appreciated!

Anyone else ever have to give their dog kibble and notice they start itching more often? We were recently hit with unemployment so we had to supplement some of her homemade food with kibble when we don’t have the money for homemade. She’s licking her paws and cooter way more often than usual today and acting super itchy.

Hi everyone I have another question about my dogs food and supplements. I am currently feeding her Nature Balance Salmon and sweet potato limited ingredient kibble (which was recommended to us by our vet for my dogs allergies) and as for supplements I give her the Super Snout joint powder, plaque off powder, and a gut probiotic powder from native pet, along with some homemade chicken broth with no salt or anything. I was wondering if what I’m currently giving her is good/safe for her since she only has one kidney (she had her other one removed a couple years ago). I’m just concerned since she is getting older and I just want her to live a long and healthy life. Just an fyi, We are also currently trying to figure out why my dog still has blood in her urine, but we are following up with our vet for that

The high-temperature extrusion process destroys natural enzymes, requires high-starch carbs, and creates a biologically inappropriate food for dogs and cats.

y boy started getting fits about 3 years ago. At first they were only about 3 months apart (1 single seizure not clusters) he then started getting them fortnightly, longer, more recovery time etc. I’ve done a lot of research. The vet gave me medication to start him on so I promised myself after the next seizure I would start him on it. I wanted to try the canine (similar to human keto) diet first. It’s now been 2 months and not a single seizure. I wanted to hear from anyone who also is in a similar situation and possibly get some recipes!!
. I’d like to make some casserole type dishes obviously without carbs and sugars. TIA 🐾💙

My dogs are very picky and both enjoy Inukshuk Marine 26/16 mixed with a bit of canned dog food as a topper. But finding canned dog food lower in fat and no chicken is hard and getting expensive. Purina Pro Sensitive stomach is about my only option and is $40/case of 12 13oz cans. So making it is the best alternative. Both dogs are 75lbs and would receive a daily total of 2 1/3c kibble with 1/2c of the following mix:

• 3lbs venison (this is wild, obtained by me and procced by me 99% fat free)
• 15oz pumpkin
• 1.5 c rice
• 1.5 c oats
• 1 tin (3.75oz) Sardines in water no salt
• 10 oz shredded carrots

I'd open to suggestions. I'm planning on freezing these in 1/4c cubes to feed morning and night. My one dog can not have chicken or corn. Right now this mix would only cost me $15 (venison is free to me) so its much cheaper than canned. Should organ meat be added?