How can I learn about dog nutrition?

MollyDoggy said:

I'd like to learn more about dog nutrition and how to prepare homemade food. The more I read about commercial dog food and see the prices on the shelves, the more I want to prepare the dog's food myself. I enjoy cooking, so it works out both ways.

Some of my interest is also stemming from my 13 year old german shepherd who recently refuses to eat kibble or canned dog food, but loves to eat ground turkey, white rice, and pumpkin that I've been making her instead the last few days. She's very old, the kibble was too difficult for her to eat anyway. Canned dog food always gave her an upset stomach, so we hardly offered it.

I'm a really shy about preparing raw food, mostly because I'm really squeemish about that stuff. So I'd like to learn how to prepare recipes with cooked meats for now, something like ground meat or chicken breasts.... simple meats I can bare preparing, I've just gotten over chicken breast recently. Or anything similar and not too weird looking. Is this possible?

I get really frustrated when I research these topics online, because every website or article has conflicting information. Everyone has their opinion. Where are the FACTS? Even vets I ask don't know anything about it when I asked about my GSD.

How can I learn about which supplements to use?

Are there books or websites you would recommend about dog nutrition?

Resources for good recipes?

I've been feeding my 13 GSD Ground turkey/beef, white rice, and pumpkin every meal this weekl. Are there any quick things I can do to improve this recipe immediately while I spend more time learning about nutrition? It's the only thing she will eat.

Thank you!

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I have to agree with @Gnostic Dog and @naturalfeddogs about raw feeding. I am somewhat new to raw and was very hesitant at first, TRUST ME! But through help and suggestion from forum users, I realized that the very best food is raw food (even over cooked, nutrition wise) for dogs because their bodies are meant to eat raw - thats why their teeth are strong and big and you don't have to worry about them getting sick because their GI tract is so short, they don't get sick from things like Salmonella like we do.

My dog struggled A LOT with allergies and we couldn't figure out what was happening! We were told it was probably chicken or beef in her kibble and to switch to another one but have come to find out that the process that kibble goes through can cause dogs to be intolerant. Kibble is like McDonalds to us. And trust me, I have paid upwards of $100 a month on what vets said were "high quality" kibble, just to find out that it was still junk.

I don't prepare my own ground food but rather I buy Big Country Raw (based out of Niagara Falls). I don't know where you are located but you could always research companies near you that sell raw ground food (bones and organs included) if you do not want to make your own. If you are ok with making your own, you could always purchase a grinder and make ground if you are afraid of feeding whole bones. Just a suggestion!!!

If you are finding your dog is not doing well on kibble, I would definitely considering making the switch for good. I have read several articles on raw that suggest raw is the way to go. It clears up allergies and dogs get the nutrients they need. In fact, dogs bodies do not require things like fruits and vegetables. Their bodies do not break it down like ours do.

I have been to my vet several time with allergies issues and they looked at me strange when I said I was feeding raw. No vets will recommend raw, but please keep in mind they are no educated about nutrition so you can't really trust what they say.

I still give my dog bones to chew on though for dental health, of course.