do my dogs need "vitamines"

[riverratdadParticipant]

I am new to this forum. I did not see a search function so if this topic has been covered I apologize.
I have 2 small dogs that are over 10 years old. A couple years ago I found this site and began feeding them 5 star dog foods. They often were not overly fond of the food. I tried different brands in the 5 star category. About a month ago it dawned on me that I can feed them chicken from the grocery store cheaper. I boil it with a couple chicken bullion cubes tossed in and they love it.
I am wondering now if they are missing some important nutrition on a chicken only diet. Should i go back to the more expensive 5 star foods that they were not overly fond of? Is there some sort of doggie style multiple vitamin that would complement the chicken diet?

[Hound Dog MomParticipant]

Hi riverratdad –

This is EXTREMELY unbalanced – so unbalanced I don’t even know where to start giving suggestions. Get your dogs on a quaility commercial food IMMEDIATELY. It’s only been a month but if you continue this your dogs WILL start to suffer – they’ll develop nutritional deficiencies and their organs could fail. Research before starting a homemade diet. It’s not rocket science to make a balanced homemade diet – I do – but it does take some research. Check out the raw diet area of the forum, under the suggested menus thread I have several of my dogs’ menus posted. Invest in a good book suck as “Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet” by Steve Brown or “Real Food For Healthy Dogs and Cats” by Dr. Becker – both books include AAFCO compliant recipes.

[riverratdadParticipant]

I appreciate the feed back. I will return them to the 5 star foods I was buying.

But since I have a weeks worth of chicken frozen maybe I will try one of the premixes you recommended in another post.

[Hound Dog MomParticipant]

You don’t need to give up on making homemade food – just follow a recipe or use a pre-mix. You can even boil fresh meat and mix it with the kibble to boost the protein levels.

[aimeeMember]

Hi riverratdad,

I agree with Hound Dog Mom. Here is a link to a balanced homemade recipe based on chicken. I use Tums as a source of calcium carbonate.

http://susanwynn.com/Homemade_Diet_Recipe.php

[riverratdadParticipant]

I just got home with 6 cans of assorted 5 star foods. I will try that route again. The only reason I switched to the chicken was because they would turn their noses at the dog food and I would end up throwing some away. At nearly 4 dollars a pound (12 oz cans @ $3 each) and chicken at 99 cents I thought I’d try it. If there is some simple additive and other grocery store items like eggs hamburger, ground turkey, I would cook them stuff but I am not going to get as elaborate as some of you folks with a dozen items.

My dogs are a Maltese and a half poodle half shih tzu mix. The Maltese weighs about 10 pounds and is the finicky eater. Some times he won’t eat for a couple days. But since i started the chicken he eats every day and has gained a couple pounds for sure. The poodle /shih tzu mix is not nearly as finicky an eater, he weighs about 19-20 pounds. Both dogs are over 10 years old. I bought a senior dog vitamin today too. The poodle mix gobbled his down but the Maltese didn’t. So I may look for a liquid version I can squirt down his throat.

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