Homemade dog food should be introduced slowly, as you wean your dog off of their old food. A sudden change can cause all sorts of tummy upsets. Introduce one new food at a time, in small amounts, slowly increasing the food over a period of several weeks, as you decrease the old food.

Dogs do enjoy and can tolerate a varied homemade food diet, but only introduce one new food and see how they react to it.

If all goes well then add another new food etc. If your dog gets diarrhea or vomiting then discontinue the new food and wait until they seem back to normal, then slowly introduce another new food.

I started my girls on homemade years ago by just adding boiled chicken a little bit at a time to their kibble that they had been on.

After many weeks of no problems I then started adding a combo of boiled chicken and rice. When this was going down well, I stared making a generic homemade diet every day of chicken, rice and veggies and adding this to their kibble, and slowly reducing the kibble portion each week.

It takes time, but I found it worth it, as my two are healthy, happy and energetic. Especially Lady, my older lab. She is much more spry.

Now my girls can eat most foods, and I know which ones cause tummy problems and which ones they just don’t like. It is trial and error, and don’t forget the extra vitamins necessary on homemade food.

Good Luck – It does take a little trial and error, just don’t make major sudden changes — Always gradual. Get them back to normal on the regular diet they were on originally and restart.

See your vet if the diarrhea continues too long.

Jane.