Question About Feeding My Standard Poodles

Question
Hi Kim. I have two S Poodles. My female is a spayed 7 year old with Addison's disease. My male is recovering from bloat which he almost died from. I have recently changed their commercial dry kibble to a home cooked one. Trying to learn all I can about nutritionally balancing it out properly. I cook fresh meat and organs, some veggies, b. rice oatmeal, beans, etc. Puree all in processor and add wheat germ, egg shell powder, ground kelp. Top sometimes with cottage cheese, pumpkin. Could you please tell me if I need to be giving them a vitamin supplement with this. I get a probiotic from my vet, but he does not work in nutrition, so I am having to do that research on my own. Would what I am adding to their meals be enough to be nutritionally balanced? Or any advise you could give would really help. Could you recommend a good vitamin supplement if you think I would need one. Thanks so much for the help in advance. Gayle

Answer
Hello Gayle,
This is the diet I recommend for people who want to feed a homemade diet to their dogs.  You can alter the diet to fit your dogs needs.  I also give my dogs NuVet Plus Pet Tabs.  They are Wonderful and better than most of the Pet Supplements out there because of the way they harvest the vitamins and minerals.  They cold process the supplements so they don't kill the beneficial nutrients.  You can find them at http://www.nuvet.com/53330  The 53330 is my distributor number.  Please check the site over, then if you decide to order, use my number when ordering.  Please feel free to ask me any questions about these wonderful Pet Tabs or the diet I feed my "kids".
I use an over the counter Probiotic powder that you can add to water (for people) for my dog.  I give one tube per day.

1 lb Lamb burger, Turkey Burger, Chicken burger or Hamburger, cooked or Raw, whichever is preferred and most of the fat drained off.
1 can Salmon (Wild Caught)
1 can Sardines in Olive Oil
1 cup Kale or Wakame (Edible Sea Vegetable) blended with the oil of the sardines
1-2 eggs scrambled
1 1/2 cup Special K or Total Cereal
1 Apple Blended (or you can use 1/2 cup of Applesauce)
1/8 tsp Garlic powder
1 grated carrot
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked using chicken broth for better flavor
1/2 Tablespoon Cottage Cheese, this is optional and can be added per feeding rather than made up in advance.
Your Dogs Favorite Fruits and/or Veggies.

These sites talk about Fruits and Veggies that are safe/unsafe for dogs to eat.
http://voices.yahoo.com/foods-safe-unsafe-dog-eat-8985317.html?cat=22
http://trupanion.com/pet-health/fruits-and-veggies-for-pets

Here is a made up diet that has a good balance of fruits, veggies and meats; plus vitamins and supplements.
My two Little Monsters, 3 year old Chihuahua/Miniature Pinscher brothers eat a completely raw diet. They get Liver, Heart, and Muscle along with a variety of Veggies every day. They weigh between 8 and 9 pounds, so the get 1/2 of a Raw Brown Egg from Local Organic Pastured Chickens, .6-.75 ounces of each of the Heart, Liver, and Muscle along with .3-.4 ounces of a variety of Fruits and Veggies such as Bean Sprouts, Alfalfa Sprouts, Beets, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Broccoli, and Apple every day. I also rotate in Cucumbers, Squash, Strawberries when they are ripe in my garden, Pumpkin and others from time to time for variety of nutrients. They also get Raw Bones, Raw Milk and other parts of an animal when available, but ALWAYS Raw. The Fruits and Veggies are ALWAYS grated to make them very easy for my little guys to digest. To the Meats, Fruits and Veggies I add 1 Rounded Teaspoon of Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth(Internal Cleansing, Internal Parasite Control & Nutrition), 1 Level Teaspoon of Brewers Yeast(Flea Control & Nutrition), 1 Teaspoon of Braggs Raw Apple Cider Vinegar(Flea Control & Nutrition), 1 Teaspoon of E.V. Olive Oil or Fish Oil(Nutrition), and 1/2 Capsule for each of Milk Thistle, Dandelion, or Red Clover(4 weeks on and then 4 weeks off as a Detox regime for any toxins that built up in their body before I got them because they were given Deadly Pesticide Based Spot-On Flea treatments monthly, Heartworm Medicine, and fed Commercial food. This will remove the toxins from their tissues and organs by cleansing their Liver, Kidneys and Intestines).

This site talks about HomeMade Diets for dogs and their Nutritional needs.
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_7/features/Home-Prepared-Dog-Food-Nut

These are the Recommended Daily Nutritional Values for dogs:
Protein.........18%
Fat..............5%
Calcium......0.6% (maximum 2.5%)
Phosphorus...0.5% (maximum 1.6%)
Potassium.....0.6%
Sodium........0.06%
Chloride.......0.09%
Magnesium.....0.04% (maximum 0.3%)
Iron............80 mg/kg (maximum 3,000 mg/kg)
Copper.........7.3 mg/kg (maximum 250 mg/kg)
Manganese........5 mg/kg
Zinc...........120 mg/kg (maximum 1000 mg/kg)
Iodine.........1.5 mg/kg (maximum 50 mg/kg)
Selenium......0.11 mg/kg (maximum 2 mg/kg)
Vitamin A.....5000 IU/kg (maximum 250,000 IU/kg)
Vitamin D......500 IU/kg (maximum 5000 IU/kg)
Vitamin E.......50 IU/kg (maximum 1000 IU/kg)
Thiamine.........1 mg/kg
Riboflavin.....2.2 mg/kg
Pantothenic Acid..10 mg/kg
Niacin..........11.4 mg/kg
Pyridoxine.........1 mg/kg
Folic Acid......0.18 mg/kg
Vitamin B12.....0.022 mg/kg
Choline.........1200 mg/kg

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions about the above listed items or other questions in general about Poodles, please feel free to ask me.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim