Hi,

I don't make food for any of my pets (dog & rabbit) - but I have taken some animal nutrition courses including a pet nutrition course. (I know this does NOT make me an expert, but I wanted to offer some advice since you're asking) - if you're going to make your own dog food, my advice would be to definitely also feed a supplement along with it. Without this you can't be sure of whether the food is balanced or contains the appropriate nutrients in the right amount, from good sources (ie. some nutrients aren't absorbable from certain foods, but are from others). As someone who also has years of experience working at boarding kennels and in animal care facilities, it definitely makes a difference! Some clients bring raw food, most of which is also supplemented, and the dogs seem to do quite well on that. I have seen people go about it the wrong way and feed "human" meals to their dogs, as the whole of their diet - things like cooked pasta with tomato sauce, or tuna salad, or a raw steak, and one dog even arrived with just a tub of cottage cheese and some frozen vegetables to eat. While I know the people who live with these dogs just want to spoil them, they can harm them (of course!) by not providing adequate food.

I'm sure that's not your intention - I like the idea of making the food and knowing just what went into it! But I personally would never feed something like a homemade diet without a supplement. Unless you've had extensive training and are a canine nutritionist or something of the sort, it would be pretty hard to know that your dog was getting everything he needed!

Also, good job on taking the little guy in. :) it sounds like he's going to have a great home with someone who cares about him. (are you going to post pictures?)