What is home-cooked dog food?
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
Home-cooked dog food is a dog's main diet made in the family kitchen, such as rice, dal, eggs, chicken and vegetables, instead of a commercial food. It can be healthy if it is complete and balanced, but most generic recipes are not: a UC Davis study found 95% of 200 recipes short of at least one essential nutrient.
Also called homemade dog food, home-prepared diet, ghar ka khana for dogs, dal chawal for dogs.
Key facts
- Home-cooked diets can be adequate if they are complete and balanced, but they cannot be tested for adequacy the way commercial diets can, so WSAVA advises a recipe from a vet trained in nutrition and check-ups with blood tests twice a year. WSAVA
- Of 200 home-made dog food recipes from 34 sources, 95% were short of at least one essential nutrient, more than 83% had several shortfalls, and only 9 met adult dog minimums. University of California, Davis
- 92% of those recipes had vague or incomplete instructions that left the owner guessing about ingredients, cooking or supplements. University of California, Davis
- Onions, garlic and chives can damage red blood cells and cause anaemia, and grapes and raisins can cause kidney damage in dogs. ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Home-cooked diets let owners choose ingredients, but take time to prepare, vary in quality, can cost more and are hard to formulate completely. Merck Veterinary Manual
Can a dog live on home-cooked Indian food?
Yes, if the recipe is formulated to be complete and balanced. A bowl of the family's dal-chawal or roti with leftovers is not.
Many Indian dogs, Indies especially, have grown up on rice, roti, curd and the family's leftovers. The trouble is not that these foods are poisonous but that, as a whole diet, they are almost never complete. A dog needs set amounts of protein, specific fats, vitamins such as D and E, and minerals such as zinc and calcium. The UC Davis researchers singled out shortfalls in choline, vitamin D, zinc and vitamin E as particularly concerning, linking them to immune problems, fat build-up in the liver and bone and muscle problems.
Deficiencies do not show in a week. A dog can look fine for months on an unbalanced diet before problems appear, which is why WSAVA asks for twice-yearly vet checks and blood tests for dogs fed home-cooked food, more often for dogs with a medical condition.
Indian home cooking also adds risks of its own: onion, garlic, salt and spice in dal, sabzi and gravy. Food prepared for the dog needs to be cooked separately, without any of them.
What should go in, and stay out of, a dog's home-cooked bowl?
Do
- Use a recipe formulated for your dog by a vet with nutrition training, or ask your vet or a veterinary college to refer you to one. WSAVA
- Follow the recipe exactly, weighing ingredients, and use the supplement it specifies: most fail without it. University of California, Davis
- Cook meat and eggs thoroughly; raw meat and eggs can carry Salmonella and E. coli. ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Keep cooked food in the fridge: home-cooked food cannot be left out for long in Indian heat. WSAVA
Don’t
- Do not add onion, garlic or chives, common in tadka and gravy. ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Do not feed grapes or raisins, including in kheer or sweets. ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Do not add salt or salty snacks: too much salt causes thirst and, in larger amounts, vomiting, tremors and seizures. ASPCA Animal Poison Control
- Do not rely on online or book recipes for the main diet; some include harmful ingredients such as garlic. WSAVA
- Do not assume milk or other dairy agrees with your dog: many pets lack enough lactase and get diarrhoea. ASPCA Animal Poison Control
What are the ways to feed a dog home food safely?
Main diet
Formulated home diet
A recipe written for your dog by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, with a specific vitamin and mineral supplement. Only 4 of the 200 recipes in the UC Davis study, all by board-certified nutritionists, met the stricter nutrient standards. University of California, Davis
Mixed
Complete commercial food plus home toppings
A food labelled complete and balanced as the base, with small amounts of plain cooked rice, egg or vegetables on top, counted within the dog's treat share of about 10% of daily calories. WSAVA
Treat only
Generic recipe as an occasional snack
As long as there are no toxic ingredients, a generic recipe may be fine as a single snack or treat, but not as the dog's main meals. WSAVA
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Questions owners ask
Is roti or chapati good for dogs?
- Plain roti made without ghee, salt or spices is not toxic to most dogs, but it is mainly starch and is not a balanced meal. Treat it as an occasional extra counted within the dog's treat allowance, not as the main diet. Stuffed parathas often contain onion or garlic, which are harmful to dogs.
Can I feed my dog dal and rice every day?
- Not as the whole diet unless a vet nutritionist has built the recipe. Plain dal and rice alone lack several essential nutrients, and in a UC Davis study 95% of home-made recipes were short of at least one. Cook the dog's portion separately, with no onion, garlic, salt or spices.
Who can formulate a home-cooked diet for my dog in India?
- Ask your vet first. WSAVA suggests asking your veterinarian to help find a veterinary nutritionist, or contacting the veterinary school in your area. In India that means the state veterinary college or university nearest you. Take the recipe back to your own vet so they can plan the twice-yearly checks.
Does my dog need vitamin supplements on home-cooked food?
- Usually, and the right one depends on the recipe. A properly formulated home diet names the exact supplement and amount; that is a large part of what makes it complete. Do not add a random supplement on your own, because some vitamins and minerals are harmful in excess.
Keep reading
Related terms
More in nutrition
- BARF dietA BARF diet, short for bones and raw food or biologically appropriate raw food, feeds a dog or cat uncooked meat, organs and bones, sometimes with vegetables. Vets warn that the claimed benefits are not backed by science, while the risks are well documented: germs such as Salmonella and Listeria, bone injuries and unbalanced nutrition.
- Complete and balancedComplete and balanced is a pet food label claim that the food contains every nutrient a dog or cat needs, in the right amounts and ratios, so it can be fed as the whole diet for a stated life stage. Foods without it, labelled complementary or for intermittent feeding, are treats or toppers, not meals.
- Grain-free dietA grain-free diet is pet food made without cereals such as rice, wheat or maize, usually using peas, lentils, other pulses or potatoes instead. Grains are not fillers and most pets digest them well. Since 2018 the US FDA has looked into reports of heart disease, called DCM, in dogs on such foods, without proving a cause.
- KibbleKibble is dry pet food: dough cooked and shaped under pressure, then dried to about 10% water. It is the cheapest and easiest way to feed a dog or cat a complete diet, keeps at room temperature, and can be measured exactly. Choose one labelled complete and balanced for your pet's life stage.
- Resting energy requirement (RER)The resting energy requirement, or RER, is the number of calories a healthy pet needs in a day lying at rest in comfortable surroundings. Vets calculate it from body weight as 70 times the weight in kilograms to the power 0.75, then multiply it by a factor for life stage and neutering to estimate daily food.
- TheobromineTheobromine is a bitter natural chemical in cocoa, from the same family as caffeine. Dogs clear it slowly, so a chocolate snack can build up to a poisonous level, causing vomiting, restlessness, a racing heart, tremors and seizures. Cocoa powder and dark chocolate carry the most. If a dog eats chocolate, call a vet straight away.
- Treat allowanceA treat allowance is the share of a pet's daily calories that can come from treats, chews, toppers and table food without unbalancing its diet or causing weight gain. Vets' nutrition guidance puts it at no more than about 10% of the day's calories, with the other 90% from a complete and balanced food.
- Wet foodWet food is canned, pouch or tray pet food, sealed and then heat-sterilised, and roughly 68 to 78% water. It is tasty, filling and adds water to a pet's day, which can help cats with urinary problems, but it costs more per calorie than kibble and spoils quickly once opened, especially in Indian heat.
- XylitolXylitol is a sugar alcohol used to sweeten sugar-free gum, mints, sweets, some nut butters, toothpaste and medicines. In dogs it triggers a large release of insulin, so blood sugar can fall sharply within 10 to 60 minutes, and some dogs go on to liver damage. Any amount eaten is a reason to call a vet straight away.
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Sources
Each source was opened and read on the date shown. How Petym checks its sources
- WSAVA: Frequently asked questions and myths (Global Nutrition Committee) (opens in a new tab)
- University of California, Davis: Homemade dog food recipes can be risky business, study finds (15 July 2013) (opens in a new tab)
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control: People foods to avoid feeding your pets (opens in a new tab)
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Dog and cat foods (full review November 2023, updated June 2025) (opens in a new tab)