Homemade dog food in Lahore: is chicken and rice enough?

Many dogs in Lahore eat a pot of chicken and rice cooked just for them. It's a kind meal, but on its own it misses most of the calcium and several vitamins a dog needs every day.

Is chicken and rice good for dogs every day?

For a day or two of an upset stomach, it's a gentle meal. As the everyday food, it falls short. This is what equal weights of chicken breast and rice give an adult dog, worked out from US food data (USDA) against the European pet food guidelines (FEDIAF, 2025):

The biggest gap is calcium. Cooked chicken breast has about 15 times more phosphorus than calcium, and rice adds little of either, but a dog needs at least as much calcium as phosphorus. Fed for months, that imbalance weakens bones: the Merck Veterinary Manual notes that young animals fed all-meat diets commonly develop rickets.

Are homemade dog food recipes from the internet enough?

Usually not. UC Davis vets checked 200 published home recipes for dogs, many written by vets. Only nine met minimum nutrient standards for adult dogs, and 95% were short of at least one essential nutrient. The worst gaps were choline, vitamin D, zinc and vitamin E: the same as plain chicken and rice. Most recipes were also vague, like "a cup of meat" without saying which cut.

Their advice: if you cook for your dog long term, use a recipe made for dogs by a board-certified vet nutritionist, and follow it exactly.

What should I add if I cook dog food at home?

A good home-cooked bowl usually has these. Your vet nutritionist's recipe gives the amounts.

• A measured calcium source, in the amount your recipe gives. Without it, a meat-based bowl has the calcium balance backwards.
• A little organ meat, such as liver, for vitamin A. Keep liver to about 5% of the day's food: too much vitamin A is harmful.
• Cooked egg, never raw.
• An oil the recipe names, often fish oil, for the essential fats.
• Cooked vegetables, and a portion weighed for your dog's weight. Our feeding guide gives daily amounts by weight.

Leave out what Pakistani cooking is built on: onion, garlic, salt and masala, and never give cooked bones. Not sure about something else? Look it up in Can my dog eat?

Where can I buy homemade dog food in Lahore?

Wagbowl cooks fresh dog food in our Lahore kitchen and delivers it frozen across the city. Every recipe is meat, organ meats and vegetables, with whole eggs minced with the shell for calcium. The chicken recipes add fish fat and flaxseed for omega-3. Each recipe page lists what's inside by weight.

• Value Bowl beef tripe and liver, chicken neck, rice, vegetables, whole eggs Rs 650 a kg
• Chicken & Veg with Rice chicken cuts and liver, rice, vegetables, fish fat, whole eggs Rs 850 a kg
• Chicken & Veg Grain Free chicken cuts and liver, sweet potato, vegetables, fish fat, whole eggs Rs 850 a kg
• Prime the most chicken breast, liver, vegetables, fish fat, ten eggs a batch Rs 950 a kg

Any recipe on the Monthly Plan: Rs 520 to 760 a kg, 30 × 1 kg packs a month.

Start with the 1 Week Trial: 7 packs at half price, from Rs 1,750, one per customer. Our recipes are made for adult dogs; for a puppy, message us first.

What should I ask before buying home-cooked dog food?

• What's in it, by weight? Ask for the full list, not just "chicken and veg". Look for organ meat and a calcium source.
• How is it cooked and stored? Ours is cooked until the thickest piece reaches 74°C, cooled fast and kept frozen at −18°C until it reaches you.
• How much do I feed? A seller should give a daily amount by your dog's weight. Ours comes from the feeding guide, or the 60-second quiz works it out for your dog.
• What does it cost per day? For a 25 kg dog, about 880 g of Wagbowl a day is about Rs 460 on the Value Bowl Monthly Plan. A 10 kg dog needs about 540 g, about Rs 280 a day.
• How do I switch? Over a week, not overnight. Our 7-day switching plan shows how. For prices against kibble, see dog food prices in Pakistan.