Woofing it Down – Guide to Making Healthy Dog Food At Home
September 4th, 2010 Posted in Cooking, Food & Wine
The complete Quick & Easy Guide to Making Healthy Dog Food At HomeLearn how dogs with chronic illness improved after being fed a healthy homemade diet of fresh foods.Dispel the myths that may be sabotaging your dog’s health.Learn what foods you should never feed your dog.Find out what is in processed commercial dog foods, that may be making your dog sick.Learn practical cost effective solutions to feeding your dog with fresh homemade foods, using a more holistic approach for a longer, happier, and healthier life.Cooking & feeding instructions for puppies, adult dogs, senior dogs, and the over-weight dog.Learn why store bought dog food costs you more to feed than a homemade diet.Quick, Easy & Healthy recipes to cook for your dog, including meals, healthy treats, cakes and ice cream.
User Reviews
I borrowed this book from a friend and eventually picked up a copy for myself. I was thoroughly disgusted by the amount of chemical and waste additives in store brand dog foods. When I started preparing the recipes from Woofing it Down my lab became more energetic, his fur coat became shinier and healthier, and his excitement for dinner time elevated greatly. I am incredibly surprised with the ease and inexpensive nature of preparing food for my dog at home. I was also surprised at the variety of foods dogs could eat. The myriad of different foods and recipes fit easily within my grocery shopping list and budget. I would recommend this to any pet owner who wants to make a positive change in their animals' diet and overall health. Thanks in advance! I am purchasing a copy of this book because I sincerely want to cook meals for my animal at home. Dog food in the store is disgusting and I have been told this can save tons of cash when buying foods for my family and pet at the same time. -- My dog loves this food!
My children begged and begged for a dog and I decided to cave in and buy a puppy for them last Christmas. I was shocked by the cost of vaccinations, treatment, toys, and dog food. My veterinarian had this book in her office and suggested that we purchase a copy. I was skeptical about preparing my dog food because I assumed it would be time consuming and may not offer all of the nutrients that a growing puppy needs. The book was inexpensive and I am very happy we purchased it because now I can cook easy, healthy meals for the puppy while provide all of the essential nutritional elements required for growth and development. -- Delicious Doggie Cookbook
We had already started looking for dog food alternatives for several reasons. The only processed dog foods that our veterinarian recommended were very expensive. Sometimes we went to the pet store and they didn't even have the economy bags of food so we would end up buying very small bags with exceedingly high price per ounce costs. My wife and I were unsure about what types of food is safe for our dog so we didn't know if preparing food would be efficient and safe. This book is an excellent guide and it helped us save tons of cash on trashy, overly expensive store brand dog foods. -- Saved me money on overpriced dog food
I was greatly disappointed in this book. I expected to find intelligent and clearly laid out facts about what various dog foods contain, what these ingredients do to my dog and rationale on what to feed them to avoid the bad substances which I am sure can be found in most dogs foods.
While the intent behind this book appeared to be commendable the contents are completely unfounded and unresearched and not to mention badly written.
The author has clearly not researched the assertions made in her book and has not managed to prove even one. There are no references to her claims. For instance the claims that dog foods contain contaminants like pentobarbital, colourants and endotoxins. There are also no references for the claims about what these substances actually do.
In reading something like this I would like to see very specific scientific references that show the truth of what the author is stating. The best the author could come up with was a quote from CNN about the addition of melamine to pet food. In fact the CNN reporter said "Somebody may have added melamine...".
Many of the author's statements seem without a point to them. There is (allegedly) cereal grain and gluten added to pet food but at no point is the reason why this is such a bad thing ever stated. Furthermore there is nothing listing the actual ingredients in the dog foods that the author apparently investigated and no where does the part of dog food that is good come to light.
Lastly, I thought that the list of recipes would be helpful even if the text was not. I was surprised, though, to find recipes containing cheese and recipes for icecream containing only sugary ingredients. The recipes go against claims about not giving your dog too much salt as there is in cheese (not to mention how highly processed supermarket cheese is) and the previous litany against the sugars added to dog food.
I suppose I should not be surprised because a look at the author's background reveals that she is not a professional health practitioner of any sort but rather a trainer and dog owner only. Clearly she does not have the background to write this sort of content.
About the writing:
The writing is immature and has not been edited. In places the author lapses into incomplete sentences, particularly in list like the list of foods to avoid. "This causes dogs intestinal gas - avoid it" was used several times in that particular list.
Unfortunately the book was particularly hard to read because of the lack of formatting. Paragraphs were not separated properly. Chapters are not started on their own pages and there is no table of contents. While these are the problems plaguing the eBook industry as a whole I take exception to paying for a book that has not been properly formatted. If a publisher were to release a book like in print would you agree to pay for it? I think not.
The book comes across as a non-expert's unfounded tirade against an imagined enemy without a shred of proof or even intelligent comment. Rather spend your money and time on another book, preferably with professional background.
-- The book comes across as a non-expert's unfounded tirade against an imagined enemy without proof or intelligent comment
Got this book on my kindle and read it in about 2 hours. Its an easy read and gives a general view over what a dogs diet should comprise of. Author writes a very convincing argument for home cooked dog diets versus commercial dog food. Love the lists in the back of the book. However the recipes (the reason I bought the book) did not follow the 50% meat 30% veggie 30% grain rule. Most of the recipes are unbalanced. Since they are unbalanced you cant feed your dog them everyday. Following the recipe's (in my case with 3 chihuahuas) amount will yield quite a few unhealthy meals. What would I do with all that excess? So all the book provided me was with recipes for occasional treats and tasty occasional meals.
IT DID provide a background in how to balance the diet however the author of this book is not a board certified veterinary nutritionist so who knows how accurate the information is. She bases her 50:30:30 ratio (with other once or twice week extras) on experience as a dog trainer, breeder and pet owner. In my opinion her advice sounds good but there really the only way to know is to buy another book from a board certified veterinary nutritionist to find out! I would recommend to skip this book unless you want a few treat recipes and get a book written by a someone who is certified to write about dog's dietary needs. -- Easy read however the recipes do not follow the authors guidelines for a balanced diet
