New Book!

C

ClantyreSheltie

Forums Sage
Today I received my copy of "Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs" by Lew Olson. This book covers the history of processed foods and the lobby behind them (like the AAFCO), breaks down the nutritional needs of dogs, what they need and what they don't need, explains what causes the general digestive upsets we see (gas, inflammation, etc.). The whole back half of the book seems to be recipes for special needs.

I can't wait to get into it. Finally, someone has put it all together in one place. I hope to learn a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Natural-N...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277419508&sr=8-1
 
Food Geek

OK, finished most of it. : ) Will read it again this weekend.

Basically, the book promotes whole foods in any form, which includes whole grains, meat, veggies, dairy, etc. It is not pro-raw or pro-cooked. It is fairly anti-processed foods, but she also explains how to add whole foods to processed diets. It has recipes for raw and cooked meals for all types of dogs and conditions (pregnant, puppies, kidney problems, low-glycemic, liver-problems, old, athletes, etc.). It talks about protein and fat and minerals and vitamins and amino acids and the uses for each and the best sources for each. But she manages to do it in a way that doesn't take a PhD to understand.

She addresses common problems we see in dog digestion (including poop-eating), and which ingredients tend to cause those problems and how to mitigate those problems.

I think the most interesting part was the history of processed foods. At some point, people fed whatever table scraps they had. The dog seemed to do just fine on those scraps. Then came processed foods, which was waste material from processing human food, mixed with some maybe OK protein sources. The marketing was sheer genius, and at some point, we went from feeding table scraps to "if you don't feed this processed food, your dog will die." They have successfully convinced people that there is no possible way you can feed your own animals, let them do it for you. It's just too complicated. This book lays out the idea that it's not really that complicated.

OK, so I'm a dog food geek. If I cared this much about my own food, I would be in better shape. :smile2:
 
lol
sounds like a great read!
It's true about the human food they thrived on well before dog food came alonmg.. Very interesting...
I may dig around for that book then!
 
Hi Rachel,
I just read this post today and ordered the book. I'm hoping to find a recipe to entice Chandler to eat and I think it will really help with Gypsy's skin issues. Thanks for the recommendation.:biggrin2:
 
No kidding....

A few years ago, my mom was talking about growing up during the depression, and how poor they were with 10 kids in the family. It's amazing the things they did to make ends meet! She also mentioned that they had two dogs--one was an indoor "pet", and the other one was more of an outdoor watch dog. So I asked her how they ever afforded dog food when they could barely feed 10 children. She gave me a look like I was crazy. DOG FOOD???? There was no such thing as dog food! They gave them scraps from cooking and butchering, and they both lived to a ripe old age.

So even though I'm just as guilty as anyone of scouring kibble labels to find the "best" dog food, the other half of me doesn't stress over scraping a few leftovers from our plates into their dishes. Depends what it is of course....I'm not going to give them leftover queso with jalapenos or anything like that, but within reason I figure that it's only been a relatively short time that dog food was even invented.

Oh...that reminds me that we're almost out of dog food. So tonight after work I'll stop at the pet food store and scour over all the brands, wondering if I've been making the right choice all these years. I do it every time! :winkgrin:
 
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