You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
erreid 's review for:
DID NOT FINISH
A small disclaimer: I went into this book knowing that I would probably disagree with a lot of the things being promoted by the authors, but tried to keep as an open a mind as I could for the sake of discovering some fun recipes to try.
I checked this book out from the library because it seemed interesting; I love baking human treats and a recent change in medication meant that my dog was free to expand beyond her strictly hypoallergenic food diet. I was excited to try out some homemade recipes that promised to be healthy, and thought I had found a good resource for making special treats and a variety of meals.
There were a few red flags right off the bat: a raw food diet being promoted as the healthiest option for any and every dog, the immediate bad-mouthing of veterinary schooling and practice as a whole, the inclusion of questionably toxic ingredients in some recipes, and insinuating malice on the part of dog owners who feed their dogs kibble or store-bought treats.
Once you learn to get passed the negativity that is the tone of the writing (which is hard considering the introduction/text of nearly every single recipe takes a jab at either other vets or store-bought dog food and treats), the recipes themselves are mostly useful. There are recipes for jerky, celebration cakes, treats, and even things like shampoo, floor cleaner, and other non-food products. Aside from the recipes that suggest leaving the protein of choice raw for better health benefits (which is a whole other conversation), they are generally as advertised: healthy and easy-to-make recipes. This is where the two stars come from. If I were more impressed by the rest of the book, I definitely would have tried a few of these.
For a cookbook/recipe book that is marketed as the guide to a healthy life backed up by "New Science," there is a severe lack of science in the book. The citations are only available by visiting the website and most of the cited studies are either human-centered or do not feature canine subjects. Despite what the introduction to the book claims, humans and dogs do not have the same digestive tract. If you insist that your readers (and anyone who cares about their dogs) follows your recipes or else they are doing a disservice to their pets, the "New Science" you are quoting needs to be accessible and accurate.
Although it is not obvious as you are reading through these recipes, keep in mind that Dr. Becker's approach to animal welfare, alongside everything mentioned in this book, includes aversion to regular vaccines and boosters, and Rodney Habib has no formal qualifications in animal nutrition or health.
I checked this book out from the library because it seemed interesting; I love baking human treats and a recent change in medication meant that my dog was free to expand beyond her strictly hypoallergenic food diet. I was excited to try out some homemade recipes that promised to be healthy, and thought I had found a good resource for making special treats and a variety of meals.
There were a few red flags right off the bat: a raw food diet being promoted as the healthiest option for any and every dog, the immediate bad-mouthing of veterinary schooling and practice as a whole, the inclusion of questionably toxic ingredients in some recipes, and insinuating malice on the part of dog owners who feed their dogs kibble or store-bought treats.
Once you learn to get passed the negativity that is the tone of the writing (which is hard considering the introduction/text of nearly every single recipe takes a jab at either other vets or store-bought dog food and treats), the recipes themselves are mostly useful. There are recipes for jerky, celebration cakes, treats, and even things like shampoo, floor cleaner, and other non-food products. Aside from the recipes that suggest leaving the protein of choice raw for better health benefits (which is a whole other conversation), they are generally as advertised: healthy and easy-to-make recipes. This is where the two stars come from. If I were more impressed by the rest of the book, I definitely would have tried a few of these.
For a cookbook/recipe book that is marketed as the guide to a healthy life backed up by "New Science," there is a severe lack of science in the book. The citations are only available by visiting the website and most of the cited studies are either human-centered or do not feature canine subjects. Despite what the introduction to the book claims, humans and dogs do not have the same digestive tract. If you insist that your readers (and anyone who cares about their dogs) follows your recipes or else they are doing a disservice to their pets, the "New Science" you are quoting needs to be accessible and accurate.
Although it is not obvious as you are reading through these recipes, keep in mind that Dr. Becker's approach to animal welfare, alongside everything mentioned in this book, includes aversion to regular vaccines and boosters, and Rodney Habib has no formal qualifications in animal nutrition or health.