Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog (Howell reference books) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Wendy Volhard, Kerry Brown
Publisher: Howell Book House
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $7.65
You Save: $9.30 (55%)
New (35) Used (22) from $6.00
Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 115720
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8
MPN: 1582451532
ISBN: 1582451532
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.70852
UPC: 021898451538
EAN: 9781582451534
ASIN: 1582451532
Publication Date: May 24, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
This second edition includes the in-depth information you need to evaluate your dogs' dietary and medical regimens in light of holistic alternatives. Authors Wendy Volhard & Kerry Brown, DVM, provide you with a new way to look at canine health in general. Packed with information on diet, allergies, health, supplements, vaccinations, homeopathy, and the five element theory. (Paperback, 314 pages)
Amazon.com Review
Finding nutritional data for dogs can be a difficult business--and while much of the information in Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog is presented by anecdote, there's still plenty of worthwhile reading here. Aimed at dog owners that are already fairly committed to nonallopathic forms of health care for their pets, much of the book is based around author Wendy Volhard's Natural Diet. The Natural Diet is fairly labor intensive, as Volhard is the first to admit, but she provides page after page of testimonials that credit the diet with improved temperaments, better activity levels, and exemplary physical health. Each ingredient in this diet is discussed in depth, so owners not ready to take the step of providing a complete diet from scratch can still learn about potentially valuable supplements, as well as what ingredients to look for in a commercial diet. Beyond the dietary information provided, there are several chapters that give solid explanations of different types of health care available, including homeopathy, kinesiology, and the five-element theory. For those who still prefer allopathic care for their dogs, the chapters that cover standard lab tests are extremely useful, finally giving a layman's guide for urinalysis, blood serum, liver function, and thyroid testing. A glossary defines various terms such as acidosis and hepatic, and each description is easily understandable, even by those with no medical background whatsoever. For puppy owners, the chapter discussing vaccinations is informative--Volhard questions the necessity of many we take for granted, and suggests several methods for lowering the required number for your pup. Ultimately, the majority of this book is geared toward folks who are already committed to providing their pooches with alternative health care and homemade food. No matter how interesting the dietary concepts presented here, if you aren't already a true believer it's not likely that Volhard's anecdotes will provide you with enough statistical proof to completely overhaul your dog's way of life. --Jill Lightner
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Not enough details September 4, 2008
Anna Transue (College Station, TX)
I bought this book at Barnes & Nobles after sitting down and thoroughly reading the chapter on how to make dog food. Initially, I felt it was going to be very time consuming and was a little put off by the intricacy of the recipe, but after reading some of the stories about sick dogs who had recovered...I thought, "why not?"
I bought the book soley for the purpose of making dog food. I didn't read many of the other chapters (just skimmed). I'm not looking to change my philosophical outlook on dogs and life, or teach my dog yoga or anything like that...I just wanted the homemade dog food recipe.
Anyways, my number one complaint about this book is the lack of explanatory details when it comes to implementing this diet. The recipes are gauged by weight class and my dog happens to fall in between the 10-25 lb range (20 lbs). I thought, "oh well I'll just double the 10 lb recipe" but the numbers don't increase evenly with every 5 lbs, for example. So I just stuck to the 25 lb recipe (uncomfortable feeling #1).
The next issue I had was during the "transition diet". OK, I was willing to "fast" my dog for a solid 1.5 days, but when it came time to feed him yogurt and honey as his first meal on the tranistion diet, he wouldn't eat it. I stuck to my guns and followed the directions for tranisitioning, but I began to lose my steadfastness after 2.5 days and my 13 year old, healthy dog was losing energy (uncomfortable feeling #2).
One last gruesome detail, then I'll stop. He has been eating the 25 lb diet of raw meat and cereal meal for a few days now and it's 4 a.m. CT as I'm writing this review because he's had diarrhea ever since he started the diet. He woke me up at 3:30 this morning whining to go out, which is extremely unusual, and I knew it was because he had diarrhea...my limit has been declared. Now, I'm not expecting a dog to go from 13 years of commercial food diet straight to raw meat and not have some gastrointestinal problems...even for a week. But he's a small dog and can get dehydrated easily. There was little to no explanation in the book of what to expect in this area. I believe the author briefly describes what the stool should look like on the cereal meal (breakfast) portion of the recipe (book mentions nothing about diarrhea), but my dog's stool looked even worse the next morning after eating raw meat (completely covered in mucus).
My point is, there was little help in the way of alternatives in this book. Granted, I did not follow the "transition diet" exactly as scheduled in the book, and I'm willing to admit that these results could be my fault. But I can't be sure of that and I'm not willing to risk my dog's health any more. When I told my vet I wanted to make homemade dog/cat food, the only thing she really stressed was that I cook the meat. I have successfully transitioned my cats onto homemade cat food (much easier) and I do cook the chicken. I figured there is less of a possibility of salmonella in raw red meat, so I decided to give it to my dog raw.
Anyways, some of the other reviews are right. This book has a lot of cool information on the health benefits of each ingredient. For example, I didn't know how nutritious honey really was. But, for me, there weren't enough details. I got a more thorough account of how to make cat food from a website online. The vet was EXTREMELY detailed and everything she said has been true. I'm a detail-oriented person and this book didn't cut it for me.
I would highly recommend consulting with your vet WITH THIS BOOK if you choose to get it. I was lazy and should have reviewed it with my vet. Good luck!
 Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog April 1, 2008
Linda Corpe (Bremerton, WA, USA)
An excellent book. Writer has 30 years experience in dog handling. She explains the raw food diet and other health ingredients to help your dog stay healthy or to heal your dog of many health problems. Ingredients and nutritional supplements are explained and why they are necessary. I recommend this book to everyone who loves their dogs.
Close, but no cigar May 9, 2007
Chris (Southington, CT USA)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
This book is worth its price purely for the information on interpreting blood and urine testing. She also offers some great ideas on supplements for specific health concerns. Thirdly, her recommendations for vaccinations or lack thereof are excellent. That's the good part.
However, by far and large, I couldn't disagree more with Wendy Volhard's dietary recommendations. If she can show me a canine running around the forest looking for oatmeal or any of the other grains she recommends, I might give her recommendations a second look.
Until then, from my experience, BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods a la Ian Billinghurst's recommendations) is the only way to feed dogs. Three dogs, 9 years, no vet bills, says it all. My Keeshond, who died at the age of 16, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatitis at the age of 7 and given 6 months to live. The vet wanted to put her on PID canned food, largely barley based. At that time, we brought our Giant Schnauzer home from Skansen Kennels. The breeder strongly recommended the BARF diet, so I immediately switched the old Keeshond and our 6 month old Rottie to a raw meaty bones/fresh raw veggies and fruits diet, along with the Giant Schnauzer baby. The vet said I'd kill my dog. I told him that she's dead meat in 6 months anyway, so I might as well kill her my way.
Within 3 months, she was a puppy again, and lived to 16. All if this without the silly grain meal Wendy Volhard recommends! The big dogs are closing in on 10. The rottie has already outlived his predicted life span of 7 to 9 years. I love it! Their coats are gorgeous, and their teeth are perfect. No bad breath either. I wouldn't feed any other way.
Please don't get me wrong. I would still buy this book for its reference value, but don't buy into her dietary recommendations!
Super Reference Book January 29, 2007
Dayna (New York, NY)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I found the Holistic Guide for Healthy Dog just super and full of useful information and other references. It's also very easy to read and divided quite nicely.
Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog April 13, 2006
Summa Fitzpatrick
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is the best source for a Raw Diet available. It is very comprehensive. There are lots of sources available with this diet to help you along the way, such as the website (www.volhard.com) and the Volhard Yahoo Group discussions, which provide all the answers to your questions. If you want to provide the best life for your dog, this is definately the way to do it. The research carried out on this diet is extremely comprehensive and a proven success for over 30 years.
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