In 2008 when Sandra Bailey wrote her book “Real Dog’s Don’t Eat Kibble”, she’d been feeding her three Papillons (Digit, Pip & Squeeze) a raw food diet for four years. Her decision to switch from kibble to raw food was motivated partly by the words of veterinarian Don Hamilton – “I don’t believe we really know what a healthy dog or cat looks like these days. We can only speculate.“
Sandra’s passion like mine, is to help educate dog owners that raw feeding doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, that it isn’t dangerous, and that it ultimately leads to healthier dogs, living longer lives and living higher quality lives than their commercial fed cousins.
I started off reading this book feeling almost as if I’d written it myself. As I read, I found myself nodding “yes” to much of what I was reading, which makes sense since canine nutrition, specifically raw feeding, is the main focus of Doggy Bytes.
The book begins with a basic lesson on canine digestive anatomy, and the types of foods dogs (wild and domestic) evolved to eat. From there Sandra explains the differences between chronic and acute diseases and how some contagious diseases are beneficial for the development of a healthy immune system, of which a natural raw diet is the foundation.
Some of the Topics Discussed in the Book
No book about raw dog food would be complete without talking about some of the unhealthy ingredients, chemicals and other additives that make it into today’s commercial dog foods, or how processing destroys most of the nutrients in them. Which is precisely the reason why pet food manufacturers add them back in.
It’s common knowledge that some pet food companies have included diseased animal parts and euthanized animals (from kill shelters) in their pet food products, but I was really surprised/shocked to read that some of these animals have been rendered with flea collars still on. WT*!!
Carnivorous Confusion
When referring to the dogs classification in the animal kingdom, Sandra kind of bounces around a bit. On page 4 she writes “our dogs are carnivores“, on page 6 “They are “omnivores” . . .“, and on page 33 “Dogs are not totally carnivores“. I can see this being a bit confusing for people that don’t know that dogs ARE carnivores.
Let food be thy medicine
“Real Dogs Don’t Eat Kibble” is an easy read, under 200 pages. I think Sandra does a good job of providing some good basic information about raw feeding, and I would definitely recommend this book to those that are interested in finding alternatives to commercial pet food, and exploring the benefits of feeding their dogs a raw food diet. From a quote at the beginning of the third chapter; “Let food be thy medicine” – Hippocrates
Bonuses
At the end of the book Sandra invites you to receive her “CPR for Your Dog” report. You can also sign up to recieve her “Healthy Recipe of the Week” newsletter, and she does telephone consultations too if you have any unanswered questions after reading her book.
Click on the image below to pick up a copy of “Real Dogs Don’t Eat Kibble”. It could be the best twelve bucks you ever spend on your dog!
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If you have a dog nutrition related book or product you would like me to review here on Doggy Bytes, drop me an email.
I'm a dog guardian to Sweety, my 15 year old Border Collie & Zeus a stray American Pit Bull Terrier that I rescued in October of 2009. I write about canine health and nutrition focusing mainly on topics relating to feeding a raw meaty bones diet.
