Every dog and every owner will benefit from the years of research behind the recipes you'll find here. From potato pancakes to macaroni and cheese to beef stew to fried tortillas, these recipes are simple to follow and use easy-to-find ingredients. They take the mystery out of home-cooked diets for your dog, and give you both a natural and healthy way to eat.
A Howell Dog Book of Distinction

"I do not consider myself an expert on canine nutrition. All my evidence is anecdotal, from personal experience, over a period of time," (p. 7)

Yes, the author uses onions and garlic in some of her recipes. Onions can cause a Heinz body anemia in dogs. However, "The possibility of developing a Heinz body hemolytic anemia appears to be variable between pets, and it is not possible to predict which animals may or may not have such a reaction to onion or garlic" (source: PetDiets.com FAQ page). Apparently the author's dogs were not susceptible. If this is a concern, then leave the offending ingredients out.

The author's statements should clear up any confusion on who or what one is cooking for:

"Very simply I share my meal with our dog," (p. 3).
"Feeding your adult dog is like feeding another adult family member..." (p. 7).
"Think in terms of cooking these meals for your dog, then having the dog share its dinner with you," (p. 18).

Seems to me, that this is a recipe book for you and your dog to share. The author has a personal theory about nutrition for dogs and people - basically eat a little bit of everything and moderation in all things - and does includes recipes that should be viewed as treat or splurge items, not regular meals: hummus or cheesecake for example.

If you are committed to feeding BARF, raw foods, supplemented or no grain diets than this isn't the book for you. Cooked meat and grain form a goodly part of her feeding guidelines. Also, if you are looking for precise amounts to feed, then look elsewhere. The author advocates a bit of trial and error to find the right amount for your dog as well as frequent going-overs to assess body condition, much like Purina's ideal body condition charts.

For those wanting precision and supplementation in homemade dog food, I would recommend "Home Prepared Dog & Cat Diets, The Healthful Alternative" by Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD. This book is of use for all lifestages and special needs diets (for example Chronic Renal Disease). Be forewarned, the book does require you to put effort out in figuring the amounts to feed based on calorie/weight charts.

Overall, I like "Natural Food Recipes for Healthy Dogs". The guidelines are simple, her philosophy is similar to mine and anyone that gets a Pyr to 14 years of age must be doing something right. No one book has all the answers and what works for one dog may not work for another. Keep reading and questioning and pay attention to how your dogs are doing no matter what you feed them.


Oddly Enough, Dog Food Is Controversial   July 6, 2003
 9 out of 12 found this review helpful

Hey, what's the problem? Sure, dogs are carnivores, not omnivores. But...they are opportunistic eaters, that is, they'll pretty much eat anything they can get their mouths around, good for them or not, kind of like humans. I can't believe how feeding dogs has become so controversial of late. There are those who love Bones & Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF)as a diet and others who insist it will kill your pets. Some say kibble is the only way to go. Carol Boyle's book is great! The food is delicious, my dogs love it. I've got sense enough to figure out the proper proportions for my small dogs without having a chart spell it out for me. My vet told me onions will not harm dogs unless eaten in large amounts, and in any case, you can substitute with some garlic for onions or just omit them. For the cheesecake recipe, Ms. Boyle notes it should be fed in only very small amounts, as a treat. Best of all, every recipe I've tried in this book is good! I highly recommend it for humans. Ms. Boyle has not intended her book as a Bible for feeding dogs but does give useful information along with great recipes. I can think for myself, and I feed my dogs the BARF diet supplemented occasionally with a bit of food from Carol's recipes, to my dogs' great joy. In fact, the only way I can get my dogs to eat the small amount of veggies required by the BARF diet is to add a little of Ms. Boyle's Hoisin recipe sauce! I highly recommend this book, not as the sole and absolute reference on feeding dogs but as a terrific addition to other information on the subject.


Should Have Read the Reviews BEFORE Buying This ...   April 16, 2003
 20 out of 27 found this review helpful

I'm ashamed that I bought this book. Needless to say it's being returned! I would give it MINUS 5 stars if I could.

If I would have only read the reviews about this book first it would have saved a lot of wasted time. I found many of the reviews would have been helpful to me in deciding to order this book in the first place.

I can't believe that people are being told to give their dogs onions! I already knew to avoid them, as we do chocolate, and as soon as I opened the book (basically a HUMAN cookbook) I was heartbroken to find such a dangerous book is being pawned off on unsuspecting dog "owners."
Another stupid part about this book is that it said nothing of the portion amounts of food recommended for dogs of different sizes. Even if the recipes were not potentially toxic- which they are!- would you feed the same amount to a yorkie as a great dane?! I think not.

This is not a helpful book for guardians of pets. If anyone wants yet another human cookbook (I don't) that's all this is.