Book of the Month

My pick for Book of the Month for June is "Grow Your Pups With Bones" by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. I reviewed one of Dr. Billinghurst's other raw feeding books back in February. I kind of feel that this book is quite similar to the other book with a few changes. For starters, there is more of a focus on how to feed your dog on the raw diet during the different life stages. There's particular emphasis on what you should do if you are a breeder and have a pregnant bitch. Generally speaking, I think it's a good resource.

I will warn you though, if you're feeding kibble and thinking about switching to raw and you read this book, be prepared. The author is very adamant that raw feeding is the ONLY way that dogs and cats should be fed. You need to read the book for the good information that it contains and gloss over the propaganda part that is basically all throughout. Billinghurst will definitely make you feel awful for feeding your dog kibble. I actually caught myself feeling guilty that I use kibble for training treats! I know that it can be hard to listen or read something from a person who is so vehement about feeding raw, but there is good information inside the book that can be quite beneficial. You just kind of need to have a thicker skin when reading this book.

I will also admit that it's slightly annoying how he basically blames every single skeletal problem that a dog may have, on feeding kibble. His primary focus is hip dysplasia. He has found a way to irrevocably blame kibble feeding for all the ails of the canine world. However, there are plenty of kibble fed dogs who are perfectly healthy and don't suffer from these ailments. Bess has excellent hips and she was fed kibble for almost the whole first year of her life. According to Billinghurst she's either a freak of nature who has managed to evolve to a point where she can handle the damages of kibble (even though he talks about how slowly dogs evolve and that they can't possibly have evolved fast enough for the digestive system to be able to deal with kibble) or it's a fluke.

In a nut shell, it's a good book for information on feeding raw. Just be aware that the author is basically one of the nazi raw feeders who can be quite intimidating to those contemplating switching (and I know how that feels because I've been there).