The Natural Dog: A Complete Guide for Caring Dog Lovers

Full of real-life case studies and anecdotes, this book emphasizes a holistic approach to caring for your dog while providing the up-to-date and vital information every dog-owner needs, from adopting and training dogs to diet and grooming. Includes an A-Z guide covering over 40 common canine health problems. Line drawings.

Brennan, a veterinarian who supports holistic as well as conventional treatments, and Eckroate (the coauthor, with Anita Frazier, of The New Natural Cat ) offer an unusually informative and candid compendium on dog care. Succinct discussions of how to choose and train a dog lead to details about grooming--including advice on how to find the correct brush, shampoo and method of flea control, and nutrition (homemade meals are best, the writers conclude, but commercial food can easily be supplemented; plastic food bowls can harm a canine diner). The standout sections, however, are those dealing with medicine. Brennan and Eckroate weigh the benefits of acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathy, lasers and other alternative methods, both as primary treatments and as supplements to standard veterinary care, and substantiate their claims for holistic approaches with case studies. They also provide guidelines for selecting qualified practitioners. Another welcome feature: Brennan, who practices in Georgia, pays particular attention to the conditions occasioned by Southern climates. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is another in a spate of herbal/holistic treatises that have recently been dreamed up by authors and publishers (e.g., Diane Stein's Natural Healing for Dogs and Cats , LJ 3/15/93; Angela Patmore's Your Natural Dog , LJ 10/15/93). Although the chapters on selecting and grooming your dog and the descriptions of canine diseases are excellent, some of the recommended treatments could actually be harmful. Using nux vomica (strychinine) for two weeks as treatment for poisoning is certainly risky, and feeding dogs raw meat ignores the possibility of bacterial infection. Scare tactics about preservatives, chemicals, etc., in processed foods are unwarranted, especially regarding antibiotics in eggs--laying hens are not fed antibiotics. Contradictory statements appear frequently; we are told in one chapter that bathing should be kept to a minimum but later that old dogs should swim daily. Some procedures for making diagnoses and selecting treatments can only be described as "far out." Because the lay reader cannot distinguish the good from the bad advice in this book, it is not recommended.
- A. Louis Shor, DVM, Veterinary Consultant, Mt. Laurel, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.