Back in the day it was unusual for a new raw feeder to be able to find ANY information to help them get started.  It was a new way of feeding that spread mostly by word of mouth with information gleaned from scattered books that were hard to find such as Give Your Dog A Bone by Dr. Billinghurst or Raw Meaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale.   Usually one of these books would be passed along from person to person and in that manner a whole new generation of raw feeders were spawned.  Today, its a different story.  The internet and a new crop of books that deal specifically with raw feeding, natural remedies and natural rearing of pets, have made their presence known and are collected and devoured by raw feeders everywhere.  Information is plentiful – some good, some not so good – and more and more people have seen the light when it comes to feeding their dogs and cats the natural way.  Sometimes it can be hard to wade through all the “information” that is out there  – what and who can you trust?  Is this person right?  Is this internet article for real? Which online raw feeding group do I choose????!!!  For the most part, we all have to make our own decisions based, hopefully, on lots of research, advice from knowledgeable peers and personal experience.  At A Place For Paws we have narrowed the search, somewhat, for our customers by choosing two books that WE think hit most of the important points while remaining easy to read and digest.

Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats – The Ultimate Diet by Kymythy R. Schultze is a comprehensive book that gives, in great detail, the ins and outs of feeding a natural raw diet.  Filled with testimonials, Schultze offers a guide that not only gives the basics but also delves into specifics that can answer just about any raw feeding question you might have.  She discusses supplements and their uses paying special attention to those that can help OR hinder your pet’s health.  She also investigates at length various vitamins and minerals that your pet needs and what whole foods they are best available in as well as specific foods and what your pet can get from each of those foods.  Complete with a diet calendar and suggested feeding regimes, this book is chock full of the specifics you haven’t been able to find else.  Perhaps most importantly, it illustrates how Schultze herself feeds her own dogs.

Raw Dog Food – Make It Easy For You and Your Dog by Carina Beth MacDonald is one of the easiest most enjoyable reads you will ever have!  Full of humor and real life situations, MacDonald takes raw feeding and brings it to the masses.  She expounds on the basics with particular attention to what sorts of foods are going to be easy for you to obtain, where to get them, how to get them for less and how to turn all of that into a balanced natural diet for your dog.  She hits on all the myths and fears that every newbie to raw feeding experiences in one form or another and lays those myths and fears to rest.  Humorous throughout, reading this book is akin to sitting down and having a conversation with an experienced raw feeder.  This book is an easy way to introduce just about anyone to the practicality and common sense of feeding a raw diet – for those people who want to know the basics and the realities of feeding raw but aren’t looking to become absolute experts in the field.  Don’t be surprised though – even you “experts” out there will get plenty out of this well written exceptional book.