REVIEW: The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book

I showed a fun video in the last post starring a few of the dogs we have between my mom and myself (we actually have 5 between us!). And, in this post, I wrote about some of the things I feed my big dog, including a little Green Mush™(that post was written before I found our stray pup).

So, in continuing with the doggy theme, since it seems to be taking over my life now that I'm house sitting for my mom, while she's in Michigan, and taking care of all 5 dogs(!), I thought I'd share a review about a book that was generously sent to me, The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book... I really enjoyed this book. It's encouraging for people who want to feed their dogs a vegan diet. I have no issue with that personally. I think it is important to get the support of your vet, research the diet thoroughly, and get regular doggy checkups to ensure nutrition is excellent. This book offers a good starting point to the research process. For example, the book does not recommend tomato products for dogs and in my last post about how I sometimes feed my dog, you'll see that I've given him pasta with marinara. Obviously, it didn't bother him at all. And, of course, it's not a daily food for him. However, now that I know it's probably not a good idea (I learned from an online resource that the ripeness of the tomato could play a role in the level of possibly safety/harm), I'll scratch that from the list of foods he gets. And, my mom used to feed her dogs avocado (they loved it), but I learned this is a no-no, too. Another example of something to keep an eye on with doggies is garlic. I've learned that it's not good for dogs, but some websites say it's based on the amount given (plus, I've seen it as an ingredient in some dog cookies). However, I'm not taking my chances. No garlic for my furry friends.

One size does not fit all.
I've learned that dogs are different in their tastes. My big dog wants nothing to do with raw veggies or fruit, but the little stray pup loves apples, cucumbers, romaine, kale, broccoli, etc.

In my own experience, my big dog has thrived when he's on a vegan diet (according to my own observations and the observations of three different vets). But, he hasn't always been vegan and he isn't always vegan. I like to call him a flexitarian. Therefore, I don't have any long term experience with my dog eating solely vegan. His diet changes quite a bit. Some weeks it's heavier with (all natural, organic, grass fed, hopefully as humanely treated as possible) meat, meat treats, and bones. Some weeks it is light on those things, heavier on organic plant-strong foods. Like my own diet, I pay careful attention to my dog(s) and feed accordingly. They're my kids after all.

As I wrote in the post linked above:

... I'm not a vet so I'm not prescribing that you feed your doggies or pet friends the same way. Please check with a vet before changing your pet's diet. For example, some dogs might not handle almonds well, but the few occasions mine has all natural, raw, organic almond butter, he is fine. For those of you caring individuals who get your panties in a bunch are concerned because of what I feed my dog: 1) I have had the support of 3 different vets, 2) there are many thriving vegan dogs from my research - heck, the Humane Society of the United States just came out with a plant-based organic dog food, 3) his health is amazing, 4) as you can see from my post, he is not 100% vegan (I guess he's technically a flexitarian). He does get meat in his diet, it's just not usually his staple. I've done the all raw meat thing for him in the past and he doesn't thrive like he does with this diet, so go figure.

Anyway, I really liked The Simple Little Vegan Dog Book. It offers expert opinions about plant-friendly diets from animal nutritionist enthusiasts. It has a number of recipes to get you started that sound quite tasty, if I do say so myself; however, I have not tried any yet. The book also shares a list of human-friendly and human-unfriendly foods for dogs. Even if you don't want your doggy companion to be full blown vegan, I think this book offers some great information on how to add some plant-friendly foods to his/her diet so that there is variety in your dog's nutrition.