Dr. Bilinghurst books? Any good for raw feeding info?

[shandoggy1]

Hi All,
First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR ! And with that as a New Year Resolution I want to do more research on raw feeding. I Was wondering if the books by Dr. Billinghurst for raw feeding are any good to read for someone who wants to learn more? I have been skeptical on the idea of raw feeding as I had posted in the past but I am very open minded to learning more. I really want to do what is best for my 7 month old ACD and feeding him a combination of raw with the Innova Evo is the way I may go. Any Ideas on his books will be appreciated or any others for that matter! Thanks

[Novel]

His book, "Give Your Dog a Bone" is a great starter book, very easy to read, and full of lots of information. But, there are other books out there that are better, his is just a good one to start with because it is laid out so plainly. It's written in nice sections, isn't too high brow, etc.

I would like to hear what others have for suggestions for other books besides Billinghurst...

[Owned by Lucy]

I am not a fan of Billinghurst for the beginer because it makes raw feeding seem like a chore that consists of tons of prep time, which it is not. All of the blending, tooth breaking "wreck bones" and a high amount of bone that Billinghust suggests is a recipe for trouble, IMHO.

I prefer the two books by Tom Lonsdale, "Work Wonders" and "Raw Meaty Bones". They give you the foundation information that is needed to properly feed a carnivore. He does not attempt to concoct an artificial "menu" that will fit all dogs, like many of the others do, but gives you a good foundation and a jumping off point to tailor the diet so it is right for the individual dog.

I would suggest staying away from "sources" of information that are trying to sell you something as they obviously have an agenda other than giving the consumer the full and correct information. I would also recommend joining one of the yahoo groups dedicated to raw feeding, such as rawfeeding and rawchat. These groups contain thousands of people dedicated to feeding their several thousand carnivores a "species appropriate" diet. These people have had or seen all the "problems" that new people to the diet come across and know how to work thru them. They are terrific at seperating the myths from the facts about raw feeding.

[GreenleafGreyhound]

I agree. Reading Billinghurst's books made me even more apprehensive than eager to start feeding raw. I thought it was very contradictive, as well, and found myself dropping the book in a dusty box never to be opened again.

Alternative books that I found were much better written and easier to read were Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones, and, my favorite, Kymythy Schultze's The Ultimate Diet.

They all have the same ideas, but I find that Schultze presented the ideas in a clear, concise, no-nonsense way. Her feeding plan is very similar to Billinghursts, but I think that hers is more "structured" and just more appealing. Pitcairn's book is greyt for starters who want a structured, step-by-step recipe to guide them along. Though it does take a bit of measuring and an exorbitant amount of ingredients, Pitcairn's recipes are quite lax and you can easily substitute ingredients. Good luck and have fun reading!