Customer Reviews

The Dog Ate It: Cooking for Yourself and Your Four-Legged Friends

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently purchased this book and just tried a few recipes from it. My 7-month old Wheaten Terrier puppy loves the biscotti and the cheesy-garlic biscuits. He will try the mac & cheese and the spaghetti tonight and I certainly think it smells great. I did not use the cayenne pepper, since I did not have it on-hand. As for the review below, the back of the book lists foods not to feed your dog in which grapes and raisins are listed, so perhaps the reviewer did not see this or did not see the for "humans only" which occurs throughout the book. I certainly don't think that you should choose just one cook book for your dog, instead read from each school of thought and remember you know your dog, so in the end you can provide the best nutrition for your pet.

One copyeditor's mistake in turning craisins into raisins does not a bad book make. Please know that we understand dried cranberries are healthy - actually a part of several highly rated dry dog foods, and raisins are bad for dogs. But we hope you won't let this one mistake stop you from buying this book which Barbara Bradley and I wrote. My dogs are healthier than ever, and Barb's added three more pups to her cloud of white puff ball Bichons. We apologize for the mistake.

Linda Eckhardt
co-author, The Dog Ate It

I love to cook and I love my dog so it was only a matter of time before I became interested in cooking for my dog. I've since picked up almost 10 different cookbooks to find those that work best for my lifestyle and that seem nutritionally sound. Having reviewed these cookbooks, this is one of the more nutritionally based books I have found and has creative interesting recipes on top of it. While I would still only cook from this cookbook with more science-based books like Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats to help me tailor my dog's diet, this book is much better than others that seemed more geared toward treats and special occasion meals.

The book includes an introduction on what dogs need to be healthy as well as recipes for breakfasts, hors d'oeuvres, salad, main courses, raw and offal dinners, desserts, and treats. Even cuter, chapter nine gives suggestions on 'dog parties' including menus. Some owners will find this over the top, but I found it adorable and endearing. Lastly, you get information on what you should NEVER feed your dog, what to look for when buying commerical dog food, and other resources to consult (Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats is among these).

Overall the recipes are very approachable and straightforward. They do take a little time to prepare, but many could easily be made ahead and frozen or supplemented with high quality kibble.

The bottom line is that this is a pretty solid cookbook for dogs. I would still recommend consulting something like Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats, particularly if your dog has special health concerns that are causing you to serve homemade food in the first place. However, as far as dog cookbooks go this one definitely has more nutritional advice than most and a good mix of recipes. I know I am particularly excited about making the Pumpkin Craisin Muffins, Canine Kasha, and Mom's Macaroni & Cheese.

I just bought this book at a local book store today and can't wait to make my dog some of these recipes! The Bowser's Birthday cake recipe will be a lot of fun. I found the book to also be very informative. And like one of the reviewers said, the book does mention that grapes and raisins are bad for dogs, so it was obviously a typo. But if you think a recipe is iffy then simply don't make it. I would recommend this book highly.

If the authors do not know that raisins and cayenne pepper are not good for dogs, they should not be writing cookbooks for dogs.

I had to put in one star, but I would make it a minus 100 if I could.

The book has good recipes for both you and your dog, but dogs need veggies too... And this book does not give any recipes with vegetables. It is informative on what dogs cannot eat and gives an entertaining introduction on the things that dogs need.

Ihad ordered one as a gift for a dog lover but when I saw how nice it was I ordered another for use at my home. It's very practical.