Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies [Paperback]

M. Christine Zink DVM PhD DACVP (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2001

You do everything you can to maintain your optimum health. Doesn’t your best friend deserve the same? Your dog’s a member of the family and needs the same attention to health and nutrition as you do to stay healthy, be happy, and live longer.

However, it’s easy to get lost in the pet store’s sea of dog products, passing aisle after aisle of dog food. Keeping your dog healthy or getting her back on the road to good health doesn’t have to be difficult, though. Dog Health and Nutrition for Dummies makes it easy to make sure your canine is living a healthy lifestyle. It gives you expert tips and advice on:

• Basic canine healthcare
• Feeding your dog
• Recognizing and treating common maladies
• Caring for the canine senior

Author M. Christine Zink, DVM, PhD is a specialist in canine sports medicine and professor at The Johns Hopkins University, but above all, a dog lover. She breaks down the complexity of caring for your pooch into easy terms with helpful reminders, warnings, and information, including information about:

• How to choose and work with a vet
• Your dog’s anatomy with detailed illustrations
• Canine first aid
• Drug therapy for dogs
• Maintaining your dog’s health with nutrition and exercise
• Common household hazards

Dog Health and Nutrition for Dummies gives you all the information you need to properly care for your beloved canine pal.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Praise for Dog Health & Nutrition For Dummies

"A succinct and easily read compilation of hard science presented with humor and a deep regard for and understanding of our canine friends."
— Victor E. O. Valli, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"Dosed with subtle humor, the text offers a wide range of down-to-earth information covering all aspects of dog care. Whether experienced or new to the dog game, readers will enjoy Dr. Zink's unprejudiced personal approach."
— Rachel Page Elliott, author of Dogsteps

Keep your dog healthy with simple care and good nutrition

An up-to-date guide to caring for your dog. Help your dog enjoy a longer and healthier life with the latest in conventional and alternative veterinary medicine. An expert in canine sports medicine offers advice on feeding, conditioning, and caring for your dog so that it will reach its full potential.

Discover how to:

• Practice the essentials of preventative care
• Treat common — and uncommon — canine ailments
• Administer simple first aid
• Select complementary and alternative therapies
• Work with your dog's veterinarian

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Keep your pet healthy and content — the Dummies Way

About the Author

M. Christine Zink, DVM, PhD, presents Coaching the Canine Athlete seminars and regularly writes for dog magazines. She is a canine sports medicine consultant and a professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (June 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764553186
• ISBN-13: 978-0764553189
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensible nutrition approach, May 16, 2002

By 

Owned and Loved by Schnauzers "Owned by Schna... (Someplace, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies (Paperback)

I have read many books on dog nutrition and this one is the best.

This book presents both sides of the diet dilemma in an unbiased fashion, and backs it up with research from credible institutions and offers suggestions for improving whichever diet you use -- store bought or home cooked. In addition, the author is highly credible in her field -- she is an expert in canine sports medicine and is a full professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She teaches medical and veterinary students. She has her DVM and Ph.D. Honestly, you can't get much more credible than that!

The book is not extremist in approach; rather it presents sensible questions about just what is in manufactured dog food, and how do we know it. It then rounds out the picture by presenting alternative diets (home-cooked food) but presents drawbacks there and how to correct them. It addresses supplements as well.

While other topics are also presented beside nutrition (helping your dog age gracefully, training, etc.), I bought it mainly for its nutritional content, and I was not disappointed. The book cites research on nutrition from very credible institutions (Tufts University Veterinary School, as well as others). In addition, if you prefer to cook for your dog, it tells you how and where to send your food so you can find out if your are presenting a balanced meal. It offers other helpful hints as well.

The book is very well written, mainly in active voice, and on a level the layman can understand. This one belongs on your book shelf!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book for All Levels of Dog Owners, November 22, 2003

By 

Donna (Austin, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies (Paperback)

Although this is a "for dummies" book, I think it is really a nice book overall that has information for anyone ranging from someone getting their first dog to someone who is very active in the dog world. The author does not "dumb down" any of her information or presentation and presents everything in a clear, informative manner.

The content is very broad and covers just about anything you might need to know about health and nutrition including structure, drugs, parasites, first aid, holistic/alternative therapies, and many more. The author even presents issues such as the hotly debated food issue with a relatively fair and balanced approach. Although she does take a side, she presents the postives and negatives of each side and lets the reader know that there are various schools of thought out there should s/he choose to research further.

The book is attractively laid out with pictures, diagrams, charts, and cute little markers in the margin denoting things such as a "tip", "warning", "technical stuff", etc. It is an easy read that you are sure to pick up some new information from, regardless of your current knowledge about dogs. I highly recommend it to anyone.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars great on health & first aid, but lacking on nutrition, August 25, 2007

By 

nic (los angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies (Paperback)

first the bad: the nutrition aspect of this book a *really* lacking. while the author initially states that meat should be the base of any dogs meal, absolutely NONE of the recipes she includes have more than 30% meat (give or take). there is no mention of how to discern a good dry or canned food (if you want that try Dr. Pitcairn's books), and while I can understand her hesitation about raw diets, she completely fails to point out that common sense and basic hygeine can take care of a lot of those problems. in short, the nutrition sections were useless.

the good: the health and first aid sections are top rate and those make this book a must have for ANY dog owner. Luckily the bulk of the book covers these issues (the nutrition section is very small), and that makes this book a worth while purchase. one of the most useful things is a list of things that is included is a list of what to have in a pet first aid kit.

overall I'm only giving the book 3/5 stars because I feel that a book titled "health and nutrition" should thoroughly cover nutrition and this book just doesn't cut it. I highly recommend buying it used (which I did) and keeping it around just for the "health" information.