Customer Reviews

8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog

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I purchased many books in hopes of helping my 8 year old Schnauzer/Jack Russel mix return to good health. I feared that she was slowly dying, due to many "scary" symptoms including blood in her feces. After reading Dr. Messonier's book "8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog", and following his advice, I can thankfully say that my little Stella is totally healthy. In fact she is better than new--doing things she has not done in years!! I credit Dr. Messonier for saving her life. His book was the only one that gave practical, precise information on how I could help her. Stella says "Thank you, Dr. Messonier!", and so does her Mom and Dad!

I have been trying to get information about raising my dog holistically.There isn't much information out there for a novice like me. Then, I read this book, 8 Weeks To A Healthy Dog.It has all the information that I was looking for in one place. It has recipes for home cooked diets,what supplements to give and where to find them, and how to make life better for an aging pet.

I will keep this book always within reach and refer back to it often.

This is a very basic book, which isn't to say it's bad, just lacking a lot of detail and explanation. There's very general information on choosing a vet (wk 1), parasites (wk 2), diet (wk 3), supplements (wk 4), disease treatment (wk 5), exercise (wk 6), drugs (wk 7), and grooming (wk 8). I don't believe grooming and exercise warranted their own chapters, but it was interesting to see what he recommended as dietary supplements for specific disorders.

One thing I didn't agree with at all was Dr Messonnier's recommendation that all pets, regardless of age and condition, be given dietary supplements. Giving puppies supplements can seriously harm their skeletal growth, especially when fed a commercial diet. Giving supplements to any dog for anything but a specific purpose is just a waste of money.

For a new puppy or dog owner this book may be useful as a guide toward building a good foundation, but other sources should be utilized as well (including Messonnier's "Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats"). For someone who is already well-versed in natural pet care: pass this one up.

Many of the pet care books on alternative care and feeding are biased in one directional only. Only home cooking or only BARF is recommended and everything else is the wrong approach. In Dr. Messonnier's book I found it to be the most logical approach yet. Conventional therapies are recommended IF necessary and alternative modalities are recommended to do the least harm to the animal. I've read many of the other authorities, Dr. Pitcarin, Wendy Volhard, and Lonsdale but in this book I feel finally a logical approach. The recommendations take you from visiting your vet for a thorough check up and blood work, to diet recommendations, vaccination discussions, grooming concerns, herbal remedies (although not in detail). This is a great springboard for someone with a dog that they want advice on a healthy path to begin their dog on to improve their health with the least amount of harm to the dog due to over vaccination or over use of antibiotics. An easy read - be assured you'll learn something.

This is a great book that is a quick read. I found it to be full of common sense ideas on how to incorporate traditional vet care and the newer ideas of integrative holistic care. It is broken down into one week sections that are simple to follow. Each week focuses on a specific item in the process. The chapters are filled with examples from Dr. Shawn's practice that help to reinforce the theme.

I highly recommend this book to all dog owners! It is an easy guide that will walk you through the steps to a healthier and happier pet. Combine this with Dr. Messonnier's other book, "The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats", which is an excellent reference book for all pet owners.

Let me say first that if you are going to buy this book (get it on sale!) and follow the program READ the entire book first before making a veterinary appointment...if you don't you may end up spending alot of money going back and forth to your vet. In this book the author recommends you take your dog to the vet and run a bunch of tests first. He does have some good concepts in here, less vaccines for dogs and more check ups. Honestly I only think you should do twice yearly check ups if you have a vet that is actually proactive (they are hard to find). He makes good points about how MANY vets don't even bother to aspirate (find out what is inside lumps on your dogs) really that is the only way besides surgery to check and see if lumps/tumors on your dog are cancer. If your vet doesnt recommend to aspirate every lump on your dog find a new vet! I believe the author is a great vet in his own right and if you happen to live in the area that he practices in I would def take my pet there...plus his diagnostic tests sound super cheap. He makes a good point about how yearly bloodtests and diagnostics should be done. I would probably only do bloodtesting and urine testing 1-2 year but wouldnt do the recommended xrays,teeth cleaning and EKG's. He makes a great point about dental cleaning and most dogs having peridontal disease (disease of the mouth)I agree with him there though my dog who chews bones everyday DOES not have it. He has a very interesting concept about skin disease/allergies in dogs, he recommend frequent bathing (daily or a few times a week) this makes sense to me. One thing that I strongly disagree with is microwaving your homemade dogfood...it really defeats the purpose of home cooking because you are actually radiating the food, killing enzymes and helpful things. I also don't necessary agree with giving your dog's supplements that are intended for dogs....if it's not human grade then it is "ok" for the product to be substandard (IMO). He recommends enzymes be given to the dogs, especially one called Prozyme which is a plant enzyme (which he tells you is a plant enzyme) that means it only breaks down plant material. If you are feeding a RAW food or non plant food it is useless (he didnt mention that). For geriatric dogs he recommends EKG and xrays yearly...in my belief over use of xrays ie radiation is harmful and will lead to cancer. So in that case not sure prevention is worth the overall risk (if that makes any sense). DONT buy this book if you think you are going to be told what types of herbal doses to give your pet. He highly recommends EVERYTHING be done under vet supervison. PLUS just note that just because a vet claims to be wholistic doesnt mean they are a good Dr (Dr. Messonnier sounds awesome) so do your research. We used a Wholistic vet that saw us coming and took us to the cleaners. I highly recommend the Martin Goldstein DVM book The Nature of Animal Healing (though wouldnt use his homecooked dogfood methods)

I am greatly appreciative of this book. I do most of this stuff anyway, but it was great to have it all in writing for a review and checklist for my own use. I will use this to give to friends who would like to do things naturally for their pets. IT's a great book and covers a lot of subjects. His website is also very informative. thanks, dr. shawn.

Hi,

I wanted to write and say how much I've enjoyed reading 8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog by Shawn Messonnier, D.V.M. This step-by-step guide makes it easy for pet owners to give their dog the very best care around. Dr. Messonnier's book is comprehensive, it answered all of my questions and taught me a care routine that can't be matched. Now my dog is happy, healthy and as a pet owner I know I've finally got it right thanks to Dr. Shawn.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Gardner

This is my followup book to my award-winning The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats. It is a complete holistic plan to get your dog healthy and keep him that way! I hope you enjoy it..

Dr. Shawn