I'm not sure that these recipes are really meant for as a complete diet rather than just as treats, but they were written with the help of Dr. Lowell Ackerman (a vet who has written a canine nutrition book) and Rebecca Remillard DVM, Ph.D (a board-certified veterinary nutritionist at Angell Animal Medical Center).

I'm not sure that these recipes are really meant for as a complete diet rather than just as treats, but they were written with the help of Dr. Lowell Ackerman (a vet who has written a canine nutrition book) and Rebecca Remillard DVM, Ph.D (a board-certified veterinary nutritionist at Angell Animal Medical Center).

I was very excited to get a cook book that I could start making my own fresh dog food. But in speaking with my vet, I now understood what type of research goes into Dog Cookbooks. It was actually scary that really not much research has been done. In fact we may cook dog food, but it is not balanced. These books do not show that dogs need bone meal, or vitamins. The Dog food cooks books are more for human enjoyment than actual nutrition for our canine loves.

Ok, a few of these recipes are good and very healthy for dogs.
But others contain ingredients that will certainly make your dogs sick. Another reviewer already pointed out that some recipes contain rice. While rice isn't something dogs would eat in the wild, most commercial dog foods contain rice and it's not harmful.
However, dogs are lactose-intolerant once they are adults, so any recipe calling for cheese is a no-no.
Also, some recipes call for onions or garlic. Alliums are poisonous to dogs. Do not put onions or garlic or anything that is related to onions or garlic into a dog's bowl. The effect might not be immediate, but alliums will damage their red blood cells and make your pets anemic.

My dog has ulcerative colitis and even with the most expensive commercial dog foods, she was having trouble. I bought several cook books for dogs and most had a lot of info that I didn't want to buy, I just needed some good recipes. I found a couple in this book that work great. She loves the food and it's obvious she feels better since I began cooking for her. Yeah, it's more expensive than buying canned, but the lesser cost for vet bills override any extra expense.

Simply stated, dogs are carnivores. They would never eat rice or wheat or cheese{!} in the wild. I advocate for home made diets but not anything with grains. You could be making your dog just as sick. Don't feed grains!

Finally, a decent book on real food for dogs! It is a good start on the proper way to feed your dog meat and veggies. Within a week, my dogs stopped scratching from the alergies from dog food. I recommend this book to anyone who wants real food for their pets.

This book isn't exactly what I thought it would be...its really just a cookbook. It has some basic and some complex recipes - most of which would be for special occasions or maybe doable if your only cooking for small dogs (that don't eat that much)(I have 2 big dogs and most of these recipes are not feasible on a budget.) There are a few tips about dog health and nutrition but this is not a good guide for that. I recomend you use it as a cookbook companion to "The nature of animal healing."

It has some good recipes, but I thought a lot of the serving sizes were way too big. I ended up throwing away much of what I made. I use the book more of as a starting point and add/remove things.

Many of the recipes you can find online for free.

This book was a total waste of time and money. Information is the same in hundreds of books and articles. Nothing new here except a cute cover.

When considering this book, ask yourself these questions first:

1) Do I mind including Fido in my grocery budget? Remember, these are real recipes that require real ingredients. While it's fine for a treat every now and then, I really don't think it's worth the price.

2) Do I mind handling the internal organs of other animals? There's a recipe in here that calls for two cow hearts, folks...!!

3) Am I good at doubling and tripling recipes so that I can make the food ahead of time?

4) Are ANY of the recipes in this book so exquisite, so absolutely fabulous, so worthy of worship that I can't find derivations of them somewhere in the Internet? (That would be a "No")

Now I understand that you love your pooch. I love my Mal, for sure, and I do cook his own dog food; however, I have one recipe that I make weekly by the tub-load, and then feed it to him throughout the week. Also, Jake isn't interested in aesthetics, which is why we (humans, folks) consider food an art form. This book is, therefore, ridiculous.

I bought this book to give my two puppies some variety in food and because they are getting bored with certain foods. They go wild for this stuff. It's as if they know I'm cooking for them. They will patiently sit in the kitchen with me until it's finished. They even lick the bowls clean, no wasted food here.

To feed your pet healthy food you need to know the calories and the portions. To cook a sufficient amount, you need to know the number of sized servings per recipe. This book gives none of this vital information.

Good alternative meals for dogs, with ingredients that you already probably have in the fridge. Also has great treat ideas that I didn't have in another treat cookbook.

This book has great dog treat ideas and a fun format. The recipes are unusual and very simple. I was disappointed that there weren't more recipes for everyday dog food, though. This book is more for special-occasion food.

I picked this up on a whim just after I adopted my dog. I've been feeding my cats a homemade diet using Feline Future for years now. This is a very cute book. A very fun book. But it is NOT a very healthy book. It advocates a lot of highly processed ingredients. Refined white rice and refined white bread. Corn meal. These are not good for your dog.

It says nothing about whole, fresh, organic ingredients. Vitamins. Nutrients.

If you're looking to get started, this book is a good one for beginners. Although some of the recipes are far too ingredient heavy.

I bought this book because I was scared to death to buy any more dog food from the stores after the poisoned stuff showed up from CHINA...which is a bad place to get ANY food from.
I showed it to my vet. He confirmed what I already felt after reading it...it is NOT a good book to feed your dog from on a regular basis. It is ok for an occasional cooked meal; but not for regular consumption. The recipes do not contain wholesome ingredients, and do contain salt and other things not good, and are too fattening. The treat section is good. I made some treats from the book and my dogs loved them. I made one of the meal recipes and only one of my dogs spit it on the floor...but she spits EVERYTHING on the floor if it isn't to her liking, and being a Shih-Tzu, NOTHING is to her liking,lol.
Anyway, it is an OK book for an occasional cooked meal treat or for making your own treats, but not healthy to give your dog on a regular basis....according to a Vet with degrees lining his walls.

I bought about four dog food cookbooks at once, after the big dog food scandal, and this was the simplest and the most clearly understood. It made cooking for the dog fun, which is important, since you will be doing this a LOT! I've learned about all the various things they can and cannot eat from the internet, and I've labored through the charts and graphs in other books, but when the food bowl is empty and I'm getting the *big stare*, this book is where I run to for inspiration. Check in the freezer section of your meat department for ground turkey. Also, throwing a pound or two of hamburger in the slow cooker with a bag of frozen vegetables and some brown rice is a definite time saver, plus much safer than some nasty ground who-know's-what from an unregulated factory. I've been getting complaints that the dog food smells better than the people food. Cooking for your pets will be one of those life-time long learning experiences, but this is a great place to start.

P.S. My dog is healthier now, and knows I love him, as well...

As a concerned 'mom', I appreciated the veterinary research that went into ALL of these recipes, but my dog, Stella, LOVES the TASTE. Her tap, tap, tap on the laminate in the kitchen as I stir the ingredients is a 'paws up' salute to Ms. Moore's obvious knowledge of what appeals to canine taste buds.
As a credentialed Library Media Teacher, I'm used to looking through reviews and researching what I purchase. This time around I was confident in the safety of the suggestions but the final judge was Stella-the-dog.
After our success with this title, I bought four other books by Arden Moore and am now devouring her latest, "The Dog Behavior Answer Book".

I think a book should have dailly suggested portions based on your pets weight and breed and this one does not have that. Being that your main concern should be your friends health and weight. Other wise it has some very good info on what work.

When we make these recipes for our dog he gobbles his meal up faster than we can eat. He would only eat his dry store boughten dog food if we would tease him to eat. Now when he smells us reheating it in the microwave he is there waiting to eat. What a nice change. He also sits patiently waiting when we are making the food somehow he knows it is for him. We have tried beef, chicken and turkey recipes and they are easy to make and use regular ingredients found in your kitchen. The food recipes and the treats recipes have all been enjoyed by our dog. What a surprise who would have thought he would like broccoli, green beans, or cauliflower. We are trying the recipe with sardines this week. Would highly recommend this book.

This book is a valuable asset to anyone requiring information on reasonable recipes for dogs.

Cute book, has some interesting recipes to 'shake it up' for your dog,however, the recipes aren't health conscious, a little more research in that direction would have made it a better book. Dr. Pitcairn's "Complete Guide to Natural Health For Dogs & Cats" is a far superior book on this topic. I combined recipes from both books leaning towards healthful choices.

Not only is this a great read, it's major fun to make! My dogs think I'm the best mom in the world. Easy to follow, and easy and quick to make. I recommend this to all dog lovers.

Really great item. Food for the dogs is really people food only with a few exceptions. You can mix the food and freeze or just know that you are in control of your friends diet. My dogs have really show coat improvement and be sure to give vitamin tabs along with your good food.

In a time of being wary of what we feed our dogs because of the recent recalls, I have found this book loaded with recipes for our furry children. It takes out the worry everytime I purchase dog food. Now I am happy and my "kids" are very happy.

My dog loves this book! I enjoy cooking and making food for my dog is really great.

If you LOVE your dog, This book is a MUST. So easy to follow and healthy for you pet.

This is an adorable book with cute recipes, but it states at the outset that they are intended to be fed once a week as a change from kibble (later it says 2 or 3 times a week). There is no nutritional information and there is no attempt made to show you how to feed your dog a solely home-cooked diet, which is what I was looking for. I got a lot better guidance from "Barker's Grub" and Dr. Pitcairn's book in switching my dogs over from commercial food.

I bought this book and began reading recipes. When an addition of bone meal was listed, it did not mention that this should be human quality, not the gardening variety.
I was concerned at one of the recipes that listed 4 boullion cubes which is a great amount of salt - neither good for human or animal.
I think more clarity is needed, but it did give me a start on preparing my own foods.

Some good treats in here, but if you want to feed your dog from this recipe book, you'll need to prepare a meal, then burn it in a calorimeter so you can find out how many calories that meal has - then you'll need to find out how many calories a day your dog needs. The best way to find that information would be to look on the side of a bag of dog food I guess.

Seriously, how can you make a cookbook for dogs and not include suggested serving sizes for the recipes based on the dog's weight and age?

Ultimately, that makes this book useless for anything other than novelty treats and an occasional cooked meal. You can't put together a realistic diet for your dog from this book.

I received my copy of Real Food for Dogs a few days ago and I'm very disappointed in it. I'm slowly changing my kitchen to one that is organic and healthy and I must say, this book is neither of those. I was surprised that they recommend white flour, white rice, salt , baby food and even canned cream of mushroom soup! Veterinarian approved? Who are these guys kidding? These recipes have very little nutritional value and I would be concerned about feeding my dog this way on a regular basis. I don't feed my family this stuff and I certainly wouldn't feed my dog this way. I'm waiting for another book to arrive and until then I'm modifying these recipes with healthy ingredients that I've found through research on the web - things like brown rice, flax seed, barley and the like. I use the recipes as guides to give me an idea of the percentage of meat/vegie/whole grains I should combine for my dog's food. Other than that, this book is a joke. I would not recommend it.

Thank God for this book. It seems we see more and more bad news about the pet food recall on television every day. Maybe it's time we all started preparing the food for our pets at home. At least that way we know our beloved pets will be safe.
By Teri Wilson, Author of All Creatures Of Our God And King

I love my dog. With this commercial pet food scare, I knew I had to take this matter into my own hands. In doing so, I discovered Arden Moore's Real Food for Dogs book. Because her recipes were approved by a veterinary nutrtionist, I felt confident in serving these meals and treats to my dog. Plus, I like the fact that some of the recipes are fit for people, too! Now that I am using this book, my dog and I are eating healthy and the bond between us is closer than ever. I definitely recommend this book and all others written by Arden Moore. It is clear that she is an expert and truly cares about pets.

When all the news started about the dog food problem, I was so glad I'd purchased Arden Moore's book. My "fur children" LOVE the 'Say Cheese, Please" treats from REAL FOOD FOR DOGS. I've tried other recipes from this book and they've all been given the 'Paws of Approval.'

This book has wrong information in it and the author should really think about re-writing the book. I have returned the book to the store purchased. As I have been feeding a home cooked meals and RAW food for 4 plus years and have had no issues with raw feeding. Get your facts start.

I love my dog. With this commercial pet food scare, I knew I had to take this matter into my own hands. In doing so, I discovered Arden Moore's Real Food for Dogs book. Because her recipes were approved by a veterinary nutrtionist, I felt confident in serving these meals and treats to my dog. Plus, I like the fact that some of the recipes are fit for people, too! Now that I am using this book, my dog and I are eating healthy and the bond between us is closer than ever. I definitely recommend this book and all others written by Arden Moore. It is clear that she is an expert and truly cares about pets.

I home cook for my dogs and I LOVE this book. Unlike a lot of books with unusual ingredients, lots of these receipes are simple and use everyday ingredients you have in your cupboard.

Particularly pleasing for my dogs is the mutt meatballs, made with ground beef and cheese and they love them! They love the pasta dish made with ground turkey also.

I cooked for my dogs before the recent recall of canned dogs food, but if I hadn't, I would now be doing it. This book has a variety of recipes so that your dog does not get tired of the same old food and all the ones I have tried so far have been appealing. Some of the recipes, like the meatloaf, is appropriate for human and dogs.

I like this book. However, I was looking for a cookbook so I could soley cook for my dog. It promotes dry kibble to mix in with the food, which defeats the purpose of it. It's a nice book though and I will use it as a reference.

While I think some of the recipes are good wholesome recipes. I am a little alarmed to see salt as an ingredient in many of the recipes. Also bouillon cubes are used frequently, and those have a lot of salt. Some of the recipes use premade dough as well. If you do that, you don't know what kinds of preservatives or other ingredients are in them that may not bee good for our 4 legged friends.

Do some reading. Commercial dog food is a toxic blend of euthanized cats and dogs, diseased livestock, roadkill, artificial flavorings and preservatives. No wonder our dogs suffer from allergies, seizures, cancers...we're poisoning them. This book is great. My dogs have never been happier or healthier. They no longer beg for table scraps. Their coats are shinier and their teeth cleaner. I highly recommend this: for the price of a squeaky toy, you'll have a guide to feeding your dog that's loaded with great and easy recipes.

This is a great book with lots of good information. Cooking for your dog is the best way to go and supplying a high quality kibble every so often does not hurt either. The recipes are wonderful and easy to prepare and my epileptic dog has liked everything that I have made for her so far.

This book is very useful which include variety recipes for dogs. Those recipes are easy to make and save time to prepare. My dog really like it.

This was a gift to a 3 dog household. Dogs and owner delighted.
Easy to use and go through. Recipes easy and interesting.

If you love your dog, you'll love this book. Anne Davis's illustrations alone will make both of you howl for joy.