I have a friend who, whenever she’s surprised by something, says, “Oh, my shattered ass.”

I swear it isn’t really me.

However, I have uttered those exact words many many times while reading Forever Dog.

Written by Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Becker, Forever Dog blows the lid off the way we’ve been feeding our dogs for the last 100 or so years.

Blowing the lid off the dog food industry

It isn’t like I didn’t know kibble is just compacted dust. Actual food is ultraprocessed with heat and turned into these pellets that bring our dogs running around the corner when they hear them hit the bowl.

When you cook your dog’s food yourself, you know exactly what’s going in her.

I get it. We are busy humans, just trying to keep our heads above water some days. Kibble is convenient and making your dog’s food and treats takes time.

As we’ve battled gastrointestinal issues with Bella, though, the importance of managing her food intake becomes very clear for me.

A little more than two years ago, Bella’s biannual blood test came back showing higher levels of the liver enzyme ALT.

We went through an ultrasound and a biopsy. Both tests revealed nothing. No cancer, no hepatitis, no pancreatitis, no Cushing’s disease, no colitis, no anything. 

Yet her ALT levels remained elevated.

All her test results were sent to a specialist.

Oh, she’s probably allergic to some foods, so we began an “elimination” diet, also known as a (very expensive) prescription food, only accessible through your veterinarian.

Now if you read Forever Dog, you find out a little more about these prescription diets, especially that there isn’t anything medicinal about them. 

And you’ll learn a lot about the marketing juggernaut that the dog food industry has become. 

(SIDEBAR: This, folks, is why I hate almost every day I spent in a marketing career and why I never really feel that good about marketing my dog photography. It’s a necessary evil.)

You’ll learn a lot of science and a lot about the evolution of the dog-human relationship, especially as it centers around food and our digestive systems.

Yep, it’s a good read for you to remember to stop putting all that processed shit into your stomach.

(Um … another SIDEBAR: Do as I say, not as I do. Because pasta. And McDonald’s. And deliciousness. I can’t help it. I’m an eater.)

Yes, the prescription diet worked. But I don’t want her living out her life on a diet of dusty soy protein and rice. She deserves to eat well.

Health care and dogs

When I navigated the American human health care system for the first time a few years ago, I realized that in Canada we follow a more preventive method. Down here, it’s more reactive.

“How do we fix what’s wrong” works in the for-profit health care industry because the people in charge get to charge however much they want to make us better.

“How do we prevent the wrong” works better in the single-payer health care system because prevention works to alleviate burden on hospitals where most of the costs are incurred.

Forever Dog aims to help you create a healthful lifestyle for your best fur friend, lengthening her lifespan and lowering your vet bills.

The surprises you learn

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, just because I’ve read Forever Dog.

And I’m not trying to harsh on my vet. She’s awesome. She went to great lengths to help us figure out that Bella most likely has sensitivities to certain foods, and we’ve whittled it down to chicken and wheat. 

She not only understands how much I love my Bella, but she also has her own pets that she loves very much.

So much that she hired me last fall after her sweet Mia was diagnosed with mouth cancer.

But I am determined to see her less often by improving Bella’s food intake.

Kibble is, however, a necessary evil due to its convenience. 

As Forever Dog describes, you can keep your dog on kibble and still have a healthy dog. It depends on the type of kibble you feed and if you can add certain superfoods to her daily intake.

Like blueberries.

And avocado.

And mushrooms.

Wait a damn second, you say. Avocado and mushrooms? I know, right? We’ve always been taught that both – and garlic – are bad, even poisonous, to your dog.

Nah. 

They’re actually very good for them. 

Avocado is full of the good fats we need to stay healthy, just don’t let your dog have the leathery outer skin or the pit (choking hazard).

And the rule of thumb with mushrooms is that if it’s good for you, it’s good for your dog. If it’s bad/poisonous for, it’s bad/poisonous for him.

And and the panic about garlic relies on a 1960s study that served insane amounts of garlic extract to dogs who then developed gastrointestinal issues.

Duh.

Insane amounts of anything will make my stomach upset too. Like whiskey.

Otherwise, garlic is good for your dog.

Crazy, right?

Bella becomes a Forever Dog

One meal a day for Bella is now what I call “mash.”

I throw ground turkey or hamburger into the Instant Pot with some spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, quinoa and coconut oil and set it for about 10 minutes. I started doing this even before I got to the great ideas inside the pages of Forever Dog.

She loves it.

I throw a handful of frozen blueberries or about a quarter cup of applesauce onto her morning kibble.

She loves it. 

And I make her cookies out of last summer’s zucchini harvest that I shredded and tossed in the freezer thinking, “what the hell am I going to do with all this damn zucchini?”

Zucchini grows like a MF in my backyard.

She loves the cookies.

Granted, she loves it all. I mean, I did say she’s an eater, right?

A few weeks later, her coat feels silkier. Her chest and belly hair is matting less and it’s easier to brush.

I can’t tell you that she seems happier or more bright-eyed. She’s a damn happy Maremma sheepdog who gets to go on wild hiking adventures and hang out with great friends.

And she gets all the necessary love and snuggles that a reformed farm girl could ever want.

Embracing a new way of doing things

As I flip through the pages of Forever Dog, I think, “yeah, I can do this.” 

It’s logical, science-based information that encourages dog lovers to make simple changes for the betterment of their pups’ health. 

I won’t lie. Some days, it isn’t easy. Like last week when life started happening out of the blue and I didn’t have time to use the zucchini I thawed to make cookies. Into the yard bin it went after sitting in the fridge for too long.

But I see the results of the little changes I’m making and I plan to soldier on.

And I think Bella likes the changes, too.

I could never tell you what her favorite part is but I damn sure know you better not mess with peanut butter time in the evening.

May the goddesses help us if we ever dared to say “no.”

Don’t be shy. Tell me in the comments about your dog’s nutrition. Maybe you’ve banished kibble from your pantry and even gone raw? Maybe you’re reading Forever Dog, too, and want to change things up. I’d love to hear about it.