Reddit reviews Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats

Virtually any dog in the universe can fit the criteria of what you described, but all breeds have their little variations.

For example, my favorite breed is the German Shepherd. And there are German Shepherds that do really well in apartment life, and others that don't. If you go to a breeder for your dog, you're going to want to find a breeder that emphasizes pet quality, safe, sane dogs. The difference between a Labrador from hunting lines and lines bred for therapy and service dog work is night and day. If you go to a shelter to adopt a dog, I would recommend taking a qualified trainer with you that's well-read on selection testing dogs, and most of all, use the resources at your disposal. Talk to the people who run the shelter and/or the rescue. They have the most experience with the dog. They will be able to help you the best.

With the two breeds you mentioned (Golden Retrievers, specifically) keep in mind the shedding issue. Labs shed too, but Golden's are just about as bad as Shepherd's (which are both, very bad.) If you have carpet, be prepared to vacuum everyday. If you intend to let your dog sleep with you on the bed, or chill on the sofa, be ready to clean your furniture daily. Your clothes will be covered in hair if you do not. Your boss will not like you showing up to work wearing your dog.

Also, please, if you haven't already, look into your apartments restrictions for pets and dog breeds, and keep in mind that if you intend on moving, you will be taking your dog with you. I love all breeds of dogs, but apartments do not. Rottweilers, German Shepherd's, Doberman's, Pitbulls (and mixes) come under notorious scrutiny when moving. For your future dogs sake, pick a breed or mixed breed that your landlords are cool with.


Some of my favorite books include:
Dog Training for Dummies which is a very basic introduction to how dogs learn, and explains the different methods available to you in an unbiased manner.

Some of my personal favorite books include:
How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete.
The Art of Raising A Puppy by the Monks of New Skete
The Divine Canine by the Monks of New Skete

If you haven't already guessed, I'm a huge fan of the Monks of New Skete. The put huge emphasis on calm, structured leadership and positive method obedience that works in real life situations. Plus, they're German Shepherd people. Double points.

Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin.

Dr. Temple Grandin is a high-functioning autistic that teaches at Colorado State University's veterinary science department. I've taken several classes with her, and her understanding of animals is absolutely impossible to challenge. This book is more about genetic theory and science-backed training methods. It's good reading material if you want to know more about animals (she discusses dogs and livestock in detail) but is not a training guide. She also has a lot of technical articles available on her website here.

Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Harowitz. This is a cursory introduction to canine ethology. It is not a guide, but if you want to know about how dogs think (how dogs can "smell time" for example) this is where you start.

How to Speak Dog by Stanley Coren emphasizes communication with dogs, backed in animal biology and evolution.

Canine Body Language: A photographic guide by Brenda Aloff describes in vivid detail what dogs are "saying." It's not a training guide, but will help you understand your dog much better.

Katz on Dogs by Jon Katz, a great common sense training guide to working with dogs in the home, and outdoors.
Soul of a Dog also by Jon Katz, which goes into greater detail on the personal side of working with dogs, with very helpful examples.

Imagine Life With a Well Behaved Dog by Julie Bjelland. Great book on structure and positive method dog training.

Natural Health for Dogs and Cats by Dr. Pitcairn was one of my college textbooks and it's a great start for dog nutrition and chemical-free health care for dogs. This is not a training guide, but nutrition and health are just as important (if not more) than training, so I figured I'd share.


With the exception of the first book on the list, all of these books are fairly detailed. I would highly recommend the Monks of New Skete books before any of the others. But they're all very good.

Additionally, you can read many of the articles on the AKC.org website regarding dog training, and Leerburg has some great comprehensive advice on training the working dog, which can also be applied to training family pets. He also sells a variety of videos and ebooks on the same subject matter.

TL;DR How To Be Your Dogs Best Friend & The Art of Raising A Puppy explain everything you ever need to know about training a dog, ever.

My old gal was getting to heavy on high quality, but commercial kibble. I was looking for something cheaper than raw food, which I'd used for years previously.

My vet suggested a recipe from Dr. Pitcairn (here's his book: http://www.amazon.com/Pitcairns-Complete-Guide-Natural-Health/dp/157954973X). The recipe I use is easy enough to make, once you have the supplements; it includes beans, rice, meat, vitamins, kelp, garlic, veggies and a few other things.

My dog lost about twenty pounds in three months and her back trouble disappeared.

The Pitcairn book is fairly good, although I think he's a little heavy on vegetable matter- but it's from decent sources, like millet, which may be more affordable to those who need to make do.

Raw and cooked food options may be more affordable here in the US, where food is so heavily subsidized that it's ridiculous how inexpensive meat is. I can get beef heart for under $1/pound when I buy 60-pound cases. We have food co-ops that help increase availability of organ meat; I don't know quite so much about the European options, but you might check at your butcher store, see what's inexpensive.

There isn't any clinical research showing the health benefits of raw, but the people at r/rawpetfood could probably direct you to studies on nutrition in general. The only study I have seen was one showing that owners of raw fed pets believed their pets to be more healthy, but that means absolutely nothing in terms of the true benefits. There are a few studies showing that raw meat is more digestible than the meat in kibble, but cooked ground meat still scored even higher.

A book that might be useful is Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats. This is at least written by someone with a PhD in veterinary microbiology and immunology. A lot of other supposed "veterinary" advocates of raw food have PhDs in bullshit fields like "natural nutrition." Natural nutrition is not a real field. Actual scientists recognize that the naturalistic fallacy has no place in research. But I wouldn't hold out for a thoroughly peer-reviewed and respected study on the benefits of raw feeding.