So Misguided

I’ve been doing some work this week for Whitecap Books and author Jamie Young on his dog food cookbook Grrrrowlicious Food for Hungry Dogs.

I was interested in the project because Jamie has a great website, www.GRRRR.com.au, the book looks amazing, and the recipes have me drooling.

What’s been surprising to me is people’s reactions to the pet food recall. I think every pet owner has taken notice. Some are taking action by switching up their pets’ food to different brands. And others are making full-scale changes, in particular by making their own pet food.

The challenge, of course, is figuring out what your dog or cat should or should not eat, and figuring out how to create balanced meals that are easy and affordable.

This is where I have been loving Jamie’s book. The recipes are absolutely delicious (I have wondered about making the recipes for myself--that should give you a clear indication of the “easy” and “affordable” factor):

Homemade Dog Food Recipes from Grrrrowlicious

- Rabbit stew
- Cooked sardines
- Chicken meatballs
- Fried rice
- Bacon and cheese cookies—PDF sample recipe

I recommend checking out Jamie Young’s website for sample recipes and videos from GRRRR TV, his online dog food cooking show. You can also peak inside the book.

Another article that caught my eye was in the New York Times, “Home Cooking for Pets Is Suddenly Not So Odd”

So it is no surprise, perhaps, that cookbooks for dogs and cats are enjoying an increase in sales.

According to Nielsen BookScan, for the week that ended March 25, after Menu Foods recalled more than 60 million cans of pet food packaged under numerous name brands and store brands, “The Good Food Cookbook for Dogs” sold 194 copies, compared with 42 the previous week. Other books with even more modest sales totals also showed sharp increases over the previous week: “Real Food for Dogs” sold 66 copies, up from 23, for example, and “Home-Prepared Dog and Cat Diet” sold 34, up from 8.

The NY Times article also offers some other dog food cookbook recommendations.

If you want to know more about Grrrrowlicious Food for Hungry Dogs, check out:
* the website
* recent press release about the book

I started to make my own dog food for my dog Rudy 2 years ago, and we never looked back..it really is scary to give him commercial dog food after seeing what it caused.

Good job.

The drawback for most people is that they think it will be a huge time suck to make their own pet food, but I think it’s like anything--if you want to do it, you make the time, and then you get really efficient at doing it.

Thanks commenting.