Hound Health Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Keeping Your Dog Happy, Healthy & Active

Rating:
Summary: Top Dog Health Handbook
Review: Hound Health is an excellent source of information about nearly every health issue we could think of. It is not holistic, which we prefer, but it is thorough, easy to understand, and covers more health issues than any other layman's text we have read. It is not just for hounds. www.CavalierHealth.org

Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: I ordered this book based on my familiarity with Dr. Brevitz' work on the urbanhound.com website, where she answers readers' questions. I expected more of the same in her book.

I got more all right, lots more. This book is an excellent primer on dogs, from how to/where to/why to choose them, to the things you can expect from a puppy, adult dog, and (as the author gently phrases it) dogs in their "senior years," including a chapter on grieving over your dog's loss. It's a true cradle-to-grave summary for dog owners.

Need more? How about a list of the breeds, with common medical issues the respective breeds face, and the potential costs associated? First aid for your dog, with a list of symptoms that should lead you "to put down this book and call your vet immediately"? Pen-and-ink illustrations of various medical issues, showing you what the problem in question looks like? A section on dealing with parasites (worms, fleas, ticks, and other nasties)? A how-to guide on traveling with your pet? Information on mental health and behavioral problems that's actually readable? There's even a section on cancer in dogs, for heaven's sake.

Don't ask for mollycoddling, either: Dr. Brevitz makes clear that she doesn't like pet stores (buy your supplies there, not your dog), doesn't have a preference for high-priced dog foods (all commercial dog foods that bear a particular designation on the label have sufficient nutritional value for a dog not on a special diet), and doesn't have patience for owners whose dogs have the same diet they do (she bemoans the obese dog, whose owner says, "But Rover/Fido/Fifi won't eat anything but people food!").

The book is clearly, cogently, and concisely written, and explains often difficult topics without talking down to the reader. The illustrations are lovely, too. Interspersed with straight text are Dr. Brevitz' responses to readers' questions, gentle, and often filled with humor. The book is both useful on an everyday basis and a pleasure to read.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference!
Review: This is an excellent reference book on dog health. And, for those of you with a diabetic dog - it is `must' reading. I ranged far and wide, trying to find a reference book on pet / dog health that dealt with the topic of diabetes in more detail than a definition. This is the book! It answered all my questions, in layman language, and in the type of detail I needed, on my dog's diabetes, and what I could expect.

Other diseases are treated in as much detail, so that you, the owner, might thoroughly understand all that is involved with your pet's care.

Unlike other books of its kind, at the back, Hound Health provides resources on a variety of topics, such as health insurance, and what the owner should look for in insurance; alternative and complementary medicine, what it consists of and how to find a veterinarian practicing alternative health medicine; finding veterinary specialists; it also lists the veterinary colleges and their websits. This, to me, is the most helpful and complete book on the market of its kind.

I would recommend it to anyone wanting a handbook on health for their dog; I suggest it as required reading if you have a pet with diabetes!