You brought home a puppy, and with it a hundred questions. How much to feed, how often, what is safe to chew, when to worry, and whether the bag on the shelf is really all your puppy needs through the fastest growth of their life.
This book gathers the answers in one place. Dr. Dody Tyneway Robi, a holistic veterinarian in practice since 1992 and a canine rehabilitation therapist, brings together what she wishes every new puppy owner knew: how to feed fresh, home-prepared food, how to raise a sound and steady dog, and how to tell an ordinary puppy moment from a reason to call the veterinarian.
At the center is an idea that surprises most owners. For a growing puppy, the goal is not the richest bowl. It is the right pace of growth. Feed too much of a good thing, especially to a large-breed puppy, and you build a skeleton that struggles to carry the body it has to support for life. Get the calcium, the calories, and the balance right, and you hand your puppy a head start that shows for years.
Inside, across eight sections:
- Welcome and Foundation: what changes when you feed fresh, why most homemade recipes fall short, what ultra-processing does to a puppy’s gut, and what a growing puppy actually needs.
- How to Feed Your Puppy at Home: equipping your kitchen, feeding frequency by life stage, safe transitions, monitoring growth and body condition, and an honest look at raw feeding.
- Building a Recipe: a recipe blueprint plus poultry, red meat, and bone broth recipes, a tummy-upset toolkit, and training treats.
- Toys and Chewing: enrichment feeding, the truth about raw bones and which ones fracture teeth, and what makes a toy safe.
- Beyond the Bowl: finding the right veterinarian, which vaccines to give and which to weigh, spay and neuter timing, and parasite, flea, and tick control.
- Building Healthy Habits: socialization and why timing is everything, daily routines, exercise that protects growing joints, crate and potty training, dental care, and whether you need a trainer.
- When Things Go Wrong: puppy-proofing your home, when to call your veterinarian, and how to think about pet insurance.
- Resources and About the Author: a milestone roadmap from eight weeks to adulthood, and recommended books and websites.
Plus a new-puppy shopping list and a growth roadmap, so you always know what comes next.
Every feeding option is presented honestly, including one premix I created and profit from, so you can decide for yourself what fits your puppy, your family, and your budget.
This is integrative care: Western diagnostics, vaccines, and medicine working alongside fresh nutrition, with the judgment to know which tool fits the problem. The recipes here, prepared as directed, are built to support the science behind healthy, controlled growth. Not one tool. The right combination for your puppy.
