This book explains a lot of things about food and other dog-related subjects. Very informative, but I keep thinking that it is just a guideline for pet owners. If you read other books you will get other viewpoints. Do what you think is best for your pet. I reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I probably was not the best person to read a book about pet food, considering I work for a company that makes animal feed. This book is another one of those conspiracy theory books, which I think kind of adds to it when you read the biographies of both authors that says "inventor of a new line of dog food" and "pet food industry interrupter". Whatever. I know what goes into the pet food that my company makes and it's nothing like what this supposed book says. Don't waste your time.

I received a free electronic ARC of this awesome animal lovers self-help book from authors Shawn Buckley and Dr. Oscar Chavez, Netgalley, and publisher St. Martin's Press - Health, Mind, and Body.  Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.  I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.  Big Nibble is especially welcome to my family's research shelf and an eye-opening look at how we manage our household and maintain the health and nutrition of our animal members.  

My daughter started making a nutritious mix including meat or fish, legumes, spinach, or kale, and assorted grains about 6 months ago, supplementing their Purina brand dried foods.  We have found some things out by experience - our critters have all suffered from food anxiety in their younger years -  our ten-year-old track rescued greyhound can manipulate that lovely long nose around getting everything in the bowl but the brown lintels and carrot shavings.  The eight-year-old rescued feral cats will eat almost anything as long as there is kibble in the kibble bowl, though they seldom eat much of that dry food.  All of the critters are grateful for the interesting additional recipes that can add variety to their meals.  

We have stuck with Purina brand foods supplemented with table scraps for the last 50 years without any problems, but this bunch are getting older and were noticeably slowing down, and stuck home through this pandemic without daily bark park runs and leisurely walks through the local hardware stores our greyhound Marie was doing noticeably less running and playing in the yard as the days passed.  And the cats are, according to their vet, getting fat.  We honestly didn't notice until we saw them on the scales.  And after that awakening, we got on our own scales and realized our clothes were not shrinking in the new washer.  Protein-pushing became a way of life around here.  Reading Big Kibble has moved that method of feeding into the fast lane.  

And feeding aside, there are so many hints and tips on keeping your animals healthy and happy!  This is a lifestyle change that can only improve and extend the days of our fur buddies.  It is a book I will refer to often, and one I will gift to my animal-loving sisters.  You can't go wrong, following the advice of Shawn Buckley and Dr. Oscar Chavez.  Your critters will thank you for reading it.

With a title like BIG KIBBLE, there isn’t much surprise about the contents. Readers can expect to receive a serious behind-the-scenes look at the pet food industry and if they are pet owners, they can expect to be unhappy about what they learn.  Author Shawn Buckley provides valuable background information that places pet food in context and yes, does make it difficult for now-knowledgeable pet owners to continue to buy kibble.  What wasn’t clear to me before I read this book was that the author has started a business and this book is a means to justify and promote it. That detail makes the book less appealing although he does include useful recipes that don’t require his product.  We love our pets like family but we don’t cook all our meals from scratch for our families either. So it’s a tough call.  I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Know What You’re Feeding Your Dog

Many pet parents think they’re giving their dog the best nutrition when they purchase a more expensive brand of dog food. After reading this book, you’ll know that isn’t the case. Although there appear to be many brands of dog food. in effect there are few. Through acquisitions and mergers almost 80% of the brands are made by the same companies. However, this isn’t the worst problem.

Dog food is classified as feed allowing substandard, cheaper ingredients, often things like dust, diseased meat, or harmful chemicals to be present in the food. The authors have heartrending stories of dogs sickened and killed by ingredients in dog food that no pet owner would feed their pet if they were aware of the consequences.

This book while somewhat repetitive is well worth reading. The authors are advocates for dog food using human ingredients. They have a company that manufactures and sells this type of dog food, but they also provide recipes so pet lovers can make their own food at home. 

I highly recommend this book if you love your dog.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

this is an interesting  story  it tells about the dog food makers and what they put and dont put in the food  i was given a copy by net galley but this is an honest review   this is an eye opener

For years I have been feeding my Pomeranian a higher-priced dog food, believing that I was doing the best for my pet by giving her a better blend of food and vitamins. In pet stores, I looked at the thousands of pounds of dog food I considered inferior and something I would never feed to my dog. “Big Kibble” opened up my eyes and let me see that the brown bits I was giving my Pom were not much better (if better at all) than those thousands of pounds of food I had refused to purchase.

Written by Shawn Buckley and Dr. Oscar Chavez, with Wendy Paris, “Big Kibble” offers an important look into how dog food (and more correctly designated as dog feed) is substandard and can actually be detrimental to the health of our pets. Dogs are considered members of the family, and I know I am not alone when I will not feed the human members of my family food that would be harmful to them. Why would I knowingly consider feeding them to a canine member?

The authors explain their personal history as well as the story of how today’s dog food came to be. It is an illuminating and scary story, one that at times might cause anger when one learns exactly what is going on inside a hugely profitable industry. There is also a section enlightening readers on some of the myths we might have believed (such as, is it okay for a dog to eat cooked food or can I feed my dog popcorn). 

At first I thought this book might be nothing more than a huge advertisement for the authors’ dog food company, Just Food For Dogs, but by the middle of the book my thoughts had changed. The in-depth information came from folks passionate about changing the way dogs are fed. One could argue that the book encourages pet owners to visit the Just Food For Dogs website, though the detailed recipes at the end of the book (a make-your-own-healthy-food-for-dogs chapter) would not be included if all the authors wanted to do was make a profit. The book, taken as whole, was written by people who want to make a difference.

Interesting book for anyone who has curiosity about the food processing industry (including what happens to the waste product when human food is made). A must read for anyone who has a dog and cares about the health of their pet(s). Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this title.

This is a very informative book that talks about what's inside our pet food and the process of how they are made.  It also discusses several factors and laws that can serve as a guidelines in the pet food industry. What  fascinates me the most is the discussion that evaluates the differences of nutritional needs  of our pets. It is important for pet owners to read this book to better care for their pets and to be more educated.

This is an informative and eye-opening expose on the history and manufacture of dog food, fondly called kibbles. As I was reading the manufacturing process and the actual makeup of these foods I felt quite foolish. I can’t guess the number of hours I’ve wasted over the years in the pet food aisle, poring over the various colorful food bags, the promises of health, happiness, beautiful coat, long healthy lives of the critters so lucky to have loving owners who care to purchase only the very best.
As it turns out, the majority of dog food is all made by about five huge kibble makers in this world. Switching from one brand to another probably doesn’t accomplish a thing. Admiring the beautiful photos on the bag of beef, lamb, vegetables, and so on is so amazingly deceiving. The regulations bird-dogging (get the pun?) these nefarious methods are nonexistent, to say the least. So your pet dies and after a long costly court battle, you finally prove the food did it? The huge conglomerate is only liable for the cost of replacement of your dog, nothing else. No lesson learned there.
You don’t EVEN want to know what’s actually in those colorful little nuggets of doggy delights. Instead of what you envision after studying the packaging and glowing reviews, you’ll be shocked at the smorgasbord of filthy, long dead, worthless, diseased, and dangerous crap that’s fed into those big kibble-making machines.
It’s a sad set up for a country like America, which prides itself on being ahead of the curve, to learn that we’re so amazingly clueless when it comes to the health and welfare of our furry friends.
Oh, but wait! Your vet says it’s good? Read that chapter. Surely these big companies can’t tell such blatant lies? Read THAT chapter. This stuff may not be the best but it can’t be deadly, right? You know the drill by now…read this book. 
(I dropped to four stars due to the repeated advertising of the author’s company/products. A mention would have been sufficient.)
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The release date is December 1, 2020.

As a dog (and cat) lover since birth and a pet parent most of my adult life I was glad to find out details of the pet food industry. I recall years ago how rare it was to find a people grade cat kibble and having to carve out a chunk of my budget to pay for it. I loved my cats and went the extra mile for them. I did it medically, too. The dogs and cats went to specialists more than once. We do this for our furrbabies. As the authors point out, these days our pets take the place of family for many.
Learning about advances in veterinary medicine and the incredible cost of various treatments was an eye opener. Then there are the details of what can go into the food we give our beloved dogs (and cats) - practices that depend upon the difference between a food rating (people grade) and a feed rating. To make sure the health of our dogs is protected from allergies and illnesses do we, as responsible pet parents, go the extra mile and cook their food as we would do for our human family members? Or do we read the labels/fine print and cross our fingers that we are doing all that we can for them? I learned that all pet foods have additives such as vitamins and that those can come from overseas without any real oversight in their manufacturing. Reading this book educated me but also showed me that there is a whole world out there of people who have a whole lot of money that they can lavish on their dog's diet. That's out of the price range for the majority of us. Doing the math, to keep the dog in my life fed the food the authors sell would be almost doubling our food budget per month. Add to that their information on the medical costs of treatment (hope you can get affordable pet insurance) and this book shows the chasm between those who can and do feed their dogs the "good food" and the rest of us who may be able to cook as often as possible for our dogs but have to rely on the big name pet food companies. I have to wonder how long it will take for those mega companies to buy the dog food company JustFoodForDogs they own and start cutting corners. Until then, while I would love to be able to feed such food to my dog, I will take the knowledge I have gained from this book and do my very best to feed the best food I can afford.
Overall it was very educational and I'm glad I read it. It was well written, easy going style and aimed at the layman. Written for the health of dogs but, as a pet parent of many cats, too, I can encourage reading this to give our cats a better diet, too.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I feel honored to have had the opportunity to read an early-release copy of the groundbreaking book Big Kibble: Hidden Dangers of the Commercial Pet Food Industry and How to Do Better by Our Dogs.  This eye-opening book, written by Shawn Buckley and Dr. Oscar Chavez of the fresh, whole pet food company JustFoodforDogs, reveals the appalling lack of regulation within the pet food industry and the domination of the space by a select few multinational corporations that own the bulk of well-known dog food brands spanning the range from bargain to “premium” kibble. 

I was shocked to learn the lax regulations that exist are set by an organization that is arguably more heavily influenced by the financial interests of these huge corporations than the interests of pets and the people who love them.  The fact that thousands of pets have died due to dangerously-contaminated kibble starts to sound like almost inevitable tragedy once the reader learns that perfectly legal ingredients for kibble include poultry feces, expired food, and even diseased meat. These sorts of shocking revelations are found throughout this important text.

Because the corporations behind Big Kibble invest in and market to veterinary colleges, even the majority of veterinarians have tended to recommend questionable kibble as the go-to diet for pets. Until now, well-meaning pet parents have had no way of knowing how poorly regulated and nutritionally-questionable Big Kibble is.  With the publishing of Big Kibble, the curtain is being pulled back on the dirty practices behind kibble, the sacks of meat we purchase for our pets and often leave in the garage for months at a time.

As a lifelong dog lover, I want to get the message of Big Kibble out there, and this is also the main motivation of both authors.  Although they run a fresh, whole food company that creates nutritious food for dogs, they prove themselves to be truly driven to improve the lifespans and quality of life of dogs.  Their main goal in sharing the book’s message is not to demean a big industry, but rather to help educate and support pet parents in choosing the healthiest, safest, most nutritious pet food for the furry members of their families.  For instance, both authors are donating all their profits from this book to animal charities—that says a lot about their deepest motivations.  The authors share studies and touching anecdotes alike about how fresh, whole food can enhance the lives and health of our beloved pets.  

We know that processed foods have a hugely detrimental effect on human health, even when they are a modest portion of overall food intake, yet we have been feeding our dogs almost exclusively ultra-processed kibble from a poorly regulated industry.  There is a better way forward.  Like me, I expect that many pet parents will want to move away from typical, ultra-processed kibble to something better. JustFoodforDogs is one of many fresh food options to consider.  This important book is highly recommended for any and all pet lovers, and I truly believe it has the potential to revolutionize pet health and well being.

A well written informative book. Some parts were interesting and kept my attention. Others were alittle too wordy. 
I’m sure there is a core of readers who will enjoy this book.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

This is a important read for all dog owners . I highly recommend this book. Thank you to. the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own. 

I started educating myself on pet food ingredients after the death of thousands of pets across America from contaminated gluten from China. A friend fed her cat and it died less then 24 hours later from the poisoned Chinese gluten. I called pet food companies and found they are legally bound to not give consumers any information.  They all lie to consumers and its a widespread cover up. While working at a vet decades ago I had a vet that informed us that pet foods did indeed include the deceased pet bodies that were bought at rendering plants from pet food companies. SO this is not a new con that the companies have been doing to poison our animals.  Imagine feeding your pet deceased pets bodies. This has been a unregulated industry and a money making industry for years at the expense of the health of our beloved pets. 

This book is important for dog owners to understand that the commercial grade dog food is poison.  The author includes not just ingredients but history of abuse by pet food companies. The deregulation of pet food companies that the author researched here is true to fact and critical knowledge.  A must read if you love your pet.

Wow. 
I knew going into this book that things weren't always kosher with the dog/cat food business - this is touched on in the book "Fast Food Nation" when they talk about feedlots and slaughterhouses and what happens with the run-off and the leftover "bits" when animals were slaughtered. What I didn't know was just how BAD it really is. And folks, it is R E A L L Y bad. Bad enough that I will tell you here - if you are pet owner, chances are you are feeding your pet with food that isn't classified as food, but as feed, it doesn't have the ingredients shown on the label and there is a good chance there are things that are both illegal and poisonous  in the "feed".  6 big companies own ALL [yes, that is ALL] of the major pet feed brands [even the "healthy" ones] and you have to really search out small, family owned companies to get pet food that isn't feed and isn't adulterated. And I will also tell you, that if I owned a pet, I would absolutely be changing their food or start making it on my own. 

You need to know [and the authors are very open and transparent about this and about their food as you can go and watch it be made if there is a facility near you] that the authors have developed their own fresh food for dogs and they do tout that [and other examples of fresh food companies as well]. They will also tell you that they are making no money off this book - this book developed from their love of their animals, the issues previous pets had that led them both to their professions and then to the dog food movement and all the money from the book is going to animal rescue, which is amazing. Those rescues are always  in need of funds and to know that this book on the horrors of the pet food world will help fund them is glorious.  I do not know that I would purchase their food [if I was a busy working person, I just might] over  making it myself, but I am so glad that they [and the others committed to our beloved pets eating well] are providing this service. 

This is not an easy book to read. It is tough to realize that, in feeding our beloved pets, we have been doing them a huge disservice. It is V E R Y tough to realize just how big a disservice. And it certainly horrific to realize that there are people out there, running these companies, that don't give 2 figs about animals and the "feed" they make for them. I would bet almost all the money I own that if any of them have pets, they are NOT feeding them the "food" they are making and selling to the rest of them [and if they are, they don't really care about their pets]. There are several really sad stories in here and I spent quite a bit of time in tears. When I wasn't be horrified. It was a really, really, rough read. 

All that said, I think that this is a necessary book. I think all pet owners and future pet owners should read this. And then they should learn how to read the labels of their pet feed. And then then they should learn how to better feed their beloved pets. For all the devotion they give us, they deserve nothing less. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Shawn Buckley, Dr. Oscar Chavez, and St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to start this review with the fact that I am a veterinary professional. I went to school to become a veterinary technician and have been working in the field for a few years now. This gives me a different perspective than others who have perhaps read this book. This novel also brings up a pretty hot topic in the veterinary field, so sorry about the rant that is sure to happen later.

I was offered a free copy of this book by the publisher through NetGalley because of some of the other books j have reviewed recently.

With that out of the way, I was intrigued by the premise of this work of non fiction.

The book gives a good history of the main Big Kibble companies, which I found very interesting. The authors are obviously wanting you to not feed any animal kibble and feed specialised diets, which by the way the author just started a website to help you do that.

The heartfelt stories found within are exactly that, heartfelt but I found the blatant leaning of this book to be a bit much. My issue with this book is how the author made kibble be such a bad thing. I know this is me using my veterinary knowledge to poopoo everything, but I went into reading this book a sceptic. And I left as one still. The novel read as a very long and elaborate commercial.

Do research, ask questions, consult a veterinarian. And please listen to what your veterinarian recommends. The veterinary industry is not out for your money, we want your pet to be healthy. No matter the food you choose to feed them.

I’m leaving this review by stating, again, that I am a veterinary technician. I am obviously biased to what I have been taught and my experience in the veterinary field. I tried to come to this book with an open mind, but I understand this review somewhat shows how biased I actually am. Personally I have nothing against raw diets and specialised foods, if they are well researched and are for the good of your dog or cat.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Big Kibble (Shawn Buckley, DR. Oscar Chavez, with Wendy Paris) should be read by all pet owners. The authors compare the Big Kibble industry to  Big Tobacco and after reading this book I can understand why. Made in America doesn't mean ALL ingredients are from America. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

I don’t have any pets, but if I did I would definitely fix the recipes included in the book. Pet food quality needs to be controlled.  You think you are feeding your pet the best food and it turns out to be junk.

Book Review: Big Kibble - The Hidden Dangers of the Pet Food Industry and How to Do Better by Our Dogs
Authors: Shawn Buckley; Dr. Oscar Chavez
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
Review Date: November 24, 2020

From the blurb:
“A big, inside look at the shocking lack of regulation within the pet food industry, and how readers can dramatically improve the quality of their dogs’ lives through diet. 

What's really going into commercial dog food? The answer is horrifying. 

Big Kibble is big business: $75 billion globally. A handful of multi-national corporations dominate the industry and together own as many as 80% of all brands. This comes as a surprise to most people, but what’s even more shocking is how lax the regulations and guidelines are around these products. The guidelines—or lack thereof—for pet food allow producers to include ever-cheaper ingredients, and create ever-larger earnings. For example, “legal” ingredients in kibble include poultry feces, saw dust, expired food, and diseased meat, among other horrors. Many vets still don’t know that kibble is not the best food for dogs because Big Kibble funds the nutrition research. So far, these corporations have been able to cut corners and still market and promote feed-grade food as if it were healthful and beneficial—until now.

Just as you are what you eat, so is your dog. Once you stop feeding your dog the junk that’s in kibble or cans, you have taken the first steps to improving your dog’s health, behavior and happiness.

You know the unsavory side of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. Now Shawn Buckley and Dr. Oscar Chavez (founder and owners of Just Food for Dogs) and Wendy Paris explain all you need to know about unsavory Big Kibble--and offer a brighter path forward for you and your pet.
——
Wow! What a great look at the Big Kibble dog food industry! Scary and fascinating. This is a very well written exposé of what the authors call Big Kibble, in the same manner as Big Tobacco. Dog food and other pet products are a huge business, and behind pet owner’s backs, these companies have used many dangerous ways to increase profits that are harmful and often fatal to our pets. 

I am a big time dog lover, so this book completely captured my attention. My beloved dog died unexpectedly last January 2020. Cancer of the spleen. I don’t have proof, but I imagine it was because of the inexpensive dog kibble she was fed. 

If you are a pet parent, I highly recommend this book. It is eye-opening. Easy to read, and full of stunning details about what the pet food industry does in order to increase profits at the expense of our pets. 

I give this book 5 stars, and highly recommended.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for giving me access to this book, and best of luck to the authors.

This review will be posted on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon.

#netgalley #bigkibble #shawnbuckley #oscarchavez #stmartinspress #exposé

Yikes.  This will probably make you, like me, rethink your options for feeding your animal companion.  The authors have written an expose of the dog food (or, as they term it, feed) industry.  There's no good news - ingredient lists don't tell the whole story, the additives are bad, pets have died. How to solve it?  Well, the authors advocate for fresh food, which to be honest, is unrealistic for the vast majority of pet owners.  They conveniently sell from their own website.  This made the book feel in some ways like one long argument to buy their products.  I didn't realize this going in but it soured my attitude toward what is actually a well researched and written book.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book was incredibly well researched and eye opening. It’s a book every dog lover and pet owner should read. 

Though advances in medicine and treatments have advanced exponentially over the years, our dogs are still only living approximately 12 years, and often times have shorter life spans than they did 50 years ago. Much of this is likely due to what they’re consuming. 

The premise of the novel is the benefits of feeding dogs fresh, whole, human-grade food. It turns out, the kibble and food widely available for animals is feed-grade quality and therefore, really not food at all. On top of containing fillers, animal by products, and really anything but the lovely meats and vegetables featured on the packages, they often contain chemicals and incredibly harmful toxins that have repeatedly been found to harm or even kill our pets. 

Recall after recall has changed little in the industry. With almost no oversight, Big Kibble is free to use cheap products, chemical processes, and poor hygienic and transport practices.  You would think that killing your customer base would be bad for business, but convenience, low price points, and a lack of knowledge have made kibble an attractive option for many pet owners. 

The authors Shawn and Oscar opened JustFoodForDogs in 2010 so they are actually practicing what they preach and are seeing the benefits in their own dogs and their clients’ dogs on a first hand and daily basis. Oscar has a history as a veterinary nutrition professor at a reputable college and Shawn originated the idea of cooking fresh, whole food for his dogs with his girlfriend and they realized they had a solid business idea. 

I was worried going into this that it would basically be a promo for their brand. Though of course profits are important, it’s abundantly clear that this is not the sole mission of JFFD. So clear that their recipes are included for free online (and in the book), the authors openly admitted to blunders including a recall due to contaminated green beans they had purchased from a wholesaler, and they also mention other businesses with similar products on a repeated basis. This helped make the book feel more genuine and honestly made JFFD that much more attractive to me as a consumer. 

I really enjoyed the personal stories about people’s dogs, especially the ones with happy endings! With my legal background, I was also particularly interested in hearing about the various lawsuits brought against Big Kibble and the comparisons between Big Kibble and Big Tobacco. There was also a lot of history - about kibble itself, dogs as pets, etc. - that I suspect many readers will really enjoy. 

If you were debating whether or not to buy a copy of this book please be aware that the authors are donating 100% of the royalties to pet rescue organizations. I mean, WOW. 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this insightful novel.