Book Review: Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer Lived Dogs

 

It's not often that you come across a book and think, 'this book needed to be written!'

But that's exactly what we thought as we read through the new book "Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer Lived Dogs."

As a green dog (with a lifelong healthy, organic and green Mum) we completely related to nearly every chapter in Ted Keresote's new book.

When Mum adopted me back in 2004, it was her mission to bring her healthy, green, organic life to my life, as well. Armed with the knowledge she already had growing up in a healthy family, she still had a lot of research to do to determine the best decisions to make for my healthy lifestyle - from the safest toys, beds, collars and other gear, to vaccinations,  healthy diet and living life in a sometimes dangerous, chemical filled world.

And that's just what she did...she dove in with a vengeance, learning as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Once our blog readers found out we lived a healthy lifestyle they had a lot of questions for us. So many that there were just too many to answer, which is why we started our Raise A Green Dog blog a year or two after I came to live with Mum; to share how we live a healthy life and information we researched over the years.

You may remember the book "Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog," a fabulous book by Ted Kerasote that was published back in 2008 after his first adult dog, Merle, passed away. After experiencing the death of Merle, Ted, like many of us, questioned why our dogs live such short lives.

In preparation for his next dog, Pukka (pronounced PUCK-uh), Ted spent five years seeking answers to why dogs die too young, a question we think about every single day, and one that many of his fans of  'Merle's Door' also asked.

The result is his new book,  "Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer Lived Dogs." In the book, Ted shares his amazingly thorough and comprehensive research touching on a wide variety of subjects relating to a dog's life including breeding, spay/neuter, genetics, vaccinations  diet, environmental hazards, cancer, adoption and shelter dogs, and helping dogs live a happier, more well adjusted life.

Ted's quest took him all over the world and from the East coast to the West, touring and investigating shelters, dog food manufacturing facilities, rendering plants, breeders in the US and Europe, humane organizations, veterinary teaching universities and professors, researchers of dogs, wolves and canine diseases and more. He methodically, relentlessly and (we believe) very objectively shares the info he discovered, creating an insight into the 'behind the scenes' world of dogs that many may not ever know about, yet need to know.

You may not agree with everything Ted determines in his quest, we didn't. However, we do believe that it's one of the most important books written about dogs in years...it will open your eyes, educate you, make you think, open your mind, and help you on your quest for answers to help your dog live a longer, healthier and happier life.