THE HERBAL DOG

A guide to holistic health for pet dogs.

In her nonfiction debut, Hogan presents “an exploration of plant medicine mapped onto canine health and wellness,” offering an alternative to the familiar world of mass-produced kibble food and mass-prescribed veterinary medications. The author readily acknowledges the advances that veterinary medicine has made in diagnostics, surgery, and emergency medicine, but she applies the principles of holistic herbalism with the caveat that the one-size-fits-all approach of modern medicine sometimes overlooks things like environment, stressors, diet, and other factors. “Holistic herbalism sees dogs as individuals with unique needs, sensitivities, and energetic patterns,” she writes. Throughout the well-illustrated chapters on every aspect of canine physiology, Hogan touches on a wide array of health problems, including itchy skin, “hot spots,” nausea, fatty tumors, and even stings and bug bites. In every case, she explains the bodily systems involved—“the liver stores approximately 10 percent of your dog’s blood, filters the blood (along with the kidneys), and helps move fluids”—and adds a quick tip like, “The nervous system should be addressed in any pattern of kidney imbalance, and especially dryness.” The author’s calm narrative tone is both inviting and strategic, as is her opening endorsement of the standard veterinary medical practices upon which so many of her readers rely; Hogan’s approach will likely help to calm the suspicions of readers who feel that only a fanatic would recommend aloe vera and burdock root instead of an ultrasound scan for a dog’s painful abdomen. Even if skeptical readers don’t come away completely convinced, they’ll be enormously educated—Hogan imparts a huge amount of biological information about dogs, and does it all with an easy readability that will make quite a bit of it stick.

An informative and sometimes eye-opening examination of natural remedies for helping your dog.