The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer

February 11th, 2024

This book is very different than what I typically gravitate toward. The main reason is because I didn’t buy this book myself — it was a gift from my mom. She read about it on Facebook or something and wanted to get it for me (mostly because she LOVES my dog Leo and wants him to be a “Forever Dog”). I want Leo to be a “Forever Dog” too, so I decided to give it a read.

The book is very scientifically rigorous. So much so that I skimmed through much of the jargon, knowing that I wouldn’t recall any of it and I can always find that information later if I need to.

Here are a few of the big picture ideas that I learned about:

The macronutrient breakdown of the typical dog diet is far from ideal. High protein + fat (and therefore, low carb) diets are best for a dogs metabolism, but kibble is composed of lots of carbs. To put it in perspective, the ideal carb intake for dogs is ~4% of calories, but kibble can have, in some cases, > 50%. This slows dogs down, as their body is unable to process such a large carb load efficiently.

The pet food industry is highly unregulated. Ingredient and food quality standards are leagues below those held for human food. This makes sense, but I didn’t realize that there are so many tremendously unhealthy options on the market for pets.

Stress can deteriorate a dog’s health. It’s important that when we get stressed, we don’t take it out on our dogs. Additionally, unhealthy environments, lack of exercise, lack of socialization, etc. can all cause stress to a dog. By minimizing their exposure to these experiences, we can help them live happier and longer.

Dogs that are allowed to make their own decisions are happier and tend to have closer relationships with their owners. I try to do this by letting Leo decide where we walk sometimes.

Dogs shouldn’t be eating three meals a day. This is an arbitrary structure that we’ve enforced on dogs because that’s how we typically operate. Instead, dogs should eat 1-2 meals per day, within an 8 hour interval. Fasting for the rest of the time is actually healthy for them as it more closely aligns with how their metabolisms have evolved over time.

I must say, reading this book was a bit overwhelming and stressful. Just like our own health, it’s impossible to get it all 100% right. We’ll always inevitably fall short of perfection, but it’s important that we take steps to improver our lives, as well as those of our dogs, regardless. I can’t imagine how stressful it must feel to be a parent!

If you’re a dog parent I think this is a worthwhile read. You’ll be able to breeze through it pretty quickly, and there are some good tips in there. If anything, it will get the gears turning on how to create a better life for your dog. That’s what it accomplished for me, at least.