The Forever Dog

The Forever Dog is a joint effort between popular integrative vet Karen Becker, and social media influencer Rodney Habib. The book also states it is “With Kristin Loberg,” who I suspect is a ghost writer who actually wrote the book. Great job Kristin, it is written beautifully.

This book promises to reveal the science behind canine aging, and help guide pet parents on letting their dog’s live longer and healthier lives. I’ve wanted to read this book for a very long time, but it was sold out instantly as soon as it was published, and checked out for months at the library.

I eventually managed to secure a library copy and eagerly dove into its pages to find out how I could make my dogs, all seniors already, live longer and healthier lives.

The Good

There’s a lot of interesting science in here. I was particularly fascinated by the science behind Fisetin, and how much it can do for the body. A look at the studies out there show dozens of studies that find Fisetin does useful things, essentially cleaning up bad cells in the body while leaving good cells intact.

I’m not sure how applicable to dogs they are, as most of the studies are done in humans or other animals. I don’t see how chopping a slice of cucumber into their food could be harmful though, so I’m glad to do it just in case it helps. Lots of what I do for the pups are just in case it helps.

There’s also a lot of good advice in here. Keeping your dog’s waistline trim will add about two years to their life. This is a really good bit of longevity advice.

I do believe there’s merit in taking concrete steps toward reducing your dog’s stress, doing mental exercises to maintain their cognition, and giving them supplements that address their specific needs.

Some of the supplements they recommend I have found to be personally helpful, namely Turkey Tails, Turmeric, and Green Lipped Mussels.

I also think there’s merit in a fresh food diet. I personally spoke with my vet recently with a copy of a recipe I wanted to use, a sample of a supplement to balance it, and got a big thumbs up. He also agrees that fresh food when properly balanced is often better than anything you can get in a bag or a can. Great!

The Bad

Other aspects of the book genuinely made me raise an eyebrow. Let’s start with a part that started off pretty good, outdoor time. They spend a great deal of time impressing on us how important it is to let your dog go outside, smell new smells, do a little Earthing, and exercise a lot.

Dogs who spend a lot of time outside are healthier than dogs that don’t. Okay, with you so far. Just a page later though, they’re warning you about how toxic the outside world is, how you shouldn’t even bring your shoes inside its so toxic, and definitely wash your dogs feet before they come inside. Inside is also toxic by the way.

Wait a minute. Which is it? How can the outdoors be a panacea for health and also a vile toxin all at the same time?

This inconsistency is vaguely explained away by pesticides, but if pesticides are so rampantly bad one would think spending more time outside rolling around in them would make the dogs unhealthier.

Per this book, literally everything is toxic to your dog. You can’t feed your dog in a bowl because plastic will leach chemicals, metal bowls have cobalt in them, and ceramic bowls may be glazed in lead. Also don’t feed it on the floor because your floor is a bath of chemicals from cleaning or just existing, and of course, outside = pesticides.

The book reaches new heights of paranoia here, going from a book about longevity to clutching your HEPA filter like it’s the holy cross and wondering why you haven’t expired immediately upon contact from all these toxins.

The Ugly

Some of the stuff in this book is so patently false it smacks you in the face when you read it and it only takes 30 seconds on Google to confirm it is wrong. In particular, “Sound is a form of electromagnetic radiation.”

No, it is not. It has not ever been. It will not ever be. Sound is a mechanical wave. We hear things because the sound wave creates waves in our cochlear fluid, which acts on our hair cells. While electromagnetic radiation may have a sound if it hits an object, sound is not electromagnetic radiation.

It took approximately 30 seconds on google to find this out. This really should have been fact checked, because it leaves you eyeing the rest of the book suspiciously, even the gems, wondering what else is patently false you don’t know about.

Final Thoughts

With regret, I can’t recommend this book. I do believe there’s some sound advice in here, some good scientific studies cited, and some really cool people interviewed. The issue is that these bits of gold are sandwiched between confusing, conflicting, or downright false information.

If you do read it, I suggest you check into each fact you find interesting on an individual basis. Inspect each nugget of information carefully and find alternate sources that confirm this.

It’s very evident these two authors care deeply about dogs, and they’ve gone to tremendous effort to help their pets live longer and healthier lives. It’s also evident that there’s some sort of inner trauma going on, and that has slanted a bit towards paranoia.

While I agree on the basics—exercise, fresh healthy food, and lots of outdoor time—I think you can let your dog sit on the couch without worrying they’ll die of cancer from touching it. I have not read a more balanced wellness book for dogs yet, but when I do, I will put the recommendation for it here.

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