Wednesday, April 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Portland author debuts second canine cookbook
By Jodi schneider McNamee
Correspondent
Author Rick Woodford
was inspired to cook for
canines after his beloved
Belgian Malinois-Labrador
mix, Jackson, was diagnosed
with cancer.
J a c k s o n ’s a p p e t i t e
diminished soon after he
was diagnosed with lym-
phoma in 2005. According
to Woodford’s veterinarian
oncologist, Jackson had only
nine to 12 months to live if he
responded well to treatment.
It was a few days before
Christmas while Woodford
was shopping in a grocery
store when Jackson’s vet-
erinarian called to give him
the heartbreaking diagnosis.
Devastated, Woodford asked
the butcher in the grocery
store for two steaks, and that
night Jackson ate steak and
baked potatoes with his pet
parent.
Since Jackson would
not eat his usual kibble,
Woodford began cooking up
real food such as chicken and
vegetables and began dish-
ing it out to Jackson a few
times a week to encourage his
appetite any way he could.
Woodford found that when
Jackson’s interest in food
picked up and his eagerness
for his walks returned. So he
began increasing the amount
of homemade food he was
giving Jackson. His strength
returned and he began chas-
ing Woodford’s puppy
Raleigh around the yard.
“After about six months
of cooking for Jackson, it
was obvious that the food
had made a significant con-
tribution to his recovery,”
Woodford said.
Eighteen months after
Jackson was diagnosed with
lymphoma, he showed no
signs of slowing down and
was in remission.
“Initially I didn’t have any
knowledge of how to feed a
dog other than scooping food
out of a bag,” Woodford said.
“When Jackson became ill,
I started researching canine
nutrition. I created the larg-
est database on canine nutri-
tional requirements using the
National Research Council’s
recommendations and the
USDA’s nutrient values for
foods then cross-referenced it
against various illnesses. The
database allows me to create
recipes and instantly figure
out where to adjust them.”
As Jackson improved,
Woodford’s neighbors began
asking him to cook for their
dogs as well. Woodford soon
launched a successful custom
dog-food cooking business
called Dog Stew.
“Jackson was the inspira-
tion behind Dog Stew, which
I opened in 2007,” explained
Woodford. “It was his story
that led people to ask me for
recipes that would help other
illnesses like heart disease,
kidney disease, liver dis-
ease and diabetes. Dog Stew
was a service that delivered
prepared meals to people’s
homes in portioned amounts
to make feeding simple.
“I closed Dog Stew in
2008 because I couldn’t get
the financing to expand. I had
toyed with the idea of writ-
ing a book for a few years
and after closing Dog Stew
because I wanted to make
sure that my recipes for dogs
with illnesses could be made
more widely available.”
So Woodford created a
canine cookbook that would
allow him to help a larger
audience, and after four years
of immense research his first
book, “Feed Your Best Friend
Better” was published in
2011.
“When Jackson passed
away in 2010, I wanted ‘Feed
Your Best Friend Better’ to be
his legacy,” said Woodford.
“Feed Your Best Friend
Better” makes the transition
from commercial dog food
to homemade dog food sim-
ple, so you can make natural
food for your dog every day.
Woodford’s recipes use a
variety of herbs and spices for
their antioxidant properties.
Wo o d f o r d ’s s e c o n d
canine cookbook “Chow:
Share the Foods You Love
with the Dogs You Love,”
was recently published in
November 2015.
“I’ve expanded on many
of the ideas in ‘Feed Your
Best Friend Better,’ but focus-
ing on some very simple and
innovative ways to use the
ingredients that are on your
cutting board.”
“Chow” describes the
incredible power of foods to
assist both people and their
dogs to lead healthier lives
and incorporates unique
photo provIDED
Rick Woodford will speak at Paulina
springs Books in sisters.
methods of bringing them to
both the reader’s plate and
their dog’s bowl.
“Chow” also continues
Woodford’s dedication to pets
with serious ailments by pro-
viding recipe recommenda-
tions to assist dogs with aller-
gies and other illnesses.
Currently Woodford and
his partner have four dogs,
including Grace, a Chow-
Jindo mix, who was rescued
from South Korea.
The author will sign his
book at Paulina Springs
Books on April 9, at 6 p.m. At
the book signing Woodford
will be doing a presentation
on doggie nutrition and a
cooking demonstration.