Please Don't Feed the Daisy: Living, Loving, and Losing Weight with the World's Hungriest Dog

by Beverly West, Jason Bergund

When Jason moves in with Bev, it's supposed to be temporary. But then Daisy the Chihuahua comes to stay. Just two-and-a-half pounds when they adopt her, Daisy is a charmer. And soon, an eater. Hot on her heels comes Elvis the pug, and then, of course, their puppies! Instead of losing her baby weight, after giving birth to four puppies, Daisy gets even chubbier and soon outgrows even her fattest fat sweaters. Bev and Jason decide it's time for everyone, including the two of them, to pull together, lead a healthier life-style -- and in the process become a family (albeit an unconventional one).

Please Don't Feed the Daisy is the wickedly funny, remarkably useful story of their journey toward becoming that family, and a fit one to boot. Packed with yummy, fun, diet- and earth-friendly recipes for both dogs and people, as well as training tips and the Happily Ever After Maintenance Plan , this is a heartwarming and healthy tale for dog- (and food-) lovers everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Beverly West is a bestselling developmental editor, ghostwriter and publishing brand strategist. Bev specializes in big think books by thought leaders in the areas of entrepreneurialism, sales, marketing and memoir.

Bev’s recent projects include Flip the Script by the incomparable sales guru Oren Klaff (Portfolio) Luck Comes to Visit It Doesn’t Come to Stay (Forbes) by iconic impresario Charles Koppelman (Forbes), Innovation in Translationk How Big Ideas Really Happen by visionary innovator Dave Ferrera, and Youth Nation by Matt Britton.
Bev’s work regularly appears in Forbesand Fortune. Her work has also appeared in Wired,US Weekly, Redbook, Vogue, Body and Soul, Nylon, Real Simple, Paper, Self, Marie Claire, Metrosource, and People Magazine.
Bev’s books have been featured in the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the Boston Herald, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, the Miami Herald, the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the Daily Oklahoman. Additionally, Bev was a national spokesperson for Netflix, and the lead writer for Monster.com’s Work/Life Balance area.

Bev lives with her husband Jason, 2 pugs, 1 rescue mutt named Olive, and one very confident cat on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Reviews

[Inky · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could have got away without giving this book a star, I would have. It was dreadful. I really disliked the book. I decided to read the book as I thought it may actually contain information on the character of the dog, it's personality and how it integrated with the family, etc. Unfortunately this book did not deliver. It was a mixture of dog manual, bio of dog and a whole lot of receipes from a failed receipe author.
Avoid this book if possible. It is just mind numbingly bad

[Terrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed Daisy's story and pictures, but that was about it. I don't understand how they could have overfed poor Daisy so much that she could no longer walk though; it's pretty horrifying, as was their failure to spay/neuter their pets. Glad they got Daisy healthy again.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book that described the lives of a couple surviving after 9/11 with real life issues and how they persevered through their challenges

[Jaime Barfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a cute and fun read. I enjoyed reading about Daisy and the other members of her family. If you are looking for a cute puppy story this is for you!

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book on a whim from the library thinking it might be a entertaining read about a fat dog that goes on a diet, with interesting stories. Without being mean, which I try not to do in reviews, it might be one of the worst books I've ever read. The only reason I finished it was to see if there was any redemption in the end.

I understand that the authors probably didn't write the book with me as their intended audience; being a male. While I found the couple humorous, their mistreatment, yes over-feeding ones' dogs especially with human food is mistreatment, of their dogs did not endear them to me. I know that a fat dog gets fat somehow, but 3/4 of the book feeding meatloaf and muffins to a dog and then a quick chapter on how she lost the weight wasn't fun for me to read.

The author constantly made reference to other books she was writing about her other dogs during this process of fattening up her chihuahua and the subsequent diet, and because of the shortness of this book, the flow and pace for the story may have been better if all the books were combined. I'm not the author and haven't read the other books, so not sure how true this idea might be, but if they are all like this one, combining them with a better editor, I found numerous grammar and spelling mistakes, might make for a better book.

All in all, not for me, maybe for you.

[Lisa Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this hoping to convince my dad how bad it is to overfeed his dogs, but he wasn't interested. It wasn't a straightforward dog-on-a-diet book anyway. It was about this really fun couple and their pets. I really liked how they shared a bit of their life and a few recipes too!

[Yoonmee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining. Two stars because I giggled a couple times, but that's being generous.

[Gato Negro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hysterical - a must for dog lovers, particularly those who own chihuahuas and pugs. I loved the recipes and the dog-related quotes as well. A perfect quick read for a sunny afternoon.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good looking recipes, cute pictures too.