Last night, the author responsible for getting me started in holistic care of my dogs and cats over twenty years ago was a guest at a chat on a website I work for. I arranged and hosted the chat.
A good friend asked me privately what on earth we could learn from him, as she knew I did not follow his feeding plan any longer, and she never had. And indeed, in the chat, he said at least two things I take strong exception to. So what's up with that?
This is part of why I hate gurus so much. If you make someone into an infallible source of authority, you're trapped. It's like fundamentalism: The bible says it, I believe it, and that's enough for me. You have to buy the whole thing lock, stock, and barrel, and if you disbelieve one tiny bit, it casts doubt on the whole thing.
But in reality as opposed to guru-land, no one is always right. People usually have vast areas of self-delusion and ignorance mixed in with substantial expertise and rationality. They get locked into certain beliefs and either fail to challenge them with new evidence from time to time, or actually start to deny anything that contradicts their established ideas. And even those of us who are free of those failings (yes, I'm joking, ok, don't yell at me!) do have areas we aren't knowledgeable about. I often get emails from people asking me questions about things I don't know anything about, who are flabbergasted when I respond by saying "I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about that." (Sometimes when I'm feeling mean and evil I add a suggestion that they try GOOGLING IT instead of asking me to dump the contents of my brain into their heads, but usually I leave it there.)
This is why I keep insisting (to the point that you're probably getting sick of it) that there is no one book, no bible, you should read on canine nutrition or holistic animal care, but that we should read widely, try things out, and come to our own conclusions. "My way or the highway" is a surefire way to get good and lost pretty damn quickly, and it's the same with trying to turn an author, veterinarian, breeder, or I don't know, some blogger chick with a lot of opinions, into Your Own Personal Jesus.
In other words, take what you like and leave the rest. And then add your own chapter.
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