Good books are not meant to replace a "good vet" ...
But good books do however serve 2 primary purposes:
(a) Good books give us points of reference; from which we can acquire general & useful information & knowledge about our dogs. It's where we should all start. Once we have acquired this basic information, we can then have serious & much more meaningful discussion with others, about what is best for our dogs; rather than just ask ~ "how ar???"
(b) Good books also serve as emergency references, when we cannot find or locate the immediate assistance we need.
For basic veterinary needs ~ suggest the following:
Homeopathic care: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/155643295X/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-0235412-8839949?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance Conventional veterinary care: www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0876052014/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/104-0235412-8839949?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance Read the reviews ~ and decide which is suitable. You can also follow the links to other similar books before you decide which to get.
For
"GENERAL" cases of diarrhoea:
(1) Just let the dog be and let all the "bad stuff" come out ASAP.
(2) Give the dog plenty of clean warm water to drink & prevent dehydration (passing watery stools depleted the dog's body of water).
(3) No feeding (in the wild, animals usually and quite naturally ~ fast themselves when not well, so as to allow all their bodily energy to concentrate on finding & eradicating cause of discomfort or illness). Allow the dog to rest and stay calm.
Then monitor, in most cases, once the bad stuff comes out, the dog will stabalise & return to normal.
BUT if the diarrhoea appears to be very severe (as in with violent heaving of stomach), or occurs very frequently, or the dog is in obvious discomfort or pain - then you know it is something more serious and its straight off to the
VET IMMEDIATELY.
Cheers