Here it is! - Your guide to buying a better commercial food. Forget much of what you’ve read to date. Instead, read facts that will walk you through making a more informed decision. Understanding the ingredient list is only the first step. To make smarter choices, we need to understand much, much more. This booklet offers just that, and helps you become an informed consumer who won’t fall for hype whether it’s on the Internet or on the label. You won’t need anyone else’s opinion or top ten list of “good” foods once you read this material. Be your dog’s best advocate by learning more about the commercial diets you may be feeding or considering.

Our Labrador Retriever booklet is waiting for you in its breed-specific store. Whether you are a breeder, pet owner, are thinking of getting a Lab, or working at a rescue, this is must-read material!

Traditional medicine focuses on addressing disease. There’s a time and place for that, but we prefer to prevent problems in the first place. The Lab booklet along with supportive supplements are your best bet at helping these dogs stay healthy for a longer period of time. In fact, check out the savings when you choose to buy a three-pack of booklets, and you can learn about the Lab as well as two other subjects that can help even more.

Every breed has genetic weaknesses that dispose them to certain diseases. Mike Cormier DVM and I work together in taking a proactive approach. Dr. Cormier writes about the breed’s possible problems, questions to ask a breeder, which conditions a good vet will check for, and what the symptoms and treatment may involve. Based on breed health dispositions, I have written about the best food and supplement choices most likely to benefit a breed, and explain what lies behind my suggestions. This information is adaptable to all methods of feeding (kibble, cooked or raw).

Help me spread the word about being proactive. Rescue groups and breed clubs, receive a deep discount when purchasing a minimum of 48 booklets. Your organization can benefit by fund raising with these booklets while providing educational support. Let’s not wait until a dog needs help before applying sensible approaches to health. Join me in trying to help all dogs.

Fact of the Month
You Can Help Your Allergic Dog.

Most of the time food allergies can be controlled by feeding an elimination diet. Once we know which foods are tolerated, and use supplements as necessary to balance the diet, the dog is likely to do very well. Environmental allergies are a greater challenge because at the risk of stating the obvious, we can’t eliminate pollens or dust. To complicate matters, allergy can manifest in the same way whether it’s a food or environmental allergy. Still, there are things we can do to help these dogs. Here are the changes that Tori’s reacted well to thus far, and how we went about making them.

Because Tori has eaten many different foods, and because there was no way to know if she was reacting to food or environment, I chose to put her on Hills Z/D for eight weeks. During this time, her muzzle rubbing diminished dramatically, but she continued to rub her ears along the carpet, although this was less severe than in the past. I challenged the result by feeding ground beef. Tori reacted within one hour by having a grossly inflamed muzzle. We went back to Z/D for one week and then fed her chicken instead. Whole ground chicken (with skin and bones) seemed to be tolerated well, but after two weeks, she had a flare up like never before. The skin on her belly was red, her vulva was inflamed from her licking it constantly, and her ears bloomed as if they were cauliflowers. During this time, I noticed a tell-tale sign. Her eyes and nose were running badly. It seemed obvious that Tori had both food and environmental allergies- a common duo when allergy is present. Furthering our suspicions was the fact that grass was growing and trees were budding.

Next step: I started a pollen diary by notating the pollen counts and Tori’s reactions that day. So far, I believe that she reacts to grass, maple and birch. I also suspect that dust is a big problem for her since she has rubbed her ears and muzzle regardless of the season. One of our goals was to clean up Tori’s environment as best we could. It’s been a lot of work but very worthwhile.

All furniture was moved to the center of rooms so we could vacuum thoroughly. The vacuum bag was discarded continuously despite that it wasn’t full. Hardwood floors were washed with vinegar and water. Area rugs were steam cleaned. Window coverings, light fixtures, baseboards, window and door frames were washed. Mattress was vacuumed, new mattress protector, new pillows and pillow protectors were purchased. We removed the covers off the cold air returns and vacuumed within the returns as best we could. We changed the furnace filter, and added an air cleaner in each room. If we win the lottery, we’re hoping to buy a new furnace this fall since the current one is ancient, inefficient, and I’m sure doesn’t help the dust situation in the house.

The next goal was to take gentle care of Tori’s body. I rinse her with cool water daily, use a hypoallergenic shampoo as necessary, and soak her foot pads in warm water and baking soda to soften the hardened pads. This is followed by rubbing vitamin E (from an opened gelatin capsule) into the skin before she goes to sleep at night. The results have been remarkable. Also, I started wiping the ear flaps with a cotton ball moistened with witch hazel. Tori appreciates the cooling affect as evidenced by her leaning into the cotton ball. This is more meaningful than it might seem because Tori has never been able to tolerate anything touching her ears. She has a medical condition that makes her face, neck and ears extremely sensitive, so having her lean her ears into anything is a first! Once again, I rub vitamin E into the ear flaps before she goes to sleep.

Interestingly, the water bowl can be an issue for our dog. Although I used to wash the bowl and change the water in it three times daily, there still must be enough dust particles to set a reaction off. I’ve found that changing the water 5-6 times daily has a hugely positive impact. I am not suggesting that any one of these measures is magical. It’s too early to know how well Tori will continue to do over time, and certainly, an accumulative effect from all the measures taken is what’s most likely to be helping. But it does tell me that being vigilant is worthwhile and that like so many of the dogs I’ve worked with, Tori will react positively to small changes and do even better with larger ones.

If you have a dog with allergies, keep the faith - and a diary! The latter can be an invaluable road map towards reaching a positive outcome.

Monica

“I would rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.’
-- Samuel Johnson