The Portuguese Water Dog, and Shetland Sheep Dog join our other breed booklets: Airedale Terrier, Akita, Alaskan Malamute, American Staffordshire Terrier, Australian Shepherd, Basset Hound, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bichon Frise, Border Collie, Boxer, Bullmastiff, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Chihuahua, Doberman Pinscher, Golden Retriever, Great Dane, Labrador Retriever, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Shih Tzu, Siberian Husky, Standard Poodle, Maltese, Miniature Poodle, and Toy Poodle. We add new breeds monthly, so if your breed isn’t here yet, stay tuned!

Mike Cormier DVM and I are pleased to say that each breed booklet is available in its breed-specific store, and that our focus is on prevention. These booklets provide an overview of genetic diseases in your breed, symptoms, most common treatments, what a good vet will check for, and how dietary measures and supplements can help to prevent some problems. The dietary information applies to all methods of feeding (commercial, cooked or raw). Neither Dr. Cormier nor I see the benefit to waiting until it’s too late to help a dog. Being proactive is something that we both believe in very strongly, and these booklets are our combined effort to help you do just that. Rather than pointing to specific diets, we believe that certain dietary principles and specific supplements are what can impact a breed.

We welcome the interest of veterinary teams, rescue organizations, and breed clubs wanting 48 or more booklets (mixed titles is fine), and offer a deep discount to support your effort! Contact us to discuss an order.

Fact of The Month

Dietary supplements can have hidden ingredients

If you’ve ever wondered why your allergy prone dog scratches nonstop, don’t rule out dietary supplements as culprits. In fact, dogs with intestinal allergy can show aggravated symptoms due to the very supplements that we would expect to help them. Here’s why:

The word “hypoallergenic” is used to describe supplements or foods that are less likely to cause allergic reactions. But in the real world, this word doesn’t have much meaning. Many scientists scoff at it. Although some things aren’t the cause of an allergic reaction, an adverse response can still occur, and ultimately, the goal of pet owners is to minimize or do away with these reactions. Supplements that contain protein can lie behind allergic reactions. Although most people don’t consider kelp to be a source of protein, it does contain it. This is enough to set a reaction off. Other supplements that fall into this category are L-Glutamine which, in many cases is derived from wheat or an animal source. In the case of L-Glutamine, “hypoallergenic” is an important word to look for, but ask how it has become this way. In other words, what is the mechanism that would make it a non-issue for your dog? If a supplier doesn’t know or provides an answer that makes you skeptical, don’t ignore your inner radar.

Hidden ingredients in supplements include the source of protein used when making gelatin capsules. For instance, our wild salmon oil is encapsulated, but in this case, the dog that tolerates salmon (therefore the oil), will also tolerate the capsule because the gelatin is derived from wild salmon. Most fish oil capsules are not made with fish gelatin and certainly not from the same type of fish the oil is from.

Vitamin E can be an issue for some dogs. Much of the vitamin E on the market is derived from soy. Dogs that have consumed soy in the past may have developed an allergy to it, but that’s not the most common problem. Instead, the source of gelatin the vitamin E capsule contains can be an issue. Most retailers don’t know the source of gelatin and few labels provide this information. So, if your dog is ingesting anything in capsule form, s/he may react to the capsule rather than the ingredients in the product itself.

Don’t feel overly confident if you use loose powders rather than tablets or capsules. There’s another trap waiting for your dog, and that is that dry products can harbor a great deal of mold or yeast. Some products contain large amounts of both. So, despite that you may have purchased something that sounds top-notch (organically grown, etc), you are not assured that this powder (it’s even riskier if this is a blend of powers) isn’t adding mold or yeast into the body.

Independent supplement reviewers seem to promise that you are purchasing a high-quality product if they have given it a thumbs up.. Keep in mind that they are looking at one lot number of a product whereas you are, in all likelihood, buying another. Not only is it very common to have variables between one lot number and another, but manufacturers can send a preferred lot number in for review. Once the product has earned a five-star rating, it’s easy to think that all lots are good even though this may not the case.

Assurance of quality comes from seeing laboratory assays that are updated to reflect the current lot of a given supplement. The result should come from an independent lab because the lab on the premises of the manufacturer can make errors or reflect bias. Ask the hard questions, understand the difference between truth and hype, and you will help to raise the bar in this industry. More importantly, you may be able to help your allergy-prone dog more than you had considered.

Monica

“A friend told me that her dog was so smart he was heading to a nearby college. I told her to say hello to my dog because she is a professor there..’
-- Laura Mintz (retired trainer)