tips

Plants provide vital natural sources of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements that many of today’s commercial diets just don’t provide, what with poor-quality and over-processed ingredients. And in our increasingly urbanized environment, many dogs don’t have the opportunity to forage and ingest healing plants they instinctively seek out when feeling distressed.

Have you ever felt dismayed over the shrinking access for our canine companions? I know that to a large degree we’ve brought it on ourselves by our collective carelessness about proper public and leash-walking etiquette.

Like all yeasts, candida thrives on sugars, including those from grains, starches, and othercarbohydrates. Beneficial bacteria (such as Lactobacillus acidophilus) metabolize sugars, which keeps candida in check by disrupting its food supply. A shortage of beneficial bacteria results in a sugar-rich environment and an abundance of Candida albicans.

Ever had a dog who won’t give you his bone or chew toy if you try to take it from him? Or one who gets uncomfortable or growls if you get close to him when he’s eating his dog food? Or snaps at you if he’s on the sofa and you want him off? Or lifts his lip in a snarl if your friend tries to get close to you?

When you hear hoof-beats coming over the hill in Wyoming, think horses, not zebras. While it could absolutely be that there are zebras – or albino miniature ponies with pink ribbons in their manes – coming, the first and most obvious thing to rule out is horses.

Your best option for finding compatible playmates for your dog is to identify your dog’s play style and select dogs of similar size, energy level, and play style preference. Size matters. No doubt there are dogs of significant size disparity who can play well together, but as a general rule, it’s wise to keep the difference in the realm of 25 pounds or less. A playful dog can easily injure a little dog, even without intent to do harm, simply by running over or jumping on the smaller dog.

There are a few different types of tests available that purport to identify the allergens to which a dog is hyper sensitive; some of them are helpful and some are a waste of time and money. Since all of them are commonly referred to as “allergy tests,” few people know which ones are credible, and which ones are not. The following is a brief description of the types of tests available for allergy diagnosis.

You contemplate taking your dog for a walk with mixed emotions. You love the idea of going for a companionable stroll through the neighborhood together, but when you pick up his leash he becomes the Tasmanian Devil.

The notion that every meal an animal eats should be completely balanced is a recent invention resulting from the use of packaged foods. If you were restricted to the same food in the same amount every day for the rest of your life, each identical meal would have to be nutritionally balanced because you would have no other source of nutrients. But you don’t eat this way, you don’t feed your children that way and animals in the wild don’t eat that way. It’s completely unnatural. What matters is not whether tonight’s dinner contains 100 percent of every nutrient your body requires but whether all of the combined foods you eat today or this week provide them.

Are you feeding your pet the right way? The debate over pet food is ongoing, from the source and quality of the ingredients to the use of chemical preservatives, colors and flavoring agents. Only a few premium brands contain food suitable for consumption for humans; almost all are made from such questionable raw materials, that they have been the focus of lengthy exposes by veterinarians and investigate journalists. So what should dogs eat?

Are you feeding your pet the right way? The debate over pet food is ongoing, from the source and quality of the ingredients to the use of chemical preservatives, colors and flavoring agents. Only a few premium brands contain food suitable for consumption for humans; almost all are made from such questionable raw materials, that they have been the focus of lengthy exposes by veterinarians and investigate journalists. So what should dogs eat?

You can help prevent resource guarding in a dog who does not display signs of the behavior by teaching him a give-and-take game. NOTE: Do not do this if you dog lunges and aggressively tries to grab treats out of your hand. Start by offering him a toy that he likes (but is not extremely valuable to him). When he opens his mouth, say “Take it!” When he does, tell him he’s a good boy, then offer him a treat.