Groom Your Dog for a Happy & Healthy Life
In my book, 8 Weeks to a Healthy Dog, I list “grooming” as one of the steps necessary to have a healthy pet. It's an overlooked but vitally important part of pet care for several reasons. First, any time spent with your pet increases the bond the two of you [...]
The Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Pets
One of the more commonly employed natural therapies for human health involves chiropractic manipulation. While not as commonly used in pets (probably due to the lack of availability of properly trained veterinary chiropractors,) it is a viable therapy, especially for pets with musculoskeletal problems. Chiropractic medicine uses manipulation of the [...]
Managing Anxiety in Pets Naturally
One of the more common behavior problems for which I am consulted involves anxiety-related issues in dogs and cats. The problems range from simply being anxious when going to the doctor’s office or grooming shop, and thunderstorm phobias, all the way to severe separation anxiety. Behavior modification is very important [...]
Antioxidants to Heal and Prevent Disease
One of the most common classes of nutritional supplements prescribed by veterinarians is antioxidants. Certain supplements, including vitamins and minerals, function in the body to reduce oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical process that occurs within the body's cells as a normal result of cellular metabolism, detoxification, and energy production. Inflammation [...]
Dogs and Humans Co-Evolved to Eat More Plants
A genome study at Uppsala University in Sweden found ten genes that help dogs to digest starches. Lab work suggested that changes in three of those genes make dogs better than meat-eating wolves at splitting starches into sugars and then absorbing those sugars. According to geneticist Kerstan Lindblad-Toh, the rise [...]
Meat-Free Diets for Sprint-Racing Sled Dogs
This 2009 study was the first to demonstrate the potential for a meat-free diet to be nutritionally adequate for exercising dogs. In a 16-week controlled experiment, a meat-free diet maintained haematological characteristics in sprint-racing sled dogs (Siberian huskies). Importantly, these findings pave the way for commercial pet food manufacturers to [...]