Yes, Sky has gone from us.

Up until just before Christmas 2008, she was happy and seemed comfortable. She still enjoyed her walks, would go for short gallops ahead of me, then stop and look back as if to check I was still coming. She loved her food, mainly raw, or tenderly home cooked by me. Changing Sky’s food to home-made had worked a miracle for her in 2006, but the best diet in the world is not going to keep an old dog alive forever.

The first sign that something was amiss was when she declined her daily walk, turning back at the gate and slowly re-entering the house. Then she started leaving some of her food. The Vet. found nothing untoward, but the next development was rapid, laboured breathing and sudden weight loss.

Xrays and blood tests showed Sky to be anaemic and having a slightly enlarged heart. The Vet. thought her immediate problem was probably a bleeding tumour somewhere, probably in her spleen. No masses were palpable in her abdomen.

Here’s the thing: you have an old dog; you know the time will come when something will end her life. But nothing really prepares you for having to make the decision of when.
I had to weigh up the stress of surgery for her at her age (17) against the time it would buy her if it was successful. And of course, there were financial considerations as well.

Medication relieved Sky’s symptoms somewhat, and while the whole family was gathered together for Christmas, we debated what to do. We decided that on a daily basis we would assess Sky’s comfort level. If she deteriorated again, we would give her a peaceful end.

Sky enjoyed her last Christmas – re-acquainting herself with people she had not been with for a long time, eating tidbits, creeping under the Christmas tree (a mysterious activity she has done every Christmas – we think she liked the smell, or perhaps the feel of the pine needles gently scraping her back).

A few days later she began to show signs of discomfort again and now, the medications that had been helping her symptoms, began to lose their effect. The day came when she looked so miserable, I knew it had to be her last.
The Vet. very kindly came to the house, which saved Sky the stress of going to the clinic, which she hated, having been there many times for surgery for skin cancer.

Afterwards, Sky looked so peaceful, I was plagued by concern that perhaps I had left it too long. Did she suffer? Was she in pain? I do not know, but I do know I made the right choice.

Sky is buried in a friend’s pet graveyard, on a property where she loved to hunt rabbits when she was younger. It’s a lovely position on a grassy knoll, where daisies, agapanthus and a rambling rose grow against a fence. Many family pets and working dogs have been buried there over three generations. She is in fine company.

To all my  subscribers, I apologise for my long absence from this blog. No excuses, but an explanation is due to you. (Excuse/explanation - is there a difference…?)

My daughter, who lives overseas, and my first grandchild came to stay with me and, all of a sudden, my life was not my own any more. I have been spending hours each day holding, playing with, helping with (sometimes) this adorable baby; my internet activities have been totally neglected.

But I am loving them being here. My daughter plans to return to London later in the year, so I must make the most of the time I have with them.

I’m back, and I hope to keep up with things a bit better. I just thought everyone deserved an explanation and an apology.

Taking on a dog is pretty much like having a child: their needs are similar and both deserve from us the same duty of care. Dogs, like children, need water, food, shelter, a safe environment, exercise, adequate hygiene, attention and education. The main differences between dogs and children are that children will end up costing us a lot more to raise, and if they’re not happy with what we’re doing, they will complain! 

Our dogs offer us trust, blind devotion, loyalty and unconditional love and will continue to do so the whole of their lives. It is surely up to us as owners to provide in return the best care that we can. Mostly, we do this pretty well, but there is one area where we have been falling down, without realizing it. I’m talking about dog nutrition. 

During the last two decades of the 20^th century and on into the 21^st, our lives have become ever more busy, our time has become ever more precious and we have come to rely more and more on convenience to feed both ourselves and our dogs. For ourselves, there is take-out food, dining out, pre-packaged “heat and eat” meals, and many other ways to minimize food preparation. For our dogs, it has become even easier for us – we can simply open a can, or pour kibble into a bowl. There’s no mess, it takes no time and we know we are giving  them “complete and balanced nutrition”.

Well, that’s what I used to think, anyway. We all did. We’ve been constantly educated via clever advertising, marketing campaigns, and deceptive food packaging until we believe that commercially processed dog food offers the best dog nutrition. Even most Vets believed this and would advise dog owners to feed their dogs this way.  

Since the major pet food recall of March 2007, we can no longer be deceived. We now know that processed dog food is not always safe, we know it does not necessarily contain the best of ingredients (even that some of the ingredients are not really food!) and that it can contain toxic ingredients to preserve it, to enhance its appearance and to raise its crude protein measurement. Can we knowingly continue to feed such stuff to our dogs, who trust us and depend on us for their care? 

We can do better – and it’s not difficult. We can feed our dogs nutritious, delicious, healthy and safe food by changing to a homemade dog food plan. It’s much easier than you might think. I have done it myself for my old dog and the improvement in her health and energy levels is nothing short of a miracle.

There is an overwhelming amount of dog food and dog health information online, although you have to sift through a lot that is biased one way or another, and a lot that offers conflicting advice. To save you the time and trouble, I have brought most of the more sensible information together into a free, 7-part course outlining the steps you can take to create better dog nutrition. You can click here to get started now.

Don’t we owe it to our devoted canine friends to educate ourselves so that we can make informed choices about dog nutrition and dog health care? A little effort now could repay us with a longer, healthier life for our dogs.

A few months ago I purchased Dr. Andrew Jones’ Veterinary Secrets Revealed, and I found it so helpful and easy to use, I went ahead and purchased all his other products as well. More recently, I did a review of Veterinary Secrets Revealed, which you can read here if you want to know more.

I really like Dr. Jones’ attitude, encouraging us as dog owners to take more responsibility for our dogs’ well being, and giving us straightforward, honest advice to help us do so.

Recently, I have learned that Dr. Jones has an animal shelter adjacent to his clinic. Like all charities, the Animal Shelter (named Second Chance) needs fundraising. So for one week, Dr. Jones is holding $1.00 trial sale of all his complete system! The sale starts today. Until midnight next Wednesday (6/18) you can get his entire digital cat and dog healing system for a $1 trial. Here’s where you can grab your copy for $1:

help the Animal Shelter

At the end of 21 days, you pay either $97, or
2 payments of $49 -  that is over 80% OFF of the regular Price.

He’s holding this CRAZY Everything but the Kitchen Sink Sale as a way to HELP his local animal shelter - Second Chance.
25% of ALL proceeds are being donated to help animals in need.

Here’s where you can see a video Dr. Jones made explaining the urgent need
for funds, AND to grab your copy for a $1 trial - go here:

Help the Animal Shelter

————————————————–
The COMPLETE DOG and CAT HEALING SYSTEM INCLUDES
ALL of Dr. Andrew Jones’ Digital Materials…
————————————————–

1. Veterinary Secrets Revealed (e-Book)
2. Veterinary Secrets Revealed (M.P3 Audio)
3. Pet First Aid Secrets: Complete Canine And Feline First Aid Manual (e-Book)
4. Pet First Aid Secrets: Complete M.P3 Audio
5. Pet Food Recall Report (Video Presentation)
6. The Veterinary Code (Video Presentation
7. Pet First Aid (Video Presentation)
8. Homeopathy, Herbs, Acupressure and Massage (Video Presentation)

———————————————————-

Try Dr. Jones’ System For $1 And Get FOUR Fr**ee Bonuses!

———————————————————

If this $1 Trial isn’t enough to have you, your dog and cat bounding over to Dr. Jones’ special ‘Help Animal Shelter’ web site, these FOUR fr**ee gifts will surely do the trick:

Bonus 1: Pet Food Secrets
  
*The truth behind pet food - from a Veterinarian that lost his dog in part due to diet (yes, Dr. Jones dog died from being fed the type of diet many Vets still recommend). This includes the best diets for keeping your pet healthy, and how to choose a quality pet food. PLUS, which ones Dr. Jones now recommends.

*The supplements that work, and which ones you should be using with your pet now!

*Food that you can make at home - balanced, simple make-at-home diets for common pet health problems, such as allergies, cancer, diabetes and weight loss.

Bonus 2: The Pet Vaccine Report

*Extended report on Dog and Cat Vaccines:
*Dog and Cat Diseases For Which Vaccines Are Created
*Side Effects Of Vaccines
*Alternatives To Vaccines
*Dr Jones’ Vaccine Protocol
*Homeopathics To Give Following Vaccines

Bonus 3: Pet CPR Video (BRAND NEW!)

Here you can see the EXACT Steps in performing CPR on your Dog and Cat. You will learn rescue breathing, Heart massage, and How to STOP choking - This may SAVE your pet’s life.

Bonus 4: Special Online Seminar with Dr Jones

**Dr. Jones will be holding a Special Online Seminar going into Detail on the most common Dog and Cat Health Problems, and how you can begin to treat these At Home Immediately.
He’ll have a Live Q&A at the end - you don’t want to miss this!

—————————————————
You have NEVER seen this BEFORE… and it WON’T LAST
—————————————————

That’s MORE than he has EVER offered before …and you get it all FREE when you try his entire system for $1.

Go here right now and claim your copy before they’re all gone!

Animal Shelter Fundraising Sale
=============================================

Coming from a health care background, I am sometimes guilty of assuming that everyone knows how our bodies work. I was inspired to write this item after noticing a question that had been posted online on a message board.

Digestion is the process by which food materials are broken down into their simplest forms so that nutrients can be absorbed into, and utilized by, the body. Understanding how the dog digestive system operates is key to understanding the best choice of dog food for your dog. One way to achieve this understanding is to compare the dog digestive system with our own.

Dogs are primarily meat eaters (carnivores), although like us, they can eat other types of food. It’s the teeth that tell the difference: while our teeth are those of a true omnivore, with flat molars designed to grind and chew nuts, grains and other plant matter, dogs’ teeth have the sharp blade-like edges that are meant for cutting and tearing raw meat. They don’t chew their food the way we do, but rather swallow it in whole chunks. This is because no digestion of the food happens until it reaches the dog’s stomach. We humans have to chew our food in order to break it down and mix it with saliva, because our saliva contains the digestive enzyme ptyalin, which starts the digestion of carbohydrates.

The stomach is a reservoir with strong muscular walls, which churn the food around in order to mix it with the hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes and mucus secreted by the stomach lining. The mucus serves to protect the stomach tissue from itself being digested. The food is held and mixed in the stomach until the initial stage of digestion is complete and the food has gained a liquid consistency like thick soup. This liquid is known as “chyme.”

The chyme leaves the stomach through a strong, circular muscle called the “pyloric sphincter” and enters the duodenum, which is the first part of the small intestine. Here, further digestion takes place, with more enzymes added from the pancreas and liver. From this point on, the dog digestive system and its human counterpart do not differ much. Most digestion is completed in the duodenum, and absorption of nutrients takes place in the remainder of the small intestine.

In the large intestine there is some bacterial activity that serves to break down any remaining fibrous material, which can sometimes lead to flatulence. Dogs don’t deal with fibre very well and undigested plant matter can sometimes be observed in their faeces. The function of the large intestine is mainly to absorb moisture so that the stool becomes formed, and to act as a storage place for the stools until they can be voided via the anal sphincter. 

Should we trust a Veterinarian whose dog health care regime failed his own dog? I had my doubts at first, and when a friend told me she had signed up for Dr Andrew Jones’ Veterinary Secrets Revealed Complete Home Study Course, I hit her with a few questions, like, “Is he really a Veterinarian? Is he qualified?”
When she told me the course was about teaching owners how to examine, diagnose and treat their dogs at home, using the services of their Veterinarian only when strictly necessary, I was shocked! Why would a Veterinarian want to do that?

Instead of arguing with me, my friend simply lent me her copy of the printed manual that comes with the course (you get a digital version as well) to read, and I must say, I was impressed in spite of myself. My questions were quickly answered and my doubts were blown away.
I returned my friend’s manual and bought my own.

Dr. Andrew Jones, author of Veterinary Secrets Revealed, has been a practising cat and dog Veterinarian for 15 years. He owns the Nelson Animal Hospital in British Columbia, Canada. His dog died at an early age even though he was feeding, vaccinating and treating the dog following the principles he had been taught during his training. This devastating experience opened Dr. Jones’ mind, causing him to question some of the dog feeding and dog health care regimes he and his colleagues routinely used.

If you own a dog (or a cat), Veterinary Secrets Revealed could well be the best investment you can make towards the health of your pet. The manual is well laid out and easy to understand (no medical jargon), with a helpful index so that you can quickly find what you are looking for. It contains over a thousand safe, natural and effective solutions for healing your pet, remedies for common complaints that you can easily use at home. It will pay for itself by saving you hundreds of dollars in Veterinarian bills.

You can buy just the manual on its own (printed or digital versions available) for less than the cost of a Veterinarian consultation, or, like my friend and me, you can sign up for the Veterinary Secrets Revealed Complete Home Study Course. The course is huge. It’s a multi media course, which includes audio and video CDs, a DVD, a quick-start guide, and the printed and digital manuals. Both options come with plenty of bonuses, and a money back guarantee.
If you are a dog owner, you need this information. It will

• Save you money and time by reducing Veterinarian visits
• Save your dog the stress of Veterinarian visits
• Improve your dog’s health
• Give your dog a longer life
• Allow you to take control of your dog health care

Go here now and take a look. And then I’d love to hear what you think, so why not come back here and post a comment?

You’ve spent hours reading books and articles; you’ve subscribed to dog food related forums; you’ve found some recipes that look yummy enough to eat yourself; you’ve been shopping for beautiful fresh ingredients. Now you are all ready to start feeding homemade dog food. So you cook up a treat that smells delicious, and then you hit a snag: your precious pooch doesn’t want to eat it!

Relax: it’s not necessarily your cooking that’s at fault! If your dog has only ever had kibble, then it may take him a while to get used to homemade dog food. Here are five tips to help him learn to enjoy real food.

Be sneaky: Introduce the new dog food gradually by mixing a little into his normal food, increasing the new food slowly over a period of days. Homemade dog food is a new experience for him in texture as well as flavour, so it’s hardly surprising if he takes some time to adjust.

Too hot? Remember to let recently cooked food cool to room temperature before offering it to your dog. Check that there are no “hot spots” in the middle of the meal, especially if you have used the microwave.

Let him get hungry: Remove uneaten food after about ten minutes. Your dog does not need to snack or “graze”: he is not a sheep. If you are trying to encourage him to eat something new, he will be much more interested if he has had the chance to actually get hungry. A dog’s natural eating pattern is to eat a big meal when the opportunity presents itself, then to rest. Regular meals only became part of canine life after mankind domesticated the first wolf. It is OK to feed your adult dog only once or twice a day.
 

Boost the flavour: try a sprinkle of grated parmesan, or a drizzle of tasty stock. If it smells delicious, you have the game half won. If you are introducing raw meat and your dog isn’t keen, try quickly browning the outside of the meat before you offer it to him, until he gets the idea.
 

Competition: If you have another dog, or even a cat, try feeding the two of them together: psychology can work wonders. If all else fails, try pretending you are eating some of the dog food yourself. This always works for me. Most dogs seem convinced that if the food is on the human plate it must be something special!  The last resort might be to actually share something with him that you really are eating: I never knew a dog that could resist a piece of sausage.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. When your dog has been eating homemade dog food for a few weeks and you can see the improvement in his well being, you’ll be glad you persisted.

Recently, a friend phoned me because she was concerned about diarrhea in her dog. We discussed when it had started, what the dog had been eating, and whether the dog seemed sick, or had any other symptoms. It turned out she had decided to try homemade dog food and had made the change rather suddenly.

Homemade dog food in itself should not give your dog diarrhea as long as you follow a few simple rules.
 

Make changes gradually: a sudden change in diet may upset a dog with a sensitive stomach, so introduce new foods only one at a time: that way, you can easily identify anything that is going to cause a problem. Start by feeding about one part of the new food to about three parts of the old food, increasing slightly over a few days. When you are sure that the first new food is not causing any upset, start to introduce a second new food in the same way.
If your dog has only ever been fed with kibble, it may take a while for his stomach to adjust. I would start with a small portion of cooked lamb or chicken, mixed with the kibble. When the dog is comfortably tolerating about half in half of that, I would add a little well cooked rice (so now your dog’s meal is ½ cooked meat, ¼ rice, ¼ kibble). If no upsets occur, your dog will be having cooked meat and rice with no kibble after a few days. Now, keeping the meat portion of the meal at about half, you can gradually introduce cooked vegetables (still keeping to only one new food at a time), by replacing a small portion of the rice.
If you want to introduce a different source of animal protein, such as beef or egg, follow the same steps, but replace a part of the cooked meat with the new food.
If your dog has an upset with a new food, stop feeding that food for now. You can try introducing it again later, when the dog has settled into the new eating plan.
Once you have the dog comfortably adapted to eating your homemade dog food all cooked, you can try giving some or all of the meat raw. As before, the trick is to introduce any change gradually.
 

Practice good hygiene in your kitchen: there is a view sometimes promoted that raw food can carry infectious organisms. Pathogens are all around us: appropriate hygiene is necessary in everything we do, be it minding the neighbour’s children, riding an escalotor or preparing homemade dog food (or people food for that matter!). The key to preventing illness by contamination of food is handwashing. Wash your hands before and after handling raw meat, dry them well using a clean hand towel or paper towel; keep kitchen utensils clean. You should have a separate chopping board that is used only for meat and that you wash thoroughly straight after use. All meat should be stored covered or wrapped in the refrigerator, with raw meat on a lower shelf (so that it cannot accidentally drip onto other food).
 

Raw versus cooked: My personal preference is to feed meat and bones raw (never feed cooked bones) and to feed vegetables cooked. I have observed that raw veggies, even grated, seem to pass through unchanged! Eggs and fish should be fed cooked, cereals (grains) must be fed cooked, small tidbits of fruit can be offered raw.

No eating plan will suit all dogs or all owners. There’s a lot of conflicting advice around, often promoted by someone who has something to sell. It’s your dog and your lifestyle: read as much as you can, visit dog forums and blogs, educate yourself; with some patient experimenting you will be able to work out what suits both you and your dog best.

Sounds corny, I know! The thing is, when you’ve got a dog, you just have no trouble feeling glad to be alive. If you get close to forgetting, the dog is there, reminding you with its infectious joy.

We have been enjoying the most glorious Autumn (that’s Fall if you are in America) weather here in New Zealand (well, the part I live in, anyway) and I’ve been far too busy in the garden to be at the computer writing (so my blog suffers, oh well…). You know, those fantastic, golden days with the sky so blue and the leaves on trees all shades of red, brown, orange, yellow and purple. Sky and I have been taking long walks. I love to see her running enthusiastically ahead of me, stopping suddenly to investigate a wonderful smell then taking off again to the next clump of reeds or bushes.

I’m grateful for the golden weather; grateful that I am able to live in such a beautiful part of the world; grateful for many things. But I’m especially grateful that I still have Sky, who is 16 now, though you’d never guess it. To see her now, it’s hard to imagine that two years ago she was so low in her health I was thinking she would have to be put to sleep. Family and friends who have witnessed the change in her are amazed.

How did it happen? Simple: I changed the way I feed her! I stopped feeding her expensive “special formula for senior dogs” kibble and started feeding her with what I call “real food.” Her general well-being and vitality improved dramatically within six weeks. It was like a miracle.

Since then, I have become passionately interested in dog nutrition. I’ve done hours of reading and research; I’ve found that others have had similar experiences: some have unfortunately lost their dogs so I consider myself very lucky that I still have Sky. The awful pet food scandal of March 2007 erupted, with thousands of pets dying from being fed artificial food. This doubly convinced me that I was right to keep feeding Sky with real food.

If you are trying to find information about feeding options for your dog, maybe getting confused by conflicting advice, I invite you to signup for my FREE* 7-day ecourse: 7 steps to a longer, healthier life for your dog. I will share with you what I have found about the following issues:

• The single, most important step you can take to improve your dog’s health.
• Understanding the nutritional requirements of dogs.
• Deciding what eating plan is best going to suit you and your dog.
• Calculating how much to feed.
• Making the change.
• What foods you must never give your dog.
• When you just can’t use “real” food - learning to read the labels.

You can subscribe now by clicking here

There’s no charge, and you’ll have no more confusion.
Here’s to a long and happy life with your dog

Since the infamous pet food recall in March 2007, dog owners have had their confidence in the commercial pet food industry shaken, and justifiably so. In today’s age of information, you’d think it would be easy to find the best way to feed our canine friends. It’s true there is a lot of information available, but so much of it is contradictory or biased that it becomes more confusing than helpful. I hope that by debunking a few common myths, I can help anyone who is struggling with the question of what to feed their dog. 

1. Only commercially prepared dog food offers a “complete and balanced” diet: Surely we have been brainwashed here? The pet food industry is so lucrative for the big-name manufacturers, that they devote a huge budget to marketing, advertising and seductive packaging. If anyone tried to tell a mother that the only way she could feed her children “complete and balanced” nutrition was with a processed, packaged (or canned) food and nothing else, she would be horrified! How did dogs survive before commercial dog food was available? 

2. Dry dog food benefits teeth and gums: Are biscuits good for our kids’ teeth? We are supposed to believe that chewing hard biscuits mimics the effect of chewing raw meat. In reality, stale material lodges around the dog’s teeth, causing plaque buildup. 

3. Eating the same food every day is better for my dog’s digestion: While it is true that you should make radical changes to your dog’s diet gradually, a variety of meal ingredients given as part of the regular diet is no more disturbing to our dogs than it is to us.  

4. Changing my dog’s diet will cause diarrhea: Commercial dog foods can include a lot of “filler” ingredients, causing production of large stools. Artificial “stool hardeners” in the foods prevent these large stools from also being objectionably loose. If you decide to change your dog to “real” food, make the change slowly, gradually weaning the dog off the “artificial” food over several days. Introduce new foods one at a time. Your dog’s stools will become smaller and less offensive. They might seem soft initially, but will eventually settle to being soft but formed. 

5. Too much fat is bad for dogs: Obesity is now a major human health concern. As humans, we are constantly encouraged to eat less fat. Dogs, however, do not have the same issues with animal fat. In fact, unless your dog is overweight, he actually needs fat in his diet, especially if he is a working dog, or very active. We humans use carbohydrate food (grains, cereals, fruit and vegetables) for energy. The canine digestive system is designed to process meat, bones and fats; dogs need fat for energy. 

6. Bones are bad for dogs: Wrong! Cooked bones are bad for dogs. They can splinter and damage the gut. However, managed sensibly, raw bones are beneficial to teeth and gums and provide a relaxing treat. If you are worried about feeding raw bones, use mutton flap or brisket, which contain quite soft bones.  

7. Milk products are bad for dogs: Some adult dogs can lack the digestive enzyme needed to process lactose. Try your dog with a small volume of milk to see what happens. Milk products such as yoghurt (natural, unsweetened), cottage cheese, and buttermilk are excellent foods for dogs, and good sources of bioavailable calcium. 

8. Raw food is dangerous for dogs because of bacterial contamination: When handling raw meat for dogs, we need to practice the same standards of hygiene that we use for our own food. This is more to protect ourselves than to protect our dogs. Dog saliva has an enzyme that destroys pathogenic organisms; canine stomach acid is strong enough to destroy harmful bacteria. Keep a separate chopping board for meat; wash your hands and utensils after preparing your dog’s food; keep leftovers covered and refrigerated; keep raw meat wrapped in the fridge. 

9. Raw eggs are bad for dogs: Raw eggs contain a substance that interferes with the absorption of biotin. However, eggs are such a valuable nutrient source that their benefits far outweigh this small disadvantage. 

10. Older dogs need less protein: Actually, older dogs need more protein, and better quality protein because as they age, their digestive systems become less efficient. Good quality (animal) protein is more easily utilized and more nutritious for them.

Nothing will ever be as easy as pouring the kibble into a bowl, but with a little planning and organization, feeding real food, homemade from wholesome ingredients, need not be complicated. The joy with which your dog eats, the security that comes from knowing his food is safe, the improved health of your dog, and the saving in veterinary costs can make this small effort very rewarding.