Readers of canine health books and magazines, including this one, can be forgiven for assuming that holistic dog care or natural pet care is a recent breakthrough, something developed during the past two or three decades by a handful of revolutionary veterinarians and researchers.

Not so. Today’s holistic dog care movement began over 70 years ago when Juliette de Bairacli Levy defined “natural rearing.” Now in her 90s and living in Switzerland, Levy holds a place of honor in the history of natural pet care.

Born to a wealthy Jewish family (her father was Turkish, her mother Egyptian) and raised in England with chauffeurs, maids, cooks, and gardeners, Levy knew in childhood that she wanted to be a veterinarian. She attended two universities and was in her final year of veterinary school when she decided that conventional medicine had none of the answers she sought, and she embarked on a lifetime of travel and study with nomadic people, first in England, then around the world.

“I realized that if I wanted to learn the traditional ways of healing and caring for animals, I had to be where people still lived close to the land and close to their flocks,” she says. “From Berbers, Bedouins, nomads, peasants, and gypsies in England, Israel, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, and Austria, I learned herbal knowledge and the simple laws of health and happiness. I never tired of traveling with my Afghan Hounds, always living with and learning from those around me.”

An inexhaustible writer, Levy shared what she learned in letters, travel books, novels, poems, and books about herbs and animals. In the 1930s, she published three canine herbals. The Cure of Canine Distemper described protocols she developed for her highly successful distemper clinic in London. Puppy Rearing by Natural Methods and Medicinal Herbs: Their Use in Canine Ailments were reprinted for a wider audience in London in 1947. All three were soon translated into German and other languages.

Just over 50 years ago, in 1955, she combined these works in The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog. Now in its sixth edition and called The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat, this is the book that brought Levy’s natural rearing philosophy to breeders, trainers, and dog owners throughout the world.

Five Rules of Natural Rearing

Levy’s basic rules of natural rearing for dogs require:

1) a correct natural diet of raw foods;

2) abundant sunlight and fresh air;

3) at least two hours of exercise daily, including plenty of running exercise outside any kennel enclosures;

4) hygienic kenneling, with the use of earth, grass, or gravel runs, never concrete; and

5) herbs, fasting, and other natural methods in place of vaccinations and conventional symptom-suppressing drugs.

Levy’s first rule has gained acceptance over the years. Many holistic veterinarians recommend feeding a home-prepared diet of raw foods, including meat and bones. Some use the diet of wild wolves as a model. Levy and her followers feed a variety of foods, including raw meat, dairy, eggs, minced herbs, and small quantities of fruit, vegetables, powdered seaweed, and grains such as oats soaked overnight in raw goat milk or yogurt.

“I introduced seaweed to the veterinary world when a student in the early ’30s,” she says. “It was scorned then, but now it is very popular worldwide.” She credits kelp and other sea vegetables with giving dark pigment to eyes, noses, and nails, stimulating hair growth, and developing strong bones.

In addition to providing ample quantities of pure water at all times, Levy recommends one meatless day and one fasting day (no food, just water) per week for adult dogs. Where raw bones are concerned, Levy recommends feeding them after the day’s main meal, on a full stomach, so that the bone is cushioned by food, and with a small amount of soaked bran, shredded coconut, or other fiber to help sweep bone fragments from the digestive tract.

All of Levy’s dietary recommendations are accompanied by traditional herbal formulas for everything from daily health maintenance to birthing aids and weaning foods, disinfecting herbs that help protect dogs from harmful viruses, bacteria, and parasites, and herbal first-aid for dozens of conditions and illnesses.

Researchers who study the connection between natural light and the endocrine system agree with Levy’s recommendation that dogs spend as much time as possible outdoors. They blame malillumination, the lack of unfiltered natural light, for a host of chronic illnesses. Glass windows prevent the transmission of full-spectrum natural light, but open windows and doorways provide it.

Daily outdoor exercise, including running and play, does more than burn calories; it stimulates lymph circulation, strengthens bones, improves immunity, and keeps dogs happy as well as healthy.

Levy’s advice about kenneling dogs in close contact with earth or grass rather than concrete is interesting in light of research cited by cell biologist James Oschman, PhD, in his book “Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis of Bioenergy Therapies.” Dr. Oschman links modern health problems to our insulation from the natural supply of free electrons that reside on the surface of the earth. Barefoot contact with the earth, he says, supplies free electrons in abundance.

As San Diego health researcher Dale Teplitz explains, “Animals know that, and when given a chance they will choose to be in contact with the earth. This barefoot contact can improve sleep, reduce inflammation that causes pain, balance hormones, enhance circulatory and neurological function, and much more.”

As one would expect, Levy has no use for pesticides, weed killers, or other lawn chemicals, and she recommends feeding dogs organically raised and pasture-fed ingredients.

Levy considers vaccinations unnecessary and inappropriate, both because natural methods treat illnesses successfully and because vaccines disrupt the body’s immune system.

“You cannot discount the hundreds of canine distemper cures that Juliette and her students achieved,” says Marina Zacharias, who has studied natural rearing for over 20 years. “And I have witnessed her parvovirus treatments first-hand with great success. When you know that these ailments can be successfully treated with natural methods, it removes the fear that has been instilled in us. I know that in my case she definitely empowered me to take an active and preventive role in my animals’ health care. Our society does not teach you that.

“Juliette encourages you to think for yourself and not blindly follow established methods just because you are told to. Her attitude is rare, especially today. She has witnessed almost an entire century, and through all the technological breakthroughs of modern science, she still advocates natural rearing methods, as they continue to prove themselves effective.”

Fasting for Healing

To most of us, fasting – depriving a dog of food – seems unnatural. Surely the right thing to do is to encourage a dog to eat at every mealtime. But fasting is Levy’s choice of treatment for all animals, including humans, who are ill.

Well-known author and trainer Wendy Volhard learned about fasting and natural rearing 39 years ago when these methods saved her dog’s life and started her on a fascinating new career.

In 1967, Volhard traveled from New York to Germany, where she met 17- and 18-year-old Landseer Newfoundlands. It’s also where she acquired Heidi, an exceptionally healthy young female, as the foundation of her breeding kennel.

“I was in my early 20s then,” says Volhard, “and I wanted to do everything in the most scientific manner. I talked and worked with veterinarians at every opportunity, so I knew the importance of vaccinating every dog for everything and, of course, feeding the finest quality commercial dog food. That was the only way to go.”

But instead of thriving, Heidi declined, and at age five, she was given a month to live. “She had total deterioration,” says Volhard. “Her kidneys, liver, and heart were failing, and she had skeletal problems. Her whole body was falling apart.”

In desperation, Volhard returned to Germany and asked for help. She learned that Heidi’s long-lived, healthy relatives were fed raw, natural foods, nothing out of a box or can, and none were vaccinated. The English breeders she visited on her way home used the same methods, and they gave her as a parting gift Levy’s Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog.

Volhard read the book on her return flight to New York and laughed heartily at Levy’s advice to fast sick animals and build them up with herbs and natural foods. But at home with her dying dog, she thought, “What else can I do?” The finest veterinary medicine wasn’t helping.

Over the strong objections of her husband, who thought Heidi should enjoy a steak every day for whatever time she had left, Volhard fasted the dog for three weeks, feeding her only fluids, honey, and herbs. “I followed Juliette’s guidelines absolutely,” she says. “I had nowhere else to go. And every day that my dog didn’t eat, she got better. At the end of three weeks, we started her on a natural diet, and she regained her strength, recovered completely, got her Utility title, and lived an active, happy life until she died seven years later at age 12.”

At the time, Volhard was a Wall Street Journal reporter, with one foot in the scientific “prove it” community. She decided to compare Levy’s natural rearing diet, with its a-little-of-this-and-a-little-of-that approach, to the National Science Foundation’s nutritional guidelines for dog food, the only scientifically tested pet food standard at the time.

“It took me 12 years and many interviews with experts,” she says. “Then my veterinarian helped with final adjustments, which we made as the result of hundreds of blood tests.”

In 1984 Volhard published her diet, and the book that resulted, Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog, is now in its second edition.

Several years later, she met Levy at a seminar. “I thought, Oh my, if I were in her shoes and met a woman who had taken my work and fiddled with it and then published it, how would I feel? With trepidation, I finally met her, and she said, ‘I’ve been waiting to meet you for years. You’ve done a fabulous job. Thank you for taking my work and carrying on.’ She was incredibly gracious.”

Volhard adjusted the ratio of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus in Levy’s diet, but she calls the natural rearing philosophy as important and effective today as it was when Levy first proposed it. “Juliette did the very best she could with the knowledge available at the time,” says Volhard. “She did a magnificent job. She is truly the grandmother of the entire holistic dog care  and animal care movement. She’s like Adele Davis in the human health food movement. She started it up.”

Herbal Wisdom

Traditional herbal medicine had all but disappeared in the United States when, in the 1960s, a new generation began turning away from conventional therapies and looking for alternatives. Rosemary Gladstar, now one of America’s leading herbalists, was part of that movement.

“Juliette has done amazing things for dogs, cats, and farm animals, but she has also done wonderful things for people,” says Gladstar. “Her early books had an extraordinary influence on herbalists everywhere. She single-handedly rescued a body of knowledge that would otherwise have been lost or ignored, and she put it directly into the hands of her readers.”

As valuable as Levy’s recipes and instructions were to her and other herbalists, Gladstar recalls that it was Levy’s ability to inspire her readers that changed their lives. “There is no doubt about it,” she says. “She sparked and awakened something in me, just as she did in hundreds of others, far more than any other herbalist at the time. I think it was because she was so connected to the earth and to plants, and she was able to transmit and pass on that feeling of connection. Juliette made herbal medicine fully accessible to everyone.”

Gladstar has followed Levy’s nutritional recommendations for all of her dogs, including Deva, a Bernese Mountain Dog.

“Deva came to me with all kinds of problems,” she says. “She had major personality disorders, which I think stemmed in part from her body being so uncomfortable from mange and hot spots. Her coat was in terrible shape, with huge bald areas and weeping eczema. She looked really awful, and she was so unhappy. Deva is now over nine years old, which for a Berner is elderly, and for years her health problems have been about 99 percent gone. She has a wonderful personality and a wonderful life, thanks to natural rearing.”

Gladstar began a correspondence with Levy in the 1970s after reading A Gypsy in New York and Traveler’s Joy. “Though these were not really herb books,” she says, “I loved them and wrote to the author in care of her publisher. To my surprise, she wrote back, and we became pen pals.”

In the 1980s, Gladstar organized an herbal tour that visited Levy in Greece, where she lived on a small island. “I decided then and there that I wanted to bring her to the United States so that people who used medicinal plants and raised their animals with the help of her books would have a chance to meet her.”

Gladstar listed Levy as the keynote speaker at the first International Herb Symposium, which was held in 1988 in Framingham, Massachusetts. “The response was overwhelming,” she says. “We had a huge audience. It was especially exciting for Juliette because this was the first time in her elder years that she was able to see and meet people whose lives had been affected by her books. She started spending more time in the U.S. and in fact lived here for long stretches of time, and her books began to sell again.”

One of Levy’s West Coast disciples was Marina Zacharias, who imported her NR (Natural Rearing) brand of herbal supplements from England and sold her books. By the late 1980s, Levy’s London publisher, Faber & Faber, had run out of The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat but planned not to reprint the book until a sufficient number of orders arrived. The delay could be lengthy, so Zacharias ordered 2,000 copies and kept the book in print.

Like Gladstar, Zacharias organized a large seminar featuring Juliette de Bairacli Levy, this one in Seattle. “People flew in from all over the country,” she says. “They came not only to hear her speak but to actually meet her in person and hear her stories. I think every one of us that day walked away knowing that we had touched history and that we had been very fortunate to meet such a master herbalist and animal advocate.”

Zacharias first read Levy’s book in the mid-1980s when she was preparing to bring home her first show-quality Basset Hound puppy. At the time, she had two mixed-breed toy dogs who seemed to have every possible canine disorder.

“When I read Juliette’s book,” she says, “it was as though someone hit me over the head with a brick. With great certainty I knew this was what I needed to do for my dogs. Her logic regarding natural rearing combined with her clinical experience was impressive. I immediately switched my dogs from Purina chow to raw food and never looked back.”

Zacharias values Levy’s advice because it has stood the test of time. “She will tell you that these methods are not ‘her’ diet and herbal inventions but rather foods and medicinal plants as they have been used for generations and centuries,” she says. “Juliette is an herbal historian.”

Juliette’s Legacy of Holistic Dog Care

When we asked Levy what she would most like to be remembered for, she replied, “My Turkuman Afghan Hounds became famous for their vitality and speed, and I still prize the Time magazine photograph of one of my hounds after he won Best in Show at Westminster, with the simple caption ‘Best hound in all of America.’ I would like to go to my grave or fly to heaven breeding Afghans.

“Another thing I would like to be remembered for is curing canine distemper, which became my specialty. Indeed, the veterinarians of the King of England sent me their important cases to cure during World War II at my distemper clinic in London.

“I would also like to be remembered for curing 3,000 condemned sheep by herbal methods in England in 1947, clearing their diarrhea and other symptoms with green plants and molasses while vast numbers of sheep in neighboring fields received conventional care and died. Saving the sheep remains one of my proudest moments.”

To her fans and friends in the United States and around the world, and especially to their dogs, she sends appreciation and best wishes.

Levy, who lives with her daughter in Switzerland, is still a traveler. As this article went to press Levy was in Germany visiting her remaining Afghan Hound, Malika (Shirini Shades of Velvet), who lives on a friend’s farm. She welcomes e-mail messages, which can be sent to her at info@michaelis.ch, but regrets that she will not be able to send individual replies.

-A long-time contributor to WDJ and author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, Natural Remedies for Dogs & Cats, and other books, CJ Puotinen lives in New York with her husband, a Lab, and a tabby cat.

Mick, a five-year-old Labrador Retriever, has flaky skin and smells more “doggy” than usual.

Katrina, a two-year-old mixed-breed, has goopy eyes and oily fur. She has been eating a lot of grass and vomiting almost every day. Lately her stool has been covered with mucus.

Joe, a 12-year-old Beagle, has a fatty tumor on his right side. He also has a cyst behind his left ear.

All of these individuals share something in common: their bodies are working to push toxins and waste materials out by a natural process called detoxification.

In mainstream medicine the mechanisms of detoxification are often viewed as unpleasant symptoms of illness that need to be remedied. Eye drops are administered for goopy eyes, dandruff shampoos for flaky skin, surgery for removal of cysts, and so forth.

However, when taken into a more holistic perspective, such measures only amount to removal of outward signs of an underlying state of imbalance. Detoxification, as unpleasant as this natural process may appear to the onlooker, is seen as a natural part of the healing process that should be supported, not suppressed.

In essence, the primary goal of the holistic healer is to help the body in its natural abilities to heal itself and remain healthy. Rather than ignore the causes of disease in favor of eliminating only symptoms, as many conventional drug or surgical interventions do, the natural care provider works in concert with the body’s efforts of correcting itself.

Natural detoxification
The body’s detoxification system, being extremely complex and very efficient, has the job of eliminating anything that may be harmful to the body, by whatever means necessary.

Routine detoxification is ordinarily handled by waste removal mechanisms in the digestive tract and liver, the filtering activities of the lymph system, and at immune system levels – where a complex army of antibodies, toxin-scavenging cells, and special chemicals weed out, destroy, and eliminate toxic waste.

However, if any of these systems become overburdened with too much waste or toxic overloads, or are rendered dysfunctional in any way by injury or disease, the body may resort to other, less effective means of elimination. The body will try to push potentially harmful excesses out, any way it can.

If pushed through the skin we see the eruption of rashes, dandruff, an oily coat, or pustules. If the body attempts to push excess waste through mucous membranes we see runny eyes or nose, diarrhea, or mucus discharge at the rectum or urethra.

If these last-ditch efforts fail, the potentially harmful waste compounds that the body is trying to eliminate may accumulate to cause any number of disease problems – ranging from urinary tract disease, dry nose, conjunctivitis, arthritis, chronic allergy and inflammation, skin conditions, to even cancer.

Looking at the big picture
From a holistic perspective, such occurrences bring to mind two questions: First, what may be causing or contributing to the underlying dysfunction or imbalance? Second, what can be done to help the body detoxify and correct itself?

Finding answers to each of these questions begins by simplifying the body’s job of keeping itself clean.

First and foremost, your companion’s food should be comprised of good quality, highly digestible meats and vegetables. The diet should be free of artificial preservatives, colorings, and flavorings. Cheap fillers, such as soy, corn, and grain by-products should be removed from the food dish, as should excess sugar and salt. These ingredients do not serve positive roles in canine nutrition. In fact, they may be contributing, in large part, to the excess waste that is the burden of an already overworked detoxification system.

Second, take a hard, critical look at your dog’s living environment. Toxic lawn chemicals and household cleaners may also be contributing to your companion’s toxicity issues, as might secondhand cigarette smoke, mold and mildew, air pollution, or even potentially allergenic weeds in the backyard. Anything that presents the potential of causing toxic excess in the body should be removed from the scenario, whenever possible.

Digestive enzymes and probiotic supplements should be added to the food, as these will help with digestion and elimination of waste. Green foods, such as spirulina, wheatgrass, or barley grass may also be beneficial, as they are rich with antioxidants and help feed digestive flora that are necessary in the breakdown of waste in the intestine.

To help expedite elimination of waste, fasting may be indicated as well; talk with your holistic vet to find out what type of fasting may be appropriate for your pet.

Provide plenty of clean water
Water is essential in the process of detoxification. Encourage your companion to drink copious amounts of clean, filtered water. Avoid water that contains chlorine, fluoride, chemical residues, harmful bacteria, or parasites (i.e., avoid ditch or stream water).

Depending on circumstances, it may be wise to provide distilled water for a few days. Because distilled water is virtually void of the minerals that are naturally found in most water, it tends to pull minerals, including some metals, and chemicals away from the body before it exits in the form of urine. This can be very beneficial in cases where metal toxicity or chemical poisoning is suspected. However, keep in mind that long-term consumption of distilled water may deplete your companion’s body of some of the trace minerals it needs.

Detoxify with herbs
A variety of herbs may be useful in supporting the detoxification process.

Herbs that strengthen liver functions, such as dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale), nettle leaf (Urtica spp.), yellow dock root (Rumex crispus), Oregon grape root (Mahonia aquifolium), or turmeric (Curcuma longa) may help improve digestion and the body’s abilities to remove toxins from the blood.

Lymphatic herbs, such as red clover (Trifolium pratense), cleavers (Gallium aparine), or red root (Ceanothus velutinous) may help support the lymph system clear toxins from the tissues.

To help with the removal of intestinal mucus and the toxins it collects, ground flax seed, or perhaps a mild dose of senna or another herbal laxative, is in order.

These and many other herbs stand as viable options in support of your companion’s detoxification. To find out which herbs are best for your companion and her needs, consult a veterinary practitioner who is versed in the use of herbal medicines.

Among the many formulas used by holistic vets is Detox Blend by Animals’ Apawthecary. [Editor’s note: This is the company headed by author Greg Tilford.] This is a sweet-tasting liquid combination (in a glycerin base) of dandelion root, burdock root, red clover, licorice, and other herbs that help to safely support the liver in its job of filtering waste from the body.

Most importantly, remember that detoxification is, and should remain, a perfectly natural part of the healing process. Although the circumstances that trigger detoxification may warrant the attention of your veterinarian, the means by which your companion’s body eliminates toxins should be supported, not suppressed. That all begins with cleaning that pup up – from inside out!

Also With This Article
“Diet Makes All The Difference”

by CJ Puotinen

Willard Water is one of life’s mysteries. Most people have never heard of it. Those who have, tend to use it religiously, even though they aren’t sure what it is or how it works. They say it improves digestion, reduces migraine headaches, relieves arthritis, improves skin health, heals burns and wounds without scarring, helps balance blood sugar, treats gum disease, supports detoxification, lowers high blood pressure, alleviates pain, and is helpful in the treatment of dozens of other conditions, including cancer.

Its manufacturer makes no medical claims beyond reporting that Willard Water may have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, and that free-radical scavenger tests show it to be a powerful antioxidant.

What helps set Willard Water apart from other “wonder” products is that it was examined by a Congressional subcommittee on health and long-term care in 1980, investigated by the “60 Minutes” TV program that same year, and tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. To date, all evidence has found Willard Water to be safe and nontoxic.

While some veterinarians might scoff at the claims made by Willard Water proponents, other holistic practitioners credit the product with amazing abilities to heal and balance. For example, Roger DeHaan, DVM, a holistic veterinarian in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, has recommended Willard Water for his canine patients since 1983. He mixes the liquid concentrate with drinking water for improved hydration and applies it to cuts, wounds, and other injuries. He even adds a small amount (10 cc) of full-strength concentrate to each liter of Lactated Ringers Solution before administering subcutaneous fluids.

History of the catalyst
What exactly is this stuff? Its ingredients (water, fossilized organics, sodium meta silicate, sulfated castor oil, calcium chloride, and magnesium sulfate) don’t sound like much – but their combined action redefines the behavior of water.

The addition of Willard Water concentrate to water is said to change water’s molecular structure from a very stable tetrahedron to a chain of water molecules attracted by strong electrostatic bonds to very small electrically charged colloidal particles. The result, which its inventor called Catalyst Altered Water because it literally alters or changes water, penetrates where normal water can’t.

Willard Water was developed in the 1960s by John Willard, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the South Dakota School of Mines. While consulting for an oil company, he searched for a way to remove the sludge that plagued oil wells. He found it in a formula he had previously developed to remove soot from Pullman railcars.

When Dr. Willard accidentally burned himself, the only water at hand was a dilute solution of the sludge-removal formula. To his surprise, the treated water immediately eliminated his pain and the burn quickly healed without scarring. He began to experiment on himself and his family, then asked friends and relatives to try his Catalyst Altered Water. Through the 1960s and ’70s, word spread.

Soon people in South Dakota were using dilute solutions of Willard Water to treat burns, sprains, bruises, and other injuries. They added it to their drinking water, laundry detergent, shampoo, and bath water.

Farmers, gardeners, and greenhouse operators discovered that plants treated with Willard Water needed less fertilizer and had better root structure, stronger stems, higher yields, and more foliage, even during drought conditions.

Dr. Willard found that farmers consistently reported improvements in cattle within three weeks of switching to Willard Water. Livestock raised on Willard Water showed greater resistance to shipping fever, a condition caused by the stress of crowded transportation, as well as reduced stress during weaning, branding, dehorning, and castration. Those on Willard Water recovered faster than control animals.

Pet use
For all animals, Willard Water seems to act as a whole-body tonic. That is, it’s safe to use in small amounts for long periods of time, during which it apparently helps to bring into balance all of the body’s systems.

The following doses have worked well for dogs, but so have other concentrations. If you’re experimental, try a little less or more and observe your dog’s response.

For best results, use good-quality filtered, bottled, or uncontaminated water from a reliable source. Reverse-osmosis filtered water is highly recommended. Hard water, which contains high concentrations of minerals, is supposed to interfere with or slow the action of Willard Water.

Willard Water comes in two forms, dark and clear. “I use the dark concentrate,” says Dr. DeHaan, “because it contains lignite and dozens of important trace minerals. I’m convinced that those minerals make a difference.”

One fluid ounce (2 tablespoons) concentrate per gallon of water is the strength recommended for daily human consumption as well as for topical application on pets and people. This same strength is a good daily drinking water for animals with acute or chronic health problems or for any animals during hot weather or times of stress. (Note that these recommendations are for Clear Willard Water and Dark XLR-8 Plus Willard Water. The greatly diluted Dark XXX product requires 2¼ times the amounts listed here.)

The recommended maintenance water for healthy dogs, cats, cattle, and other animals not under stress is far more dilute, such as ¼ ounce (½ tablespoon, or just over 1 teaspoon) concentrate per gallon of water.

Use this solution to fill your dog’s water bowl, which should be available at all times. Add it to dry, canned, or raw food. If you include grain in your dog’s home-prepared diet, consider soaking it overnight in diluted Willard Water to improve digestibility. To increase the grain’s nutritional content, drain the jar and leave it open and on its side for a day or two. Grind or puree the sprouting grain before adding to food. Leftover pureed grain keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.

In her book, Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog, Wendy Volhard, another longtime user of Willard Water, recommends adding diluted Willard Water to your dog’s drinking water when traveling to keep stress levels under control.

“Taking your own supply of drinking water is preferable,” she says, “but if that is not possible, use what is available on your trip and add 2 tablespoons of diluted Willard Water to each bowl, so that your dog is not affected by the change.”

Dr. DeHaan’s only caution is to start slowly. He introduces Willard Water gradually and in small doses, giving small dogs 1 to 2 tablespoons of the dilute solution daily, adding it to drinking water or food. Medium-sized dogs receive 4 tablespoons per day, and large or giant breeds start with ½ to ¾ cup (4 to 6 ounces).

“Too much too fast can accelerate the detoxification response,” he explains. “If your dog gets diarrhea, ease off a little until his system catches up.” This temporary symptom is the only adverse side effect Dr. DeHaan has seen while treating thousands of dogs with Willard Water.

In Priest River, Idaho, Ralph and Rita Huddleston were distressed when their eight-year-old West Highland Terrier, Kramer, stopped acting playful and was unable to jump on their laps or into his favorite chair. He seemed to suffer from pain and a lack of energy.

“We ourselves have felt so much better since using Willard Water,” they say, “that we decided to give it a try for our little friend. His condition disappeared as fast as it began, and Kramer is now his old happy self again. He knows when we are drinking our Willard Water and sits at our feet begging for a little sip, which we give him out of our hand. Of course, he drinks whatever he wants from his water dish.”

Two years ago, Janice Walters of Belen, New Mexico, noticed that after using Willard Water for a few months, she had more energy and her prescription medications seemed to be working better.

She started giving Willard Water to her dogs and cat. “The first thing I noticed was they were drinking more water than usual,” she says. “The cat has her own bowl, and the dogs share two half-gallon self-watering bowls. Previously I had to fill those containers every two days. Now it’s every day. The dogs got more energetic, and Vixen’s coat started looking shiny.”

Vixen, a Golden Retriever/Shepherd-mix, is now 12, and Darby, a Lhasa-mix, is 11. “Our new dog, Chance, is a two-year-old Boxer-mix,” she says. “He keeps the girls busy, and they keep up with him.”

Walters, an animal rehabilitation specialist, is vice-president of a local rescue group. “I recommend Willard Water for everyone, but especially the dogs,” she says. “I’m convinced it’s one of the best things you can give an animal.”

Cancer
Willard Water’s testimonials include many reports about cancer patients, including dogs who outlive their prognoses, or, in some cases, completely recover.

“Willard Water doesn’t cure cancer,” says Dr. DeHaan, “but it definitely supports the cancer patient. It does this in part by improving digestion and the assimilation of nutrients, which strengthens immunity.”

For canine patients with cancer or other serious illnesses, the recommended concentration is the same as the maintenance amount for humans, 1 fluid ounce (2 tablespoons) concentrate per gallon of water.

Spraying or applying the same dilution to skin cancers is another support strategy. Diluted Willard Water can be sprayed or applied to any canine tumor or skin growth several times per day. Simply apply thoroughly and let dry.

Any conventional, complementary, or alternative cancer therapy may work more efficiently in combination with Willard Water, which seems to improve the effectiveness of many prescription drugs, medicinal herbs, and supplements.

Topical application
To use Willard Water topically, dilute 1 teaspoon concentrate in 1 quart water or use 2 tablespoons per gallon. Use this solution as a wash or rinse to clean and treat cuts, burns, wounds, or abrasions. Pour it directly on the affected area or use a spray bottle. Repeat the application several times per day.

Diluted Willard Water is said to be as effective in reducing pain in animals as it is in humans. Spray or apply it to sprains, bruises, trauma injuries, arthritic joints, and any area that is swollen or tender.

Wendy Volhard swears by Willard Water as a hot spot treatment. “It dries up the inflamed areas overnight,” she says. “I also spray it on cuts to stop the bleeding and on insect bites to reduce the swelling and irritation.”

An easy way to treat injured paw pads is to briefly soak the affected foot in a bowl or pan of diluted Willard Water, then let it air-dry.

To create a compress, soak a washcloth in the dilute solution and hold it in place for several minutes, or secure it with a wrapped towel or bandage. Repeat the treatment two or three times per day.

You can increase the effectiveness of any herbal compress or wash by brewing the herbal tea in a dilute solution of Willard Water, or simply add ½ teaspoon Willard Water concentrate to each pint (2 cups) of tea. You can add ¼ teaspoon Willard Water concentrate to 1 cup (8 ounces) of any aromatherapy hydrosol (See “Essential Information,” January 2005) to make the hydrosol more effective. Spray the treated hydrosol full-strength or add a teaspoon or a tablespoon to your dog’s drinking water.

To improve your dog’s coat, spray it with diluted Willard Water or treated hydrosol before brushing or grooming. Willard Water helps prevent dander, freshens the coat, and helps most dogs smell better.

Increase the effectiveness of your dog’s shampoo by mixing ¼ cup shampoo with 1 cup diluted Willard Water. According to users who reported their results to Dr. Willard, this actually helps calm excitable or nervous show animals.

Use this mixture to scrub, rinse, reapply, and rinse again. If you use a conditioner, which may no longer be necessary, mix it at the same proportions. Finish with a final rinse of dilute Willard Water solution, an herbal tea made with diluted Willard Water, or a solution of 1 tablespoon hydrosol in 1 quart diluted Willard Water. A caution for humans: Willard Water added to shampoo, conditioner, or rinse water has stripped color from some dyed hair.

To treat any eye condition, spray diluted Willard Water directly into the dog’s eye. Willard Water helps clear up conjunctivitis and other infections, and it’s an effective first-aid rinse for the removal of debris. Clear Willard Water concentrate is usually recommended for use in the eyes, but many users report excellent results from rinsing or spraying eyes with dark Willard Water solutions. If desired, add a pinch of unrefined sea salt to make the solution slightly salty. Tears are saline, and adding a small amount of salt makes the solution more comfortable.

Whenever you brush your dog’s teeth or give her a tooth-cleaning rope toy to chew on, spray the toothbrush or toy with diluted Willard Water.

Diluted Willard Water can be used as an ear cleaner, too. Or you can add a few drops of full-strength concentrate to any liquid ear cleaner. Willard Water helps the solution reach farther and loosen wax and debris.

Cleaning green
In addition to adding Willard Water to shampoos and conditioners, you can add it to any soap or cleanser, making housecleaning a safe, pet-friendly activity.

In 1991, shortly before Dr. Willard’s death at age 84, I corresponded with him about Willard Water’s effect on chlorine. He confirmed that extensive laboratory testing proved that small amounts of Willard Water neutralize or destroy chlorine. In fact, he warned against adding Willard Water to any load of laundry using chlorine bleach. “The bleach won’t work,” he said.

In reply to my questions about whether Willard Water concentrate would help preserve raw milk, he recommended adding 1 ounce per gallon. “We discovered this with an old Swiss cheese maker. Milk tastes richer and keeps fresh longer. You can do the same with raw juices.”

Also With This Article
Click here to view “The Benefits of Hydrotherapy For Your Dog”
Click here to view “Favorite Remedies Revisited”

-A long-time contributor to WDJ and author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, Natural Remedies for Dogs & Cats, and other books, CJ Puotinen lives in New York with her husband, a Lab, and a tabby cat.

By Nancy Kerns

Frequently, we refer to “holistic” veterinarians in the pages of WDJ, as in, “Discuss this with your holistic veterinarian.” What we generally mean by this is a vet who offers her patients complementary and/or alternative methods of healthcare, in addition to her conventional Western medical treatments. The goal of holistic practitioners is to look at the entire animal patient – body, mind, and spirit – and to do more than treat his illness in times of crisis; they must also promote his total wellness, with an eye toward disease prevention.

Nutrition plays a huge role in holistic medicine, both in preventing and treating disease. Advanced training in nutrition is often a cornerstone of any holistic veterinarian’s “toolbox,” enabling the practitioner to make smart, targeted suggestions for her patients’ diets and supplementation.

The rest of the holistic vet’s tools may differ widely. Some pursue advanced training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and use Chinese herbal medicine and/or acupuncture in their practices. Some become certified animal chiropractors. Some use Western herbal medicine or homeopathy. Some use esoteric tools, such as kinesiology, Reiki, medical intuition, or crystals.

As varied as the professional offerings are, however, it seems to us that there are simply not enough holistic practitioners. In the parts of the country where interest in alternative medicine is high, the most competent doctors often seem to have crazily busy practices, which can make it hard for them to recruit, train, and retain additional vets, which, in turn, can lead to the practice owners’ early burnout. In other parts of the country, nonconventional practitioners sometimes go out of business before they can find enough clients to support themselves.

So when we say, “Ask your holistic veterinarian,” some of our lucky readers (especially on the coasts) can make a mental note to do just that, while many others grit their teeth in frustration. “But I don’t have a holistic vet!” they howl. (We know this because they often call us to howl!)

All we can do is to suggest that they contact the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA) in order to look for a practitioner near them; we put the contact information on page 24 of every issue.

But Susan Wynn, DVM, is doing more than that. Dr. Wynn, AHVMA’s current president-elect, has made it a mission to help bring an appreciation for holistic medicine to veterinarians, and vice versa. She is author or coauthor of three books aimed at vets interested in holistic medicine: Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine: Principals and Practice, written with Allen Schoen, DVM, and published in 1998 by Mosby; Emerging Therapies: Using Herbs and Nutraceutical Supplements for Small Animals, published in 1999 by the AAHA Press; and Manual of Natural Veterinary Medicine: Science and Tradition, written with Steve Marsden, DVM, and published in 2003 by Mosby. Dr. Wynn and Barbara Fougère, BVSc, are currently completing a book for Elsevier (due to be published in late 2006) on herbal veterinary medicine.

While obviously a student and fan of some forms of holistic medicine, Dr. Wynn does not have equal regard for all complementary and alternative medicine (often referred to as CAM). She devotes much of her time to critically reviewing research supporting the use of veterinary CAM, and a portion of her lectures to conventional and holistically inclined veterinarians always include references to “evidence-based medicine.”

In addition to a busy lecturing schedule, writing books and papers, volunteering for AHVMA and the Veterinary Botanical Medicine Association (VBMA), Dr. Wynn sees patients three or four days a week at the Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital in Acworth, Georgia.

I’ve heard Dr. Wynn speak several times at AHVMA’s annual conferences, and always left with a notebook completely filled with undecipherable scrawls (she speaks quickly and covers a lot of useful material!). Recently, I had the pleasure of hearing her make a presentation – and the opportunity to interview her – at a venue close to home. Dr. Wynn was an invited speaker at the 2006 symposium of the Holistic Veterinary Medicine Club at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, sponsored by Natura Pet Products. Fortunately, this time I was permitted to bring a tape recorder!

———-

Did you have an interest in holistic medicine back in vet school?

No, I wasn’t exposed to it until after I got out of vet school. I did an internship in Washington, DC, and there was a holistic vet in that practice. She used a lot of homeopathy, but what really got my attention is that she would change the diets of almost every dog she saw, and I witnessed some amazing changes. That’s how I got interested in nutrition.

What about herbal medicine, which has become an area of specialty for you? Are herbs the closest thing to your heart?

Yes, nutrition and herbs. I was a gardener when I was a little kid, and I still really enjoy gardening. But herbs and nutrition are related. To me, they are simply molecules that our bodies understand. I really enjoy working with them.

I understand you have a strong bias toward the use of whole herbs.

Every herbalist does. That’s what herbal medicine is. It’s the scientists who want to take a single molecule out and study it to death, and that’s fine, if it turns out to be safe and effective. But to me it’s inefficient. We understand how the whole herbs work. We have an empirical database that’s 2,000 years old, in many cases. So why aren’t we studying whole herbs?

Where do you start with a new patient, when the dog is a mess?

I change the diet.

To what?

To something different! Obviously, it’s an individual thing, but if they have been on lamb and rice, I suggest switching to fish and potato. We look at what the dog has been fed, and feed him something else. Sometimes I suggest changing the form of the diet. If it’s commercial, try homemade. If it’s homemade – people don’t want to hear this! – try a commercial diet.

There are data out there suggesting that the overwhelming majority of published recipes that claim to provide a complete and balanced diet are not – they are actually deficient. And these are recipes in some of our favorite authors’ books! Often, I put my patients on a more reliable source of a complete and balanced diet and see what happens. People don’t want to hear that, but it helps sometimes.

So, you might suggest that someone who is using a homemade diet try a commercial frozen raw diet instead?

Sometimes, I suggest a kibble. I like the complete and balanced raw frozen diets, so that could work as well, but if the dog has already been on something like that, and still looks a mess, sometimes you have to change the form completely.

In WDJ, I try to tell dog owners to improve their dogs’ diets, no matter what they are feeding. Of course, some people are already feeding their dogs the ultimate raw, grass-fed, home-prepared diet …

But you are making judgments about what constitutes an improvement, and I don’t think we know enough about nutrition to do that. I’ve seen too many dogs on a good, supposedly balanced homemade diet improve when they were put back on kibble. I’m not smart enough to know why some improve. I think it’s a pretty artificial system to say we know this is better than that; to me, the dog is the only one qualified to tell us what is best – the dog tells us. And we just have to keep trying things until we find something that works for him.

I do have some biases, of course! My big thing is variety. A lot of people, I think, when they read your kibble issue (dry dog food reviews), go “Okay, this is the one.” You are very careful to not say “This one is the best,” but somehow they make those determinations. And my whole thing is, “No, there isn’t just one ‘best’ food. You’ve got to try a lot of things.”

Variety is especially important in puppies. It’s clear that we’re seeing more allergy and immune-mediated disease in dogs. It’s now documented in people, too, where it wasn’t so much, say, 10 years ago. In my opinion, one of the biggest contributors to this is the fact that many people put their dogs on one diet for the dog’s entire life. Often, eventually, the dog develops an allergy to the ingredients in that food.

The immune system learns by being exposed to a lot of variety, so I think with puppies in particular we have to start people out right and say “Use variety; don’t pick just one food.”

I’m also now recommending that people give probiotics for the first six months. The data in people are really interesting. Probiotics are kind of my new thing.

There are a couple of really interesting studies where they gave probiotics to infants who came from families with a predisposition to developing atopic dermatitis – eczema. In this study, they gave one group formula and another [group received] formula plus probiotic. There was a 50 percent reduction in the incidence of atopy in the infants fed the probiotics. To me, those are stunning numbers coming from a large clinical trial. They followed the babies out for four years and they still didn’t develop allergy as much. That’s such a discovery.

I think we need to teach people from the beginning about the hygiene hypothesis: don’t be too clean, don’t be too fast to put your puppy on antibiotics for just a couple of little papules, give them a variety of diets. That’s what holistic medicine is, of course: prevention.

So you’re not a diet purist?

Actually, I have a reputation as being anti-raw.

But you are not actually anti-raw …

No! I’m not anti-raw! But because I have told some people they should put their dogs on a commercial diet, some of the diehard raw advocates can’t stand me. I’ve been kicked off some of the raw feeding lists because I won’t make some kind of statement that I’m exclusively for raw feeding.

Here’s the thing: If your dog is not doing well on a home-prepared, raw diet, you need to do something different! I see many people ignoring evidence that is in front of their very eyes, because they believe so strongly that what they are doing with the diet is the “best” – even if their dog looks and feels awful. If it works for your dog, if he looks great, raw feeding is fabulous. But if you come in to my clinic and you are using a raw feeding plan and your dog doesn’t look good, I might tell you to change. That doesn’t mean I am anti-raw.

Frequently, the dog is having a hard time because he’s allergic to something in the diet, but because the client is so convinced they are doing the right thing by feeding a home-prepared, raw diet, they sometimes don’t consider that the dog might be allergic to something in the food. I’ve had patients whose raw-fed dogs had horrible skin conditions, and they spent years trying homeopathy and all sorts of other stuff, when the problem was in the diet all along. That’s upsetting to me.

They couldn’t see the forest for the trees.

Right.

Here’s another problem that seems to arise more frequently among the raw feeders: When we do decide to put a dog with signs of allergy on an elimination diet, we often find there isn’t anything the dog hasn’t eaten that we can use for the elimination trial. Because so many raw feeders are such advocates of feeding variety – and because so many pet food companies now offer novel proteins like duck, rabbit, and venison – we often find ourselves with nothing to use for an elimination diet.

I’ve had to send clients off to get kangaroo or alligator from Oma’s Pride (a frozen, raw food maker) to use in an elimination diet, because the client had at some time or another fed everything else. You have no idea how expensive it is to feed alligator to a German Shepherd! It’s really too bad. So many people are feeding novel proteins, for no good reason. Or mixing the novel meats with common meats.

So your advice to owners is to stay away from novel proteins unless you absolutely have to go there?

Yes, steer clear of the novel proteins unless you are doing an elimination diet. I mean, there is plenty of variety in fish, chicken, beef, venison, turkey, lamb, and pork. Go ahead and use those, and keep back the kangaroo and duck and rabbit for an emergency.

The other part of this is, people also have to learn how to properly construct an elimination diet trial. People come in (to the clinic) and say, “Well, I’ve tried rabbit, I’ve tried duck.” But they tried it while they were still giving the dog pig’s ears and Milk Bones.

That’s a good idea for a WDJ article! I’ll get on that! What are your other pet peeves, things you wish the average dog owner would learn?

That’s the big one. I see a lot of dogs with allergies.

How do you feel about the really far-flung unconventional therapies?

I’ve heard people say, “Well, it can’t hurt.” I have a problem, though, when the treatment delays proper therapy. It’s obviously not an issue if the animal is not uncomfortable, but for me, holistic medicine means the animal has to be comfortable throughout. Medicine is supposed to mitigate pain and discomfort, so that’s the bar I use.

I worry that when people try the really far-out stuff, they tend to run out of hope and money. I’ve seen people give up, saying they’ve tried everything, but all they’ve really tried is the weird stuff.

That reminds me of another pet peeve: When owners get sucked into using just one practitioner, even if that person doesn’t seem to be helping the animal.

Owners need to use second opinions more. You’ve got to remember that whole hammer and nail thing [“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”]. It really is all about teamwork now. You can’t just use a homeopath or herbalist or a general practitioner who uses conventional medicine; you have to build a team that can work together and communicate well. It’s hard, but not impossible.

Here’s another article idea for you: Teaching dog owners how to critically evaluate the results of a therapy, whether it’s a diet change or homeopathy or whatever. In my practice, I have written up these visual analogue scales, and defined our outcomes to help owners give us better information about how the dog is doing, such as, “Goes upstairs: Zero means they don’t even try, 100 means they bound up the stairs.” You’ve got to be able to really critically evaluate the outcomes to help us decide what works.

Ah! Evidence-based medicine!

In my opinion, evidence-based medicine is the gold standard to which all medicine, alternative or conventional, should aspire. I mean, case histories and anecdotal evidence are great – for the people involved in the dog’s happy recovery. But they are not as useful as randomized, blind, controlled trials.

How do you feel about animal testing?

I like what the VBMA (Veterinary Botanical Medical Association) has come up with. When we get to the point where we can fund trials (which will be a long time from now), we decided we were not interested in experimental studies using lab animals; they have to be clinical studies on animals that are already sick. Good quality clinical trials can be done. There is no reason to do it any differently, in my opinion.

In herbal medicine it’s a little different. When you’re talking about a drug, an isolated constituent, a nutraceutical – those have not been given for 2,000 years. With herbs, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what they do; it’s not like starting out with something potentially toxic, where you have to start in the test tube and then the lab animal.

In my opinion, clinical trials with animals who are already sick are the be-all, end-all.

In the patients’ homes?

Sure, client-owned pets? It can be done; it has been done!

Some players in the pet food industry are moving in that direction, testing their products in consumers’ homes, or shelters …

Yes, I recently read a study about a food trial with client-owned dogs done by people at the University of Georgia, where they compared two diets. The dogs were mostly vet students’ dogs, or faculty dogs – but still client-owned dogs. It’s been done, it’s easy to do, you just gotta have proper design.

Are the vet schools starting to take more interest in CAM?

Absolutely. And the different schools are coming up with different focus areas, which is appropriate. They have a survey [of holistic veterinary medicine] class at the University of Minnesota, and their program is probably going to be TCM, because of the interests of some of the faculty there. I’m adjunct faculty at University of Georgia, where we offer an introduction to herbal medicine – mostly Western herbs. We don’t have a survey course – the students don’t get exposed to acupuncture and stuff like that. I understand that Tuskegee’s is mostly acupuncture. Florida has a survey class … As the schools work out what they are interested in, I’m sure we’ll get centers of excellence for various modalities.

I’ve heard that on some campuses, some of the faculty are very resistant to classes in CAM being offered.

I’ve only heard this secondhand, from vet students who say they have experienced resistance [about bringing CAM classes to the curriculum]. It’s my guess that the faculty just does not have time to talk about what is good evidence and what is not good evidence.

That’s the gap I try to bridge. I hope my books give the conventional vets enough evidence-based information about alternative medicine that they will consider it when appropriate.

I really didn’t want to become yet another expert for dog owners. I don’t usually talk to the dog magazines – you’re the exception! I decided long ago that the most efficient way to promote evidence-based holistic medicine is to teach as many vets as possible about it. I think the bigger change is going to come from teaching the vets. And that’s what I’m really trying to do.