Causes of Reactive Dog Behavior and How to Train A Reactive Dog

By

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October 10, 2003

About 85 percent of the time, my Scottish Terrier, Dubhy (pronounced Duffy) is laid-back and phlegmatic. He methodically solves every training challenge I give him (although I don’t expect him to break any speed records on the agility course). His low-key approach to life won our hearts and earned him a permanent home after we found him running loose in a Chattanooga neighborhood in January of 2001 at the tender age of six months. Residents said he had been roaming the area for at least six weeks; a search for his owners proved fruitless. His uneventful introduction to the rest of our pack sealed his fate, and Dubhy joined the Miller family.

Thus his behavior at a Tennessee trainers’ meeting some 16 months later came as a complete shock to me. I arrived early at the Knoxville location, and was sitting on the far side of the training room when fellow trainer Claire Moxim entered with her Labrador Retriever, Pete. Dubhy knew Pete well; they had played happily together at my training center on several occasions.

Dubhy looked up as Claire and Pete entered, then went nuclear, raging and snarling at the end of his leash.

My trainer brain immediately leaped to the obvious “restraint frustration-aggression” conclusion. Here was a dog that Dubhy knew from prior positive play experiences. Dubhy was excited to see Pete, and his frustration at not being able to greet his friend was manifested in a display of aggression. Or so I thought.

“Let’s have them meet on loose leashes,” I suggested to Claire. “Once Dubhy gets to say hi to his pal, he should be okay.”

Fat chance. As Dubhy and I approached Pete on a loose leash, Dubhy did, indeed, seem to settle down. I mistook his controlled behavior for calm behavior. As we came near the big black dog, Dubhy redoubled his hostilities. When I reached down and touched my dog’s hip in an attempt to interrupt his attack, he whirled around and punctured my hand with his teeth in a classic display of redirected aggression. Yikes! Overnight, seemingly without warning, Dubhy had turned into a reactive dog.

Talkin’ ’bout excitation
“Reactive” is a term gaining popularity in dog training circles – but what is it, exactly? In her book Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals, Applied Animal Behaviorist Karen Overall, M.A., V.M.D., Ph.D., uses the term to describe animals who respond to normal stimuli with an abnormal (higher-than-normal) level of intensity. The behaviors she uses to ascertain reactivity (or arousal) are:

Alertness (hypervigilence)
Restlessness (motor activity)
Vocalization (whining, barking, howling)
Systemic effects (vomiting, urination, defecation)
Displacement or stereotypic behaviors (spinning, tail- or shadow-chasing)
Changes in content or quantity of solicitous behaviors

The key to Dr. Overall’s definition is the word “abnormal.” Lots of dogs get excited when their owners come home, when they see other dogs, when a cat walks by the window, when someone knocks at the door, and so on. The reactive dog doesn’t just get excited; he spins out of control to a degree that can harm himself or others around him. In his maniacal response to the stimulus that has set him off, he is oblivious to anyone’s efforts to intercede. He goes nuclear.

Dubhy has demonstrated reactive behavior in other situations as well. Our neighbor’s black and white cat, Barney, has appointed himself Official Rat Patrol in our barn. Barney’s casual strolls outside our fence send our Scottie into a frenzy; Dubhy runs the fence line like a maniac, barking hysterically and doing stereotypic spins at each corner. When I place myself in Dubhy’s path and wave liver treats in his face I might as well be invisible; he darts around me and continues on his mission. If I let him, he would run himself into heat stroke.

Causes of reactive behavior in dogs

There is definitely a genetic component to Dubhy’s out-of-control level of excitation. If I had researched Scottish Terriers before I decided to keep him, I would have learned that this behavior is actually a desired trait for that breed (see sidebar).

The excuse is that good breeding maintains the original temperament and behaviors of purpose-bred dogs. Labrador Retrievers should be able to retrieve ducks, for example, Border Collies should be able to herd sheep, and Scotties and other terriers should display the pugnacious behavior that makes them good vermin-killers. I had heard this all my life, and was quite familiar with the terrier reputation for feistiness. I now have an intimate understanding of what that really means.

As with most behaviors, environment also plays a role in the responses of reactive dogs. With careful handling, a dog with reactive tendencies may never exhibit the abnormally intense reaction to stimuli that lies dormant in his genes. A dog who could have been a reasonably self-controlled canine in normal conditions, might be induced into reactivity if kept in a highly stimulating environment.

Had I been smarter and realized Dubhy’s propensities earlier, I might not have taken him to doggie daycare, where he experienced a heightened level of stimulation in the presence of other dogs that might have contributed to his Jekyll and Hyde reaction to Pete. He might never have been able to “play well with others,” which he did nicely for over a year, but we might also have avoided the “can’t even control himself in the presence of other dogs” behavior that I found myself dealing with in Knoxville.

Managing your dog’s reactive behavior

Even if you have a highly reactive dog, all is not lost. A reactive dog may be a challenge, but there are things you can do that will help you cope with the stress of living with a dog who tends to flip out. Let’s start with management:

1. Identify his triggers. Make a complete list of all the environmental stimuli that set off your dog’s nuclear reactions. Be specific. For Dubhy that would be: A) the neighbor’s cat flaunting himself on the other side of the fence; and B) some other dogs – mostly those who are taller than Dubhy. Since I can’t successfully predict which dogs will set Dubhy off, I assume all dogs will, and act accordingly.

2. Prevent his access to the stimuli. Change your dog’s environment so his reactive behavior isn’t frequently triggered. For example, you can block his visual access with barriers, control it with training tools, or simply move your dog to another environment when the stimulus is likely to be present.

For Dubhy that might mean: A) asking the neighbor to keep his cat home (which probably won’t happen), or erecting a solid wood privacy fence so Dubhy can’t see the cat, and B) using a head halter when I walk Dubhy in public so I can easily turn him away from other dogs, breaking the visual contact that triggers his reactive behavior.

Modifying reactive behavior in dogs

If you are particularly successful at managing your dog’s environment, that may be all you need to do. Lots of dog owners get by on management without ever retraining the dog. If, however, you’d prefer to change your dog’s behaviors in case your precautions should slip, or if you’d like to be able to relax when you take him out, you can learn to put a behavior modification program in place.

The most powerful tools you can use to reprogram your dog’s reactive responses are classical and operant conditioning. Don’t be frightened off by the technical terms; these behavior modification tools are easy to put into practice.

Say your dog is reactive to people walking their dogs past your house when she is inside, and she barks hysterically and scratches at the windows whenever she sees a dog walking past. You can manage the behavior by closing your drapes, moving the sofa to the other side of the room so she can’t jump up and see out, or putting up a baby gate to prevent her access to the front room. But if you really like having the drapes open, the sofa fits perfectly under the front window, and you enjoy your dog’s company when you are watching TV, you might be more motivated to undertake a behavior modification program to change your dog’s annoying response for the long term.

Think of it this way: There’s a little switch in your dog’s brain that gets flipped whenever she sees a dog outside your window. She likely sees each dog-human pair as a trespassing threat. The instant one appears, her brain kicks into overdrive and she goes nuclear. This is a classically conditioned behavior. She is not thinking, “If I bark hysterically and run in circles, climb the walls and claw the curtains, something good might happen.” Her brain is screaming, “Alert! Alert! Intruders!” and her body reacts accordingly.

Of course, her behavior is reinforced by the fact that every time she does this, the intruders leave. Her canine brain doesn’t comprehend that they would’ve left anyway; she may well think she made it happen. This negative reinforcement (the dog’s behavior made a bad thing go away) only increases the likelihood that the behavior will continue, or even escalate.

This is operant conditioning. In reality, classical and operant conditioning work together all the time to mold our dogs’ behaviors. We use food to operantly condition our dogs to respond to our cues with a desired behavior. At the same time we give our dogs a very positive classical association with the whole training experience because they love food (and playing with us), so they come to love training, too.

To change your dog’s classical association with the presence of a dog walking by from negative to positive, you need to convince her brain (the automatic response part, not the thinking part) that the presence of dogs walking by makes something wonderful happen. This is called counter-conditioning.

Build an unconscious positive association

To succeed at counter-conditioning, begin by preventing your dog’s access to the windows when you are not there so she can’t practice the undesirable behavior. Plan your training sessions for a time of day when you’ll have high traffic past your window. If there is no such time, convince several of your dog-friends to leash their canine companions and – at different times – march back and forth past your window for 15 to 20 minutes. You can take them all out to dinner afterward as a reward!

Be sure your friends know they need to march out of sight in each direction before they turn around. Mark the place on the sidewalk where you want them to turn, just to be sure.

Meanwhile, back at the house, have your dog on leash, using a head halter if necessary. As soon as the marchers come into view, start feeding your dog something totally irresistible, such as tiny morsels of canned chicken. Be sure your dog has noticed the pair before you begin feeding, but don’t wait for her to work herself up into a frenzy. The instant she notices them, begin feeding her. Feed the morsels nonstop as long as the marchers are in view – treats raining from the heavens! As soon as the dog and human passersby are gone, stop feeding your dog. When they reappear and your dog notices them, start feeding her again.

Your goal is to convince your dog that a dog walking by makes chicken happen. You will know you’re making progress when you see your dog notice the walkers and, instead of getting tense and barking, she turns to you with a smile and a “Where’s my chicken?” expression. When she realizes that chicken only happens in the presence of a dog outside the window, she’ll want them to be there, rather than wanting to chase them away.

Build a conscious positive association

When you have successfully changed your dog’s automatic or unconscious association with the stimulus, you can start using operant conditioning to teach her that the presence of the previously offensive stimulus is a cue to sit and look at you.

It’s easier than you might think; just ask her to sit when she gives you the “Where’s my chicken?” look, before you feed her a treat. Slow your rate of reinforcement (how fast you feed treats), and reward her only for the desired behavior, rather than shoveling treats nonstop.

Eventually you can fade the verbal “sit” cue; the mere appearance of a dog walking by your house will become the operant cue for your dog to sit and look at you.

All is calm

Counter-conditioning is definitely more challenging with a reactive dog than with one who responds to stimuli with a normal level of intensity. It may take you longer than it would with a “normal” dog, but it does work. Don’t give up! The more you can saturate the reactive dog’s environment with the concept of “calm,” the more successful you will be at managing and modifying her nuclear reactions.

Help your dog understand that calm behavior is universally rewarded (see “Practiced Calm,” WDJ February 2002). Keep your own interactions with her calm and cool, even when you are tempted to scream at her to startle her out of the high-intensity behavior pattern. Your own intense behaviors are more likely to elevate her energy level than tone it down.

Learn about calming massage, acupressure, and T-Touch™ techniques to help your dog relax. Research herbal, homeopathic, and flower essence remedies to see which ones might be appropriate for your dog. (You may need a holistic veterinarian to help you with this; go to the Web site of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association at ahvma.org for a directory of holistic vets in the United States, listed by state, to find one near you.)

It is possible to make progress with a reactive dog. While my Scottie is not yet ready to show off his piano-playing technique at the next big dog trainer conference I attend, I am much more comfortable taking him to relatively small gatherings where other dogs might be present.

We recently helped staff a booth at a fair. Our two-hour stint was uneventful despite dozens of dogs walking by on leash – except for the bad moment when a thoughtless lady allowed her dog to run 25 feet to the end of her retractable leash and get right in Dubhy’s face. I did a quick about-turn with Dubhy to avoid disaster and a setback to his modification program, and then proceeded to explain to the lady why retractable leashes weren’t a good idea in a crowd. She was offended and indignant. I was just thrilled that Dubhy had come so far with his reactive behavior.

Dog Cancer Diet

By

C.C. Holland

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October 10, 2003

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DOG CANCER DIET: OVERVIEW OF WHAT TO FEED YOUR DOG

1. Reduce the carbohydrates your dog eats. Carbs cause a net energy loss to the cancer patient, but are readily utilized by cancer cells.

2. Use fish oil supplements (high in omega3 fatty acids ) to reduce or eliminate some of cancer’s metabolic alterations.

3. Feed the most appetizing food you can find. Anorexia and weight loss will speed your dog’s death.

Ask any dog owner about his biggest health fears for his pet, and his response is likely to include cancer. It’s a leading cause of death in canines and can be indiscriminate, striking young and old dogs alike. According to a 1997 Morris Animal Foundation study, cancer claimed the lives of one of four dogs who participated in the study, while 45 percent of dogs who lived to be 10 or older died of cancer.

Many cancers are life-threatening. Although they can be addressed through conventional veterinary treatments, including surgical removal of tumors, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, they may not always be cured, so post-diagnosis regimens often focus on simply creating the best possible quality of life for the time the dog has left.

Over the past 10 years, compelling evidence has emerged that one of the keys to creating that better life can be found in a surprising place: the dog’s food bowl. Experts acknowledge that one way to deal with cancer is to take charge of what the canine cancer patient eats.

How Cancer Alters the Metabolism of Dogs

Veterinarians studying canine cancer have long known that the disease alters a dog’s metabolism. The cancer-stricken dog will utilize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in very different ways than his healthy counterparts.

In many cases, canine cancer patients will also exhibit what’s known as cancer cachexia, a condition in which an animal will lose weight despite taking in adequate nutrients. (Cancer cachexia occurs in up to 87 percent of hospitalized human cancer patients, and because the incidence of malignant disease is higher in dogs than in humans, there is reason to believe that cancer cachexia is at least as significant a problem in veterinary patients.) Dogs with cancer cachexia show a decreased ability to respond to treatment and a shortened survival time.

Greg Ogilvie, DVM, Dip. ACVIM, and his colleagues at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are regarded as the top experts on canine cancer in the United States. In 1995, Ogilvie coauthored a landmark textbook, Managing the Veterinary Cancer Patient, that further describes the metabolic changes that occur when a dog contracts cancer.

According to the text, the most dramatic metabolic disturbance occurs in carbohydrate metabolism. Cancer cells metabolize glucose from carbohydrates through a process called anaerobic glycolysis, which forms lactate as a byproduct. The dog’s body must then expend energy to convert that lactate into a usable form. The end result? The tumor gains energy from carbohydrates, while the dog suffers a dramatic energy loss.

In a dog whose cancer is yet undiagnosed, this can be disastrous. What is the average dog owner’s first response when his dog starts losing weight? He generally increases the dog’s food ration – and if that food is a conventional kibble containing lots of carbohydrate-heavy cereal grains, he ends up throwing gas on the flames, so to speak. The dog does not benefit from the increase in carbohydrate-laden food, but his cancer does.

Another metabolic alteration seen in dogs with cancer cachexia is that protein degradation exceeds protein synthesis, resulting in a net loss of protein in the dog’s body, contributing significantly to his weight loss as his muscle mass is stripped away. This net protein loss results in decreased cell mediated and humoral immunity, gastrointestinal function, and wound healing.

According to Dr. Ogilvie, the majority of weight loss in cancer cachexia is due to the depletion of body fat, which (like protein) gets broken down at an increased rate in the cancer patient. However, unlike carbohydrates and protein, an increase in dietary fat does not seem to benefit canine cancer tumors. Fortunately, the dog’s ability to utilize fats as an energy source is unimpeded.

One interesting consequence of the metabolic change: it appears to be permanent. Once a dog has cancer, the metabolic processes remain altered even if he goes into remission.

Adjust Your Dog’s Diet Accordingly

Understanding these metabolic changes can help us formulate a diet that maximally benefits the dog, and minimally benefits his cancer. Well-nourished patients not only exhibit greater overall health, they also display an increased tolerance of veterinary interventions (such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy), and an increase in immune responsiveness.

Dr. Ogilvie modestly points out that the “ideal” dog cancer diet is not yet known, but his thinking on the topic is way ahead of most veterinarians. He and his associates at Colorado State have shown huge progress in developing a diet plan that can reduce the effects of cachexia – nourishing the dog and not the cancer. The basic framework suggests that the diet should be comprised of a relatively low amount of simple carbohydrates, modest amounts of fats (especially omega-3 fatty acids), and adequate amounts of highly bioavailable proteins.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet contributes to a higher probability of remission (when given in conjunction with chemotherapy) and to longer survival time.

The evidence is so compelling, in fact, that Dr. Ogilvie and a team from Colorado State worked with Hill’s Science & Technology Center to create a dog food specifically formulated for the needs of the cancer-stricken canine, Hill’s Prescription Diet n/d. It came on the market in 1998 after almost a decade of study.

“This type of nutritional concept is something that’s backed up by literally hundreds of studies, both in lab animals and people, and in clinical trials with dogs,” says Philip Roudebush, DVM, Dip. ACVIM, a veterinary fellow for Hill’s. “Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know that – veterinarians as well – but to me, it’s about as well validated a concept as we have in nutrition.”

Because the metabolic changes that occur in a cancer-afflicted dog are permanent, even if his cancer goes into remission, feeding this adapted diet may be necessary for the remainder of the dog’s life.

What’s In an Anti-Cancer Diet for Dogs?

While the experts don’t all advocate the same approach to nutrition and cancer, they do agree on one thing: don’t try this on your own. It’s essential that your vet works with you on formulating a diet that meets your dog’s specific needs, especially if your pet is undergoing any sort of additional treatment such as chemotherapy. Even supplementation is discouraged without the input of a professional.

But if your practitioner suggests you try an altered diet by preparing homemade meals, here are some of the things he might recommend.

1. All ingredients should be fresh, highly bioavailable, easily digested, and highly palatable, with a good taste and smell.

Many cancer patients lose their appetite, either due to their treatments or illness; these dogs must be tempted to eat, a lot.

Note: Veterinarians have a variety of pharmaceutical appetite stimulants that may be helpful for keeping an inappetent dog eating. The goal is to prevent anorexia and weight loss at all costs. If a canine cancer patient stops eating, the veterinarian should consider “enteral” feeding – using either a nasogastric tube (which goes through the dog’s nose and throat and into his stomach) or a gastrostomy tube (which is surgically placed in the dog’s stomach and emerges from the dog’s side). Such measures, while dramatic for the owner, can be of enormous value to the patient and are generally of short duration.

2. Organic foods.

Conventional veterinarians may beg to differ, but holistic practitioners of all kinds are quite comfortable with the numerous studies that link common chemical pesticides and fertilizers to cancer, as well as reproductive and neurological damage. Dr. Anne Reed, a holistic veterinarian in Oakland, California, recommends that her clients utilize organic meat as part of their anticancer diets. “Giving a dog as clean a diet as possible can only help,” she says. “I feel like the last thing the canine cancer patient’s body needs is to deal with the pesticides, antibiotics, and extra bacteria that tend to be in nonorganic meat. You don’t want their bodies to have to focus on clearing out toxins as well as fighting the cancer.”

3. Fresh, organic meats, either raw or cooked.

Fresh, clean, high-quality meat is both appetizing and highly bioavailable.

4. Fish-oil supplements.

Rich in omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, which have been linked to tumor inhibition and strengthening the immune system, fish oil may be more readily absorbed by the dog’s body than a close cousin, flaxseed oil.

5. Vitamin C.

Known and used for its antioxidant properties, this vitamin can easily be given in pill form. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals as the natural byproduct of normal cell processes. In addition, antioxidants must be supplemented whenever omega-3 supplements are given.

6. Fresh vegetables.

Cruciferous veggies like broccoli and dark-green, leafy vegetables like spinach are healthy for any dog, but especially for cancer patients. According to the National Institutes of Health and the American Institute for Cancer Research, diets high in cruciferous vegetables – such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, watercress, bok choy, among others – have been associated with lower risk for lung, stomach, and colorectal cancers in humans. According to the American Cancer Society, broccoli, in particular, is the source of many phytochemicals that are thought to stimulate the production of anticancer enzymes.

In addition, the fiber that vegetables provide is essential to maintain normal bowel health, which, in turn, is key to overall health. Pureeing the vegetables and mixing them into food may improve acceptance for some dogs, while others will be content to crunch them raw or lightly steamed.

7. Digestive enzymes.

Holistic practitioners often recommend these to help support the dog’s digestive abilities, especially during the transition to a new diet.

8. Garlic.

Small amounts, such as a clove a day, may be recommended. According to the National Cancer Institute, studies provide compelling evidence that garlic and its organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process.

9. Safflower oil.

According to Lisa Barber, DVM, assistant professor at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, there is some anecdotal evidence that this oil can help achieve remission in patients with a difficult form of lymphoma, epitheliotropic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

10. Limited carbohydrates.

If your vet promotes a raw diet, you might also look into pre-formulated offerings from companies like Primal Pet Foods and Steve’s Real Food. Their frozen offerings are convenient to store and easy to parcel out for meals.

Note: The costs for any of these feeding programs are not negligible. The packaged raw diets will run in the neighborhood of $45 – $50 per month to feed a 20-pound dog, while the Hill’s Prescription Diet n/d suggested retail price (which is subject to markup) is $1.50 – $2 per day for the same size animal, or $45 – $60 per month. The cost of homeprepared diets varies widely depending on the size of the dog, the type of meat used, and amount of supplementation.

Anti-Cancer Diet Details: What We Know and What We Don’t

A recent study coauthored by Dr. Ogilvie suggested using a diet with a ratio of less than 25 percent carbohydrate, 35 to 48 percent protein, and 27 to 35 percent fat, with more than 5 percent of the total food comprised of omega-3 fatty acids and more than 2 percent of arginine. (All these measurements apply to dry matter.)

Fish oil can be beneficial in an anticancer diet as both a fat source and a source of omega-3 fatty acids. These acids, also known as n-3 acids, have been linked in studies to tumor inhibition and enhancement of the immune system. Antioxidants are essential whenever n-3 fatty acids are used.

There has been much discussion of the potential benefits of other nutrients in an anticancer diet. Antioxidants such as vitamins C, E, and A have anticancer effects. Selenium, vitamins A and K3, arginine, glutamine, and garlic have been shown to be beneficial in some experimental settings. While promising, there is less evidence to support specific applications for these nutrients, although some veterinarians hedge their dietary recommendations and include these nutrients in some forms and amounts.

Feed Home-Prepared or Commercial Food to A Dog with Cancer?

If ever there was a good reason to feed a commercially prepared food, this is it. Feeding a commercial anticancer diet such as Hill’s Prescription Diet n/d, formulated with the assistance of Dr. Ogilvie and his associates at Colorado State, is a vast improvement on continuing to feed a dog’s regular kibble.

However, many holistic veterinarians – who, by and large, are more amenable to using nutritional therapies to treat many health conditions – recommend feeding canine cancer patients a home-prepared diet that meets Dr. Ogilvie’s basic anticancer, pro-dog outline.

For example, Anne Reed, DVM, a veterinarian at Creature Comfort Holistic Veterinary Center in Oakland, California, suggests that her clients prepare a diet that includes meat, vegetables, fats, and limited grains, as well as supplements such as vitamin C, garlic, and digestive enzymes. (Dr. Reed also uses other anticancer agents such as artemisinin, and Chinese herbs.)

Some veterinarians, including Reed, advocate a raw-food approach – although she’s careful to qualify this. Unless a client has experience preparing raw-food diets, Reed recommends preformulated commercial raw diets, such as those made by Primal Pet Foods and Steve’s Real Food, which are easier to handle and are nutritionally complete and balanced. But she doesn’t recommend raw food for every dog. “If a dog is on chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or very high doses of Prednisone or things that suppress the immune system, I’m very, very careful with raw food diets,” says Dr. Reed.

Nutritional Therapy for Cancer Treatment is Still A Radical Idea

Despite the very promising research in treating and supporting canine cancer patients with nutritional therapy, it’s not yet a cornerstone of conventional veterinary cancer treatment. “I believe that most veterinarians, including oncologists, recognize that diet can play an important role in moderating disease,” says Lisa Barber, DVM, Dip. ACVIM, an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. “However, how this applies to clinical practice is unclear.”

Dr. Barber doesn’t advocate a wholesale change in diet in response to the news of cancer. “I tend to discourage owners from indulging their pets with home-cooked meals at the time of initial diagnosis,” she said, in part to avoid a pet getting used to a tempting diet. “If pets are given ‘tasty’ foods when they are feeling well, it will be more difficult to tempt them to eat when they are feeling poorly.”

Barber recommends a high-quality commercial diet supplemented with fruits and vegetables and encourages clients to consult a board-certified nutritionist to devise a sound, balanced feeding plan. Like many conventional veterinarians, she is averse to diets that include raw meat, citing fears of nutritional imbalances and of pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli, which can strain cancer patients’ immune systems.

Are Pet Lovers Leading the Anti-Cancer Diet Revolution?

However, owners who are desperate to do anything and everything for their beloved companions often do their own research, looking for more options.

Steve Drossner of Philadelphia became one such owner when his German Shepherd Dog/mix, Ginger, was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma, a cancer that affects blood vessels. A tumor on Ginger’s spleen ruptured, and caused her to collapse.

After the spleen (and tumor) were removed, Drossner’s veterinarian felt that chemotherapy should be the next treatment – although the vet could make no promises regarding the treatment, since hemangio-sarcoma is such an aggressive, fast killer. After consulting with a holistic veterinarian, Drossner decided to skip the chemo, and instead, put Ginger on a home-prepared anticancer diet of cooked free-range chicken, brown rice, olive oil, organic vegetables, and supplements.

Although Drossner bemoans the expense, he doesn’t begrudge his dog the menu, which has helped keep Ginger alive for more than two and a half years. “Free-range chicken is $8.49 a pound,” he says. “It costs me $11 to $12 a day to feed her, but I really have no other options. I feel that if I made any changes to Ginger’s diet and she took a turn for the worse, I’d never forgive myself.”

Anya Hankison, of Oakland, California, is another person whose dog was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. Tessa, Hankison’s eight-year-old Yellow Lab, was diagnosed with the cancer in May 2003. After an operation in which Tessa’s spleen, gall bladder, and one liver lobe were removed, Hankison consulted her conventional vet to discuss the next steps in Tessa’s treatment.

“The oncologist gave me a life expectancy of 30 to 90 days post-surgery,” she said. “He didn’t give me any hope whatsoever.” Diet was not mentioned.

Hankison consulted holistic practitioner Reed for a second opinion. Dr. Reed suggested trying a raw diet combined with supplementation. While she made it clear this approach would not be curative, she did tell Hankison that Tessa’s remaining days could be healthier and happier.

“I really liked that,” Hankison said. “Dr. Reed’s approach sounded so natural. I didn’t feel like I was getting in the way of the natural course of life, and yet I was hoping to prolong it and give Tessa the best quality of life possible.”

Hankison took Dr. Reed’s suggestions to heart and transitioned Tessa to a raw-food diet, beginning with cooked meat and graduating to meals made up of raw, organic chicken, steak, hamburger, or buffalo meat, a variety of vegetables including broccoli, spinach, and carrots, and a range of supplements and Chinese herbs.

It wasn’t an easy change. “Dealing with raw chicken is hard, unless you’re buying just the breast. If you’re feeding a 70-pound dog twice a day, it can get really expensive,” says Hankison. Finding the organic meat was time-consuming, necessitating several trips a week to a nearby Whole Foods Market. Simply preparing meals for Tessa, who ate two of them daily, took 20 to 30 minutes.

Hankison also found it difficult to fit the supplements into her budget. She managed to find some generic substitutes and discovered that Oakland’s Chinatown offered better bargains than local naturopathic stores did, but the cost was still considerable. The challenge was exacerbated when Tessa had a bout of nausea and would refuse a meal.

“There were times where I’d have to make Tessa’s meal four or five times, and I’d have to take out one ingredient each time until she would eat it,” Hankison says. “When she wasn’t feeling well, I’d sometimes have to pare it down to no herbs, no salmon oil, and just chicken.”

Sadly, Tessa succumbed to her cancer on August 19, three months after her diagnosis, dying at home in Hankison’s arms. Although she survived only to the outer limit of her first veterinarian’s prognosis, Hankison believes the altered diet gave Tessa as much health as was possible in her last weeks and days. “Her energy levels were great. She felt really well, she looked healthy, and she healed (from her surgery) very, very well. Her quality of life was excellent, right to the end.”

Both Hankison and Drossner both say they have no regrets about trying the new diets, despite the expense and hassle. The results, they say, are worth it – happier dogs who can enjoy the time they have left, however long that might be.

Find A Progressive Veterinarian

No veterinarian worth his or her diploma would suggest that diet alone can cure cancer. The goal in anticancer diet management should be to maintain overall health, weight, and nourishment, which in turn will significantly assist the conventional veterinary treatments – all of which will help provide the best quality of life possible.

These are the stated goals of Hill’s anticancer diet – longer survival times, longer disease-free intervals, and improvement in overall quality of life – and they ought to be the goals of any veterinarian whose patient is fighting cancer.

Unfortunately, there are still numerous veterinarians in practice who are resistant (or just unhelpful) when questioned about a dietary contribution to cancer treatment. In these cases, our strong suggestion is to find another veterinarian to work with, fast.

C.C. Holland, a frequent contributor to Whole Dog Journal, is a freelance writer from Oakland, California.

Herbal Remedies for Treating Older Dogs

By

Gregory L. Tilford

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October 10, 2003

0

by Gregory Tilford

The sun has barely risen over the eastern horizon on a cold Montana morning, when a warm lick on the face awakens me from a dead sleep. I sit up slowly, my back aching from the yard work I did nearly a week ago. A whispered curse leaves my lips as a new shot of pain – from an old ankle injury – tells me that the skies are threatening to rain; it’s time to get busy stacking firewood before the first snow flies.

Another lick, this one a reminder, moistens my forearm. Willow, my 12-year-old Shepherd/Husky, wants to take an early morning walk on the mountain behind our house, which will be followed by her customary morning cookie.

In years past, Willow and I would hike far and wide. I’m always looking for herbs to photograph and study, and Willow always enjoyed our far-flung rambles.

Of course, at 12, Willow is a senior dog. Her joints are stiff and sore after an overlong walk. Her right leg wobbles after exercise, due to an old ligament injury. Petting her soft, graying snout, I tell Willow how aging really sucks.

At least for humans.

For humans, old age is as much a mindset as it is a physical circumstance. But to a dog, the thought of “yielding to the wheels of time” never occurs. Willow isn’t concerned about growing old. She doesn’t worry about her wobbly leg. She doesn’t even care about the egg-sized fatty tumor on her flank; she just wants to enjoy every waking moment with me – regardless of my moaning and groaning!

As a loving caregiver with a responsibility to provide Willow with the longest, happiest “dog’s life” possible, I must be careful not to let my worries of losing her interfere with her fun. That just wouldn’t be fair.

So instead of focusing all of my efforts on sheltering her from all possible harm, I try to provide her mind and body with everything they need to remain healthy, efficient, and fulfilled.

Although we cannot turn back the hands of time and may not be able to prevent the inevitable, a great deal can be done to assure optimum health and well-being during a dog’s later years of life.

Old age should not be viewed as a downhill slide to inevitable suffering and death. Nor should chronic disease be perceived as part of growing old. Each year hundreds of elderly dogs are put to sleep prematurely – not because they are deathly ill, but because their guardians can’t get past their own fears of watching their companions grow old and die a natural death. Granted, it’s difficult to live in anticipation of a companion’s death, but with all things considered, this is really our problem, not theirs.

The fact that an animal is growing old and becoming more susceptible to illness does not automatically predispose him to chronic disease – it just means that he needs some added care and attention. With your loving support, your old best friend can enjoy life right up to his last day.

The senior diet
Each month of nutritional deficiency can trim healthy years from the latter end of your dog’s life.

Please think about that last sentence for a few more seconds, and then get to work at improving her diet, because many chronic problems seen in elderly dogs are very often related to nutritional deficiencies.

Regardless of how good the food is you are feeding, the fact remains that as your dog’s body ages, its functional abilities to utilize food and properly eliminate waste will begin to decline. Liver problems, chronic renal failure, diabetes, arthritis, and hip dysplasia, as well as neurological problems (such as canine cognitive dysfunction) are just a few of the problems that may be prevented by not only improving the quality of her diet, but also the efficiency by which your dog’s body can utilize it.

Diet should be frequently reevaluated and adjusted as needed to accommodate any reduction in digestive efficiency. The food must be highly digestible and rich with vitamins, chelated minerals, meat proteins, and fats that are easy for her aging body to assimilate.

Depending on your senior companion’s condition and lifestyle, a vitamin/mineral supplement may be needed. Digestive enzymes and probiotic (beneficial bacteria) supplements should be added to each meal to optimize nutrient absorption and assist with the breakdown and elimination of waste.

A good essential fatty acid supplement should be added to the diet as well. This will help support and protect the liver and immune system, while aiding in the production and maintenance of healthy skin, coat, bones, muscles, and nervous system.

To find out exactly which foods and supplements are best for your “chronologically challenged” companion, talk to your holistic veterinarian.

Herbal support
In older animals, herbs are especially useful for providing added support to body systems that have become less efficient over time.

Digestion and waste elimination can be improved with the use of mild liver stimulants, such as dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) or burdock root (Arctium lappa). This will help with the removal of solid wastes from the body, while increasing the production of bile and digestive enzymes.

Marshmallow root (Althea off.), fed fresh, dried, or in any form of low-alcohol liquid, can be used to aid in the passage of stool by providing a protective, anti-inflammatory, and lubricating barrier to the intestinal mucosa. Flaxseed or psyllium husks will work in a similar manner as well.

Spirulina, dried nettle leaf (Urtica spp.), wheatgrass, or other “green foods” can be mixed with your dog’s food to provide added measures of trace minerals and antioxidant protection, while astragalus root or Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosis) may be useful for strengthening the immune system and your companion’s resistance to physical or emotional stress.

The kidneys have a difficult life, too, and over time they may become scarred and dysfunctional from repetitive infections, stones, and other damaging influences that may or may not have been detectable earlier.

To increase urinary efficiency and help strengthen mucous membranes in the urinary tract, dandelion leaf, nettle, cleavers (Gallium aparine), or parsley leaf tea can be added to your dog’s drinking water. Add just enough to noticeably tint the water; this will also provide alterative qualities that the animal’s body can selectively utilize for the purpose of eliminating waste and maintaining clean, well-nourished blood. This can be done every day, for the remainder of your companion’s life.

If your dog displays early symptoms of renal failure, twice daily doses of ginkgo and hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha) will help improve blood circulation and may help reduce blood pressure in the kidneys, while cornsilk (Zea mays), marshmallow, or plantain leaf (Plantago spp.) will help reduce inflammation.

Oat tops (Avena sativum) serve as an excellent nervous system tonic that can be fed on a daily basis to help improve and regulate nerve transmission. In dogs who display diminished mental clarity or odd behavior that is attributable to brain dysfunction (e.g., cognitive dysfunction in canines), blood circulation and neurological functions of the brain can be assisted and sometimes improved with the use of ginkgo, gotu kola, or peppermint. In certain cases, St. John’s wort (Hypericum spp.) may be useful as well, but this determination should be left to a holistic veterinarian who is familiar with your animal.

Aches, pains, and loss of mobility as a result of joint and connective tissue degeneration may be relieved with supplements of glucosamine and/or chondroitin sulfate, horsetail, or yucca root. In cases of arthritis flare-ups, licorice (Glycyrrhizza glabra), or Boswellia may bring symptomatic relief.

Cardiovascular efficiency can be supported with daily supplementation of hawthorn berry extract. If circulatory impairment is evident in the legs, ears, or tail, then tincture of ginkgo or encapsulated preparations of yarrow (Achillea milli-folium) or cayenne may be of assistance.

All of the herbs and supplements in this article are readily available at health food stores, and many can be accessed in products that are specifically formulated for use in dogs. To determine which herbs are appropriate for your companion, consult a holistic practitioner who specializes in veterinary botanical medicine.

Most important of all, don’t give up on your old friend. With a little loving help, your companion’s senior years can be as rich with fun and adventure as puppyhood was. The pace will just be slower. In my dog’s case, especially for her caregiver!

-Greg Tilford serves as a consultant and formulator to hundreds of holistic veterinarians throughout the world, and is CEO of Animal’s Apawthecary, a company that develops herbal products specifically for use in animals. Tilford is also author of four books on herbal medicine, including All You Ever Wanted to Know About Herbs for Pets, (Bowtie, 1999).

November 2003 Letters

Care

By

Nancy Kerns

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October 10, 2003

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I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Stop the Panic” by Gregory Tilford in the September 2003 issue. Gregory mentioned a liquid extract formula that combines valerian, skullcap, oat flower, and passionflower. Can you tell me what the name of that formula is?

I have a very high energy one-year-old Labrador who gets very excited whenever I get the leash out for dog training classes or even for walks. He whines so loudly it’s hard to believe he can hear me when I ask him to sit above all that noise, but he is very obedient. Possibly he is lip reading?

I also wonder why Greg did not include the Bach Flower Essence “Rescue Remedy” in his article.

-Deby
via e-mail

Tilford was talking about his own company’s product: Animals Apawthecary’s “Tranquillity Blend.” Tilford is modest about his own work, and reluctant to promote his own products over others that may be available. Animals Apawthecary’s products may be purchased from Animal Essentials (888- 551-0416 or www.animalessentials.com, click on “buy products” and then “Animals’ Apawthecary”).

Don’t confuse flower essence remedies with herbal remedies. Flower essence remedies are highly diluted preparations, similar to homeopathic remedies in that they contain little of the original phytochemicals found in their source plants. Tilford is an herbalist.

WDJ has published an article on flower essence remedies (“Flower Power” March 1999) and also discussed them (and “Rescue Remedy” in particular) in “When the Thunder Rolls,” April 2000. Looks like we’re due for a new article on the topic.

———-

Thanks so much for the article on Addison’s disease (“The Great Pretender,” February 2003). Little did I know when I read it in February that I would need that information in August. My beloved three-year-old Bull Terrier was diagnosed with Addison’s after nearly dying from a cardiac arrhythmia secondary to a high potassium level. I gave your article to my local vet and the vet at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The information in the article helped me enormously.

-Betsy Cullen, nurse practitioner
via e-mail

We’re so glad that article helped. As you learned, Addison’s is one of the most frequently misdiagnosed life-threatening diseases. Readers, save those back issues! You never know when you will need them.

———-

Thanks for the outstanding article about deaf dogs in the September 2003 issue (“Deaf-Initely Trainable”). It was a great pleasure to read such a positive and accurate article. One of my dog companions is a deaf Australian Cattle Dog. She is so smart, well-behaved, and happy. I hope that excellent information such as that in your article will help dispel some of the myths about deaf dogs and enable more of them to find loving homes.

-Lynda
via e-mail

———-

As the owner of a unilaterally deaf Australian Shepherd, I just had to write and thank you for the article on deaf dogs. Similar to Dr. Sell’s experience with her first deaf dog, our journey into the deaf dog world was unplanned. Frankie (our deaf Aussie) has shared our lives for over three years. We can’t imagine life without him.

I would also like to applaud Jack Edward’s description of “special needs” as it relates to deaf dogs. Truly, we do not think of Frankie as a special needs dog. Being deaf is simply part of being “Frankie.” Since he was our first deaf dog, we were originally very concerned about being able to communicate with him. Very quickly, we learned our concern was completely unfounded. Quite simply, we rarely think about his deafness. Frankie communicates quite well, both in the canine and human world.

Our lives are forever changed, and we remain indebted to Frankie for the lessons he has taught us. We are also grateful to the deaf dog community at large as a source of support, education, and friendship.

-Brenda Hutton
Glendale, Arizona

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Thanks for the very informative article on deaf dogs. I hope that you’ll consider including an article on another group of differently abled dogs: blind dogs. Sadly, they too are often euthanized due to their disability, or not given all of the opportunities open to other dogs. But as my blind Great Dane, Sapphire, clearly demonstrates, they can keep up with their sighted counterparts, and have a very active, enjoyable life.

Sapphire, who just turned four years old, had been brought into a vet clinic to be euthanized due to her disability. Fortunately, she made her way to a rescue group instead, and eventually we found each other when she was 16 months old. She is now active as a therapy dog, visiting the VA hospital and senior homes.

In addition, as of June 1, she was the 12th ranked APDT Rally Obedience dog in the country. She earned her first Rally Obedience title in January of this year, and has two legs towards her second title, which is all off-leash. We have started working on agility. She thoroughly enjoyed a two-day Canine Freestyle workshop, and will soon be starting a Canine Freestyle class.

I hope that those in doubt can be encouraged to realize that being blind does not need to keep a dog from living a full, happy life.

-Jeri and Sapphire
via e-mail

Wow! It’s amazing what we learn from our readers. We’ll start working on an article regarding the care and training of blind dogs.

Download the Full October 2003 Issue

Full Issue PDF

By

Nancy Kerns

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October 1, 2003

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Not Just for Sore Backs

By

Nancy Kerns

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September 8, 2003

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By Cindy Maro, DVM

Cassie, a spayed female Shepherd mix, was adopted by her owner from a local animal shelter in October of 1994 when she was about three months old. As her veterinarian through her first five years of life, I saw nothing out of the ordinary at her routine visits. I provide holistic care to my patients, combining my knowledge and training in conventional and alternative therapies.

In May 1998, Cassie came into my office with her first healthcare issue. Her owner complained that she was losing weight and acting anxious. Her mild separation anxiety had worsened, and she was becoming more clingy with her owner.

In my physical examination, I found that Cassie had some sensitivity to palpation of her back and hips. She also had some “fixed” areas, where a normal range of motion in the lower lumbar spine and pelvis was reduced. I recommended that we schedule another appointment so we could take X-rays, and possibly perform some spinal manipulation, depending on the X-ray findings. I also prescribed some Bach Flower remedies that Cassie’s owner could try for Cassie’s separation anxiety.

Cassie’s separation anxiety improved before her follow-up visit, and her owner decided to cancel the X-ray and adjustment appointment.

Health problems accumulate
In October 1998, Cassie had an emergency visit to my associate, who provides conventional veterinary care, for an anal gland rupture. My associate provided antibiotics and topical treatments to treat the rupture.

In February 1999, Cassie came in for a routine physical. At that point, her owner stated that Cassie’s sensitivity to being touched around her pelvis and rectum was increasing. We suggested a glucosamine supplement, but did not perform any chiropractic adjustments.

Throughout 1999, Cassie had numerous visits to our office for abnormal stools and anal gland problems. Her stools would vary in consistency from runny diarrhea to loose bowel movements and then clear up after anti-diarrheals were prescribed.

Cassie’s owner was still reluctant to have X-rays taken after a few bouts of diarrhea, but she did consent to having a medical work-up, including laboratory testing for hypothyroidism. It turned out that all Cassie’s tests were normal, except for her thyroid. She was put on a thyroid replacement hormone in 1999 by my associate.

In 1998 and 1999 Cassie had a total of 12 appointments and numerous phone consults between our veterinary staff and her owner. Her problems included diarrhea, colitis, vomiting, and anal gland impactions. All these were treated with conventional veterinary medications.

New symptoms, new tack
In June of 2000, Cassie started having urine leakage problems. Her owner would find wet spots on the bed or carpet after Cassie would get up.

Cassie’s routine physical exam was normal, but her animal chiropractic evaluation was abnormal. Her thyroid level was regulated and all other urine and blood tests were normal. This time, I saw her for an exam and put her medical history together with my knowledge of her prior and current animal chiropractic evaluations.

When I explained that the conventional veterinary treatments for urinary leakage in spayed female dogs include frequent medications (two to three times daily) to increase the tone of the bladder sphincter or hormones, which can have negative side effects, her owner consented to my performing necessary adjustments to Cassie’s spine.

I found Cassie had a subluxation of the fifth lumbar vertebrae. In addition, her sacral apex and the base of her sacral bone were in need of adjustment.

Cassie’s owner saw immediate results following Cassie’s spinal adjustments. Cassie stopped having urinary leakage, and her long-term bowel and anal gland problems ceased. Everything was great for the two-plus years.

Now we know
Cassie made it until January 2003 before she required chiropractic care again. At that time, her owner recognized the signs right away as being related to Cassie’s spine (and the spinal nerves which directly go to the bladder, muscles of the lower back, and anal glands). At that time, further spinal adjustments immediately corrected the urinary incontinence.

Now, when Cassie starts having leakage, her owner schedules an adjustment right away. To date, Cassie has not needed any medications like phenylpropanolamine or estrogens. She has not even required herbs or homeopathic remedies, because her adjustments have successfully stopped the incontinence each time.

Cassie’s case is interesting, because it shows some of the possible problems that can be directly linked to the vertebrae and the spinal nerves. Cassie’s conditions never evolved to the point where she showed typical spinal pain or lameness signs to her owner or the veterinarians who treated her.

A pet can have a problem that relates to the spine and its health without showing gait or lameness signs because the nerves that exit the spine send branches to every internal organ in the body. All those nerves can be affected by subtle spinal subluxations and change the signals they relay to and from the muscles and organs without any outward signs from the pet.

Without specific training in animal spinal adjusting or animal chiropractic, a veterinarian would have no way of knowing and remedying the conditions that Cassie experienced over a period of five years.

It is important to note that medical testing, urinalysis, and X-rays should be a part of every patient’s care, ideally prior to animal chiropractic care.

Unfortunately, before I became aware of the AVCA (American Veterinary Chiropractic Association) and was trained in animal chiropractic care, I performed the typical medical work-up and stopped there. I had no knowledge of any other way of treating pets, even though I saw a chiropractor for my own healthcare. I am certain I let many pets walk out of my office with correctable subluxations. I consider myself blessed by the knowledge and ability to help my patients by providing increased comfort, function, and a drug-free remedy for many of their healthcare issues.

———-

Cindy Maro, DVM, attended the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and practices holistic veterinary care in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Dr. Maro is a certified member of the AVCA, as well as the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society, American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture, and the American Veterinary Medical Association. Her Web site is holistic.petplace.com. For contact information of other members of the AVCA, see avcadoctors.com.

Cod Liver Oil for Dogs Helps the Circulatory System

By

CJ Puotinen

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September 8, 2003

1

Cold liver oil for dogs offers many health benefts. — Cod liver oil for dogs offers many vitamins that improve a dog's health and wellbeing. Credit: Arnhor Aevarsson | Getty Images

People don’t like the taste, but giving cod liver oil to dogs gets a much more positive reaction. That’s convenient, because cod liver oil for dogs is an inexpensive, easy-to-use canine health insurance.

Centuries ago, people in the fishing communities of Scotland, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway thrived despite their intensely cold winters by taking a daily dose of cod liver oil. By the 1800s, folks around the world were taking a tablespoon a day because it relieved aching muscles, stiff joints, and rheumatism in addition to improving overall health.

In the 1950s, scientists discovered that essential fatty acids in cod liver oil improve heart and circulatory system health.

The vitamins in cod liver oil have been proven essential for growth, healthy bones, proper development of the brain and nervous systems, normal sexual development, and a strong immune system.

And scientists are still studying cod liver oil. In 2002, researchers in Wales found that cod liver oil’s omega-3 fatty acids disable enzymes that destroy cartilage. As a result, cod liver oil delays and even reverses the “irreversible” destruction of joint cartilage and inflammatory pain associated with arthritis.

All of cod liver oil’s human benefits are shared by dogs, including improved memory function, reduced behavioral disorders, and enhanced immunity.

“It’s definitely a miracle food,” says nutritionist Krispin Sullivan, CN. “There is hardly a disease in the books that does not respond well to treatment that includes cod liver oil, and not just infectious diseases but also chronic modern diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.”

How Did We Discover Cod Oil’s Benefits?

In Europe and North America, rickets used to be a common illness. Without vitamin D, calcium salts are not deposited in bones in sufficient quantity to make them rigid. As a result, soft bones bend out of shape.

In 1892, a British scientist discovered a connection between the geographic distribution of rickets and sunlight. The more sunlight a region had, the fewer rickets cases it reported. In 1913, researchers at the University of Wisconsin showed that lactating goats kept indoors lost substantial amounts of skeletal calcium, while those kept outdoors did not. (Osteomalacia, or adult rickets, is a softening of bone caused by progressive decalcification.) Six years later, a German scientist cured children of rickets using artificially produced ultraviolet light. Two years after that, researchers at Columbia University cured children of rickets by exposing them to natural sunlight.

Though the sunlight connection was well established, no one understood how or why it worked. Then in 1918, British physician Sir Edward Mellanby, who was searching for a nutritional cause of rickets, tested oat porridge, the staple food of Scotland, for its effect on bone health. His test subjects were dogs. He fed them nothing but oats and kept them indoors throughout the experiment, and they promptly developed rickets. When he cured the dogs by feeding them cod liver oil, Mellanby assumed that the oil’s newly discovered vitamin A had repaired their bones. This was a logical assumption, for cod liver oil is the world’s most concentrated food source of vitamin A, containing more than four times the vitamin A of beef liver, the next most concentrated source.

However, at Johns Hopkins University, Professor E.V. McCollum proved that this was not the case. The cod liver oil he heated and aerated to destroy its vitamin A content no longer cured night blindness (which vitamin A prevents), but it did continue to cure rickets. This meant that cod liver oil must contain a previously unknown essential nutrient. In 1922, McCollum published his results and, in keeping with the practice of naming vitamins in alphabetical order, called his discovery vitamin D. Later research proved that sun exposure on the skin produces vitamin D, hence its “sunshine vitamin” nickname.

Newer Research on Cod Liver Oil

Although cod liver oil is not as widely used as it was a hundred years ago, it is still easy to find, inexpensive, and even more beneficial than early researchers realized.

For example, cod liver oil greatly improves heart function and treats it even in advanced stages by healing the lining of damaged arteries. Cod liver oil’s omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins A and D facilitate mineral absorption, improve muscle function, and support elasticity of the blood vessels. In addition, inflammation-reducing prostaglandins made from EPA (one of cod liver oil’s essential fatty acids) help inhibit inflammatory responses in the arteries.

Cod liver oil’s vitamin A strengthens the immune system, fights infection, heals the skin, repairs the digestive tract, is essential to the formation of bones and teeth, aids in fat storage, stimulates new cell growth, and improves the body’s utilization of protein. Cod liver oil taken by nursing mothers improves the fatty acid profile of breast milk to promote optimal brain development, and it increases vitamin A levels, which help prevent infection. However, cod liver oil does not increase the vitamin D content of breast milk.

In more than 40 human trials, vitamin A has been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality of infants and children, and cod liver oil was the supplement of choice in many of these trials. “Books on feeding infants published in the 1930s and 1940s routinely recommended cod liver oil,” says Sullivan, “starting with 1 teaspoon at the age of three weeks. It was Dr. Spock who threw this wisdom out the window by recommending vaccinations instead of the powerful nutritional support of cod liver oil.”

The easiest way to give cod liver oil to infant puppies is to use an eyedropper to place a few drops on the mother’s nipples or directly into the puppies’ mouths. Start with 1 drop per 4 ounces (¼ pound) of body weight per day. As puppies grow, give 3 to 4 drops per pound of body weight. Puppies weighing 6 pounds should receive 1/8 teaspoon per day, and pups weighing 12 pounds need ¼ teaspoon per day.

Like our human population, America’s dogs are increasingly susceptible to obesity, insulin resistance, and adult-onset diabetes. Cod liver oil has been used in clinical trials on humans with insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. In both conditions, cod liver oil improved glucose response and other markers of the disease. In 2001, Finnish scientists reported that infants who received vitamin D were much less likely to develop juvenile or adult-onset diabetes than those who did not. In addition, vitamin A in cod liver oil helps promote healing and protects the retinas of diabetic patients.

Even colitis (inflammation of the colon) responds more effectively to the type of omega-3 fatty acids in cod liver oil than to medication. And let’s not forget cancer, whose epidemic rise coincides with America’s declining cod liver oil consumption. Vitamin A has been part of nearly every nutritionally based cancer therapy.

How You Administer Cod Liver Oil Matters

Eating fish, even oily fish, will not provide the levels of nutrients found in cod liver oil, and taking fish oils is not the same as taking cod liver oil. Salmon oil, which has significant health benefits, has only one-fifth the potency of cod liver oil.

Most cod liver oil has a vitamin D to vitamin A ratio of 1 to 10. If a teaspoon of cod liver oil contains 500 International Units (IU) of vitamin D, it contains about 5,000 IU vitamin A. However, some brands, such as Carlson Labs, which is sold in health food stores, have a much lower vitamin A ratio. One teaspoon of Carlson Labs cod liver oil contains 500 IU vitamin D and only 1,250 IU vitamin A. This proportion helps prevent vitamin A toxicity, especially in dogs who eat large amounts of beef liver or receive vitamin A from other sources.

Heavy metals and other contaminants are always a concern when dealing with ocean fish, but all cod liver oil sold in the United States is tested according to protocols of the Association of Analytical Communities. It must be found free of detectable levels of 32 specific contaminants, including mercury, cadmium, lead, and PCBs, before it can be imported.

Cod Liver Oil Dosage and Cautions for Dogs

A teaspoon of cod liver oil contains 45 calories. The recommended cod liver oil dose for dogs who do not receive other sources of vitamins D and A is ¼ teaspoon for dogs weighing 10-15 pounds; ½ teaspoon for 25-pund dogs; 1 teaspoon for dogs weighing 50 pounds; 1½ teaspoons for 75-pound dogs; and 2 teaspoons for dogs weighing 100 pounds. These doses have been used for decades with dogs who fast one day per week (no cod liver oil on fast days) as well as dogs who are fed every day.

But for dogs who eat a commercial diet, cod liver oil supplementation can be dangerous, because commercial pet foods contain vitamins A and D. In most cases, these vitamins are synthetic rather than from food sources. Although the synthetic vs. food-source debate continues to be lively, a growing number of researchers and nutritionists have found that food-source vitamins are more effective at smaller doses because they are more easily assimilated than synthetic vitamins.

Dogs fed a home-prepared diet derive far more than vitamins A and D from cod liver oil, which is itself an argument for home feeding. Another argument is Sir Edward Mellanby’s canine rickets experiment. During his research, Mellanby discovered that phytic acid in grains and legumes blocks mineral absorption. Grain-based foods can be difficult for dogs to digest, and can contribute to deficiencies of zinc and other minerals.

Before deciding on the dose to use, consider how much sun exposure your dog receives, the time of year, and your location. Dogs who live outdoors in the southern United States may absorb vitamin D by grooming themselves and other dogs, even though they do not absorb it directly through the skin the way humans do.

In America’s middle latitudes, the sun does not produce vitamin D throughout the year. For example, in New York City, the sun’s angle prevents vitamin D production from October through April. Dogs who live outdoors during summer months in New York City and similar latitudes may need less (such as half the recommended dose) during the summer. Dogs living in New England, other Northern states, and Canada receive little or no vitamin D from the sun even in the middle of summer. They will not require a dose reduction.

Vitamins D and A are toxic in excess, so overdoses must be avoided. Many puppies and dogs have died from swallowing tubes of vitamin D-based medications for psoriasis and other human skin conditions. If you spill cod liver oil, don’t let your dog lick it up. If you feed a commercial pet food that contains vitamins A and D, don’t give your dog cod liver oil in addition.

Last, feed saturated fats like butter or coconut oil in combination with cod liver oil. The body needs saturated fat in order to absorb and assimilate the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). Flaxseed oil and other vegetable oils do not provide saturated fats and do not enhance the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. An easy rule of thumb is to give equal amounts of cod liver oil and saturated fat, so for every teaspoon of cod liver oil, give your dog a teaspoon (or more) of butter or coconut oil.

A regular contributor to WDJ, CJ Puotinen is also the author of The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats, and several books about human health including, Natural Relief from Aches and Pains.

Holistic Veterinarians Discuss Holistic Healing

By

Randy Kidd

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September 8, 2003

0

By Randy Kidd, DVM, PHD My dog has Qi; your dog has Qi; all God’s creatures have Qi. In fact, the earth below, the heavens above, and the entire universe around us has Qi. More than energy, more than air, more than life itself, Qi is an ever-present essence that gives us, our animal comrades, and our surrounding environment the vitality we call life. Qi, pronounced “chee,” is also spelled chi or ch’i. In Japanese, it is expressed as Ki. Prana is Qi’s sister from India, and some of the other “relatives” of Qi include the “vital force” of homeopathy, chiropractic’s “innate,” and Wilhelm Reich’s “orgone.” Some people relate Christianity’s concept of the soul or spirit to Qi. Qi may be the most important health-maintenance component for any animal’s well-being. When you evaluate an animal’s Qi, not only are you given an accurate assessment of overall health, you can also pinpoint specific areas of the body where Qi needs to be moved around, supported, or “tamed down.” When you understand Qi, you can, with some practice, learn how to manipulate it to heal the sick, and you can learn how to accumulate it in your own body in order to enhance personal health . . . or to use as projected Qi for healing others. Qi is a moving force. According to Chinese medicine, it circulates through body channels (meridians) in a predictable, cyclic fashion throughout the day. These meridians are connected to inner organs, which are in turn supported by the healthy circulation of Qi. Disease results whenever there is a blockage or abnormal flow of the Qi, or whenever the overall Qi is either excessive or deficient. Acupuncturists use needles (and herbs) to move Qi along the meridians and into organ systems to help bring the body into a balanced state of Qi. People the world over practice Qi-enhancing forms of moving- or sitting-meditation (such as qigong, tai qi, or yoga). Qigong healing practitioners accumulate their own Qi, which they project to others for its healing powers. Finally, because the ultimate purpose of creating a healthy balance of Qi in the body is to merge the physical body with Earth Qi and Heaven Qi, Qi balancing is the way of returning an animal’s physiology to a healthy union with its environment. How to recognize Qi As a holistic veterinarian, I watch intently as a dog walks from the waiting room into the exam room; I want to see how much vital Qi there is within and around the animal as he or she enters. Take it from this old skeptic: You don’t have to be a psychic or an inscrutable one with Oriental heritage to feel Qi, and the effects of well-balanced Qi are easy to see if you know what to look for. The look of Qi is, in a word, “radiance.” It is expressed primarily through an animal’s eyes – the appearance of bright, shiny, alert eyes; the look of aliveness; the inner focus of vibrant “animal-ness” beaming outward as rays of energetic intensity. Healthy Qi is also expressed in the general appearance of the dog: a bright and shiny hair coat, a head-held-high posture of self-confidence, the jaunty gait of an animal with a purpose. The feeling of Qi may present as a different sensation – depending on its quality at the time and the skill level of the examiner, but Qi is easy to feel, so long as you feel with your fingertips as they are connected with your heart, and so long as you don’t let your mind interfere with the sensations. Qi most often has a tingly quality, but sometimes a healthy flow of Qi creates a feeling of added heat; a lack or imbalance or blockage of Qi may be felt as an area that feels cool, relative to the rest of the body. Perhaps the easiest way to feel your own Qi is to bend your elbows so your hands are facing each other about shoulder width apart at a level slightly below your belly button. Imagine you are holding a lightly filled balloon between your hands, and gently bounce the air within the balloon. The naturally repelling force you feel, the gentle energetic bounce, the tingle is Qi. For years I have asked “normal” Kansans to run their hands over their own pet’s back and to stop wherever they sense something different from the rest of the body. Invariably they stop at the same point I have already recognized as having some difference in energetic (Qi) sensation. Then they’ll often be apologetic, saying something like, “But I’m no good at this sort of thing. I don’t know if I’m really feeling anything, or if I’m just imagining it.” As a scientific observation, I think it is significant that, even in this culture, where we have a tendency to question our innate abilities to feel anything we cannot see (i.e., in a culture of disbelievers), the sensation of Qi is a highly reproducible phenomenon, even for folks without advanced training. Explainable, or not There may be a physical equivalent of Qi, but it is more than blood, enzymes, and brain chemistry; it is more closely related to the body’s functionality, the physiological coherence between mind and body, a coherence that creates a healthily functioning physiology. Part of this functionality can be explained biochemically. Acupuncture, acupressure, or Qigong treatments enhance the production of endorphins, measurable biochemicals that ease pain and cause a general feeling of well-being, much like the “runner’s high” or like the feeling one gets after eating chocolate. Improved functionality may also be explained by the accepted concepts of biofields. Western medicine uses bioelectricity to diagnose and monitor heart (EKG) and brain (EEG) function. Master Qigong practitioners can create bioelectrical surges that are 10,000 times those recorded on EKG and 100,000 times those recorded on EEG – definite validation of “some type” of force, the force Traditional Chinese practitioners would call Qi. The ability of Qi practitioners to heal patients from afar is a well-proven phenomena, and the understanding of the Chinese (and many other cultures) that a person’s Qi and therefore his being extends well beyond his fingertips are two examples for how we will need to extend our current concepts of the person’s being. To fully explain the concepts of balanced and healthy functionality, we may need to go beyond some of the outdated concepts of Western medicine into other fields of well-accepted science. These fields are currently being explored by many respected scientists (see sidebar below). We veterinarians simply need to catch up with the new science of today. Building and balancing Qi Working with Qi is easier than most folks realize. The underlying idea is to create an environment where a dog (or person) can enhance and balance his own healthy Qi. The best way to do this is slowly and gradually, day by day. Dramatic Qi-balancing methods such as acupuncture are reserved for the times when absolutely necessary, and these times should be few and far between. There are several aspects to consider when building and balancing Qi, including: • Initial Qi: Puppies receive this Qi from their parents. It is a puppy’s energetic raw material to work with throughout his life. As a puppy ages, he gradually uses up whatever Initial Qi he was given, and our objective is to try to slow down this depletion by continually adding health-enhancing Qi. Thus, it is extremely important to select pups who have been given a healthy dose of Initial Qi – puppies who are active; who look and feel energetic, bright, and alert; who have a happy puppy swagger; and whose parents also have obvious amounts of healthy Qi. • Qi Chang Gong: Your dog’s best chance to develop Qi health is to be continually bathed in positive and balanced Qi, and this can easily be accomplished in any home environment. For millennia the Chinese have understood the tremendously beneficial effects of practicing Qi-enhancement in groups (called Qi Chang Gong). Anywhere there exists an Oriental population you’ll see folks practicing Tai Chi or qigong, often in groups congregated in a local park. This group practice works with the idea that Qi and its field of influence is limitless, and practitioners work together to create a group-generated healing field. You can duplicate this Qi Chang Gong effect in your home; simply learn a Qi-enhancing form or meditation, and practice it daily. Your dog doesn’t need to learn Tai Chi, nor does he even need to be there in the room as you practice; he can actually be anywhere nearby to receive many of the same benefits you will reap for yourself. • Enhancing Qi: After soaking your dog’s environment with your own healthy Qi, your next step is to make absolutely certain you are letting your dog be a dog. Then, when you’ve made it possible for her to be a dog, help her be a dog with a mission. In Chinese terms, this is letting the physical Qi unite with the Heavenly Qi, which can be thought of as our spiritual reason for being here on earth. There’s nothing happier (and more Qi-full) than a Border Collie who is able to spend much of her time actually herding sheep, and nothing any sadder (and more Qi-depleted) than a retriever who has never seen the water. Daily exercise also enhances Qi, especially a nice, long, slow walk or trot several times a day, preferably over a surface where your dog can actually make direct contact with the Qi of the Earth. Qi practitioners feel that the best time to receive Heaven Qi is at sunrise, and my personal experience would indicate that greeting the sun every morning adds vitality to the spirit and soul – to say nothing of the positive benefits it has for energizing the pineal gland, the master gland of the body’s hormonal system and the gland that is directly affected by sunlight. Since, like us, our dogs are what they eat, their Qi depends on the vitality of their food – high quality, non-processed food that is as similar as possible to what a canine in the wild would eat. And, if it is good to develop your personal Qi to help your dog enhance his own, it is even better to make sure he can feel the connection between his heart/mind and yours – a simple process of opening your heart energy to his, a simple act of letting love happen. Qi depletion There are a number of things in our world that deplete Qi, among them: processed, poor quality foods loaded with preservatives and artificial colors and flavors; a whole litany of household toxins; loud noises and the perpetual frenzy associated with families on the go; constant exposure to bright, artificial lights; an overzealous use of vaccines or antibiotics; and a life spent running on and surrounded by concrete. The stress of a dog trying to be something other than a dog is Qi-depleting, as is any environment where the dog is not recognized as being an integral part of the “pack of the family.” Finally, in the terms of Chinese Medicine, most of today’s so called “chronic diseases” are considered to be caused by an imbalance of Qi – an excess or scattering of Qi (evidenced in aggressive behavior or separation anxiety), or a blockage of Qi at some specific point in the body (as seen with diseases such as arthritis or cancer). The point is this: In our everyday world, a dog will inevitably be exposed to various and sundry “Qi depletors.” Most of the Qi depletors are unavoidable and not what we would consider life-threatening. Rather, their effects on Qi are slow and insidious and they tend to be cumulative, ultimately leading to the increased likelihood of chronic disease. As your dog’s guardian, your best course of action is to make it your discipline to enhance, accumulate, and project healthy Qi on a daily basis. Pick your battles As a hard-core scientist, I’m willing to accept Qi at face value, because I can feel something with my fingertips, even though I’m not exactly sure what it is I feel; because I see results when I manipulate it with acupuncture needles; because my own Tai Qi and Qigong practices have healed me from diseases where Western medicine had failed miserably; and because the accumulation of Qi I have gained from my daily practices have made me feel healthier at age 60 than I ever did previously. I actually feel that arguing the presence of Qi is a colossal waste of time; I am much more interested in what I can do with the Qi I have to help reconnect the human spirit, through their pets, to the soul of nature. I’m convinced this is where the “Next Medicine” will be applied; to my way of thinking we have already gone far beyond merely worrying about the scientific proof of the existence of Qi. ———- Dr. Randy Kidd has a DVM degree from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in Pathology/Clinical Pathology from Kansas State University. He is a past president of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, and author of Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Dog Care and Dr. Kidd’s Guide to Herbal Cat Care.

Acupressure Improves Your Dog’s Digestion

By

Amy Snow and Nancy Zidonis

-

September 8, 2003

0

[Updated August 22, 2018]

If not for their dinner bowls, dogs would still be wolves. In many ways our devoted, domesticated dogs are still wolves, especially when it comes to their digestion. In the past 10 years, holistically oriented guardians and healthcare practitioners have become proponents of fresh food diets plus supplements for dogs. There are many authoritative books, journals, and magazines that are doing their best to raise the consciousness of the general public about the health issues associated with manufactured dog foods.

Has anyone seen a canine in the wild strike a match, set a fire, and roast his food? There is a simple reason why we have never seen a dog cook his food: most dogs do not need cooked food. Usually, their digestive tracts do all the “cooking” necessary to make the nutrients from the food bio-available. But not all dogs are able to digest a raw diet; some dogs function better with home-cooked food. The goal is to provide our canines with high quality food from which they can derive absorbable nutrients.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the stomach, spleen, and liver are responsible for the initial “ripening and rotting” of food and its transformation into nutrient-rich blood and chi (also seen as Qi, pronounced “chee”) or life-promoting energy, and transporting them throughout the body.

When a dog digests his food and absorbs nutrients properly, his eyes are bright, his energy is good, his coat appears healthy, and he has a general vitality and attitude that we interpret as being a healthy dog.

Unfortunately, nutrient deficiencies and unnecessary food additives in processed food can cause severe health problems that are not readily seen in the short term. As the dog’s system becomes compromised due to poor quality food, age, insufficient or excessive exercise, and exposure to environmental toxins, his body will lose its resilience. An overburdened system will become imbalanced and give way to disease.

The first line of defense against ill health for your dog is the quality of fresh food he eats, along with all the other aspects of a healthy lifestyle, including a balance of rest and exercise, play, and focused training or work, plus human and canine companionship.

Restoring Your Dog’s Chi Balance

However, even with attention to his diet and all the lifestyle ingredients of a healthy dog life, there are times when a dog has an upset stomach or is not able to process and absorb his food.

When you see that your dog has a digestive problem, you can give him an acupressure treatment that will gently help restore the balance of chi within his body. Note: Bloat, whether caused by a blockage or stomach torsion, is a life-threatening condition. Seek veterinary care immediately if your dog displays the signs of bloat, especially immediately after eating: abdominal distention, depression, retching without vomiting, and excessive salivation. Holistic veterinary care is also indicated if the dog exhibits a loss of appetite, excessive appetite, gas, diarrhea, constipation, loose or hard stools, stools that have no odor or an extremely putrid odor, stools with undigested pieces of food, and lethargy that lasts for more than a few days.

It can be insidious, but any change in your dog’s appearance or behavior may have a connection to the health and balance of his digestion system. His hair is a good indicator of the health of blood and the circulation of blood and chi. Check your dog’s coat for excessive dryness or stickiness, loss of hair, or color change. These can be indicators for the need to support the spleen’s ability to function optimally. If your dog’s behavior shifts and he becomes aggressive, overly timid, erratic, or unable to focus during training, he may be experiencing an imbalance of stomach and liver chi.

The acupressure treatment described below is designed to help restore and maintain balance within the dog’s body, with special attention to improving his capacity to digest and circulate food nutrients and nutrient chi. Most dogs are chow hounds – they eat anything and everything we feed them. Give them the opportunity to make the best of every morsel.

A Short Acupressure Session for Canine Digestion

Start by finding a comfortable location for you and your dog where it is calm and you both can relax. Slowly, take three even breaths in and out. Think about how you want to help your dog feel better; taking a moment to formulate the intent of your treatment is very important.

Begin the treatment by resting one hand near your dog’s shoulder. Using the heel of your other hand, place it at the top of your dog’s head and gently stroke down his neck, just off the midline, following the Bladder meridian (illustration). Continue stroking down to the hindquarters staying to the side of the midline. To finish, stroke down the outside of his leg to his paw. Your opposite hand can trail along the same path touching the dog lightly. Repeat this intentional stroking procedure three times on each side of your dog.

Using the acupressure points illustrated (see below), start the point work segment of the treatment. Rest one hand on your dog, wherever it is comfortable. You perform the actual point work with the other hand. Use either your thumb or two fingers, depending on what is most comfortable for you.

• Thumb technique: Place the tip of your thumb directly on the acupressure point (also called “acupoint”) at a 90 degree angle. Hold the point gently, but with intent, for about three to eight seconds.

• Two-finger technique: Put your middle finger on top of your index finger and then place your index finger at a 90 degree angle gently, but with intentional firmness, directly on the acupressure point for about three to eight seconds.

The following points help relieve gastrointestinal problems and improve digestion:

POINT	TRADITIONAL NAME	LOCATION
St 36	Leg 3 Miles	On the lateral aspect of the hind leg, about ½ – 2 inches below the knee.
CV 12	Center of Power	Midway between the sternum and navel, on the ventral (underside) midline.
Sp 6	3 Yin Meeting	Medial aspect of the hind leg, above the hock along the groove of the tibia.
Liv 3	Supreme Rushing	Medial aspect of hind leg, in the valley between the first and second metatarsal bones.
St 45	Evil’s Dissipation	At the nail bed of the hind paw, on the medial aspect of the third digit.
GB 41	Foot Above Tears	At the top of the hind paw in the valley where the fourth and fifth metatarsal bones meet.

Watch your dog’s reaction to the point work. Healthy energy releases include yawning, deep breathing, muscle twitches, release of air, and softening of the eye. If your dog overreacts to a particular point or exhibits a pain reaction, work the acupoint in front of the reactive point or behind it. Try that point again at a later session.

To complete your treatment, trace the Bladder meridian just the way you did at the beginning of the treatment. Rest your hand comfortably on his shoulder and place the heel of your other hand just off midline of the top of his head and stoke down his neck, over his back to his hindquarters, keeping your hand to the side of his spine and down the outside of his leg. Your opposite hand can lightly trail along the same path the working hand. Repeat this procedure three times on each side of your dog.

It can take 24 hours for the dog to experience the healing effects of an acupressure treatment. Occasionally, the initial issue can seem to be worse during that time before it resolves. Repeat this treatment every third day until your dog is well and weekly after that.

OVERVIEW

1. Feed your dog the healthiest diet you can. The optimum diet consists of home-prepared fresh foods.

2. If your dog has digestive problems, consider all the possible contributors, including his stress levels, environment, exposure to toxins, and relationships. Improve what you can.

3. Use the acupressure described here to help stimulate your dog’s own healing abilities.

Nancy Zidonis and Amy Snow are the authors of, The Well-Connected Dog: A Guide to Canine Acupressure. They own Tallgrass Publishers, which offers meridian charts for dogs and other companion animals. They also provide training courses worldwide.

Whole Dog Journal reviews dog food, dog toys, and dog health and care products, and also teaches positive dog training methods.

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