Most dog owners have experienced their dogs having issues with constipation (dry hard stools, or trouble passing the stool) and diarrhea (loose stools and/or with frequent bowel movements). Most of the time either of these issues are temporary. It may be due to stress or something they ate, and it tends to resolve itself. Just like us, dogs can experience temporary bowel upsets.
Most grocery meat on the meat shelves used to come fresh from local butchers or the store had their own butchers who cut and prepared meat from the back of the store, or behind the main meat counter. They would age the beef, which enhanced the flavor and made the meat tenderer. That isn’t done much anymore – hardly at all! Today, most grocery stores buy their meat pre-packaged. This, in turn, has caused some additives and/or solutions to be added to the meat. Let’s take a look.
People who are just learning about feeding a raw diet to their dogs are astounded to hear that feeding raw bones are actually part of the diet! Not only is feeding raw bones part of the raw natural food diet for dogs, it is an essential part of the diet!
The primary food ingredients needed to feed the weaning and growing puppies is essentially the same as feeding the adult dogs. I encourage feeding a variety of proteins to include at least 4 different mean protein sources. The proteins can include chicken, turkey, beef, pork, lamb or wild game meat, as well as plain non-flavored whole milk yogurt, cottage cheese and eggs. Canned sardines, mackerel or salmon can also be given twice a week. I also include SMALL amounts of liver or kidney – no more than 5% to 10% of the total daily diet. These protein sources should make up about 75% of the diet. Puppies need high bioavailable protein for growth, and the animal fat found in protein sources provides energy and helps them stay hydrated.
Summertime brings sunshine, beautiful flowers, and for all of us dog lovers, green lawns with regrettably, yellow and brown spots. How does this happen, and what can we do about it?
There is always the latest fad on dog’s health and remedies on the Internet. Some of these are marketing heavily and most often contain miraculous cures and ease in fixing skin conditions, allergies, gastric issues, cancer and more. All these fantastical ideas fall to the wayside sooner or later, and interestingly enough, some have been recycled years later! Ah well, people trying to make a buck just continually keep trying!
This month’s newsletter is more of a blog than a single topic newsletter. Somehow, I will magically tie all the above topics together! This will address some old husband’s tales I see often on the internet, along with some helpful tips to help you improve your dog’s diet.
Many people associate vitamin D with sunshine. While people can easily absorb vitamin D3 from the sun, this is not true for our canine friends. Because of the dog’s thick coat and the oil on their skin, their ability to absorb vitamin D from the sun is poor. Dogs need to get their source of vitamin D3 primarily through their diet.
Lew Olson started sharing her canine health information to her readers in the form of Newsletters in 1997 and over the past 23 years, she has shared 215 of them with her readers. This month we compiled and organized Lew’s Newsletters into in alphabetized categories. We have done this a couple of times over the past two decades because it provides Lew’s readers an easy and convenient way to find their topics of interest quickly and easily.
Yeast is the most over-looked cause of itching in dogs. It can also cause brown discharge in the ears, chewing of the feet, itching by the tail, flanks, belly and feet. It is often misdiagnosed as environmental allergies, flea bite dermatitis or food allergies. This article will discuss easy ways to get rid of pesky yeast!
